<<Observe a display of inflight reverse thrust deployment, a feat unique to the Russian design school,
afaik.>>
Many more than Russians.... happens daily all over the world.
<<Pilot-student (obviously following the CFI instructions)
or CFI: "Request permission to land runway xx"
FIS: "permission granted, you can land runway xx.">>
That sounds like the kind of R/T one reads in a comic. Do they really behave like that?