“The sternest and most solemn of all was that of the nurse Olympiada Vladislanova. For her the morning rounds were like a divine service for a deacon. She was a nurse for whom the doctors were of a higher order. She knew that doctors understood everything, never made mistakes and never gave wrong instructions. She jotted down every instruction in her notebook with a sensation almost of joy-something the young nurses no longer had.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “The Cancer Ward”, 1968.
“This autumn I Iearned from experience that a man can cross the threshold of death even when his body is still not dead. Your blood still circulates and your stomach digests, while you yourself have gone through the whole psychological preparation for death-and lived through death itself. Everything around you, you see as if in the grave. And although you have never counted yourself a Christian, indeed the very opposite sometimes, all of a sudden you’ve forgiven all those that trespassed against you and bear no ill-will towards those that persecuted you.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “The Cancer Ward”, 1968.
In a Manhattan bar a reporter, an elementary school art teacher, a law school student, a potential victim of a date drug rape , a struggling playwright, a wealthy Cornell University dropout and a bitter and frustrated bartendress wanabee an actress on Oxy converge.
They are awaiting the arrival of River Dupont (Nikolas Elrifi). The date rape victim (Poya Mohseni) and her friend a law student believe River Dupont is the date drug rapist. The bartendress Ember Net (Vivian Helvajian) is awaiting River Dupont her drug dealing boyfriend. The reporter senses a story and her friend having completed an ancestry test awaits River Dupont believing he is her brother. The playwright Lincoln Lane (Nick Humparyan) waits for inspiration.
Be prepared for a film somewhat along the line of a murder mystery. River Dupont could be different things to different people and perhaps even a rapist and all eyes are on him and pending his arrival interesting stories, fears and ambitions percolate from fascinating conversations of those waiting for his arrival
The film is all about dialogue and there is no room for amateurs here. In this regard the casting is impeccable. Helvajian an actress one senses is waiting to bust out to stardom delivers a riveting performance that ranges convincingly from comedic to tragic. Humparyan also excels as a quiet but forceful and dynamic character.
Directed by Alyssa Rallo Bennett and was released on VOD 17September2024.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpn5gl39kBk
RKS 2024 Film Rating 93/100.
“The hard lump of his tumor-unexpected, meaningless and quite without use-had dragged him like a fish on a hook and had flung him into this iron bed-a narrow, mean bed, with creaking springs and an apology for a mattress. Having once undressed under the stairs, said good-bye to this family and come up to the ward, you felt the door to all your past life had been slammed behind you, and the life here was so vile that it frightened you more than the actual tumor. He could no longer choose something pleasant or soothing to look at: he had to look at the eight abject beings who were now his “equals” in faded and worn pink pajamas, patched and torn here and there and almost all the wrong size: he had to listen to these uncultured creatures and their wearisome conversations which had nothing to do with him and were of no interest to him.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “Cancer Ward”, 1968.
The City of Baltimore has a murder rate just about over 300 a year and the cause according to newly elected (in 2021) mayor Brandon Scott is not drugs or gangs but cases of interpersonal violence. The solution espoused by Scott is not increased policing which has failed in Baltimore time and time again but a more personal intervention to reduce the number of violent incidents in Baltimore. Arrests, convictions and incarceration are not the answer. The key will be group violence reduction programmes (GVRS) which is empowered by community groups and financed by federal, state and city funds. Offer educational placement, job placement and training. Divert help to violent types i.e. deter violence.
2021 saw an overall increase in murder rates which rose to 337 but in Western Baltimore where the GVRS was piloted with adequate funding homicides and shootings decreased by 30%. Now with GVRS being rolled out other than in West Baltimore by 2023-year end Baltimore saw a 20% drop in homicides bringing the murder statistics below 300 for the first time in a decade.
It wasn’t easy reaching this statistic. Maryland Governor Logan resisted state funding for GVRS initially but was won over by Scott. The crushing proposed solution by Logan of police intervention, prosecutions and arrests was dealt to Baltimore by Logan for years.
Perhaps we should take the limited success Baltimore to heart. The incessant gun violence in the United States leads one to make many unpleasant conclusions about The United States. Can GVRS Baltimore style stop the gun violence frenzy in the United States?
Directed by Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough with a theatrical release in New York 27September2024 and in Los Angeles on 18October2024. Streaming on POV on PBS on 25November2024.
RKS Film Rating 82/100.
“The Invisibles” will be gracing screens in Vancouver and Toronto on 20September2024. Canadian film is largely unappreciated at the box office both in Canada and internationally. “The Invisibles” is one of those “warm and fuzzy” movies like “Peggy Sue Got Married” or “Back to the Future”. Not overly complicated but not simplistic so if it won’t take off domestically and internationally there is yet another loss for Canadian filmmakers and worldwide audiences. And I told director Andrew Currie and Charlotte starring as “Rufus” the dog my views on the film and Charlotte gave me a big tail wag and Currie an appreciative smile.
Charlie Fisher (Tim Blake Wilson) and his wife Hannah (Gretchen Mol) are unhappy married Hamiltonians suffering from a tragic loss of their young son Oskar (Simon Webster). Hannah is in therapy but Charlie doesn’t have the will to join her having the inability to accept Oskar’s death. He suffers further mental battering being passed over for a promotion at work. He is miserably unhappy and suddenly Charlie is invisible and unheard and hanging out in bowling alley headquarters with other invisibles all of whom were once miserable like Charlie.
The warm and effusive Carl (Simon Webster) acts as barkeeper at the bowling alley bar and in effect the manger of this group of invisibles. This place that the invisibles are in has no pain as it has enabled the invisibles to escape worldly inflicted trauma they have left. However persuasive Carl is about the benefits of the world of the invisibles Charlie ( and Nick played by Nathan Alexis Canada’s rising indigenous star actor) wants to return to the living world and his Hannah.
Charlie has a difficult choice as in his new world Oskar has joined him and a former first love as well. Will he leave Oskar and return to Hannah? Is love and regret at not showing it in deeds enough to escape the numbing effect of this world the invisibles are in?
Clever filmmaking. Superb casting. Greenwood, Mol and Nelson absolutely shine in “The Invisibles” a film well blended with dark comedy, tear jerking moments, tragedy, horror and science fiction. Memories of Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” clicking her red slippers and wishing she was back in Kansas.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM8lNnpaZ3c
RKS 2024 Film Rating 93/100.
Ontario produces excellent Chardonnay. This is an organic Chardonnay.
Aroma: One of those tropical Chardonnays with pineapple, mango, peach, Royal Gala apple and more than a tad of oak. The wine was aged 10 months in 300 litre French neutral oak barrels.
Palate: Solid and full bodied and quite an oaky influence considering ageing was in neutral French oak. Not buttery and soft though. Let’s call it firm yet it goes down softly! In addition to some pear some guava and lychee. Longish finish.
Personality: Straightforward and right at you.
Food Match: Grilled pork tenderloin marinated in ginger, honey, garlic and soy sauce. Just might hit it off with a Thanksgiving turkey without cranberry sauce mind you.
Cellarbility: Consume by 2025-year end.
Price: $ 27 CDN.
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. Rick VanSickle 91.
(Southbrook Organic 2019 triomphe chardonnay, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Southbrook Vineyards, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5%).
“What the boss man doles out is all you will get. Only you won’t get even that, what with the cooks and their stoolies and trusties. There’s thieving on the site, there’s thieving in the camp, and there was thieving before the food ever left the store.”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, 1978.
33% Merlot. 33% Cabernet Franc. 33% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cabernet Franc thrives in Ontario and almost always makes wines that do not disappoint. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are most often mundane but when judiciously oaked can shine.
Each varietal was individually fermented. The Merlot was fermented and aged in French oak barrels. The Cabernets were fermented and aged in American oak.
270 cases were produced.
Aroma: Blackberry, black plum, cassis, black cherry and a bit of lavender.
Palate: I was expecting something rich and decadent considering the oak used here. Instead, the result is a wine with a juicy character and almost a bit sour like Bing cherries. God help me but the wine has a strong Baco Noir/Marechal Foch character. Short and sour finish.
Personality: I really dislike disappointing those who might have been looking for a rich Bordeaux blend but some say I came up short like George Constanta’s father with his rotund Korean sweetie.
Food Match: Eggplant Bolognese.
Cellarbility: I will give Featherstone the benefit of a doubt when they state this wine will do well anywhere between 5 and 15 years in the cellar. Being brave I will say give this until 2026 before you open. The youthful sourness may have dissipated but at $40 a bottle I would rather take my chances with a Bordeaux future wine.
Price: $40 CDN.
RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 86/100. Wine Align 90.
(Featherstone 2020 Onyx, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Featherstone Estate Winery, Vineland, Ontario, 750 mL, 13%).
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) issued a statement on 12September2024 the Canada-France film “Russians at War” directed by Anatasia Trofimova would be “paused” and there would be a screening “when it is safe to do so”. TIFF said it was aware “of significant threats to festival operations and public safety”. It would seem there are some (how many) that label the documentary as Russian propaganda. Yes harken to the 1966 film “The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming! At bit of paranoia in the air here?
Director Trofimova takes the battle right to the front and Russian troops from medics, cooks and seasoned and unseasoned soldiers speak their minds.
The documentary is unlike most war documentaries and may be unsettling to see many soldiers in the film being killed or wounded in action. There are open, bitter and cynical views of the Russian soldiers about the justification of the mutual slaughter. Yes there is a “patriot” or two but the patriotism seems vague and without any passion. Like many soldiers in combat many of the Russian troops are doubtful about why they are in a foreign land fighting a war.
What is the conclusion to be drawn once the film credits roll. The Russian troops are frightened or numbed out. They are demoralized after they are hammered by the Ukrainian forces. Comparisons to “Platoon” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” can be drawn here. Mismanaged grunts quickly realizing the brutality of war minimized and glorified of course by Russian politicians and the media.
A TIFF “pause” ensures greater demand to see the film. Wasn’t it the Soviet Union that banned films in its totalitarian days?
Watch the trailer here https://tiff.net/events/russians-at-war
RKS 2024 Film Rating 95/100.
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