“Love is simply itself, both as a subtle affirmation of life and as the highest passion: love is our sympathy with organic life, the touchingly lustful embrace of what is destined to decay-caritas is assuredly found in the most admirable and most depraved passions. Irresolute? But in God’s good name, leave the meaning of love unresolved! Unresolved-that is life and humanity, and it would betray a dreary lack of subtlety to worry about it.”
Thomas Mann, “The Magic Mountain”, 1924.
“It was one of those Russian kisses, the sort that are exchanged in that vast, soulful land at high Christmas feasts, as a token and a seal of love. But even as we record this kiss exchanged between a notoriously ‘subtle’ young man and a charming, slinking, and still equally young woman, we cannot help finding in it a reminder of Dr. Krokowski’s elaborate, if not always unobjectionable way of speaking about love in a gently irresolute sense, so that one was never quite sure whether he meant its sanctified or more passionate and fleshy form. Are we doing the same thing here, or were Hans Castor and Clavdia Chauchat doing the same thing with their Russian kiss?”
Thomas Mann, “The Magic Mountain”, 1924.
Barossa Valley wines are seldom tame. Most often they are concentrated and bold and every once and awhile can be most enjoyable. But isn’t that true of most wines. Different wines constantly rotated should be the name of the game unless you are stuck in a rut and happy as a pig in mud with the same varieties from the same set of countries. Whatever makes you happy “good on you”! No need for a pontification from a Pontus Pilate wine writer!
This time an Oscar’s Estate Vineyard Shiraz from Australia’s Barossa Valley. It has spent 20 months in a combination of French and American oak.
Aroma: No dilly dallying here. Forceful if not muscular strawberry, raspberry and black cherry with a cola note.
Palate: Spicy, blackberry jam, black cherry with a hint of red pepper jelly. Moderate and hot finish. At 15% no wonder a bit of hot. Serve slightly chilled.
Personality: Feisty and argumentative like Elizabeth Taylor but her performance in “Who’s is Afraid of Virginia Woolf” was a joy to watch as is this wine to consume.
Food pairing: Hunan Beef or Szechuan crab.
Cellarbility: The wine is in its prime now but will hold nicely until the end of 2025.
Price: $19.95 (Ontario).
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100.
(Oscar’s Estate Vineyard Shiraz 2018, Barossa Valley, B&B Wines, Marananga, South Australia, 750 mL, 15%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 225631).
There is much high-quality Pinot Noir emanating from New Zealand but as usual here in Ontario we see very little of it. As we have in British Columbia and in Ontario some very decent Pinot Noir we needn’t cry too much. But on occasion why not dip our feet in a different pond and we do so now with a Trinity Hill from Marlborough.
Aroma: Raspberry wins the struggle of the fruit. But some bright red cherry and a tad of mocha.
Palate: Gentle tannins initially that quickly augment to the moderate range with a deep penetrating lightning bolt of raspberry shocking with the deepest purity. A gentle raspy acidity but I emphasize gentle but perhaps discrete might be a better adjective. A long finish.
Personality: In Canada we once had a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation children’s television show “The Friendly Giant”. Assuming that show was still playing this wine would be a suitable guest star!
Food match: Many Pinot Noirs are delightful as a sipping wine. Of course, you are free as a bird to sip and slurp this Pinot Noir but it would welcome some duck rillette, with paté and a big chunk of Morbiere cheese listening to France Musique jazz with Nathalie Piolé. Yes when last in Paris in November 2019 at my friend’s condo way out of the tourist zone many a dinner frequently consisted of all sorts of “nibbles” including cheese from the supermarket 5 minutes away at prices that would cause a Canadian to weep…with joy and of course cool jazz.
Cellarbility: Whilst neither aggressive or sensually elegant there are enough tannins and a lack of dangerous acidity to surmise this will coast into 2027 without any aborted landings of which I just had one in Ponta Delgado in the Azores three weeks ago. If I was a cat that was my eighth life used. One more to go.
Price: $22.95 with LCBO Manager Discount otherwise $28.95.
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100. Sam Kim 90/100. Try and find an equivalent Burgundian Pinot Noir at this price!
(Trinity Hill 2020 Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand, Trinity Hill Wines Limited, Hastings, New Zealand, 750 mL, 14%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25802).
“Scrap” can be interpreted as the anatomy of a FU. But its awfully hard to pinpoint where the bad luck started that sparked the FU or are there innate personal characteristics that create a FU irrespective of a trigger?
Poor Beth (Vivian Kerr) is in a downward spiral perhaps commencing with the loss of her parents in a plane crash. Older brother Ben (Anthony Rapp) assumed a fatherly role in raising Beth. After being “downsized” Beth sleeps in a car and has abandoned her bad toothed daughter Birdy with Ben and his wife Stacey (Lana Parrilla). Beth is a liar, cheat, selfish, slovenly, egocentric and so forth. She is not a likeable character. Yet her brother Ben is a successful author with a big shot infertile corporate lawyer wife living the good life in Beverly Hills. In a series of lies Beth crashes at Ben and Stacey’s house.
As with many FU cases there are many, “I’m sorry” lines from Beth. She is not only a FU but it seems a loser to boot. Is she nothing but “scrap” in the United States homeless capital Los Angeles? There are a couple of scenes of homeless tent cities and an occasional mentally disturbed homeless person. Beth is the precipice of being homeless so the symbolism is germane. Being compassionate hopefully the viewer can spare a bit of compassion for Beth despite her loathsome character?
The film is engrossing as its conclusion is going to be messy right? Or are there tears of happiness that might amount to a Hollywood cliché ending? It is not particularly enjoyable to watch the disintegration of Beth but what is the logical conclusion of a downward spiral? Quite frankly I don’t have the heart to tell you but given the direction of 96% of the movie the ending is not pleasant and I kind of mean that in a different way.
There are no weak links in the acting here. As I said Beth is not particularly likeable but who needs a likeable character! She is a delightful FU and plays that role quite well. I like her because I don’t like her! Lana Parrilla as Stacey is a very polished and convincing actress. Although most of her credits are in television do I sense a breakthrough into mainstream Hollywood film?
An impressive soundtrack with Billie Holiday and Al Jolson adding an appreciated unique twist.
It is making a run in the United States next showing at Phoenix Film Festival 31March-2April.
You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3WYceeErS4
Yes Beth (Vivian Kerr) is the writer, director and producer of the film and Kerr is no FU in making this film and there seems little justification for not having a film like this on the “big screen” national release.
RKS 2023 Film Rating 86/100.
“I know death. I’m one of his old employees. He’s overrated believe me. I can assure you there’s almost nothing to him. The drudgeries that do on occasion precede death can hardly be credited to him, since they just prove that someone is alive and kicking and may lead back to life and health. But if anyone ever did come back, they could not tell you much about death, since we don’t actually meet him. We come out of darkness and return to darkness, with some experiences in between. We don’t experience the beginning and the end, birth and death.”
Thomas Mann, “The Magic Mountain”, 1924
Racism has been with us for time immemorial. Can a racist ever be reformed? Can “Colorblind” convince you one way or the other.
Canadian director Mostafa Keshvari has impressed me with his “Corona” (2020) and “Unmasked” (2018) both of which are seared with intense and emotionally charged dialogue and themes. “Colorblind” represents a sudden tack steering the Keshvari ship in a sea of calmer waters but as we are aware icebergs have a danger lurking below the water.
Magdalene and Monet are black mother and child that move into a neighbourhood where Magdalene and her late husband once lived. Magdalene is an artist and as with Monet they are both colorblind unlike the constant stream of racist behaviour strewn upon them by the white community they live in.
They move into their new apartment and retired firefighter and their landlord Walton heap “polite abuse” on them. The police have a somewhat polite Canadian crackerism to them but crackers they are. Perhaps they even are purveyors of manslaughter?
Magdalene is arrested somewhat brutally and negligently by the police and retired firefighter Walton becomes minder for Monet. Does his memory of a black intoxicated driver that killed his wife explain his racism? Does his guilt over a fatal fire and a sobering realization of the injustice of Magdalene’s arrest humanize the bitter and resentful Walton?
In “Corona” and “Unmasked” the viewer watches the characters rage and roil but in “Colorblind” the viewer may rage against racism.
Keshvari has accomplished his mission here with a fine film but in a far demurer way than in “Corona” and “Unmasked”. There is nothing wrong with the acting aside from poor performances by some lesser characters. Garry Chalk as Walton leads the way as a cranky, lonely, bitter racist who just may start believing human lives matter more than that of his pet turtle.
RKS Film Rating 90/100.
Gravitas Ventures releases “Colorblind” on 4April2023 on digital platforms.
You may watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/702203274/d9ea10f2f5
“The masses had long since learned that for the education and discipline needed in the battle against the decaying bourgeoisie they should look elsewhere than to coercive schools imposed by the authorities; and by now every idiot knew that the school system developed by the cloisters of the Middle Ages was as anachronistic and absurd as a periwig, that no one owed his real education to schools anymore, and that free, open instruction by public lectures, exhibitions, films and so forth was far superior to that found in any schoolroom.”
Thomas Mann, “The Magic Mountain”, 1924
Having attended the first annual Wine and Travel Week in Porto with a side trip to Pico Island in late February I had the opportunity to chat with a representative of Chilean winery Matetic as they had a booth as an exhibitor in the Alfândega in Porto. We didn’t talk wine but rather accommodations available at the winery including glamping which in more readily understandable terms means glamorous camping. Matetic has three levels of accommodation at the winery. Your standard luxury room, basic cabin units and glamping. Chileans are not afraid to glamp and given the accommodations I would have no fear of glamping either! Given the weak Canadian dollar perhaps glamping is our destiny.
Many of us are Eurocentric here in North America so we focus our wine/tourism/gastronomy thoughts in the European direction. It takes about the same time from Toronto to fly to Athens as it does to Santiago in Chile. For someone who has been travelling to Europe for five decades perhaps it is time to travel to Chile where great food, wine and gastronomic delights await. Somehow heading to Matetic seems a bit more attractive after learning about their winery, food and accommodations. Who knows I may get there eventually!
As their booth had no wine to sample as all the other booths it was exciting to see one of their wines newly arrived at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario called Corralillo a red blend from Valle de San Antonio very close to Santiago so very convenient. The blend is 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Malbec and 50% Syrah.
Aroma: Rich black fruit predominates but as often is the case with many Chilean red wines I have sampled, particularly Carménère, there is a rich little streak of raspberry running through the wine.
Palate: The raspberry is more noticeable as it combines with black cherry and blackberry. There is a slight peppery influence on the long and clean finish.
Personality: I am a youngster who requires until 2025 to really open up and strut my stuff. Perfectly drinkable now but I think you will like me more with food especially with food prepared at the winey restaurant. Chilean wine, Chilean food while in Chile. Who could ask for anything more!
Food Match: Not having sampled the gastronomy of Chile I am at a bit of a disadvantage here. But why not a rich Mushroom Bourguignon served over Polenta?
Cellarbility: If Steppenwolf can sing “Born to be Wild” perhaps this wine can sing “Born to Age” and it will do so nicely up to 2029.
Price: $25.95 (Ontario).
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100. Tim Atkin 92.
(Corralillo 2019 Winemaker’s Blend, D.O. Valle de San Antonio, Santiago, Chile, 750 mL, 14.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 541177)
“Well he said a great many things about money, the soul of the sate, as he put it, and spoke out against property, because it’s thievery, and against capitalist wealth in general, which he said, I believe, was fuel for the fires of hell-at least if I’m mistaken that’s how he put it-and sang the praises of the medieval injunction against interest. And yet, he himself-excuse me, but he himself must be…..It is really a surprise to enter that room-all that silk.”
Thomas Mann, “The Magic Mountain”, 1924
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity