Since live-blogging the Oscars is almost a must this year, RUSSIA! has decided to live-blog Russia-related references at the ceremony. There must be at least one!?

The Russian Film Week starts in New York this Friday, premiering 13 award-winning Russian films produced over the last year. This is the 9th time the Russian Film Week is brought to New York, but this year is different: the event is designed for the English-speaking audience and the media. That's what the Russian government, which funds most of the film industry, demands.

The Russian Film Week NYC is November 13th through 22nd. Highlights include: gulag town fool with a wooden gun, a disillusioned TV star, modern domestic and adolescent horrors, Anna Karenina, Ivan the Terrible, funny drunks, miracles, sailors, suicides, spiritual journeys and Somalian pirates.

Exalted by the Soviets in the 80s with the popular kids' book Pioner Heroes, WWII's child soldiers are back—little red scarves and all—now, with super-powers! Russia's first ever anime First Squad opens this Fall. Read on for details, trailers, and soft musings on genre exploits and exploitation.

Why does our favorite spunky fatty Vinni Pukh look so alarmed? Perhaps because his makers, animation studio Soyuzmultfilm, are about to get him stuffed for a yearly percentage of plush toy sales in his image.

Russian Ark director Alexander Sokurov, whose next film project, Faust, is set to film in Iceland, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Vatican, casts Hannah Schygulla, best known for her work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Three heroes of Russian culture died this summer, marking an end to their epochs—beloved actor Oleg Yankovsky, national folk singer Lyudmila Zykina and non-conformist author Vasily Aksenov.

Russia's most famous contemporary director Timur Bekmambetov is due to release his newest slick flick in December and it's about a flying black Volga fighting crime. Knight Rider, you're about to be totally pwned.

Russia already has its share of Sex and the City corollaries. First there was the dubbed U.S. original (translated as "Sex in the Big City"). Then came The Balzac Age [Бальзаковский Возраст], a show about four women who dissect each other's love lives at Moscow's banyas and cafes. And now they're bending the genre with Love in the Big City [Любовь в большом городе], a film about a trio of horny Russian guys living in New York. The trailer kicks off with doppelgängers of Carrie Bradshaw and Co. strolling through Central Park as the three protagonists jog by in silly windbreakers. Cue the pervy voice-over.

Oh, the hours of procrastination ahead of us. Russian weekly Russky Reporter [Русский Репортер] has joined forces with MySpace in launching a competition for short films about “real life” in modern Russia. The contest is designed to expose young filmmakers, cinematographers and other “creatives” to the world around them. All entries must focus on something in the public sphere, and must run no longer than 25 minutes. They must contain conflict, characters and a plot, and cannot be “silent” (some sort of text is mandatory). Those last three rules are a tactful way of saying, "Go easy on the art school stuff, kids."

From the producers and composer of the High School Musical trilogy: a bona fide Russian rip-off! First Love: Now That's Music! [Первая любовь: Вот такая музыка!] is premiering in Russian and Kazakh theatres March 5. If it’s anything like the trailer (link with subtitles after the jump), it will be a puberty-charged romp teeming with vibrantly clothed break dancers. The glossiness and skilled promo are pure Hollywood, but the underlying machismo and melodrama? All Russia, baby.

There are only a few days left to vote (via comments right here, on YouTube, or, if you’re a big shot, on the password-protected Snob website) in our Rolling R poll, which will bestow the coveted award “For General Excellence in Acting Russian” on one of the five Hollywood performances of 2008. Let’s see which way the public opinion is leaning in the meantime.

Comrades and lady-comrades, let's do this thing. Here, with minimal fanfare (we don't even have our own video hosting capability yet!), are four best "Russian-acting actors," as New York Magazine' s Vulture blog snappily puts it, of 2008. The winner by online acclamation will be announced on February 15. A ceremony (seriously) will follow. In the meantime, vote for your favorite in the comments below.

Hey America, seems you’re riding a wave of patriotic bliss this week.Well, Russia sees your patriotism and raises you the most patriotic movie trailer ever. Vladimir Bortko’s adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s Taras Bulba actually looks decent, but the voiceover on this TV spot could keep any sane person away. There’s so much Russian pride here, you almost forget that Taras Bulba takes place in Ukraine! Watch the trailer here, but be warned: this thing was intended for Russian eyes only. The last line is “Coming April 22 to all the theaters of our undefeatable country.” Yeah. Full translation below.

Much like the Victor Pelevin novel, Generation "П" (known in the U.S. as Homo Zapiens and in the U.K. as Babylon), the new trailer for its upcoming film adaptation hits you with a barrage of words so dense it would be impossible to penetrate on the first try.