“If poetry is to be spoken aloud in such a way as to be understood, absolute concentration is necessary. There must be complete sympathy between the reader and the audience, in the absence of which no electrical communication of emotion can take place. If this sympathetic atmosphere is lacking, the poet finds himself in the position of an angel attempting to sing heavenly music against a background of the mocking laughter of hell.”
Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
Marcus Garan (Alain Moussi) from Chicago is a former hitman for The Company that kills domestically and internationally “bad guys”. A hitman with morals? Garan has a wife and his darling little daughter Kimberly. Unfortunately his wife is set up to be killed in the “crossfire” at a messy hit Garan has accepted as an assignment. Yes he is an angry man looking for revenge. He flounders around for a year or so feeling miserable and guilty. Then poor little Kimberly is afflicted with such a serious cardiac malady she’ll die without a heart transplant. Marcus needs cash so accepts an assignment for a hit in Tokyo that will pay him $10 million enough and more for a heart transplant.
But his employer is much more than an employer in a vey neat little plot twist. In fact there are fellow assassins in on the same hit and although the hit is on it becomes more of a “game”. A very nasty game. Lots of blood and guts flowing with finely choregraphed fight scenes. If you like this sort of deadly brawling you have found your groove with this Canadian film. The groove may be somewhat bumpy with a few too many insipid scenes of poor Kimberly popping up to inspire Daddy in his killing mission.
And the man the hitmen are competing to kill Drakos (Frank Grillo) is a nasty you know what. It is predictable which assassin gets the kill but the victim rises from the dead to propose an alliance in a comic bookish twist. And yes revenge comes Garan’s way.
All said and done the action is top rate and if there is a blemish in the film it’s the insertion of poor ill Kimberly here and there to inspire Daddy in his killing.
I sense a sequel.
The writer and director in Kevin Grevioux who created a graphic novel on which the “King of Killers” is based.
“King of Killers” will be released in theatres, Digital and On Demand September 1st.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 78/100.
You can see the trailer here https://youtu.be/_JXRDQw7EMw
“Baron Sixte du Châtelet was of the opinion that the little rhymer would succumb, sooner or later, in the hot house atmosphere of applause, or perhaps that, intoxicated with the prospect of future glory, he would commit some impertinence that would consign him again to his original obscurity. While awaiting the decease of the young genius, he pretended to immolate his own aspirations at Mme de Bargeton’s feet; but with the subtlety of a confirmed rake, he held his hand and followed the progress of the lovers with diplomatic attention, waiting for his opportunity to exterminate Lucien.”
Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
“He did not notice her faded cheeks, or the brick red blotches on her cheek-bones, the result of boredom and a certain amount of ill-health. His imagination seized, first of all, on those ardent eyes, those elegant curls that caught the candlelight, that dazzling whiteness – so many points of light that drew him like a moth to a candle-flame. Besides how could he judge dispassionately a woman whose soul spoke so intimately to his own? Her feminine exaltation, the ardour of the rather dated phrases that Mme de Bargeton had been repeating for a long time past, but which were new to Lucien, fascinated him the more because he was in a state of mind to admire everything.”
Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
Cabernet Franc is Ontario’s top red wine. Putting my mouth where my money is or is it putting my money where my mouth is?
The Sparta Moraine isn’t exactly crammed with wineries just cornfields and a lonely Quai du Vin. What can Quai du Vin do with Cab Franc?
Aroma: Ah yes those bright and expressive cherries and mocha really are hall marks of Ontario Cabernet Franc. As a bonus rich blackberry and yes like a Chilean Carménère a solid streak of ripe raspberries.
Palate: A beautiful combination of raspberry and cherry with tannins hovering on the heavy side. Acidity is well under control and well integrated into the wine which was aged 22 months in a combination of French and American oak.
Cellarbility: I think the wine is going to age and improve into 2027.
Personality: I am an excellent Cabernet Franc that would appeal to all drinkers on the wine knowledge scale. I make both Sparta and St. Thomas proud. Long live Elgin County!
Food Match: I agree with the label which states the wine is an ideal companion to red meats, roasted vegetables, herb infused sauces and soft cheeses. It would also suit vegetarian chili with Elgin County veggies particularly field tomatoes and the region’s beautiful, sweet corn. It would also suit my very own perch and pickerel chowder (cream and tomato based) with both these fish available super super fresh from Golem Fisheries in Port Stanley! Quai du Vin is about twenty minutes from Port Stanley on the Lake Erie coast.
Price: $20 CDN. Best to order from the winery.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 93/100.
(Quai du Vin 2019 Cabernet Franc, Ontario VQA, Quai du Vin Estate Winery, St. Thomas, Ontario, 750 mL, 13.4%)
“One of the misfortunes to which great intelligence is subject is that of understanding everything too well. The standards by which these two men judged society were all the higher, because they themselves were low on the social scale, for unknown men are apt to revenge themselves by their lofty outlook. But their despair was the more bitter since those standards themselves were a continual reminder of their present lot.”
Honoré de Balzac, “Lost Illusions”
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian missile killing all 298 persons aboard the Boeing 777. On November 17, 2022 a Dutch court found 3 of the four Russian defendants guilty of 298 counts of murder imposing a life sentence and a fine of 16,000,000 Euros. It is presumed the defendants reside in Russia or in Russian occupied territory in the Ukraine. Forget extradition!
Russian state television plays musical chairs stating initially a Ukrainian military cargo plane was shot down then says the Ukrainians shot it down in error. Evidence clearly points to a Russian missile launched from a Russian BUC missile launching system. The most damning evidence are pieces of butterfly shrapnel (a hallmark of particular Russian missiles) in the flight crew’s bodies. The Russians say there was no BUC missile launching system in occupied Eastern Ukraine once again contradicted by the evidence.
Remember that in war propaganda flows from all the combatants and perhaps there is some Ukrainian propaganda (or bias) in the documentary showing how barbaric the Russians can be for example with photos of Russian paramilitary with fists pumped and guns raised sitting on the wreckage of the plane. What sick animals. The propaganda machine seems heavily at work from the Russian side. Note that in subtitles where Russia is described it is always “russia” not “Russia”. The Ukrainian State Film Agency and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation were involved with the production of the film.
Creative use of Soviet propaganda films, telephone camera clips, animation, dance, black and white cinematography and mime lift the documentary. At the end of the day 298 innocent victims paid the price for either Russian negligence or intent. Take a close listen to the intercepted communications from the Russians about a “birdie” in the sky. Seems to me they knew what they were doing.
Directed by Roman Liubyi.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0oxLf8zcnE
Theatrical release in Canada on August 25th. The theatres screening the film are ;
Cineplex Cinemas Queensway, Etobicoke
Landmark Whitby, Whitby
Landmark Kanata, Ottawa
Cineplex Odeon McGillivray Cinemas, Winnipeg
Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon, Saskatoon
Cineplex Cinemas Normanview, Regina
Landmark City Centre, Edmonton
Cineplex Odeon International Village, Vancouver
RKS 2023 Film Rating 74/100.
The public relations blurb received concerning “Storage Locker” rather indicated it was a horror movie. In fact it won the award of Best Feature and Best Director at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and has been screened at a few horror film festivals.
If you are looking for a “serious” horror film here and enjoying the chills and fright a good horror movie can produce you won’t find it here. It bombs on that premise. Could it then be a spoof as it fails the serious horror film test? Yes there is some humour and frantic and overly stereotypical characters. But if it is a spoof the best I could do was groan. Two overly made-up sisters Apollonia (Bobbie Grace) and Diana (Meredith Fowler) run a collector’s secret society. Storage lockers contain less than goods!
Packer (Avery Mayo) is an avid comic book collector hoping for a big score. Packer gets cozy with Apollonia and Diana and beds both of them after being spurned by his puerile and adolescent fiancé Jenny (Hannah Hufford).
Multiple plots zig zag throughout the film.
Mayo holds the film together with his acting which is not the case with the rest of the cast.
Even the stinky little ghoul that murders fails to frighten. Whether a spoof or an attempt at a serious horror movie the film fails. They say the best part of Las Vegas is leaving it. The best part of this film is that it is over. And it ends most incongruously.
“Storage Locker” will be released on digital platforms on August 22, 2023.
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/846320373?share=copy . It is the only slightly horrific part of the film.
Written and directed by Ray Spivey.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 53/100.
“PIGLADY” is an American horror film although if you can’t take vicious man-eating pigs seriously there is a comedic element in PIGLADY.
PIGLADY is remotely founded in fact. Susan Monica was a former Navy sailor who served in the Vietnam War as a man and eventually became a she and the owner of a pig farm in rural Oregon. In 2012 and 2013 two handymen on her farm went missing and it sow (pun intended) happened she dismembered them and fed them to her pigs. She was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 25 years.
My pal W and I were in Tuscany many years ago staying at a villa. W decided to go fishing at a small lake on the property. While tramping through the scrub he raised the ire of a wild boar that chased him squealing in anger! Then currently in North America we have an epidemic of a cross between feral and domestic pigs that can grow to 300 pounds and they have a nasty disposition. Man eating?
Two Cali couples and a couple of their gay friends head up to Oregon for a Christmas retreat right next to PIGLADY. They are enjoying themselves, drinking away, smoking weed and snorting cocaine. The pigs loom menacing in the background. Darkness looms and the PIGLADY strikes aided by her voracious man-eating pigs! Needless to say it isn’t the swine that are heading to the slaughterhouse. A slow build up the 20 minutes of blood and guts and enough squealing to turn you off bacon. The PIGLADY certainly brings home the bacon!
There are many comedic moments as there were in the film “Jaws”. Is “PIGLADY” the big summer hit that will terrify audiences to give up their bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches?
“PIGLADY” opens on digital platforms on August 22, 2023.
You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/847024926
RKS 2023 Film 67/100.
While taking a bit of R&R in Port Stanley, Ontario I discover Quai du Vin Estate Winery in St. Thomas, Ontario quite near to the tiny town of Sparta. Yes there is signage to direct you there but don’t expect any concentration of wineries on Fruit Ridge Line. Instead you’ll see cornfields galore and damn tasty and sweet corn it is! So those grapes at Quai du Vin must be lonely. An attractive tasting room. But at present no food served. But big plans are afoot with new ownership and a new name coming. More about that later.
We try a Marechal Foch a grape few wineries in Ontario decide to grow and bottle. Perhaps Malivoire Winery in the Niagara does it best with their Old Vines Foch?
Aroma: There is loads of blackberry and blueberry with some raisin pie and smoke.
Palate: A soft wine with some distinctive purple grape Marechal Foch characteristics. Serbian cherry nectar, purple plum and a gentle acidity. Moderately long finish.
Personality: You may think Marechal Foch and the terms grapey or foxy may be used. In my case I am loaded with fruit and yes there is a bit of “grapeiness” to me but that’s Marechal Foch!
Food Match: Just try this with the Corny Goat pizza at Elgin Harvest wood burning oven pizzeria in St. Thomas. The Corny Goat is topped with goat cheese crema, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, red onion, roasted mushrooms, basil and mozzarella with bacon at $23. Actually all of their pizzas would suit this wine. It would also match if not bless a Thanksgiving turkey.
Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.
Price: $16 CDN. Most likely you’ll have to order from the winery.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100.
(Quai du Vin 2019 Marechal Foch, VQA Ontario, Quai du Vin Estate Winery, St. Thomas, Ontario, 750 mL, 12.2%).
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