RKS 2024 Film: “The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed”

Ann (Joanna Arnow) is just north of thirty living in Brooklyn, New York. She is living and speaking in a monotone. There is little joy, excitement and vibrancy in her life. A string of alienating BDSM relationships. A numbing corporate existence that awards her a one-year award when she has been an employee for three. A nagging mother. A stream of alienation, frustration, loneliness and lack of fulfillment. Even her prepackaged Dal resembles the runs.

Is being stuck in this negative rut caused her to accept her fate because it is too late to change its course. After a string of failed if not debasing relationships she meets Chris (Babak Tafti) and matters seem improving as we see Ann smiling, singing and engaging with Chris. Rest assured I finally cracked a smile and thought, “FINALLY”.

The final scene was a crushing blow to me and dejectedly I felt like a rat scurrying under the path of an E Train. My God do I secretly admire Harlequin Romance films!

If I felt like throwing a rotten tomato at Ann it is because Arnow knows her stuff as both a writer and an actor and the title of the film “The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed” rings depressingly true. Oh Ann how could you have done that!!!!!

WARNING: If you are sad, depressed or it is raining best to avoid watching this film unless you feel dark and depressing humour may cheer you up.

You may watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UfoiKPxdoY

Limited theatrical release in Canada on 18June2024 with a VOD/Digital release on 2July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 87/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Population Purge”: The Story That May Not Be The Story You Think

Sometime in the future the United States government initiates a population purge in its population management programme. The governmentally introduced virus is genetically engineered to spare a relatively small group; those with AB+ blood. The few survivors of the governmental purge only survive with transfusions of AB+ blood. The government issues transfusion cards for “legal transfusions” but a black-market flourishes for AB+ blood and the currency of exchange is gold. Those caught selling “unregistered” AB+ blood may be executed on the spot.

Despite the harsh penalties a thriving black market exists with donors, buyers, middlemen and wholesalers. Underground AB+ blood auctions thrive.  

The United States is a dilapidated and ragged country full of outcasts in gangs battling each other for access to AB+. It reminds one of a Mad Max world where blood not petrol is the prize.

The acting is ragged, the fight scenes are rank amateur and the writing leaves much to be desired but the idea and theme are intriguing. The sets are apocalyptic. The wardrobe creative and the musical score right on. These positive factors will keep your attention despite the weak acting.  

Charlie (Peter Holland) is an old geezer with a strangely unlimited supply of blood. He lives in a decrepit abandoned amusement park with his granddaughter Maya (Lyndsay Soto). His living is selling his blood. He has a bizarre habit of putting on shows for his mannequins attired in a bizarre and threatening ringmaster’s outfit. His imagination is a bit wild and perhaps his sanity as well.

There are many bad guys after Charlie for his eternal wells of AB+ and a good part of the film centres on this.

But is the story we watch real? No this is no corny it is only a dream technique but something a bit more inventive if not riveting attempting to determine another story about a different purge.

You can watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/936857311/9fb02eaba6?share=copy

The film will be released on digital platforms on 9July2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 82/100

RKS 2024 Film: “One Must Wash Their Eyes”: In the Twilight Zone of Here and There

You may leave your country and physically be in Canada and in this case Sahar (Pegah Ghafoori) has left Iran to pursue her studies in Vancouver, British Columbia but her mother remains behind.

Sahar is far from a perfect example of a women the ayatollah theocracy blesses and without headscarf would she be the next Masha Amini? Sahar may have escaped enforced purity to be here but her mother she holds dear is there.

Sahar writes an article critical of how women are treated in Iran and attends a protest in Vancouver against the Iranian leadership sanctioned murder of the “impure” Masha Amini. She is photographed and her visage appears in an article in a local Iranian newspaper about the protest and matters take a turn for the worse.

Her mother and her uncle Hekmat there feel retribution from the authorities may be forthcoming. The eyes of the regime rove beyond Iran! There is some nasty business with Sahar’s late father’s interest in a business and Hekmat is not above suspicion as a swindler. Sahar awaits funds from the sale of her father’s interest in the business as tuition is due and failure to pay will end in revocation of her right to remain in Canada. Sahar loses her job in an Iranian grocery store run by another uncle as clients are both pro and anti regime and a rabble rouser like Sahar will offend the pro regime customers.

Poor Sahar is so far from home yet threatened by the regime’s toadies and by a family swindle.

Despite a personal tragedy Sahar realizes she must wash her eyes and begin to see things differently and takes a irrevocable step in that direction.

A powerful and flawless performance by Ghafoori but the screenplay leaves a few annoyances to deal with. Why the repeated shots of Sahar dancing and that floating in the pool scene. A simplistic reference to freedom? And the graffiti loving child who is a self-proclaimed witch. What is the purpose of this “deep and mysterious” child?

Directed by Sepideh Yadegar. A somewhat simplistic film and a far cry from a Jafar Panahi film.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 67/100.

World premiering at the Oakville Film Festival 22June2024.

RKS 2024 Film: Could This Be the Most Exciting Short Made? High Class Excitement at a Discount Price: “The Pickup”

“The Pickup” is an enticing short full of high-speed chases, crashes, satire and excitement. Operative Alpha (Xenia Leblanc) is entrusted to deliver a metal suitcase by a high-tech control centre. The fate of the United States rests with its successful delivery.

Some bright light at the control centre has ordered an Uber X for the delivery. Joe (Adam McArthur) is the driver somewhat baffled with the mess he finds himself in. And it is a mess as the bad guys are chasing Alpha and Joe and bullets are flying, cars and motorcycles are crashing and flying up in the air busting into flames. And blood is gushing.

Of course, you may ask yourself who would spend such money on a short? Well think again. The principal photography was 12 shooting days over the course of nine months. The car crashes and stunts were done mostly with practical effects using miniature toy cars. Shooting (the film) was done in the COVID deserted streets of Los Angeles. Could this be the most exciting short ever made?

This seven-minute short will have its world premiere at Dances With Films in Los Angeles on 25June2024.

Directed and written by Nicholas Acosta.

By the way the budget for this short was $6,000 USD.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgeM5EXKCrA

RKS 2024 Film Rating 96/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: I am Not a Member of the Luca Maroni Fan Club

I am in the wine bleachers as a bleacher bum misbehaving and throwing empty wine bottles at poor performers.

Luca Maroni is consistently rating most wines as close to perfection. I mean here is a 99 rated red wine. It is no Bordeaux first growth but a Rosso IGT from Puglia. Is it at some point very strange that the Liquor Commission of Ontario just keeps on flogging their wines unabashedly quoting Maroni and his celestial ratings. I suppose credibility flows in many directions. Lord Denning speak up.

The wine is a blend of three grapes namely Aglianico, Primitivo and Negroamaro and should theoretically put hair on your chest.   

Aroma: Black plum, blackberry, hazelnut and Christmas fruitcake.

Palate: Concentrated not wishing to take any hostages and at 11 grams per litre of residual sugar there is some sweetness to it. However it goes down smoothly without excessive heat considering its 14.5% alcohol content courtesy of all that sugar! Kind of reminds you of Apothic Red (a great enemy of Weight Watchers) at 15 grams of residual sugar. Goes down the hatch full of black cherry a bit like a Croatian cherry nectar juice.

Personality: If you like cotton candy I’m your type of wine.

Cellarbility: Drink Now.

Food Match: Sauteed pork medallions in a lingonberry jam and red wine reduction sauce.

Price: $18 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 88/100. Wine Align 87.

Comments from the Peanut Gallery: Not my style of red wine but well made if not with some mastery in taming its high alcohol. But what credibility do I have?

(Lupo Meraviglia 2021Tre di Tre, Puglia IGT Rosso, Fossalta di Pave, Italy, 14.5%, 750 mL).

RKS 2024 Wine Tourism: The Finger Lakes Cayuga Lake Wine Trail

There are 11 Finger Lakes in New York all narrow enough to be reminiscent of fingers. Cayuga Lake is one of the lakes. For many wine drinkers in the United States and Canada accessibility to Finger Lake wine is minimal. The Finger Lakes are easily accessible by road. The trip would be 5 hours from Montreal, 4.5 hours from Toronto, 4 hours from New York City and 6 hours from Boston.

The Finger Lakes have over 130 wineries and The Cayuga Lake Wine Trail has 10 participating wineries. And no you won’t be restricted to visiting wineries on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. On the trail there is nature including the rugged and spectacular Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls. There are state parks. There is frequent entertainment at the wineries. There is food. There are cheese producers. There is history. There are accommodations described. Details as to transportation services are included.

Visit www.cayuagawinetrail.com which can provide you with details about each winery, will assist you in planning your trip, describe events happening at the wineries and give you contact information. Easy Peasy. All you have to do is get there!

RKS 2024 Wine: Lemberger from Hosmer in New York’s Finger Lakes: Not the Stinky Limberger!: A Wine That Compels Thought

I was in Aurora, New York last week staying at the Inns of Aurora on Cayuga Lake. Up north then travelling southwest I arrived at Hosmer Winery in Ovid, New York. Yes I said Ovid and not COVID! And I tried a 2021 Lemberger wine not to be confused with Limberger cheese! And to further confuse matters Lemberger is known as Blaufränkisch in Germany and then even in Germany it is sometimes referred to as Limberger. Please someone untie the Gordian knot!

Without confusing you and I further, time to just try this pale-colored wine.

Aroma: Intense smoke like an Alberta wildfire, raspberry, Bing cherry, a dusting of cloves and Red Twizzler licorice. A bit mysterious but given here in Ontario we have no access to Finger Lakes wine instead being inundated with California wines highly profitable but on the most part “consumer friendly” and reliably boring. In summation a captivating aroma!

Palate: One may say this is a bit weak kneed on the palate and yes I will clap at the 11.9% alcohol making this a “refreshing” wine compared with so many monstrous 15 .5 % wines. In beer terms a craft brew blonde! Very light red fruit and a short finish. Not so German but very Cayuga Lake! I would almost serve chilled as a white wine.

Personality: A 99-pound weakling perfectly delighted and comfortable with being so. No big bazooka alcohol. Complete Cayuga charm!  I am the perfect anti-wine wine LCBO liquor monopoly if that makes sense. A wine that makes you think and think again.

Food Match: Mushroom Bourguignon! Or with some Dilly Girl cheese from Fromagerie Muranda on Cayuga Lake.

Price: $26 USD.

Cellarbility: Drink sooner than later.

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Hosmer 2021 Lemberger, Finger Lakes, Cayuga Lakes AVA, Hosmer Winery, Ovid, New York, 750 mL, 11.9%).

RKS 2024 Wine: Stepping Stone Limestone Coast Shiraz: Who is not Worthy?

Geez there is a 97 seal on the bottle from Winestate .I may have given a 97 rating a couple of times in 15 years. This must be an exceptional wine as the seal (paid for usually by the producer) never lies….right? Someone is not worthy here and it could well be me!

Aroma: Blackberry, purple plum, date and some licorice in a warm oaky embrace.

Palate: That warm oakiness carries through on the palate. Quite a concentrated blackberry attack with a tad of charcoal. No sweetness but rather tartness on the finish. Smooth but an almost hidden seam of acidity.

Personality: I am a member of the Royal Australian Blackberry Society. That 97-point seal is simply evidence of my royalty!

Food Match: Search the internet and if you can find a dish with blackberry sauce this wine is your friend.

Cellarbility: Drink or hold no longer than 2025-year end.

Price: $18 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 88/100. Wine Align 88.

(Stonehaven Stepping Stone Limestone Coast 2020 Shiraz, Stonehaven, Padthaway, South Australia, 750 mL, 14.5%).

Comments from the peanut gallery: So who is not worthy?

RKS Travel: Ithaca, New York: Would You Travel 23 Miles for Ice Cream?

On the way to Flemington, New Jersey for a birthday party I stopped off in Ithaca, New York to break up the trip from Toronto.

My waitress one night was effusive with her praise about 32 Below Ice Cream Shop located in Van Etten New York. So effusive in fact it necessitated a visit from a person who is not wild about ice cream.

It is a 23-minute drive from Ithaca. The ice cream parlour is not hard to miss in a town with a population a bit shy of 500. Simple and plain describes the décor. No Manhattan trendy nonsense.

My waitress said the owner, Craig Ahart, was a 25-year-old who learnt the ice cream trade in Florida. I think Craig is closer to thirty but I suppose that categorizes him as a whippersnapper.

Craig manning the till! Photo: R. Kennedy Stephen

Whoever taught Craig the secrets of ice cream small batch production did a thorough job. Small batch means 1.5 gallons of ice cream. My double scoop of Frankenstein was monstrously exceptional and it consisted of vanilla ice cream, Ghirardelli chocolate, Nescafe coffee and dark chocolate chips and at $4 more than a fair price.

His ice cream is made from fresh cream from Upstate Farms. In addition to ice cream one can delight with gelato, sorbet and Italian ice.

It is located on 5 Railroad Street.

And yes, it is worth the 23-mile drive from Ithaca.

RKS Travel: Visiting Cornell University in Ithaca, New York: Where to Stay: La Tourelle Hotel Bistro & Spa

Visiting your son and daughter or checking out Cornell University in Ithaca, New York then you might need to book a few nights in lodgings.

It is not as if Ithaca is a booming urban area. It has a population of approximately 33,000. You have your “downtown hotels” or you can stay just outside the city or perhaps up a little on Cayuga Lake.

After a picturesque drive through New York from Buffalo on the smaller roads it seemed only fitting that I stayed at La Tourelle Hotel Bistro & Spa on Danby Road. It is located about a ten-minute drive from the city centre. Initial impressions of Ithaca were not pleasant on our entry into it. A rough and tumble crowd at and in around Walmart. Fentanyl does well in small town America.

La Tourelle is located in a wooded area and true to its Fench name with some imagination it’s architecture just might suggest a minor château. The exterior has some rough patches.

The grounds are immaculately maintained.

It is surrounded by woods and of particular interest is the Buttermilk Trail which is heavily wooded and dark from the tree canopy. You could happily hike for hours in these woods but bring sturdy hiking shoes. Trail maps are available at the reception desk.

The rooms are large and immaculately maintained. But the rooms and bathrooms are dated and require updating. The view from our room unfortunately was predominately a large parking lot and garbage bins. Some landscaping would have blocked that unpleasant view. Small points like complimentary bottled water and even hangars were absent. A nod though to the small fridge as after all one is in Finger Lakes wine country! The balcony is tiny and the chairs both faded, a bit rusty and don’t completely fit on the balcony so they are on an angle.

A view of the parking lot from my room: Photo R. Kennedy Stephen

The Bistro, a separate building, has a large older section which is rustic with large planked wooden floors and a much smaller section with an outdoor view and somewhat ferocious air conditioning. The Bistro menu is limited but vegetarians and pescatarians will not suffer. One night it was the burger and that was fine. The next night roast chicken and biscuits with gravy so salty it had to be returned. The salmon however was perfectly prepared. And the wine and beer list was completely local. The bread was stale on the second night. The plates are well worn and scuffed. There is wrapped exposed piping on the floor in the small section of the Bistro and some food splatters on the shutters. Strangely breakfast at the Bistro is only available on the week-ends. A rather industrial “buffet breakfast” awaits for $7. If you like Wonderbread and equivalent bagels this buffet is for you. The coffee is also unimpressive.

The staff are accommodating and polite.

Overall my impression is La Tourelle was once a gem in the woods but like much of “greatness” fades and La Tourelle is fading. I understand new management was in place as of March. It will be up to them to revive La Tourelle.

Pets are welcome.

Rates are from $162-$654 USD.

RKS Travel Rating 68/100.