The Stranger

OK, I have no idea what's going on here. A guy with a Yahoo email address wrote me to say he worked with "a Russia-focused organization" and asked whether I could list a screening of an Oscar-nominated film. Uh, no problem. But then he wanted me to run his review of the film. What?! Oh, and then he told me the film was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film; even operating under the charitable assumption that he meant the 79th Academy Awards (the 2007 nominations won't come out until next year), 9th Company was not in fact nominated, in that or any other category. (It was, however, Russia's submission to the Academy.) The "Russia-focused organization" that this liar works for is an arm of the Discovery Institute (best known for pushing intelligent design and bus rapid transit). The movie, which Variety called "finely made propaganda," is about the Soviet Union's "victorious" war with Afghanistan. I don't have a clue what the Discovery Institute dude means to accomplish by dissembling so blatantly, but I will say that this screening (of an apparently entertaining movie) is a sweet opportunity to get a peek inside the DI's downtown HQ. By Annie Wagner