RKS 2023 Film: “The Elephant Whisperers”:  2023 Academy Award Nominee

“The Elephant Whisperers”, an Indian documentary short film, has been nominated as the best documentary short film at the 2023 Oscars.

The documentary breaks the chain of depressing documentaries about elephants. Instead we encounter Bellie and Bomman at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp in India which is the largest contiguous wild space for Asian elephants. Bellie and Bomman are caretakers assigned by forest rangers to care for elephants. With love and compassion they care for abandoned and orphaned elephants. Elephants under their care are treated as their own children and the elephants return their love. If elephants are the beasts of the jungle well then they are intelligent and highly perceptive.

Finally a light, happy and engaging positive story about elephants.

“The Elephant Whisperers” was directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga.

Spectacular cinematography but a highly sappy soundtrack.

If you are in Toronto “The Elephant Whisperer” and the four other shorts can be seen at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on February 24. Check out their website here https://hotdocs.ca/

RKS 2023 Film: Expectation of Yet Another American Mass Murder: “Stranger at the Gate”

For much of the world the United States is the epicentre of the mass murder. Most likely well earned but we have seen them in Canada, Sweden and France amongst other countries.

Watching “Stranger at the Gate” sigh and expect yet another documentary on an American mass murder? Richard McKinney has the credentials of a mass murderer. A 25-year veteran of the United States Marines well versed in weaponry and explosives. A man admitting he has been involved in death with a hatred of Muslims as after all they were the enemy in his tours of duty. Then living in Muncie, Indiana his daughter returns from school confused about a woman in a burka she saw picking up her daughter at school. Richard goes ballistic seething with hatred about the enemy in his midst. He manufactures an IED. He then visits the enemies at the Muncie Islamic Centre planning death and injury on 200 people.

You may be so sick of disturbed individuals and frightened of the damage a U.S. Marine can wreak you may not want to see the film through to its conclusion. But please continue. In a planned mass murder is there any hope at all?

“Stranger at the Gate” is an Oscar nominated short film 2023. Directed by Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones. If you are in Toronto “Stranger at the Gate” and the four other shorts can be seen at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on February 24. Check out their website here https://hotdocs.ca/

RKS Literature: We All Smell the Same: Nikos Kazantzakis

“I’ve made voyages, Captain Mándakas, I’ve seen the whole world. I’ve slept with women of all kinds, I’ve pushed into Africa, where the bread is toasted by the sun. I’ve made great harbours and little ones, I’ve seen millions of black men, millions of yellow men-my eyes brimmed over with them! At first I thought they all stank. I said, ‘Only Cretans smell good. And of Cretans only the Christians’. But slowly, I got used to their stink. I found-I found that we all smell good and stink in the same way. Curse us all!”

Nikos Kazantzakis “Freedom or Death” 1956

RKS 2023 Films: “The Martha Mitchell Effect”: A Trip Down Memory Lane in Time for the 2023 Oscars!

The Trump presidency had its humorous moments if you had a bad sense of humour and wanted to continue seeing a President soiling himself in the public eye. In the Nixon presidency there was only one really big poop namely Watergate. But there were initially in his first term (1968-1972) some lighthearted moments. Nothing as inane as the “Kung Flu” but Martha Mitchell the feisty wife of Attorney General John Mitchell. In a man’s world at the White House and in the Cabinet women were non existent serving instead as hostesses. Martha shot from the hip. Perhaps flamboyant but in an amusing way. A court jester or more?

But then the Watergate break-in hit in 1972 and she was one of the few to publicly state President Nixon knew about it or if he didn’t he was a negligent president. She claimed to be a political prisoner by those Republicans trying to shut her down and discredit her. Even her husband John Mitchell declared she should be committed but he did not have the heart to do it. Mitchell spent 19 months in prison and was never pardoned. Nixon was pardoned by President Ford. Martha Mitchell died in 1976.

Oh the names and personalities in Watergate bring back memories. Being a young buck then I vaguely remember Martha Mitchell being discredited as a loudmouth not to be taken seriously. With this documentary perhaps historical revisionism will restore her reputation.

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” is an Oscar nominated documentary short film for 2023. This 40-minute documentary is directed by Anne Alvergue and Beth Levinson.

See the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SYWxQ62AUM

You can see it here in Toronto and all the other four Oscar nominated shorts at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on February 24th. Check out their website at https://hotdocs.ca/

RKS 2023 Film: “Haulout”: Oscar Nominated Short Documentary for 2023

“Haulout”, from the United Kingdom”, has been nominated for best short documentary film at the upcoming 2023 Oscar awards.

Certainly, given the subject of walrus haulouts we could have stern warnings about global warming a la Greta Thunberg. Shrill and accusatorial becomes tiresome and numbing.

“Haulout” takes a quieter and perhaps more effective approach. I read nothing about this documentary before viewing it so I may have approached it differently. I am not going to spill the beans for you. I have perhaps already said too much.

The documentary starts with a man surveying the rough autumn seas in Chukotka in the Siberian Arctic. He is dressed in army fatigues and carries a rifle. He speaks into a device saying they have not yet arrived. What is he waiting for? A submarine? What is he up to? Add to this spectacular barren scenery. The suspense augments. The man is living in a miserable hut. The sea is crashing and the wind howling.

Then one morning he opens his door and we see some 95,000 walruses. An incredible sight. This congregation is referred to as a haulout. Huge grunting creatures crammed together as far as the eye can see. Eventually they leave back to the sea from whence they came. Carnage is left behind. Why? Why are there so many of these walruses? Watch and find out.

The cinematography and direction are by Evgenia and Maxim Arbugaev.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZf6K6v7tWA

For those in Toronto you can catch all five of the Oscar nominated documentary short films at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on 24February2023. Not only that but the theatre welcomes those who want to view the Oscar presentation on March 12 at 17:30 hrs for no charge. Now isn’t that a deal!

Check out their website at https://hotdocs.ca/

RKS 2023 Film Rating 94/100.

RKS 2023 Film: “The Outwaters”

The promotional blurb I received for the film describes “The Outwaters” as a “throwback to the early days of the found footage genre”. My goodness talk about an obscure genre, at least in my neck of the woods. If I was to give this film a categorization I might say it is “a flashlight in dark genre” film and quite frankly there is just too much of those flashlights in the dark in the movie. It gets a bit boring.

Four artsy types head out to the Mojave Desert to film a music video for Michelle. All four are reported missing on August 8, 2017, and it is in 2022 that a camera is found in the desert with memory cards which tell the story of their misadventure. Just regular 30-year-olds looking forward to a desert trip. Easily predictable as it is a horror movie matters take a turn for the worse. Oddities quickly become horrific. Of course, I can’t tell you what the meat of the horror is other than its bloody and poor Robby cuts off his penis near the end of the film. Obviously, some deep symbolism! And the references to Jesus and saying the Lord’s Prayer? The donkey stares?

Yes there are blood and guts, screams, strange slithering creatures, loud booming noises, fluttering and pulsating lights and even a few , “I want my Mommy” calls.

“The Outwaters” certainly has its creative and terrifying moments worth the price of admission but for my taste there is just too much flashlight in the dark. Those slithering creatures are shiver causers! But what you make of this film, as always, is up to you. My interpretation is that this is a trip through hell.

The film has quite an extensive North American release commencing 9February2023. It is directed by Robbie Banfitch who also wrote and starred in the film.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Du7TvNqvY

RKS 2023 Film Rating 73/100 or should it be 666!

“The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous” : Chapter 49: Good-Bye Naples, Good-Bye Scampia and Good-Bye Don Lupara….for the time being

Seven hours after departing Bucharest I was at my seaside home on the Bay of Naples. Don Lupara gave me a call and invited me to dinner at the “compound” the following day. Perhaps it was my imagination but the scent of Ginevra still lingered in the house that was to be the home of Ginevra and our child. I took a long walk on the beach and went to pick up a couple of pizzas and a bottle of Piedirossa red wine then turned on the television to watch an unending number of stories chronicling drug gang violence and this was a time that Naples was at peace!

Don Lupara’s boys came to pick me up and off we sped to the family compound. Malvagia, Lupara’s wife, the sweet old bird she was, gave me a bone crushing hug remarking how thin I was and that I should eat lots of Neapolitan cuisine to fatten up. For Neapolitans food is medicine and it is so irresistible even the terminally ill find it difficult to resist. I hadn’t eaten much in Romania so I was starving and ate like a maniac puffing Malvagia up with pride as she insisted upon preparing all meals despite the fact Lupara could afford Michelin starred chefs! Malvagia’s stuffed veal cutlets could accomplish world peace.

After our feast I waddled over to Don Lupara’s library for grappa and coffee. Nothing like grappa and coffee to clear the mind. Here I was in the room with a vicious killer that executed two teenagers before my eyes yet I loved him like a father. All who loved Ginevra I loved. Isn’t that despicable?

Don Lupara was stooped and in state of exhaustion. With tears rolling down his eyes he thanked me for “disposing of” Cyclops the murdering dog that killed Ginevra. He asked about the fear in Cyclops’ eyes before I pulled the trigger. He had laughed at me and dared me to pull the trigger but I told Don Lupara he had shitted his pants. He showed me Ginevra’s six shooter pistol framed on the wall saying we must never forget.

Don Lupara offered me his business but I refused. He chuckled and said that ordinarily he would have been insulted and killed me but Ginevra would haunt him if he did. After many more grappa’s and tears we said good-bye and in a strange ritual we cut our arms and mixed our bloody limbs together. We were blood brothers…Neapolitan blood brothers to the end and beyond into immortality. My seaside home was mine he said and ordered me to visit every year which on Ginevra’s memory I agreed.

I returned to my villa and cried myself to sleep. I knew that any more involvement in this Scampian narcotic business would come to no good. Time had come to leave Naples, Scampia and Don Lupara. It was back to a mental hospital for me but not as a patient.

RKS Wine 2023: Carménère From Terra Pura in Chile

Aromatics: Raspberry jam, strawberry, blueberry and a hint of dark chocolate.

Palate: The tannins are light and the acids are behaving themselves. Blackberry, raspberry, black cherry with a medium brackish finish.

Personality: I am a good Carménère and proud of it. I am a bit rough on the edges which just might suit your palate and the food you are eating. Like when you are watching the Superbowl defiantly refusing to drink beer I will be a good match for chili and pizza. Who can argue with chili and Chile!

Food match: Good with burgers, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs.

Cellarbility: Give this wine until the end of 2023 to start smoothing out. Drink by 2026.

In a nutshell: Carménère may run the gamut from rough to elegant. This one is a bit gruff but an Alanis Morrissette “Jagged Little Pill” it is not. Good utilitarian wine with many foods.

Price: $18.95 (Ontario).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 88/100.

(Terra Pura Single Vineyard Carménère 2019, D.O. Valle de Colchagua, Terrapura, Santiao de Chile, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 27210, 750 mL,14%).

RKS Wine 2023: What is the Essence of Wine?

“It’s life, in the last analysis, is what sets wine apart. There is nothing else we buy to eat or drink that brings us the identity of a place and time in the same way, that memorizes and recalls (if we listen) all the circumstances that make it what it is. You can, of course, like a college examiner, submit every sample to the same critical appraisal and accept or reject it. Or you can embrace the identity, enjoy the circumstances, be transported to other places and times. Embrace even the mythology: it adds to the colour of life.”

Hugh Johnson “A Life Uncorked” University of California Press

RKS 2023 Wine: Quinta do Espírito Santo from Lisbon

You may know Lisbon as a wonderful tourist destination although unfortunately of late it is overrun by tourists. It is also a Portuguese wine appellation. The Quinta do Espírito Santo label has that annoying characteristic of not describing the grapes used in the blend instead stating it is made from “very ripe grapes of typical Portuguese varieties”. The label also states the wine has been aged in oak but French, Hungarian or French? And how long has it been aged?

Aromatics: Black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and dark chocolate.

Palate: Moderate to heavy tannins. While there is blackberry galore and a tad of espresso the wine is a bit gruff. Poorly made or simply requiring a bit more ageing as many Lisbon reds require?

Personality: By today’s standards wasn’t Marlon Brando a puppy in the “Wild Ones” although at the time he was portraying a hoodlum. Is this wine gruff and tough but going to be a puppy in three years?

Cellarability: Taking a gamble I’d say give it two more years to start and reassess. I wouldn’t be surprised if it peaks in 2026.

Food match: Beef roti.

In a nutshell: A wine that takes no prisoners at least now. 

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Quinta do Espírito Santo 2018, Vinho Regional Lisboa, Casa Santos Lima, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 48015, 15%, 750 mL).