RKS 2023 Film: Red Tower Horror Shorts for Those with Short Attention Span! “ESTHER”

Red Tower is a new genre production company/digital network dedicated to showcasing short form high-quality low-cost horror content. Has Red Tower figured out what annoys many horror film lovers namely sitting through 65 minutes of yawn before some possible chills are delivered? Red Tower is currently in production on a slate of short form horror titles and is set to release new content weekly on their current digital channels including Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Matt Cunningham directs “Esther” in a 10-minute short that delivers 9 minutes of suspense and 10 seconds of terror!

Katy returns to her childhood home to encounter Esther a character she invented years ago when her mother died. Katy hears the smoke alarm continually activate at 2 a.m. for no good reason. Dear viewer you know that something horrific is about to happen or are you being played with? Whatever the case 10 minutes will tell. Perhaps Red Tower is on to something that being the possible failure of the full-length horror film?

“Esther” is Red Tower’s first short form horror production and there will hopefully be many more! Your supremely connected reviewer offers you a tantalizing preview of “Esther” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eOACLHfDnk

RKS Wine 2023: Cabeça De Toiro from Tejo

It is not often we see a Portuguese wine from Tejo. It is 100% Touriga Nacional which is a favourite Portuguese red grape.

Aroma: Raspberry, black cherry and blackberry combine for a compelling olfactory delight.

Palate: Moderate tannins edging towards heavy. Blackberry and blueberry attack with a blackberry finish.

Personality: Forceful, beefy and muscular.

Food Pairing: Rare grilled Portuguese ox.

Cellarbility: Give this 4 years until 2027 to shine.

In a nutshell: A full bodied wine still in its youth. Over time it will smooth out. Sippable on its own but superior with food.

Price: $18.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 91/100.

(Cabeça De Toiro Reserva 2018,D.O. Tejo, Enoport, Rio Majór, Portugal, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 29589. 750 mL, 14%)

RKS Literature: Monterey in the 1830’s

“Monterey is also a great place for cock–fighting, gambling of all sorts, fandangos, and every kind of amusement and knavery. Trappers and hunters, who occasionally arrive here from over the Rocky mountains, with their valuable skins and furs, are often entertained with every sort of amusement and dissipation, until they have wasted their time and money, and go back, stripped of everything. Nothing but the character of the people prevents Monterey from becoming a great town.”

“Two Years Before the Mast”, Richard Henry Dana Jr., 1840.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Seasick Passengers

“Our four passengers were dreadfully sick, so that we saw little or nothing of them for five days. On the sixth day it cleared off, and the sun came out bright, but the wind and sea were still very high. It was quite like being at sea again: no land for hundreds of miles, and the captain taking the sun everyday at noon. Our passengers now made their appearance, and I had for the first time the opportunity of seeing what a miserable and forlorn creature a sea-sick passenger is. Since I had got over my own sickness, the third day from Boston, I had seen nothing but hale, hearty men, with their sea legs and able to go anywhere. And I will own there was a pleasant feeling of superiority in being able to walk the deck, and eat, and go about, and comparing one’s self with two poor, miserable, pale creatures staggering and shuffling about decks, or holding on and looking up with giddy heads, to see us climbing to the mastheads, or sitting quietly at work on the ends of lofty yards. A well man at sea has little sympathy with one who is seasick; he is too apt to be conscious of a comparison favourable to his own manhood.”

“Two Years Before the Mast”, Richard Henry Dana Jr., 1840

RKS 2023 Wine: Carolina Gran Reserva Chardonnay from Chile; Chernobyl Meltdown!

Red wines from Chile predominate on the shelves of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. White wines from Chile are in the shadows. You are more likely to see Chardonnay as the most prominent Chilean white. Chilean whites continue to disappoint in 2023.

So let’s try the 2020 Santa Carolina Gran Reserva Chardonnay.

Aromatics: Pear, apple, honey, guava and a bit of pineapple. Aged in 15% French new oak but despite the new oak it is laid back but not absent as far as the wood goes.

Palate: You might initially contemplate a laid-back palate. But be a bit patient and note it has a slight aggressive nature on the back palate. Yes it has a bit of a bite and a bit of white pepper. Unfortunately the palate it somewhat fruit deficient. The oak here is French and is more apparent on the palate than on the nose.

Personality: Yes I have a “Gran Reserva” in my name but honestly speaking I am far from Grand. I have that typical eau de Chardonnay scent but my guts are far from Coco Chanel. I am a Twiggy on the palate.

Cellarbility: Nada. Zip. None.

Food match: Fried smelt with a twist of lemon.

In a nutshell: A start with decent Chardonnay aromatics but on the palate a Chernobyl meltdown.

Price: $19.95.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 80/100. Joaquín Hidalgo 90.

Santa Carolina 2019 Gran Reserva Chardonnay, D.O. Valle de Iata, Viña Santa Carolina, Santiago, Chile, 750 mL, 14%.

RKS 2023 Film: “Nostalgia”: The Hard Edge of Nostalgia

Nostalgia has a warm and positive feeling right? Pleasant memories you want to revisit. When it is a question of Naples I am nostalgic about that crumbling and rough town. Why not being whizzed around on EU money for a wine and tourism event and then a week at my leisure to explore the greater Naples area including Sorrento, Capri and Positano. Incredible food and wine, stunning topography and a rich culture. But the poverty, garbage and warnings about avoid wearing any jewelry in public, avoid looking like an overly obvious tourist and stay away from certain areas.

Middle aged Felice Lasco arrives home to Naples from Egypt for the first time in 40 years. He is in Naples to visit his ailing mother. He is a successful contractor in Cairo and a good boy he has written his mother regularly but why hasn’t he returned to Naples in so long?

Felice we gradually discover was a teen hoodlum until as a 15-year-old he quickly disappeared to Beirut taken there by his uncle. He married a Muslim and converted to Islam.

His mother dies and it would be logical that he would return to Cairo. But he stays on enjoying a bit of nostalgia. Felice’s nostalgia has a hard edge to it and overcomes multiple warnings from a family friend and the local parish priest he leave Naples. Felice has a task he must perform all caught up in a degree of guilt and nostalgia. The Camorra and nostalgia might suffer a comparison between drinking and driving. The movie builds from puzzlement to high suspense. A good introduction to the intersection between crime and religion in Naples.

For those never having visited to Naples the film will perhaps seem more exotic but for me it brings forth pleasant nostalgia.

The film was directed by Mario Martone. It is Italy’s official entry for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards. “Nostalgia” will debut on VOD on 21February2023.  

RKS 2023 Film Rating 90/100.

RKS Literature: “Two Years Before the Mast”: Man Overboard!

“Death at all times is solemn, but never so much so at sea. A man dies on shore: his body remains with friends, and ‘the mourners go about the streets’; ‘but when a man falls overboard at sea and is lost, there is a suddenness to the event, and a difficulty in realising it, which give it an air of awful mystery. A man dies on shore-you follow his body to the grave, and a stone marks the spot. You are often prepared for the event. There is always something which helps you remember when it happens, and to recall it when it has passed. A man is shot down by your side in battle, and the mangled body remains an  object, and a real evidence; but at sea, the man near you-at your side-you hear his voice, and in an instant he is gone, and nothing but a vacancy shows his loss.”

R.H. Dana JR “Two Years Before the Mast” 1909.

RKS Literature: “Two Years Before the Mast”: The Captain Speaks!

“Now my men, we have begun a long voyage. If we get along well together, we shall have a comfortable time; if we don’t, we shall have hell afloat. All you’ve got to do is obey your orders and do your duty like men-then you’ll fare well enough;-if you don’t, you’ll fare hard enough,-I can tell you that. If we pull together you’ll find me a clever fellow; if we don’t, you’ll find me a bloody rascal.”

R.H. Dana, Jr. “Two Years Before the Mast” 1937

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: God as the Big Wolf

“The trap-door is open, the evil spirits are coming out. You wanted to see and hear them! ‘Where do we come from?’ you asked. Up and out of the earth, Captain Séfakas. ’Where are we going to?’ you asked. Under the earth Captain Séfakas. What is your duty? To eat if you are a wolf; to be eaten if you are a lamb. And if you ask me about God: He is the big wolf-He eats both lambs and wolves.”

Nikos Kazantzakis “Freedom or Death”, 1956

RKS 2023 Wine: Does Washington Power on with Powers?

In my humble opinion you get more bang for the buck with Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State than you get from California. For some reason Washington wineries are very skillful with their use of oak.

So why not try a Powers 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley. It has been blended with small amounts of Merlot and yes Chile listen to this, Carménère.

Aromatics: Gotta love that blueberry. But let’s not forget the blackberry and black cherry and just the right lobbying effort by the oak to make its influence noticed.

Palate: This is not one of those warm and immediately approachable Washington Cabernet Sauvignons. It is a bit of a tough guy being very firm. The tannins are just hovering into the medium zone. Blueberry and blueberry pie with a tad of licorice with a bit of a spicy finish. The hyper Cabernet Sauvignon needs a tranquilizer and bed rest for two years to calm down.

Personality: If you are looking for a namby pamby Cabernet Sauvignon to serve at the ladies auxiliary meeting look elsewhere as I am better suited to those ladies running corporate America.

Food Pairing: This wine needs something big to suit its assertiveness. Venison or moose.

Cellarbility: If you like your Cabs big n bold drink now but if you prefer softer drink from 2026-2029.

In a nutshell: No cool running with this Cabernet Sauvignon presently but as time passes mon it will mellow.

Price: $19.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100. James Button (Decanter) 90.

(Powers 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Powers Winery, Kennewick, Washington, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 434456, 750 mL, 14%).