RKS 2024 Film: “Come Lie with Me” (Arrête avec tes mesonges): The Torture of Remaining in the Closet

I take issue with the translation of “Arrête avec tes mesonges” which in my French means “stop with your lies” far more appropriate than “Come Lie with Me” given the path and plot of the film.

You see Stéphane Belcourt (Guillame de Tonquédec) is a gay novelist who is quite out of the closet. On a book tour to his old home to promote his latest short story he meets Lucas Andrieu who is running a tour of American book distributors in town to participate in its 200th anniversary and hear Belcourt make a speech at a celebratory dinner.

Belcourt as a 17-year-old way back in 1984 had a short and passionate fling with Thomas Andrieu, yes Lucas’ father! Thomas was fastidious about this relationship taking great pains to ensure absolutely no one had knowledge of it. He took this concealment to his grave despite having married and having a son Lucas. Yes, the fling with Belcourt was brief as Thomas went to work on his grandfather’s farm Spain shortly after the affair had begun never to return to Belcourt’s arms. Belcourt accepted his homosexuality and emerged from the closet but Thomas concealed it his entire life committing suicide after his lover in his later years gave him an ultimatum come out or I will leave you. He rejected that ultimatum.

Lucas pieced a few material and behavioral clues his father left behind to point to Belcourt as his lover including a letter from his father to Belcourt which was never delivered which provides a degree of redemption for Thomas and clarity and healing for Belcourt.

Oh my goodness count on the French cinema to deliver a sophisticated and gentle homosexual tale with discretion and reserve unlike many of the North American and Brazilian LGBTQ films that may absolutely deter straight audiences from watching them.    

“Arrête avec tes mesonges” is exactly the film to draw straight audiences into watching a film with a homosexual context. I would like think “Arrête avec tes mesonges” of as a film about two humans in love.

Well acted throughout with Tonquédec brilliant, the quirky and hyperactive Gaelle (Guilaine Londez) offering understated comic relief and yes Victor Belmondo looking like the spitting image of his grandfather Jean-Paul Belmondo and delivering a solid performance.

Directed by Olivier Peyon the film will be available in North America on DVD and VOD on 15February2024.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FEWFGixfwo

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 91/100.

RKS 2024 Wine: So What if 2020 Was a Good Red Bordeaux Vintage?

The pundits say 2020 was a good vintage year for red Bordeaux wines. This does not mean you fall hook line and sinker for every 2020 that comes your way. Who is behind the juice is perhaps most important. Not all wineries are created equal. One should ask when the grapes were picked. What were the blend percentages? Who is the winemaker and their reputation and past record? Given the “rage of terroir” where in Bordeaux were the grapes from? Most of us can’t answer these questions and we must rely on wholesale importers/buyers/agents to look out for our palate. But these are questions only the wholesale importer/agent purchaser can answer but their profit may be more important than your palate. Based on my personal experience the big importer in the Province of Ontario, a government monopoly, shouldn’t be importing and selling at least 30% of the wines on their shelves. And I will not cook with wine I will not drink so off it is to be returned.

Before gagging on the tyranny of government liquor monopolies perhaps we should move on and try a Cheval Quancard 2020 Bordeaux Réserve a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Aroma: The high Merlot percentage shines through giving the wine a lushness and softness on the nose with blackberry, black cherry and a smidge of dark chocolate.

Palate: There is a certain sternness to the wine surprising given the high percentage of Merlot. Acids and tannins in balance here. Mostly blackberry and black cherry. Moderately long finish.

Personality: Call me typically French however stereotypical that may be. We Frenchies (mechant ecrivan!) are a bit tight fisted with flaunting our fruit particularly here in Bordeaux.

Food Match: Mushroom Bourguignon over Polenta.

Cellarbility: Some softening can be expected through to 2026. Consume by 2028-year end.

Price $21.95 CDN (Ontario).

RKS 2024 Wine Rating: 91/100. jamessuckling.com 90.

(Cheval Quancard Réserve Bordeaux 2020, AC Bordeaux, Cheval Quancard, Carbon Blanc, France. 750 mL, 13.5%).

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: ?February1970: Amsterdam, Holland: They Will Tear You Apart in the Red-Light District

Dear Barb:

Well its caught up with me all this cold and damp weather as I awoke with a sore throat, a cough with a headache. For a change it is a beautiful sunny day. I went downstairs and had three cups of coffee and returned to the room.

I have tickets to the symphony this afternoon. I went last night again. On Wednesday I am seeing the ballet “Giselle” with Margaret Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev. On the 16th there is a Bach organ recital in the big concert hall and I will see that one too.  I should have stayed in a hotel near all these cultural events as I spend most of my time there. That guidebook on Amsterdam is very helpful as I consult it planning my excursions. It tells what streetcars to take to get to destinations. Clothes and purses are cheap here but not like Spain. It is tempting but I would rather spend my money on concerts. I will go for a stroll and buy some oranges and chocolate should I have to stay inside all day.

Love Mum

I went out and this is what I got for $4.38. Three huge bottles of Coca-Cola, 2 large bottles of grapefruit juice, one orange juice, three bottles of Heineken , a plate of white asparagus with a twist cap (15 cents each) half a pound of meat salad, a large pack of mints (to suck during the concert), two packs of gum and two large soft buns to eat with the salad. The store was beautiful with rows and rows of salad. I would like to eat them all. I put the stuff outside my window as it is the same as a refrigerator. I’m coming home after the symphony and will go to bed as I am feeling so lousy. I will have a beer, salad and asparagus in bed. Tomorrow I will go to the second and bookshop and buy some books.

I am glad I came here but I wished I had someone to talk to like I did in Spain. I just can’t sit alone in the hotel bar! The Dutch are more reserved than the Spaniards. They certainly stare at you but don’t talk. I am used to the currency here now. I am spending money here like water especially on the concerts. They ae so much cheaper than Montreal and I love them. I was to go the flea market today but feel so lousy. I am now going out to find a bookshop.

This is a perfect hotel for me as it is in the centre of town. I can walk to most of the main attractions and it is just a few minutes walk to the streetcar. Please do keep my letters.

I bought a green long sleeved wool seater with a V Neck in Spain and wear it most days. It is comfortable and warm.

I am going out to wander around a bit. There is so much to see I wish I had someone with me to share it with.

I tried a few times the different gins that the Dutch drink straight and there are different colours. Ugh. I can never finish them. But it makes one warm in this cold and damp weather. There has been a knock at my door twice. I guess they want to come in and clean so I will finish this later

Later

I took a walk this morning and nearly froze as I was wearing shoes and not boots. Here in Amsterdam the weather is different each day. The worst is when it is windy and raw. I just missed the tram on way home but am now safe and warm in my room trying to thaw out. I did visit a grocery store. The vegetables are cut up and ready to cook. Trays of chopped carrots, onion, parsley, cabbage-everything. Two big Coca-Colas were 28 cents and here in the hotel one small one would cost 28 cents. Six oranges were 28 cents lovely and big. No fruit comes with these Dutch breakfasts.

The hotel is in a middle-class district and I will tell you more about it when I come home. God help me Barbara I am frozen. I should buy a bottle of booze for such occasions. I went to the Dutch people’s home as they had invited me. They were so shy and the kids were cute. We had some really good coffee and an apple pastry she made with chocolate. They took me home and we went through the red-light district. Awful. They sit in the window with sort of a spooky blue light on them in low cut dresses and some standing outside in red slacks holding umbrellas up. I had wandered down there the other day and didn’t know where I was. I felt uncomfortable and everyone seemed to be staring. Something told me I shouldn’t be there It is funny that I knew that inside. My host said it was not safe there especially for young girls..never never go down there. The women would tear you apart.

Love Mum

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut: Karim is Coming to Town! : Chapter 13

I heard some exciting news that Karim is coming to Toronto. Karim is an Egyptian name that means “Noble and Generous”. Not only is Karim coming to Toronto from Cairo but Bob and Fay have put in an application to adopt him. Karim is a street dog and we were friends on the streets. Karim wasn’t always reliable but if in a fight with our pack he’d always have my back. I can’t but think this is all some sort of plan that Allah has laid out for me. Misery in Egypt and happiness in Canada.

A season called winter has come and it is so cold but it is fun if you forget about the cold! Bob and Fay have bought me a blue coat to keep me warm. I look so important when I wear it. If only the street dogs I left behind in Egypt could see me in this beautiful coat. It keeps me very warm. Fay wanted to try doggie boots on me but my paw pads are tough from the streets and they do not get cold. I do not like them so I will not wear them. What does bother me is when the big trucks come and put salt on the streets to melt the snow. If I walk in it my paws sting so I stay on the sidewalk and my paws do not sting.

What do I love about the snow and cold? I love watching it fall like magic from the sky. I love feeling snowflakes on my nose! And Dillie The Westie taught me a real neat trick called snowplowing. You put your snout in the snow and run getting your face all wet and it feels so good. But there are cold mushy days too and the sky is grey for many days which makes you feel sleepy. Sometimes it gets so cold Dillie and I can’t walk very far because our feet become frozen. If it is too cold for a walk we are put out in the backyard to do our business and it so good hopping inside the house cuddling up in our warm beds. Sometimes Bob makes a fire in the fireplace and both Dillie and I sit by the fire feeling warm and happy listening to the crackle of the wood and feeling the flames warm our body. What a strange country Canada is. So hot in the summer and so cold in the winter!

But before I forget there is a season here called autumn which is after summer and before winter. There are many seasons in Canada while in Egypt there was only a hot summer and a cooler summer. The leaves change colour so there is gold, green and brown and sometimes a flaming red. The days grow shorter and the sun sets earlier. This is all so new to me and I love it. I feel like I am in a BBC documentary about Canada.

It was late in the autumn when Bob and Fay picked up Karim for a two-week trial. I think this means if Karim is good he can stay with us. Karim was dropped off by the adoption agency at “our house”. We were so happy to see each other we had a play fight which frightened Fay and Bob until they realized it was playtime. Dillie used to play fight years ago but now thinks it is something “silly puppies” do. Karim made a big mistake after playtime. A stupid BIG MISTAKE!

You probably don’t know this but on the streets of Cairo Karim was seen as one of the leaders of the pack for the smaller dogs. He was the boss and you didn’t want to make him mad or you’d be thrown out of the pack. And if you weren’t in the pack you had little protection from the bigger dog packs or rival small dog packs. So Karim expected Dillie to let him play with some of his toys without asking Dillie. Dillie snarled at Karim and they got into a barking contest trying to show each other who was the leader of the pack. They didn’t hurt each other just sounding as mean as they could. Dillie is a sweet dog and I have never heard him snarl or growl like he was doing. Bob and Fay came down with a shocked look on their face. Fay said to Bob, “No one disrespects our Dylan like this! We are going to return Karim to the adoption agency tomorrow!” Bob replied by saying Karim must have been upset by all the changes in his life so he deserved another chance. Karim was sent into my crate to “cool down”.

I said to Karim how he had made a VERY BIG STUPID MISTAKE. Did he not understand Dillie was a brave and mighty West Highland Terrier whose ancestors were great hunters and brave fighters? Had he been living in Egypt during the times of the pharaohs he would be amongst the pharaoh’s personal guards. You are a guest in Bob and Fay’s house so show respect for Dillie. He is the leader of our pack and he is older and smarter than you. He knows how to deal with these humans here in Canada. You either show him the respect he deserves or you might find yourself back on the streets of Cairo!

Well part of fault here was mine as I never introduced Dillie to Karim and explained who he was. Karim quickly realized his VERY BIG STUPID MISTAKE. From that moment on he gave Dillie the respect he deserved and quickly started to fit into the family. You are entitled to make mistakes as a street dog from Cairo but you better learn from them as who knows who you might end up with or where that might be. I bit Bob on my first day at his house but I learnt from my mistake.

Close to Christmas all three of us were friends and I can remember on one of our walks all three of us were swaggering down the street like we owned it. This was the best pack of dogs ever! Three in one house!

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother:? February1970: Amsterdam, Holland: Smelly Trouble Causing Hippies in Long Fur Coats

 Dear Boys:

I am taking a rest before supper. I don’t know when I will have it but it will be later. I have a lousy cold wouldn’t you know it.

I ate lunch at 3:30 so dinner will be light. This morning after the breakfast of cold ham, salami, cheese, butter and coffee I walked to the main station. The trams all have mailboxes in them. They all seem to end up at the main station. The mail is removed every time the tram returns to the main station.

I looked at the store windows and had a coffee and then took a trip on a big glass bottomed boat through the canals. It was quite something to see al the buildings from the canal. There was a tour through the harbour and I saw a boat I have seen before called the MISTAL. There are houseboats moored in the canal that people live in. Many hippies live in the houseboats and they all wear long fur coats and stink. They have had a lot of trouble with hippies in Amsterdam.

My hotel is in the centre of the city and the main square right outside my window. There are thousands of pigeons with many people feeding them some right from their hands where they eat food right from bags. Robert if you remember save my letters and it will be the start of a record for me. They say that at one point hippies were sleeping in the square and the police had to chase them away.

I did not sleep well last night as there are two town clocks that go BONG BONG every hour then on each half hour they play a tune.

There are no Canadian papers I can buy on the newsstands so I haven’t a clue about the weather in Montreal.

The streetcars are very modern here consisting of two connected cars and you enter on the back car. They are soundless and comfortable. Every time you enter you get your ticket stamped. A ticket can be used on two trips if they are no greater than 45 minutes apart. Brother, I hope I get used to the clocks.

I’m very lonely for you and home. I don’t know how I have stayed away so long so I must keep busy. I just say to myself you may never have another chance. So stay!

I had a haircut today and it is very short and very dirty. I am afraid to wash it as I don’t want to worsen my cold.

I have no exact idea when I will return home but it will be in March. I want to stop in Germany and in New York next.

Love you much.

Mum

Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: The Final Cut: Some Fine Tuning for a Street Dog: Chapter Twelve

I was fully trained at least by Egyptian standards when I was living with my first master Anwar.

What do Fay and Bob expect of me knowing I may be a bit rough around the edges because of the tough time I spent on the streets of Cairo? Can I deliver and be the perfect Canadian dog that I really want to be? Canadians have been so good to me it is my duty to show them Egyptian dogs can be as good as Canadian dogs but it is also a matter of pride for me. These Canadians have done many favours for me so I must not let them down. Dillie has been so nice to me too and as he is my elder I respect him and I also feel I owe a duty to him.

So what does Reggie have to do to be a good Canadian dog?

  • Going to the bathroom

While with Anwar in Cairo he taught me that I must do “my business” outside. Yes, I had a few accidents as a puppy but I learnt the “outside rule” according to a regular schedule. But when you live on the street as I did in Cairo the rules change as you can pee and poo when and where you like. Coming to Canada meant I had to be the dog I was with Anwar. Bob and Fay take me for regular walks and sometimes very long ones which I love. Dillie and I like to sniff and pee to tell other dogs we have been there! But I have had a few accidents at Bob and Fay’s home. You see sometimes I forget where I am and just pee like I am on the streets. Then I realize what I have just done and don’t know why I have been so bad. I am ashamed and hide. Bob and Fay call me gently and tell me softy that I am not a good dog for peeing in their house. They say to each other that my time on the street has caused me to forget my manners but they do not strike or curse me. Their kindness makes me try hard to please them and show them I am smart and well mannered and after a few weeks I am perfect with no accidents.

  • Being crated

Sometimes Bob and Fay go out shopping or to see friends and they leave me and Dillie behind. When they leave they put me in a cage they call a crate. They tell me they are so sorry they have to do it. I feel a bit better knowing Dillie was caged when he was young.

The first time they did it I went frantic yelping and crying. I have always been free and I am so frightened being caged. But strangely after a few times of being crated I begin to feel safe in my home. In a way it is like living in the cardboard boxes I lived in on the streets of Cairo. I stop panicking after being crated a dozen times because I know Fay and Bob always return and let me out and give me hugs and pats on the head telling me how good I am. I think I was so frightened initially when Bob and Fay left as I thought they would never return and I was being crated for being a bad dog. But when they left after being crated I wasn’t frightened as I was in my own home, Reggie’s home!

  • Being nice to other dogs

I knew that being nice to Dillie was my most important job for Bob and Fay. Being my elder and being a friendly and loving dog, we get along like best friends. In fact we are best friends. He has never lived on the streets like me but he has lived with Bob and Fay and their son Drew and daughter Lexis for all of his 13 years so he knows humans much better than I, well at least kind and good humans, and I have much to learn from him.

I do have problem with bigger dogs like the Rottenwhiler that bit me in Cairo when I tried to steal his food from his bowl. I lunge out and growl like a crazy rabid dog. Something makes me do it. I get dreams in my head that any big dog is the Rottenwhiler that attacked me. Dillie also lunges but not at all big dogs, just dogs that threaten him by moving quickly towards him and barking at him. When he wants to be he is a little white terror! Bob and Fay have a trainer that is working with me to stop this lunging. I get liver treats for not lunging so I associate treats for not lunging and it works. I am beginning to like the bigger dogs that Dillie likes usually poodles or oodles of some sort!

The trainer tells Bob and Fay that I am “making progress” but that the dog attack I suffered in Cairo left “deep scars” in my mind that may never heal or take much time to heal. I am improving. Really I am. The more time that passes and the safer and more loved I feel the more I trust Bob and Fay will never let a big and bad dog bite me. And Dillie will always have my back.

  • Being nice to people

The trainer told Bob and Fay that while living in the streets of Cairo people were mean to me which is true but there were some humans that fed me and gave me water. Canadians are mostly nice although watching the news I heard that there are over 100,000 homeless cats and dogs in Canada every year so Canadians can’t be perfect. The news report also mentioned “puppy mills” where puppies live in horrible and cruel conditions.

Dillie has a good soul and when you know him not a mean bone in his body but when the door knocks he goes a bit nuts. He doesn’t much like Bob and Fay’s cleaning lady. So he is crated when she is in the house. She is a nice lady but I sense she does not like dogs so I stay away and keep Dillie company outside his cage. We both bark at the postman but Dillie says this is a tradition for dogs so I bark too. The postman smiles and says hello to us.

Both of us love chasing and barking at squirrels which Dillie tells me is a Canadian canine tradition like barking at postmen! There were no squirrels in Egypt to chase only rats.

Bob and Fay’s daughter Lexis had a new baby Peggy. Everyone keeps a close eye on us when Peggy is over for a visit or we go visit her. Babies are strange but I like them but no one seems to trust us. These humans can be strange.

  • Being obedient

This means doing what humans tell you to do. This is not a problem for me as isn’t there an expression don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

  • Going to school

Going to puppy school is a bit strange for me as I am not a puppy. But for eight weeks I go to puppy school with Bob and Dillie. Dillie has been through it and admits he wasn’t the best student! It really is about doing what you are told and that comes easy to me because of all the BBC television I watched I understand English so very well. What is new to me is the hand signals we should know like “down”, “up” and “stay”. No problem for me but these puppies are so silly I feel embarrassed to be with them!

RKS 2024 Film: “Be Still”: A Descent into Madness of a Forgotten Canadian

You know Salvador Dali and Mary Cassatt. But do you know Canadians Helen Galloway McNicoll and Hannah Maynard?

All but erased from history, 40 years before Dali and the Surrealist movement began, professional Canadian photographer Hannah Maynard was perfecting surrealistic techniques in her Victoria, British Columbia studio. Maynard moved beyond stone faced portraits to a more creative as opposed to reproductive style with her portrait photography.

After the death of her infant daughter Lily, Maynard began losing her grip on reality and “Be Still” chronicles her descent into “madness” as that term would have been used in 1885. Through innovative cinematography somewhat in a Guy Madden style we witness Maynard (Piercey Dalton) delusions and apparitions dealing with Lily’s death and her compelling drive towards a new style of photography. The standard photographic style including the mug shots she took for the local police force may have paid the bills but stifled her creative force. She constantly sees and converses with Lily and sees multiple images of herself in a mirrored dreamlike scenario. Is her mental illness some type of multiple personality psychiatric disorder?

A chilling yet well-suited score by Joshua Hemming.

“Be Still” is based on a play by Janet Munsil.

Should you be in Victoria, British Columbia you may see some of her photographs at the Royal B.C. Museum.

Her husband Richard (Daniel Arnold) a talented landscape photographer watches hopelessly the decline of his wife. What a crushing scene as she realizes her descent into madness and admits to Richard she is coming apart. Powerful indeed.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTG2PKKy9Fo

VOD and Digital release in Canada on 16January2024.

Helen Galloway McNicoll (1879-1915) was a Canadian Impressionist painter recently featured in an Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition.

RKS 2024 Film Rating: 95/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer”

“Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” is a documentary scanning the live and films of German director Werner Herzog. Herzog quips all his films emanate from pain and not pleasure. While many of the actors and directors in the documentary laud Herzog as a dreamer Herzog says he rarely dreams but sometimes when walking or driving long distances his vision is surrounded by insects and butterflies a sort of dream for him. He believes we all have deep stories within us that are not yet articulated but their articulation is equivalent to dreaming.

Herzog’s family was bombed out in Munich in the Second World War so his brothers and mother were located to a small Bavarian town. His father had deserted the family prior to their move to the countryside. They subsisted on little food and he remembers perpetual hunger. After the ending of the Second World War, he worked the night shift in a metallurgical plant and with his wages started his career making short films. The 1960’s saw a slew of German rustically based and schmaltzy films with no city scenes, young people or social relevance. By 1965 several young German directors situated in Munich began to change all that.

The documentary presents a visually captivating cruise through Herzog’s career including the visually stunning 1972 masterpiece “Aguirre: The Search For God” which if you have yet to see shame on you and me for that matter for not having watched that film and the many other Herzog gems. Herzog novices and aficionados alike should find the documentary riveting.

Directed by Thomas Steinaecker.

Limited Canadian theatrical release on 19January2024.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 88/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “Eternal You”: Manipulative and Delusional Comfort Offered By Artificial Intelligence? The Swindling of Human Intelligence (or Lack Thereof) by Artificial Intelligence

“Eternal You” is a German-American documentary world premiering at 2024 Sundance this January. It explores the use of AI by users to interact with the dead through chat box voice synthesis and often with visual interactions. In this AI paradigm logic dictates this is an hallucination or illusion which seems in the examples proffered to be a reality fantasy for those who refuse to say good-bye to the deceased. A selfish and desperate act of the grieving and a profit-making business exploiting the vulnerable?

If you have been standing on the sidelines uncertain about the desirability or dangers of AI “Eternal You” most likely will draw you into the fray and prod some decision making on your part. A mark of a good documentary.

Watch the “beneficiaries” of this AI, its profit minded creators and the deluded comforted by the delusion of “human intelligence” facilitated by AI. So sad to watch the emotional swindling.

You will be exposed to many issues concerning the use of AI here such as;

  • Morality and ethics
  • Manipulation
  • Safety
  • Misuse
  • Danger
  • Confusion of the digital self with the real self
  • Profitability
  • Oversight

Directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 91/100.

RKS 2024 Film: “And So It Begins”

Complimenting Ramona S. Diaz’s 2020 film “A Thousand Cuts” introducing Maria Ressa’s struggle in the Philippines to assert the rights of a free press through her media outlet Rappler, Diaz returns this month to 2024 Sundance with “And So It Begins” which chronicles the 2022 Presidential campaign of Leni Robredo affectionately known as “Leni”.

Facing a massive misinformation campaign Robredo finished a distant second. The campaign is a fascinating event to watch particularly the enthusiasm of her supporters and the festival like aspect of her campaign with dancers, jugglers, costuming and music. But through her speeches and interviews the dead seriousness of the campaign is not subsumed by joviality. The Philippines under previous Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte was a country of martial law, corruption, beatings, torture and extra-judicial killings. The documentary explores the political history of the Philippines necessary to understand the importance of the “pink wave” presidential campaign of Leni.  

Leni placed a distant second in the presidential election losing to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. known as “Bong Bong” who at best may continue with what Maria Ressa refers to a “semblance of democracy” in the Philippines.

Directed, written and produced by Ramona S. Diaz.

RKS 2024 Film Rating 93/100.