RKS Literature: The Importance of the Family Doctor (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)

“The family doctor is a figure without whom the family cannot exist in a developed society. He knows the needs of each member of the family, just as a mother knows their tastes. There’s no shame in taking to him some trivial complaint you’d never take to the outpatient’s clinic, which entails getting an appointment card and waiting your turn, and where there’s a quota of nine patients an hour and waiting your turn. And yet all neglected illnesses arise out of these trivial complaints. How many adult human beings are there, now, at this minute, rushing about in mute panic wishing they could find a doctor, the kind of person to whom they can pour out the fears they have deeply concealed or even found shameful?”

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, “Cancer Ward”, 1968.

RKS 2024 Film: “Chosen Family”: Romcom in a Free Fall

Ann (Heather Graham) a yoga teacher has a family causing her stress. Her father is a religious fanatic dispensing righteous commands of salvation to Ann. Her mother Dorothy (Julie Halston) laments that her marriage and children ruined her career. Sister Clio (Julia Stiles) is a drug addict in and out of rehab. They ply Ann with guilt to achieve their own goals.

Ann has terrible luck with men until she meets hunk man Steve (John Botherton) in the midst of a divorce and what a nice guy causing viewers to conclude she has met the right guy until such moment as darling Lilly, Steve’s young daughter, is introduced. At this point the romcom begins its freefall. Lilly as a child may be suffering from a marriage implosion so is deserving of compassion and empathy but she is at the core nasty and manipulative and all childlike innocence is quickly dissipated. Steve is the prime victim of this manipulation and as towards Ann he pulls another guilt trip…poor Lilly.

In a drastic finale Ann’s family humiliates her publicly and she realizes her chosen family is not her nuclear family. The freefall romcom morphs into an intelligent foray into a study of guilt infliction on others but it is also a lesson in friendship. As for a genre label how about a stand up and cheer film?

Directed and written by Heather Graham.

VOD and Digital release 11October2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 72/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: A Chilean Pinot Noir That Takes No Prisoners

I rather thought 2024 would be Chile’s year for moderately priced red wine dominance not so much in volume exported but quality wise.

We try a San Pedro 1865 Tayú Pinot Noir 2021.

Aroma: Dense and muscular as its less than delicate Pinot Noir dark ruby colour suggests. Black plum, blackberry, black cherry and cherry liqueur.

Palate: Full bodied with what seems to be a never-ending finish. The acids are close to perfection leaving an illusory sense of tang contributing to a light peppered finish. Such a combination of red fruits it is nearly impossible to categorize individual components but it works so well.

Personality: I am a cultured brute.

Food Match: Beef Bourguignon.

Cellarbility: The wine is so tightly knit now it will improve and cruise into 2027 before beginning its decline.

Price: $ 24 CDN.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 90/100. Wine Align 90.

(San Pedro 1865 Tayú 2021 Pinot Noir, D.O. Valle de Malleco, Viña San Pedro, Tarapacá, Chile, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2024 Film: “Don’t F* With Ghosts”

In the film “Don’t F* With Ghosts” Stu Stone and Adam Rodness are two Canadian filmmakers without commercial success.

They visit studio executives to pitch their “Bigfoot” project but instead are steered towards producing a film that will prove there are ghosts as after all that is where the international interest is according to the studio executives.

Stu and Adam travel to Winnipeg for filming. They assemble a production crew and in their “studio bus”, a school bus adorned with their pictures, they film in various locations using mediums, ghost hunters and fortune tellers. With a set of questionable sightings and weak possibilities they are encountering a dead end despite bringing in wrestling champion Colt Boom Boom Cabana. Stu quips you really know who your good friends are when they travel to Winnipeg, the murder capital of Canada, to help locate ghosts!

Somewhat dispirited Stu and Adam locate a haunted house in Selkirk, Manitoba in which a berserk father killed his wife and three children then hung himself. Desperation hatches a quasi-fraudulent inspired manufacture of a ghosts so effective it even frightens Stu and Adam. Give the audience what it wants even if fabricated.

Heavy elements of satire on indie film production, studio executives, mediums and the ghost hunter genre of film and television.

Low impact humour particularly between Stu and Adam continually exchanging barbs between themselves often akin to comedic one liners. One hilarious encounter involving mushroom tea (not the type you make an omelet with) and Steve the Spiritual Sherpa frenetically and brilliantly portrayed by Tony Nappo.

Perhaps one can venture so far as to say a spoof on ghost chasers.

This would be ideal as a double feature with “Rocky Horror Picture Show” in a lighthearted Halloween celebration.

Canadian theatrical release starts 10October2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 81/100.

Directed by Stu Stone.

RKS 2024 Wine: Valpolicella Rarely a Stinker

Approachable, friendly and easy drinking are the monikers of Valpolicella. Monikers of course are made to be broken, ignored or tampered with.

45% Corvina. 30% Corvione. 20% Rondinella. Aged 12-18 months in large oak barrels.

We take this statement to the test with a 2021 Sartori Valpolicella.

Aroma: Blackberry, black cherry, plum, raspberry and milk chocolate. Oaked to perfection.

Palate: Certainly not a purring pussycat. The wine has substance and oomph. A real mouthful or should I say mouthfeel. Or perhaps muscular. No shortage of silly terms in the wine writing world. The wine speaks more of a beautiful texture with fruit hidden but not obfuscated. Blackberry and black cherry with cherry Jello dancing on the edges.

Personality: I am a serious Valpolicella. Approach with respect as I am not that easy and friendly drinking and gabbing without noticing my power is a bit offensive to me. Not to be bossy but I demand you consume me with food.

Food Match: Before fresh field tomatoes disappear Chicken Cacciatore.

Cellarbility: Drinking window expires at 2026-year end.

Price: $17 CDN.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100.

(Sartori 2021 Le Corti Radole Valpolicella, Valpolicella, Casa Sartori, Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy, 13%, 750 mL).

RKS 2024 Film: “Compulsus”: Angry Lesbian Serial Attacker and the Bi with an Almost “Fatal Attraction”

Wally (Lesley Smith) is inundated with stories from queer and straight friends of abuse of women by men that goes unpunished. Wally is a part time poet and full-time furniture manual writer. Her rage swells to the point it is time to attack men to achieve “poetic justice”. She is officially an angry lesbian.

And attack she does in a rampage bashing, staple gunning, bowling ball attacks and good old smacking in the face and head. There is no apparent reason for her misandry except perhaps for that date drug rape and threat to post pictures of her naked body on social media.

Early in the film she meets Lou (Kathleen Dorian) the bisexual woman who initially is Wally wary due to the quiet rage in her poetry. But the allure of the flesh momentarily stifles Lou’s instincts and in “Fatal Attraction” manner it is romping in the sack with Lou. But for a moment the romp augments transforming Lou into an accomplice.

The extent of Wally rage swells to gun toting thrilling Lou becoming turned on by the violence for a time. Wally’s friends and the female community laud the bad man bashing. In fact, Wally remarks there are recruits lining up to join her crusade. As her physical violence increases her poetry becomes increasingly aggressive seething with rage.

Lou breaks with Wally and the latter’s violence turns supreme. Wally as a nonfatal “Dexter”?

At one point, particularly with the ending of the film, one must seriously question if her coterie of friends condone the violence. And her victims are selected based on hearsay and not judicially established fact.

“Compulsus” is innovative, compelling, thought provoking and largely offensive and repugnant. Rest assured Wally World is a dark and dangerous place you really must visit. Smith and Dorian make your trip worth it.

 This Canadian film is directed and written by Tara Thorne.

Theatrical release in Canada will be 11October2024. RKS 2024 Film Rating 92/100.

RKS Literature: The Suffering and Mercy of War (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)

“The war was merciful to men, it took them away. The women it left to suffer to the end of their days.”

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, “Cancer Ward”, 1968.

RKS Literature: Growing Dull with The Passing Years (Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn)

“It’s simply that we grow dull with the passing years. We grow tired. We lose all true talent for grief or faithfulness. We surrender to time. Yet every day we swallow food and lick our fingers-in this respect we are unyielding. If we are not fed for two days we go out of our mind, we start climbing up the wall.”

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, “Cancer Ward”, 1968.

RKS 2024 Wine: Burly Barossa?

Think Aussie Red Barossa think burly? Full bodied but not overly aggressive? Crowd friendly? Too much alcohol?  Destination wine lake?

Looking for a dainty red from Barossa? Are you hallucinating? Or are we here in Canada suffering with liquor monopoly purchases that are safe from a profit perspective. Is there more than “easy Barossa”? I suppose the only way for me to fully agree or disagree is to visit Barossa but unlike the Italians media trips there are rare or perhaps my unpopularity has denied me entry? Perhaps one day I’ll tell you the demonstration awaiting me at OPO after a negative Port review!

What about a Barossa Shiraz from Escapade Vineyards? It has been sourced from various growers in Barossa so as a blend does it entirely speak to the essence of Barossa?

Aroma: Heady and forceful but it is not clumsy. Yes Aussie footballers at 320 pounds may have a certain grace! Black plum, cassis, blackberry jam and some dark chocolate.

Palate: Surprisingly restrained tannins making this Shiraz almost “full bodied” smooth. Prune, blueberry and black cherry with acids well integrated. Moderately long finish. Discrete oak indeed.

Personality: This Canadian reviewer from Toronto must frequently deal with weakling Ontario Syrah. Ontario Shiraz from an Australian viewpoint is so weak kneed it would be laughed out of the Barossa.

Food Match: Steak Florentine. Ground lamb Sloppy Joes. South African Bobotie.

Cellarbility: Marginal improvement through to 2026-year end.

Price: $18 CDN.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. Wine Align 87.

(Escapade Vineyards Barossa Valley 2021 Shiraz, Shanahan Wines, Green Rock, South Australia, 750 mL, 14%).

RKS 2024 Film: “Take Cover”: The Dangers of Retirement

I recently watched an episode of “The Sopranos” where a lower-level member of “the family” inherited two million dollars and wanted to retire to Florida with his wife and young children. You can’t retire from the Mafia. And the British film “Take Cover” starts with Sam Lorde (Scott Adkins) as a sniper for the “Company” eliminating his mark but also wounding the mark’s girlfriend for which he begins to suffer from guilt mixed with burn out. He advises his Company handler Tamara (Alice Eve) he wishes to retire.

His decision leads to deadly complications. His retirement wishes expressed to Tamara are indicative to Tamara of empathetic weakness and unreliability for the Company. Lorde is set up for a very special type of retirement, death by sniper. With his spotter partner Ken (Jack Parr) they head off on Lorde’s last assignment where they are pinned down in a luxurious hotel penthouse suite by Lorde and Ken’s sniper and spotter successors. Joined by two prostitutes they are sitting ducks.

There is interesting chatter amongst the ladies, Ken and Lorde particularly about Lorde’s role as a sniper and why he is disillusioned and burnt out.

Then the intense action begins and bodies fall here and there amidst escalating tension set in an ocean of betrayal. Tamara with a silky and smooth Brit voice once supportive of Ken and Lorde morphs the supportive and replaces it with Arctic brutality.

Against all odds poetic justice is partially realized. Such treachery.

Tightly choregraphed fight scenes and lots of bullets whizzing here and there. Exciting.

Lorde and Ken make an excellent squabbling pair with their acting ability. Supporting actress Mona Bellaria Ion as Mona is a character with insight and delivers a compelling performance. Aside from a weak death scene of one of the good guys flawless acting. And what constitutes the “good guys” is the intellectual component of the film.

Directed by Nick McKinless.

In theatres and On Demand commencing 4October2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 84/100.