RKS 2024 Film: “Queendom”: Tough Going for Performance Artist in Nouveau Tsarist Russia

Gennadiy, known in costume as Jenna, is a performance artist in Russia who managed to escape to France obtaining asylum there fortunate enough not to have “fallen out of a window”, gunned down or to have consumed that FSB special plutonium tea.

You see Jenna is a queer that loves to parade about the streets of wherever she may be in outrageous costumes beautifully designed but scorned by Russian rednecks, security guards in supermarkets and those in the official Tsarist camp.

Jenna is from Magadan a dismal city of 137,000 known as a transit centre for political prisoners and forced labour in gold mines in the Stalinist era. He lives with his grandmother and grandfather who have difficulties understanding their grandson urging him to drop all the nonsense of his performance art and to get a good job by focusing on his education. Jenna endures a litany of criticism from his grandparents refusing to buckle in.

When he is not parading the streets and subways with his delightfully outlandish outfits he is making Tik Tok videos of his performance art. He is not welcome within officialdom but in the midst of an anti-war demonstration a small crowd follows him hurling insults on fascist Putin and praising opposition figure Navalny before he was murdered by the FSB.

In Moscow he attends cosmetic college until he is expelled for participating in a demonstration critical of Tsar Putin. In footage of an anti-war demonstration, we watch police haul off demonstrators and smacking them with truncheons. These are times when the Tsar has enacted legislation making LGBTQ status more or less illegal as well as any criticism of the war effort which we hear Tsar Putin on television confidently state will shortly be won as Russia defeats Ukrainian genocide of Russians.

Motto of the story Russia, in true Tsarist White Russian tradition, has devolved in a backwards fashion crushing all political opposition and those like Jenna whose appearance, sexual orientation and attitudes don’t fit in the good and obedient Russian mould.

Nice to know Jenna is safe in Paris where he feels like a human being.

Directed by Agniia Galdanova.

The film will be playing in theatres 14June2024 and available on demand.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 87/100.

RKS 2024 Film: HOT DOCS 2024: “Qoryqpa” (Streets Loud with Echoes)

Being a part of the Soviet Empire when the Berlin Wall fell Kazakhstan declared itself an independent democracy but not having much of a history of democracy it quickly slipped back into the comfortable ways of totalitarianism.

It was the 19July2018 murder of Kazak 25-year-old figure skating Olympic bronze medalist (Sochi 2018 Olympics) Denis Ten in Almaty that lit the fuse to simmering dissent in Kazakhstan. Police were used to solidify totalitarian rule by tracking, spying, harassing and imprisoning anyone criticizing the regime. Ten’s murder sparked a backlash amongst political opponents of the regime and also amongst the non politically active citizenry outraged over the daylight murder of Ten by two assailants who were in the midst of stealing his car mirrors. Citizens were outraged over the lack of police response to emergency calls, the failure to press charges for petty crime, failure to apprehend criminals and bribery. Each of assailants received an 18-year prison sentence.

Filmmaker Katerina Suvorova captures the rise and fall of a movement called “Reform the Police” which transcended the issue of police reform into a wider form of political opposition. Suvorova’s camerawork and narration reveal the fragmented and tenuous nature of the leadership of Reform the Police and the omnipresent security services watching, filming, arresting, beating to the point on January 22, 2022 when 241 demonstrators were killed and thousands detained and many of those tortured. The presidential election results were part of the protest. One queries if the lack of democratic traditions fostered an inability to mount a coherent and unified political opposition. Fascinating to watch how a criminal event, being the murder of Denis Ten, sparked outrage against the police which steamrolled into a wider political protest.

A strong resemblance of Kazak and Belarus opposition to the left-over Soviet hack leaders.

Hot Docs screenings of “Qoryqpa” will be on 28April2024 and 1May2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 73/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “What are you supposed to do with your hands?”: Be Yourself or Be Controlled Like a Puppet?

Crazy8’s has been organizing 8-day filmmaking challenges since 1999. Those filmmakers selected after a successful pitch are given 8 days to produce a short. On 20April2024 all 6 selected finalists present their short in Vancouver followed by a gala evening.

In “What are supposed to do with your hands?” anxiety ridden and later in life diagnosed with autism Kendra (Megan Toner) wringing her hands for 55 seconds before entering the house of her friend Olivia (Princess Davis) for a Christmas party. Paralyzed by fear an imaginary harpy has Kendra controlled by puppet strings for what she should be doing to socially “fit in”. Kendra has a fixation with chicken fingers and the harpy force feeds her so she can eat “like an adult” and she violently reacts to coriander. In great psychological discomfort Kendra makes the choice to be comfortable with herself and returns home to stare at a lava lamp. If you find this sad perhaps you have missed the point of this short.

A sparkling performance from Princess Davis oozing with charm and vivacity. A short but dazzling appearance. Move over Zenyada. Time for a major role for Davis.

Directed and written by Larissa Thompson.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 89/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Accidental Texan”: Zorba the Greek Meets Good Old American Values

“Accidental Texan” is one of those feel-good movies and we all require one of those every once in awhile. Erwin Vandemeer (Rudy Pankow) is an aspiring actor on his first substantial role filming in New Orleans but he destroys the opening scene and is promptly fired. His agent drops him. His acting career may be decimated. He heads to Texas and when his car breaks down he walks to the nearest town Buffalo Gap. It is a very small town. In a diner he meets Merle (Thomas Haden Church) an oil drilling roughneck with a good heart perhaps even a broken one.

An overnight stay becomes a month long one. As Merle and Erwin look for an oil strike needed in thirty days or nasty bankers foreclose on Merle’s oil drilling company. Big capitalists out to destroy the little guy but the little guy is going to give them a good fight.

Thomas Haden Church is a Zorba the Greek character full of life and colourful with a drive to succeed. He certainly shines in this role and if at times the plot meanders a bit his performance is a delight to watch. What a great Texan character he brings to the screen. Is this because at one point in his life he lived in Dallas?

Carrie-Anne Moss also delivers a stellar performance as a waitress with eyes on Merle. Watching her and Thomas Haden Church is worth the price of admission.

Pankow is the perfect foil (as the British author was in Zorba) as the novice in life falling under the wing of Merle. He is a goody two shoes knowing little about life other than his failures he dwells on. He steals, forges, drinks all in good form and for a noble cause. And by the conclusion of the film he is a man.

Aside from Thomas Haden Church and Carrie-Anne Moss giving outstanding performances the movie is good fun however predictable it may be.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 76/100.

VOD/Digital release will be on 23April2024.

RKS 2024 Film: “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World”: A Wild Ride Through Bucharest and Romanian History! A New Cult Film?

Radu Jude’s “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World” is a Romanian feature film replete with satire, a full panoply of Romanian music and implicit comparisons of modern Romania to Ceausescu’s communist Romania.

Angela (Ilinca Manoache) is a production assistant for a Romanian film production company in Bucharest specializing in “corporate films”. In this case an Austrian company producing a film on worker safety. Angela rushes around in a fury in her Renault (not a Dacia!) through Bucharest and its suburbs interviewing a handful of victims of industrial accidents to select the “perfect victim” for the corporate safety film. It is clear the life of a Romanian worker is cheap particularly when injured a guilty employer does everything to avoid a payout. In the cutting conclusion of the film the modern employee safety film is no different than the communist propaganda films often blaming the worker for his injuries as after all the state was the only employer. Poor worker Ovidiu injured in an industrial accident is selected and in numerous takes an honest recounting of his accident is neutered to a bland and simplistic message stripped of honesty and whatever the final message will be is in the hands of Vienna. Ovidiu, and for that matter, Romania has been reduced to a dupe.

Interposed in the film is a 1981 Romanian vintage film from Lucian Bratu’s “Angela Moves On” depicting the life of a female taxi driver in Ceausescu’s communist Romania. The clips from that film are in colour while the film is black and white in “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World”. 1981 Bucharest was much quieter and slow paced in comparison to the horribly congested Bucharest of today. Sexism and inequality certainly have survived the demise of Romanian communism. Angela’s existence and mission also clearly shout that the proletarian masses of Romania today are scarcely better off materially than those of Ceausescu’s Romania. While the corruption of communists Romania was largely within the communist party it is riddled throughout society in modern Romania. Moral corruption in modern Romania is highlighted by sexual deviant Bobiţă spewing misogynist drivel in a desperate attempt to obtain TikTok fame.

Perhaps one day I will recount my story of my trip with a Romanian truck driver delivering a truckload of eggs to Cairo. He helped himself to a few! Screw those who screw you.

The exploitation of Romania continues in the film this time from Austria. One is left contemplating what has truly changed in modern day Romania from the Ceausescu days? The taxi driver’s life in the 1981 film “Angela Moves On” is not that different from the modern-day Angela except the exploitation in the 1981 film is unspoken and not reflected in the story line and on film. It is staring you in face with what Angela must endure.

An exhausting film close to three hours in length. After roaring around with Angela working to point of exhaustion and self harm one can’t but reflect on the simpler and quieter days of communist Romania.

Who could ever play the role of Angela as Manoloche does here? Superb and immeasurably frantic and in the filth pits of degeneracy also playing Bobiţă discrediting the idiocy and shallowness of much of social media.

Opens in theatres in Canada on 19April2024.

You can see the trailer here  https://vimeo.com/913745105

RKS 2024 Film Rating 94/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Toe Pick”: All Chelsea Wants to do is Skate!

Crazy8’s has been organizing 8-day filmmaking challenges since 1999. Those filmmakers selected after a successful pitch are given 8 days to produce a short. On 20April2024 all 6 selected finalists present their short in Vancouver followed by a gala evening.

Preteen Chelsea (Nylee Phinney) is somewhat hefty for the typical figure skater yet she is enrolled in the Golden Blade Skating Club coached by the less than compassionate Karoline (Gigi Neil).

At practice with the “regionals” in mind young ladies whirl and whizz about with prima donna Jill dazzling all and clumsy and bizarrely dressed Chelsea labouring with her moves and falling noted and commented with appropriate eye rolls of disgust by nasty Karoline. After lacing into Karoline, Chelsea leaves the ice and a massive collision with Jill sets a groggy Chelsea elegantly dancing to Tea Paty’s “Heaven Coming Down” and growing up awfully quickly. Her wonderful smile at the end of the short is worth the price of admission. I am sure she must have been singing Sinatra’s “My Way”.

Gigi Neil performs CRUELTY to the tee!

Directed by Teresa Alfeld.

You can watch the trailer here https://crazy8s.film/films/toe-pick/

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 87/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Gone Abroad”: Death: A Full Range of Emotions Deftly Portrayed: Crazy8’s Shorts Challenge

Crazy8’s has been organizing 8-day filmmaking challenges since 1999. Those filmmakers selected after a successful pitch are given 8 days to produce a short. On 20April2024 all 6 selected finalists present their short in Vancouver followed by a gala evening.

Death literally stares you in the face as the film opens. Someone has died and in a memorial service Kevin (Max Archibald), a shy 15-year-old, is asked to come to front to address the mourners to say a few words about the deceased. He is too distraught to speak. Then the story is told through Kevin’s eyes.

Kevin’s friend and fellow student at a private Catholic school, Jansen (Justice Gin), unexpectedly disappears without warning or notice. Kevin, in a meeting with the principal, is told Jansen has gone abroad to study due his poor grades. Neither Kevin or his baseball team pals feel comfortable and they dig and with some parental assistance a shocking truth is uncovered. On the way to the revelation of truth many themes in this 18-minute short are skillfully laid out but never judged leaving that up to the viewer. Amongst some are hypocrisy of the Catholic church, treating adolescents like infants, deception, mystery, grief and guilt and if you are the ball and follow the breadcrumb clues dropped throughout the short the unmentionable.

Directed by Kevin Ang.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 91/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: Trustworthy Oregon for Pinot Noir? A Vacant Faced Zombie

The way tastings have been progressing this year Oregon scores high with Pinot Noir quality and has been doing so for years leaps and bounds over New Zealand Pinot Noir.

From Christopher Michael Wines from Tualatin, Oregon we try a Christopher Michael 2022 Pinot Noir.

Aroma: Strawberry, raspberry and a streak of milk chocolate.

Palate: About animated as a vacant faced zombie. As robust as Twiggy. Thin and weak. At best a smidge of sour cherry if you use your imagination.

Personality: Not much to speak of.

Cellarbility: Drink now if you dare.

Price: $22 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 73/100. Wine Align 88.

(Christopher Michael Northwest Winemakers 2022 Pinot Noir, Oregon, Christopher Michael Wines, Tualatin, Oregon, 750 mL, 14%).

RKS 2024 Film: HOT DOCS 2024: “A Mother Apart”: Rejection, Trauma and Mother Hunting

The documentary “A Mother Apart” chronicles the trauma suffered by Staceyann Chin as the result of abandonment by her mother Hazel who left her behind in Jamaica to be raised by extended family members when she departed for Montreal.

Poet, actor, and performing artist Staceyann Chin is the author of the new poetry collection Crossfire: A Litany For Survival, the critically acclaimed memoir The Other Side of Paradise, cowriter and original performer in the Tony Award–winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and author of the one-woman shows Hands Afire, Unspeakable Things, Border/Clash, and MotherStruck. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes, and her poetry been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She proudly identifies as Caribbean, Black, Asian, lesbian, a woman, and a resident of New York City, as well as a Jamaican national.

Staceyann Chin reading poetry

Chin narrates her own story and being a poet has a certain “flair” in her storytelling. Despite a clear rejection by her mother Hazel, Chin simply can’t agree to sever the emotional and physical ties that should have been there but weren’t. Chin’s mother flits in and out of her life all connection being a result of the efforts Chin. At points a viewer may muse that Chin is mother hunting her mother like big game to set her mind at ease and explore the guilt and rejection at abandonment. Mother seems tired and angry about the chase. Many of us have experienced at an early age abandonment or the death of a parent but we move on but not Chin bordering on obsessive behavior seeking some destiny of self fulfillment. Those who abandon must take their victims as the find them and Chin did not take abandonment well. The trauma is evident in much of her raging poetry recitals about abandonment and motherhood.

The rage is readily apparent when visiting Hazel’s original Montreal residence she angrily confronts neighbours that knew Hazel blasting them for not saying anything about their lies Hazel told them. This incident is evidentiary of her determination (or obsession) to elicit details about her mother.

Is the birth of Chin’s daughter Zuri a result of her motherhood obsession? Is Zuri being schooled in life by the scars of Chin?

Shockingly while Chin mother hunts in Köln, Germany she muses that as she reflected on how Hazel raised her younger sister Laura she expresses gratitude about her motherly rejection and realizes her mother is a player of emotions. Hazel lost custody of Laura in Germany indicative of her poor mothering skills.

Ok so you think Chin has finally realized Hazel is really “working her” it is time to call it quits but the mother fixation continues as she queries those who may have known her in Jamaica.

My impression of the footage of Hazel is that there is insincerity and excuses galore.

The viewer may be left with the impression not only was Chin played by her mother she may be playing herself.

A well put together story and subject to several interpretations. The overly melodramatic musical score is sappy to the nth degree.

Here is an excerpt from the documentary https://vimeo.com/894555101

Directed by Laurie Townshend.

A National Film Board of Canada and Oya Media Group co-production.

Screening at HOT DOCS 26/28April2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 88/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: A Grenache from Spain’s Calatayud Region

Grenache is king in Calatayud’s high-altitude vineyards. This Evodia Grenache is from grapes picked at 2,400-3,000 feet and grown in slate soils. A modest statement on the label states, “Grenache this great usually goes for twice the price.”

Aroma: Big fat almost overripe strawberries, some raspberry and black cherry.

Palate: One of those red wines where tannin feel increases slowly just when your opinion is that it is a low tannin wine. The tannins are just at the moderate level with some white pepper on the fringes. Cassis and strawberry with a slight abrasive nature held in check by black cherry dominance. You can describe the moderately long finish as hot or peppery. I will go with peppery although the alcohol is at 14.5%.

Personality: Questionable about the label saying I am half the price of an equivalent Grenache. I am good but…… I have a certain “thin elegance” perhaps because the cooler growing season made me less dense than usual.

Food Match: Pulpo a la Gallega.

Cellarbility: Drink by 2026-year end.

Price: $17 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. Luis Gutiérrez 91 plus.

(San Alejandro Evodia 2021, D.O. Calatayud, Bodegas San Alejandro, Miedes, Spain, 750 mL,14.5%).