My local movie theater is an airplane (no wonder I can never find my car following the closing credits!)

     I usually watch 3 or 4 movies on each trans-Pacific flight. Today one brought back major memories of Russia for me.

  Eastern Promises has a character named "Kirill", who some of you may remember as my first driver on Sakhalin Island. I also understood some small dialogue, and the cultural touchstones were familiar.

  Throat-slitting and the chopping off of fingers didn't ring any of my Russian bells, though...