Robert K Stephen (CSW)

RKS 2024 Wine: Tired of that “farm to table” expression but the wine bearing that name?

Was it a decade or so I was reviewing a restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton Central Park South in New York and they were terribly excited about the “farm to table concept”. Sounds bucolic like a noble farmer carefully tending his plot or animals with his hands and lovingly of course, the tastiest fowl, lamb orContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Tired of that “farm to table” expression but the wine bearing that name?”

RKS 2024 Film: “Sarogeto”: Succession Planning: Magnanimous or Creepy?

Grace (Ikumi Yoshimatsu) as a child in 1969 Japan suffered the death of her mother. Her father, unable to maintain the family home, sent Grace to live with a cousin’s family while he departed for Hong Kong in a search for employment. Grace met Michael Stanton (Winsor Harmon), her future husband, at a celebratory dinnerContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Sarogeto”: Succession Planning: Magnanimous or Creepy?”

RKS 2024 Film: “The Heirloom”: A Somewhat Comedic and Dramatic Thriller

Having some 55 years of dog ownership there was immediate resonance with the Canadian film “The Heirloom”. It is a movie about making a movie which fits perfectly with my attendance early this month at The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival where amongst 21 other movies I watched three Greek movies about making a filmContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “The Heirloom”: A Somewhat Comedic and Dramatic Thriller”

RKS 2024 Film: “Meanwhile on Earth” (Pendent ce Temps Sur Terre)

At some point in time, you must have watched on the screen astronauts tumbling into the darkness of space never to be seen again. In “Meanwhile on Earth” Franck Martens and his crew suffer a mishap and all spin off into the blackness. Martens is a national hero in France. Martens’ sister Elsa (Megan Northam)Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “Meanwhile on Earth” (Pendent ce Temps Sur Terre)”

RKS Retail: And Your COSTCO Shopping Style Is?

Over the years this COSTCO shopper has noticed the “style” of other COSTCO shoppers. Bear in mind depending on the circumstances such as the time available to that shopper a style can change or at any given time there can be a COSTCO shopper that is of a hybrid category i.e. a “Mixie”. The SpeedyContinue reading “RKS Retail: And Your COSTCO Shopping Style Is?”

RKS 2024 Film: “In Flight”: A Turbulent Journey with an Unexpected Landing

I was asked to review the American film “In Flight” indirectly by one of its executive producers. Usually, a request to review emanates from a distributor of the film or its retained public relations firm with detailed information on its cast and a brief plot description. In this case I was provided with a trailerContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “In Flight”: A Turbulent Journey with an Unexpected Landing”

RKS 2024 Film: “All The Lost Ones”: A Civil War Spreads Upwards North Bay Way!

A massive water contamination incident kills thousands on North America’s northeast coast. Climate activists go wonkers in a Greta Thunberg fury sparking a backlash from a paramilitary-political group the United Conservancy comprised of neo Nazis, racists, white supremacists and assorted right wing deviants. Law and order people or so they say marching northward seeping intoContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: “All The Lost Ones”: A Civil War Spreads Upwards North Bay Way!”

RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon: To Dream the Impossible Dream

There must be a superb Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon out there but as my attempt at establishing my Bitcoin empire collapsed with my kidnapping in broad daylight on Toronto’s Bay Street and Wellington with my entire corporation’s capital of $4,679 used to pay my ransom my Bitcoin dream was smashed. I have an idea for electricContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon: To Dream the Impossible Dream”

RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Acheron” (Short)

Acheron is that mythical river in northwestern Greece where legend would have it Charon the ferryman transported souls of the damned to Hades. Coins were given to Charon in return for transportation. Yet there is a school of thought describing the Acheron River as a place of healing, cleansing and the purging of sin fromContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Acheron” (Short)”

RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Driving Me Crazy” (Short)

Parthena dives her Papu to his doctor’s appointment in town. Parthena is filling in for his regular driver so they are forced to talk to each other for once. Papu speaks his mind and like her Papu, Parthena does as well. Off the bat we surmise Papu must be a traditionalist refusing to call Parthena,Continue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Driving Me Crazy” (Short)”