RKS 2024 Wine: Affordable Quality Cabernet Sauvignon: Look to Chile?

Perez Cruz rarely fumbles preferring to excel. This wine is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. It has spent 14 months in first, second and third fill French oak barrels.

Aroma: Blueberry attack. Black cherry, mint with a hint of dark chocolate.

Palate: Youngish wine that needs more time to assert its excellence. You might think low tannins but wait a minute and experience creeping tannins that level out at the moderate level. Stiff fruit for the most part hiding temporarily in an austere structure. But give it more time in the bottle and black fruit is going to bust out and dance joyously in the oral cavity discotheque.

Personality: I am at the present transient moment big and bold and lacking in finesse but as a minimum decant me one hour prior to serving if you can’t wait until I bust through my pubescent state into maturity after some time in the bottle.

Food Match: Pesto coated leg of lamb.

Cellarbility: The sails will begin unfurling in 2026 and sail very nicely into 2030.

Price: $23 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 92/100. Timatkin.com 2023 Chile Special Report 94.

(Perez Cruz Piedra Seca 2021, D.O. Maipo Andes, Perez Cruz, Huelquén-Paine, Chile, 750 mL, 14.5%).

RKS 2024 Film: “The Burning Season”: Raging Hormones, Various Intoxications of the Flesh and Deception from Z to A: The Canadian Film Fest

I have viewed some fine films showing at The Canadian Film Fest. There are so many film festivals in the world it is impossible to keep track of them all and I stumbled into this one by chance. It is certainly not a major festival but based on the festival films I watched great care was exercised in film selection.

“The Burning Season” commences with its conclusion in “Chapter 7” and works backward to the prologue but to understand its conclusion you must work backward in time. The filmmakers have given you no choice.

The opening scene before the opening credits roll has a young heterosexual couple promising each other never to tell anyone what has happened with a raging fire in the background destroying a building. This is intended to pique your curiosity about who this couple is and what is on fire and why.

Chapter 7 kickstarts the film, a resort wedding of J.B. (Jonas Chernick) and the pregnant Poppy (Tanisha Thammovongsu) ending up as an unmitigated disaster with cocaine-soaked J.B. rambling incoherent wedding vows, upsetting a food laden table then fighting Tom (Joe Pingue) who is there with wife Alena (Sarah Canning). Immediately prior to the fight J.B. shouts at Tom that he loves “her” and it’s not his fault. Who is “her”? As wedding guests evacuate Alena visits brooding J.B. staring at a fire and Poppy hustles out blaming Alena and J.B. for ruining everything. Alena says she must now go and save her marriage.

If I tell you more about the chapters and the prologue I will ruin the movie for you! But be patient and you will understand everything about the wedding blowup and why the characters acted the way they did. Be prepared for breadcrumbs scattered in your path by the filmmakers. There is lust, booze, alcohol, hormonal explosions, deception and most likely manslaughter. Got you interested?  Rest assured there are guilty parties here. Lust may beget not only progeny but a path of destructive and unintended results.

Chernick as J.B. masters the role of an unstable emotionally damaged character. Cummings Kraft Dinner romp at the Royal York Hotel is a classic and beautifully acted scene with an irresistible smile and twinkle in her eye. Pingue as Tom admirably portrays a bear of a man with a heart of gold but easily deceivable.

The film will be playing in Toronto at The Canadian Film Fest on 23March2024.

It was directed by Sean Garrity.

You can see the trailer here   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPgRlp-6LM0

Check out the festival website at https://www.canfilmfest.ca/the-burning-season

RKS 2024 Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Daughter of the Sun”: Cruel, Bizarre, Mystical and Biblical

“Daughter of the Sun” combines biblical references, “2001 A Space Odyssey”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Bonny and Clyde” making this one the best Canadian movies in modern times. Ryan Ward as writer, director and actor has quite an accomplishment on the screen. Please don’t hold it against the film that it is Canadian and shot entirely in the Province of Manitoba. Please don’t relegate it to Indie heaven!

Sonny (Ryan Ward) suffers or could it be blessed by Tourette Syndrome. He travels throughout Manitoba with his twelve-year-old daughter Hildie (Nyah Perkins) working at manual labour jobs and living in cheap motels. As Hildie remarks her father says that they do not belong in any one place and it is us versus them. Don’t get suckered in by the obvious!

And Hildie and Sonny are being tailed and observed. But by whom and why?

In yet another small town they meet several people that are like them in the sense they have a mental or physical handicap. Finally they are “fitting in” until they are ready to leave town yet again and their peaceful world becomes a cruel one and a innocent girl with Down’s Syndrome becomes “The Unspoken One”. So what does that make Sonny!

Solid casting down the line but a soulful performance by Ryan Ward is most impressive.

A film in the Canadian Film Fest showing  in Toronto on 22March2024.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKshOjHaW40&t=4s

Check out their website https://www.canfilmfest.ca/daughter-of-the-sun

P.S. and Hint: How did the dog, cat, Hildie and Glover not die? Like Hansel and Gretel note the breadcrumbs!

PPS: No that is not Keanu Reeves or Mel Gibson. Is Aurora Judas?

RKS 2024 Film Rating 96/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Hailey Rose”: A Mess of Quirkiness, Hate, Selfishness, Deception and Forgiveness: Canadian Film Fest

“Hailey Rose”, a Canadian feature film, is an intriguing mess of emotions, bearing in mind “mess” does not always signify negativity.

Hailey (Em Haine) and Rose (Caitlynne Medrek) are Nova Scotian sisters. Hailey is queer living in Calgary and in rural Nova Scotia queer is on par with an exotic animal. Rose is quirky. Their mother Olga (Kari Matchett) like Rose is quirky with a mean streak running through her although viewers may interpret her meanness for quirkiness. The viewer may feel a rage building up against Olga until it deservedly requires a big burst.

Olga’s lie is unforgiveable altering the course of Hailey’s life and that of the entire family. Counterbalancing Olga’s lie is Hailey’s escape from Nova Scotia selfish act? Pick your side in this emotional turmoil roil.

While the opening scenes suggest a light and fluffy film which is possible to fall hook line and sinker for it is also possible to label the film a classic delve into family dysfunctionality. Comedic elements yes but far from a hell-bent comedy.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=calp_ystA38&t=1s

The Canadian Film Fest website is at https://www.canfilmfest.ca/hailey-rose

“Hailey Rose” is directed by Sandi Somers and will have its Toronto premiere at the Canadian Film Fest on 20March2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 84/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: A Rich South African Blend?

Le Riche Richesse from Stellenbosch uses the term “richesse” to denote the wealth of winemaking traditions in Stellenbosch. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (57%), Cinsault (13%), Cabernet Franc (13%), Petit Verdot and Merlot.

Aroma: Blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, red licorice and milk chocolate.

Palate: Fair to say this presents a rich palate. Very solid wine. Blueberry and cherry pie. A tad juicy on the long fade of a finish.

Personality: I may be rich but I am humble so I will not say just how good I am. You be the judge of me.

Food Match: Squid cooked in red wine, garlic, onions, oregano and red wine vinegar. A popular Greek dish. I prefer the small California squid but a mess to clean but tastier than the Indian or Thai cleaned squid as where has the ink gone!

Cellarbility: Drink by 2025-year end.

Price: $24 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100.Decanter World Wine Awards 2023 93.

(Le Riche 2021 Richesse, W.O. Stellenbosch, Le Riche Wines, Raithby, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 750 mL, 14%).

RKS Literature: Not Having the Right Stuff to be an Executive (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

“Both were lighthearted, undaunted by ambition as they sauntered along the factory gate, outside of which was the Acme Grill. It had been made clear to both of them that they didn’t have the priceless stuff of which executives were made. So, unlike so many wide-eyed and hustling men all around them, they were to dress comfortably and inexpensively, and go out for coffee as often as they pleased.”

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., “Bomar” (short story)

RKS Literature: Why Executives Die Young (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

“The reason executives die young is that they don’t know how to delegate authority,” said Hackleman. “This should add twenty years to my life, because I hereby delegate to you my full authority as publicity director, just tendered to me by the Chamber of Commerce. The door of opportunity is wide open. If your publicity makes this year’s Annual Christmas Outdoor Lighting Contest the biggest, brightest one yet, they’ll be no ceiling on how you can rise in the world of journalism. Who’s to say you won’t be the next publicity director of National Raisin Week?”

Kurt Vonnegut Jr, “While Mortals Sleep” (Short Story)

RKS Literature: The Deadness of The Corporate Typing Pool (Kurt Vonnegut Jr.)

“Life is what you make it”, said Miss Hostetter, “and in-gratitude is one of the worst sins. Look around you! Pictures on the walls, carpets on the floor, beautiful music, hospitalization and retirement, the Christmas party, fresh flowers on our desks, coffee hours, our own cafeteria, our own recreation room with television and ping pong.” “Everything but life,” said my wife to be.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., “Girl Pool” (Short Story)

RKS 2024 Film: “Place of Bones”: The Good, Bad, Ugly and a Taste for the Finer Things in Life: Canadian Film Fest

I can’t think of any Canadian westerns I have encountered so I snapped up the opportunity to watch “Place of Bones” set in 1876 Canada.

In many respects it is a traditional 1950’s and 1960’s western. Good god-fearing sodbusters Pandora Meadow (Heather Graham) and her daughter Hester (Brielle Robillard) living a marginal existence in a remote location some 90 miles from the nearest town. Memories of “Shane”.

Their seemingly peaceful life is rattled when Hester finds an unconscious and bullet riddled man Bob Calhoun (Corin Nemec) on their property. They drag him into the house uncertain if he will survive particularly with a nasty bullet wound the leg which has shattered his bone. Calhoun is a bank robber. A very mean man and a double-dealing multiple killer not to be trusted even within his gang.

His gang at least those he has not double crossed and murdered is after him tracking him to the Meadow’s homestead. Calhoun is a bad man but gang leader Bare John (Tim Hopper) is just as nasty perhaps even more so.

The robbers are a bunch of nasties in acts but in words Pandora is a violent woman. God fearing you may think! What can happen when you open Pandora’s box?

Speaking of what you think you may be ready to walk away thinking good defeated evil in a messy shootout. Think again. Beneath the veneer of the good, bad and the ugly the good have a taste for the” finer things in life”. Think of Ernest Borgnine in “Marty”.

Directed by Audrey Cummings.

Toronto premiere at the Canadian Film Fest on 20March2024. Check out their website at https://www.canfilmfest.ca/place-of-bones

You can watch the trailer here https://www.canfilmfest.ca/place-of-bones

RKS 2024 Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: Domaine de la Madonne 2022: Beaujolais-Villages

Aroma: Black cherry, blackberry, plum and a hint of dark chocolate.

Palate: If you are under the impression all Beaujolais are light and fruity that is not the case here. That might be true of Beaujolais but less true for Beaujolais-Villages. There is power and concentration without noticeable tannins in this full-bodied wine. Well trained acids. Black cherry, figs, pomegranate and white pepper with a moderately long finish.

Personality: I like to flex my muscles so they are visible in the stands but best not try to involve me in overly intellectual discussions.

Cellarbility: Drink by 2025-year end.

Price: $19 CDN (Ontario).

Film Match: The Madones a film about one hit wonders. Check out my review of the film here https://setthebarlifestyle.wordpress.com/2024/02/09/rks-2024-film-the-madones-the-b-side-life-of-a-one-hit-wonder-group/

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 89/100. Jamessuckling.com 91.

(Domaine de la Madone 2022, AC Beaujolais-Villages, Jean Bererd & Fils, Le Perréon, 750 mL, 13%).