RKS 2024 Film: “Starve Acre”: Don’t Mess with the Sacred Oak Tree!

Juliette (Morfydd Clark) and her academic archaeologist husband Richard (Matt Smith) live in an inherited family farm in the English countryside. Richard, who teaches the history of ancient British tribes, believes there was once a sacred oak tree on the property where the ancient gathered and may have even hung people.

At a county fair their son Owen stabs a pony in the eye setting off the movie with horrific squeals. Juliette tells the child psychologist that Owen in his sleep told her Jack Gray is whistling and talking to him. Juliette believes Jack Gray is telling Owen to do things he doesn’t want to do such as stabbing the horse.

While Juliette is having her cuppa at the front farmhouse door the sky darkens, the winds howl, birds flap away, strange voices are heard and she has a vision of a bloody skeleton of some sort. Owen collapses on the front door and dies. Yes ladies and gentlemen we have the beginning of a horror film!

Richard discovers in a drawer a skeleton like the one in Juliette’s vision. When Richard leaves the room the skeleton has disappeared and a hare is hopping about. Yes a cute rabbit who they capture and set free but strangely the hare returns into the house. Weird chanting, ominous noises and music creep into the film like the mists outside.

Harry, Juliette’s sister arrives for a visit.

Juliette discovers a book pasted together by Richard’s father containing notes and diagrams about sacrifices and summoning’s and there is a picture of the sacred oak tree with a noose on it. In the roots one discerns a rabbit with glaring eyes. Ancient lore says that the price to be paid to let joy pour from the oak tree will be paid by a price one, two and three. Well Richard has earlier unearthed on the property the stump of the sacred oak tree. My goodness that rabbit has rather glaring eyes! Then number two becomes number two.

One and two have already occurred and number three lies in a pool of blood while the glaring eyed rabbit is enjoying some life affirming milk.

The film is based on a 2019 novel by Michael Hurley.

Canadian theatrical release on 26July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “SURF NATION”: Imposed Serfdom and Mediocre Surfers

“SURF NATION” spans 2019 and 2020 following the trials and tribulations of young Chinese surfers at the Chinese National Surfing Academy in Hainan, China.

China, in the true spirit of the “National Plan”, launches a massive effort for China to qualify for the surfing competition at the 2020 summer Olympics. China did not qualify.

In the spirit of advancing the collective glory of China a rigorous training programme is developed and foreign coaches are imported. The top surfing bureaucrat admonishes the young surfers saying their worth is determined by the glory they will bring to China with gold medals. They must prove to the world the Chinese are the greatest in the world. I suppose in the spirit of the Cultural Revolution we should call this a Surfing Revolution where there are no re-education camps but instead a surfing academy.  

The training is rigorous, grueling and high pressure for those in the surf army. The winners receive a salary and even sponsorship. The losers are sent home but many are waiting at the gates of the Chinese National Surfing Academy.

Alex and Lolo receive the most attention in the documentary. Alex was at 16 the top Chinese surfer. Then Lolo who never quite made it.  Alex was not seen as a model Chinese surfer with his desire for high-ranking tour designation the Olympics be damned. He even rents his own apartment to escape the cloying atmosphere of the Academy. Lolo is disillusioned by her loss of her free surfing joy which has been transformed by a national Chinese mission.

Great surfers are individualists and somewhat anti-establishment a threat to the “official” Chinese doctrine of the collective good. While the Academy may churn out loyal surfers the collective mentality it would seem is destined to promote mediocre but loyal surfing cadres. One may be tempted to make comparisons to the Chinese manufacture of star athletes to the Soviet and Eastern European athlete mills in the old Communist days where performance enhancing drugs were a staple on the athlete’s menu.

A few words about the public relations blurb about the film’s hopes of bringing inspiration to those who are learning new sports”. It more likely does the opposite unless you are reading from “The Little Red Book”.

Directed by Jessica Chen and Jerimiah M. Bogert Jr. It will have its world broadcast premiere on 18July2024 on the WORLD CHANNEL streaming on YouTube the same day.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 71/100.

RKS Literature: A Kiss Without the Passion of the Universe (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

“He kissed her without enjoying it. He knew that there was passion there, but there was no shadow of it in her eyes or on her mouth; there was a faint spray of champagne on her breath. She clung nearer desperately and once more he kissed her and was chilled by the innocence of her kiss, by that glance at the moment of contact looked beyond him out into the darkness of the night, the darkness of the world. She did not know yet that splendor is something in the heart; at the moment when she realized that and melted into the passion of the universe he could take her without question or regret.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Tender is the Night”, 1934.

RKS 2024 Wine: Famille Perrin 2023 Tavel: Bardot or Twiggy?

As far a rosé goes the darker the pink the happier I am. Those wimpy pale rosés strike me with their acidity and thinness. By way of a bad analogy would you prefer to date Brigitte Bardot or Twiggy?

Aroma: Loads of raspberry with strawberry, red cherry, wet stone and a tiny bit of cotton candy.

Palate: What you get in the nose you receive in spades on the palate plus some watermelon. Firm with a long finish. Minimal acidity.

Personality: Yes I am primo rosé with impressive Tavel credentials. I may have fruity characteristics yet on the palate I am very serious.

Food Match: Smoked salmon pasta in a cream, vodka, basil, garlic, onion and tomato sauce over Tagliatelle egg noodles.

Price: $24 CDN (Ontario).

Cellarbility: Drink by Easter 2025 and what a match with an Easter ham!

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 93/100 (the 2022 I rated 92): Natalie MacLean 90.

(Famille Perrin 2023 Tavel, AC Tavel, La Famille Perrin, Orange, France, 750 mL, 14%).

RKS 2024 Wine: Some Higher End Bordeaux: Château Clarke 2016

There is an ample supply at Vintages (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) of red Bordeaux under $25. Are they so much inferior to a Château Clarke 2016 from Baron Edmond de Rothschild at $55?

This wine is a blend of 70 % Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Aroma:  A forceful and dense nose of plum, blackberry, cassis and black cherry. You might want to comment Merlot at its best with a precise measure of oak that does not overpower

Palate: The 70% Merlot is quite apparent here. There is no doubting of the smoothness on the palate but what about the burn? At 14% is the wine just too big for its britches? The severe tannins kick in at the end palate. The tannins overtake the fruit so can we say, bearing in mind the Rothschild name, the wine is still youthful?  At one point in time high quality red Bordeaux was used to make long lasting wines at 12% alcohol that required years of ageing. At $55 a bottle is this a “tradition based” gamble you want to take. In this case, given the subliminal aroma I would.

Personality: Audrey Hepburn in “Nun’s Story” crossed with Telly Savalas in “The Dirty Dozen”.

Cellarbility: Best wait until 2027 to open and let it cruise until 2035.

Food Match: Grilled lamb (rare).

Price: $55 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 91/100. Decanter.com 95. Natalie MacLean 93.

(Château Clarke 2016, AC Listrac-Médoc, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Gironde, France, 750 mL, 14%)

RKS 2024 Film: “Kryptic”: No Horror but You’ll Be Caught in The Gordian Knot!

Kay (Chloe Pirrie) joins a newly formed walking ladies club and with their guide they hike up Kryptic Peak. Kay separates from the group and encounters a hairy brute creature called a Sook as it is referred to in local lore. As the guide explains thousands of hikers disappear in the mountains each year without explanation. In fact a well known cryptozoologist named Barb Valentine disappeared nearby over three years ago. Her specialty is the study of the hidden such as the Sook or Big Foot. And golly poor Kay encounters the Sook in the woods and momentarily some goo dribbles out of her ear. If the Sook is at the scene expect goo!

There is something very odd with Kay. She is hesitant, halting if not confused and at some points seem not to realize her own identity. After returning home she undertakes a bit of research about the missing Barb Valentine discovers numerous articles in newspapers about her disappearance. Whilst doing this research her front door window is smashed and terrorized Kay takes off on an adventure of an undetermined nature.

For some reason she decides to represent herself to the many strange characters she encounters as Barb Valentine. The characters are really bizarre adding fun to the film. They are “overdone caricatures” but so weird they add an entertainment value to the film whilst an any other film they would be simply ridiculous.

At this point I go no further lest I spoil your fun of trying to untie the Gordian Knot particularly who really is Kay? The film succeeds not on any obvious plot line but on the fact there are many possible interpretations and combinations of them and shiver me timbers if any of them are wrong but what might you walk away with is:

> mental illness such as bipolar disorder, PTSD or schizophrenia

> the possibility that the humans portrayed in the film are the monsters

> human sexuality can be monstrous, destructive and even deadly

> eroticism of the unknown beasts

> the destructive effects of fame

> the existence of a secretive side of many

> domestic abuse

A quirky thriller if you have a creative imagination but possibly pedantic if you are hoping for a linear plot. Pirrie plays the role so well so even when asserting her power she fails to realize it. I mean who goes in the forest in a miniskirt and boots with platform heels!

Directed by Kourtney Roy.

Plays at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal on 22/24July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 84/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Widow Clicquot”: A Champagne Adventure

“Widow Clicquot” is one of those historical dramas with lush cinematography, brooding music and period costumes. It is the struggle of Barbe-Nicole-Ponsardin Clicquot (b1777 d1866) to navigate a struggling Champagne operation inherited from her husband François Clicquot into a successful business enterprise. François (Tom Sturridge) was an innovator with revolutionary ideas which largely failed. A poor grape harvest the year prior to Widow Clicquot’s inheritance put her in a struggling financial position.

Despite rampant sexism, treachery, war and a lack of funds through her determination, hard work including working in the vineyards, innovation, experimentation, love and understanding of the concept of terroir, adhering to her vision, taking advice from men on a selective basis she revolutionized the production of Champagne with her methods still in use today. She had guts too!

The flashbacks in the film of her time with François lay the foundation for her innovative techniques and a drive to continue the experimentation initiated by François. Her dogged determination was not so much based on the desire by financial success but the honouring of her late husband.

Haley Bennett as Widow Clicquot and Sam Riley as Louis Bohne her distributor are standouts.

Being somewhat involved in the wine trade there were several aha moments for me that may be lost on the average viewer but in no way detracting from the quality of the film. Of course, the actors are all British for a truly French story has the flavour of a 1950’s American war movie, you know where the Germans are speaking with an American accent.

Directed by Thomas Napper.

Canadian theatrical release 19July2024.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOFBDabjZt0

RKS 2024 Film Rating 87/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: A High-Risk Endeavour from Riverview Estate Winery: Baco Noir and Foch Blend!

Ontario Baco Noir flops more often than not. It has flopped many times in my glass but when managed in the vineyard and in the vat it can make exceptional Baco Noir e.g. Henry of Pelham. And Foch ripped out aplenty years ago can make some exceptional wine e.g. Malivoire.

54% Maréchal Foch and 46% Baco Noir. Fermented and aged separately for 6 months in American oak.

311 cases produced.

Can Riverview Estate Winery manage bad boy Baco Noir?

Aroma: Smoke, blackberry, black cherry, plum and blueberry.

Palate: Smooth and silky with minimal tannins. Dark fruit abounds. Fine acidity which is not disruptive but strongly suggests this wine flourishes as a foodie wine. Full bodied, winning and a creative blend.

Personality: I think I have shown my creators can manage Baco Noir which in the glass can exhibit enticing dark fruit but on the palate crumbles into nothingness. Gamay compliments me or is Baco Noir complimenting the Foch?

Food Match: I will not argue with the label stating the wine “pairs very well with smoked pulled pork or cheddar burgers”.  Great match for a celebratory turkey dinner! Vegheads would enjoy with stuffed field red peppers.

Cellarbility: Drink by 2024-year end.

Price: $20.15 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100.

(Riverview Cellars Estate Winery 2021 Baco-Foch, VQA Ontario, Riverview Cellars Estate Winery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, 750 mL, 12%).

RKS 2024 Film: “The Contestant”: Can Anything Positive Emerge from Reality Television?

Inanity and reality television are bedfellows. The specialty of reality television is humiliating people for audience snickers. A prime example would be “90 Day Fiancée”. What is next “Romans Feeding Christians to the Lions: Live at the Coliseum!”

It may well be that reality television was born with the Japanese television show “Denpa Shonen” specializing in endurance tasks for its younger contestants. In 1998 a version of the show “A Life of Prizes” was launched. Tomoaki Hamatsu aka “Eggplant” (nasubi in Japanese) because of his longish face was selected to participate in the show. Not knowing if the show would ever be broadcast, he was placed in a room stripped naked and left to survive with magazines and postcards offering prizes including the food he needed to survive which include dog kibble. When his total prize value reached a million yen the contest would end. Real intelligent television. 

To the amusement of a television audience that reached 30 million people Nasubi demeaned himself and delighted the younger viewers. The older generation and his own family were not amused by what some family members referred to as cruel exploitation. Nasubi also maintained diaries which later became best sellers.

And when he reached one million yen there was an immediate spinoff Denpa Shonen in Korea. 15 months later that show was wrapped up and Nasubi was taken in front of a live audience and the shock on his face when the blindfold was removed was gigantic. He simply could not comprehend what was happening. I query if the audience enjoyed clips of his desperation in that room? He said that suicide was contemplated and he suffered loneliness. He had lost the ability to connect with people. He felt broken, lost his faith in humanity, his heart wrapped in loneliness, shame and an inability to keep up with people’s expectations.

Years later the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a deadly avalanche at the Everest base camp, which Nasubi survived unlike 19 people who lost their lives, healed, through the reaction of Nasubi, the devastating effects of a reality show.

Directed by Claire Titley.

“The Contestant” has its Hollywood Suite on Demand premiere on 1July2024 with a broadcast release on 20July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 84/100.

PORTHEAD ALERT!  Kopke 2018 LBV

Late Bottle Vintage Port (LBV) is an affordable Port that can age well but certainly not as well as Vintage Port. For example the oldest Vintage Port I  have had was an 1867 and it still had life. The 1932 Vintage Port likewise.

How about the 2018 LBV from Kopke?

Aroma:  If there is one descriptor here it is massive blackberry. It has conquered the soul of this Port and I am not complaining.

Palate: Again massive blackberry with some blueberry and chocolate sneaking in an the after palate. At 20% there is some pleasurable and controlled heat with a finish that simply doesn’t want to get off the tram. Is that tingling good for the gums? Not as deep and expansive as a Vintage Port but pretty jolly good!

Personality: Not to be trite but Port is an affordable luxury. I am rich but will not deplete your pocket. A Port for the proletarian masses?

Food Match: Portuguese ox au jus or rare Prime Rib.

Price: $16 CDN (Ontario).

Cellarbility: This Port is at its peak. Perhaps enjoy at 2025 Christmas or New Year’s Eve at the latest. With a slice of mincemeat pie?

RKS 2024 Port Alert Rating: 89/100. Natalie MacLean 92.

(Kopke L.B.V. 2018 Porto, Sogevinus Fine Wines, Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 750 mL, 20%).