RKS 2023 Film: “Afire” (Roter Himmel)

The flies buzzing about during the film, the squealing wild pigs, the sky on fire, crispy burnt bodies Pompeii style and repeated helicopters flying overhead had me thinking of “Apocalypse Now” and “Lord of the Flies” and of course of the wildfires burning in abundance here in Canada. Director Christian Petzold, please forgive my metaphorical imagination.

In this 2023 German film Leon (Thomas Schubert) an author finalizing the manuscript of his book “Club Sandwich” and Felix (Langston Uibel) an aspiring photographer preparing a portfolio for his art school application travel to the German Baltic coast for some peace and quiet. Felix receives a call from his mother, the owner of the summer home, there is also a woman living at the house. It is Nadja (Paula Beer) who scoops ice cream on the boardwalk while working on her PHD in literature. The group of thirty somethings is joined by “rescue swimmer” Devid.

Leon is a self absorbed and very unhappy man eclipsing himself from life with an oft used phrase, “Work won’t allow it.” As a wildfire rages nearby Leon wallows in misery discontented with his manuscript which both Nadja and his publisher Helmut think is garbage. Leon just oozes misery on the verge of an intellectual meltdown.

Wildfires do regenerate forests not before causing great destruction of the existing ecosystem. And in this case the wildfires regenerate human beings but they also kill. Leon finds creativity and the time to think beyond himself and love in the midst of destruction  and death.

In “Apocalypse Now” and “Lord of the Flies” like a wildfire there is destruction from which there can be a measure of salvation but never a return. In “Afire” Leon is on the brink of destruction but it is the wildfire that is his salvation and regeneration. Other characters meet a Vesuvian result.

Petzold scored a big success with “Undine” a play on a German water nymph also starring Paula Beer and in “Afire” he has moved to another classical element namely fire.

“Afire” won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2023.

An allegorical and metaphorical delight.

Opens July 14th in Canada.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/838815806

RKS 2023 Film Rating 91/100.

Photo Christian Schulz

RKS 2023 Film: “What Ever Happened to Jonny Faith”

I am uncertain what genre this 24.5-minute film should be slotted in. Most likely cornball. But if the genre is right there is overly cheesy cornball and there is fun cornball. This film is loads of fun with a mighty satirical streak running through it.

Jonny Faith (Frank Noon) was a massively popular 1980’s country singer bigger than Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley combined. But his wife died after childbirth and poor grief-stricken Jonny hightails it into obscurity only to resurface some thirty years later with a terminal diagnosis from Dr. Kelben (Bruce Greenwood) that he has 6-8 months to live.

In an epic journey delightfully overdone he resurfaces in Los Angeles to meet his son Ricky who he last saw at childbirth.

Jonny drops a bombshell to Larry Cohen (Wayne Knight) his former producer and get ready for an explosion.

A study in guilt, remorse, greed and dare we say it some redemption?

Top rate acting, cinematography and a short but good soundtrack in which two numbers are composed and sung by Greenwood! Canadian Greenwood has more talent than Ben Casey!

The film premieres on July 20, 2023 at the LA Shorts International Film Festival.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/808936114

A Benjamin Pollack film

RKS 2023 Film Rating 89/100.

RKS Literature: The World Through the Eyes of a Child

“For it is good to have seen something of the world with childish eyes, disinterestedly and uncritically, observing not what is useful or beautiful and interesting, but only such things as, to a being less than four feet high and having no knowledge of life or art, seem immediately significant. It is the beggars, it is the green umbrellas under which the cabmen sit when it rains, not Brunelleschi’s dome, not the extortions of the hotel-keeper, not the tombs of the Medici, that impress the childish traveler. Such impressions it is true, are of no particular value to us when we are grown up.”

Aldous Huxley, “Uncle Spencer”, 1924.

RKS Literature: Affection and Humour

“Affections are not impaired by being tempered with a touch of benevolent laughter. Indeed, I would almost be prepared to risk a generalization and say that all true affections are tempered with laughter. For affection implies intimacy: and one cannot be intimate with another human being without discovering something to laugh at in his or her character. Almost all the virtuous characters in fiction are also slightly ridiculous; perhaps that is because their creators were so fond of them.”

Aldous Huxley, “Two or Three Graces”, 1930.

RKS 2023 Wine: Mayhem 2022 Pinot Gris to the Rescue?

There is an abundance of very sad Pinot Grigio out in wine world. One big seller that has me puzzled is Santa Margherita from Italy. I find it made from overcropped grapes imparting a diffuse and insipid character. It flies off the shelf in Canada. It has frightened me “off” Pinot Grigio. Will the Mayhem 2022 Pinot Gris rescue me from my tarnished Pinot Grigio trauma?

Made from grapes grown on the Ryegrass Road Vineyard in Oliver British Columbia. Whole bunch pressed and aged in 84% stainless steel and 16% neutral oak.

350 cases were made.

Aroma: Very clean notes of apple, pear, guava, marzipan and some cinnamon.

Palate: Far from the watery Italian Pinot Grigio that haunts me in the middle of the night. There is character and substance in this Pinot Gris. Lots of pear, sweet Jaffa white grapefruit and guava layered with some fine and unobtrusive acidity.

Personality: Consider me a breath of fresh air in a sea of mediocre Pinot Grigio.

Cellarbility: Drink now.

Food Match: Fillet of Sole Florentine or a Scandinavian haddock pudding. The wine can handle creaminess well!

Price: $18.36 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 90/100. Treve Ring 88.

Mayhem rescue successful. Over and out.

(Mayhem 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Gris, Produced and bottled under license #302084, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, 750 ml, 13.10%).

RKS 2023 Wine: Happily Riding the Great Compromise and Beyond: Meyer Family Vineyards Okanagan Valley 2022 Pinot Noir Rosé

Isn’t rosé the great compromise? It should make both white and red wine aficionados raise a pink truce flag. But it goes beyond compromise as it may be a bit of both worlds but stands on its own suitable to many moods and many dishes that white and red do and do not not suit. For example roast ham suits rosé to a tee! Also on a vicious hot and humid day does a red wine drinker want a glass of red wine in a non airconditioned environment! Global warming and the growth of popularity of rosé.

I am glad to think a compromise is possible between the red and white camps unlike in politics if you were not a Bolshevik or Menshevik and somewhere in the middle both sides would be equally “justified” in killing you! Such barbarity does not exist in the wine world…….right?

British Columbia’s Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Rosé is on the dark side of rosé which means it’s a bit more in the red than the white camp.

300 cases were made. 50 neutral French oak and 50% stainless steel.

Aroma: Equally influenced by strawberry, raspberry and watermelon with a hint of cranberry.

Palate: It has a good grip that you might find in both a white and a red wine. Quite like the MFV 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir in that it refuses to blurt out its identity instead giving off a sophisticated allure of elegance and superb diplomacy. Strangely it calls out for you to establish its identity with food. Pair it with the right food and it will be a delightful “Towering Inferno”.

Food Match: Roast ham with scalloped potatoes. BLT sandwich. Warm Greek tomato and potato salad (field tomatoes, chives, boiled new potatoes, basil, salt and pepper with anchovies).

Personality: Don’t call me shiftless as I refuse to be either a white or red wine. I have my own personality thanking the powers above I am not in 1917 Russia or 2023 Russia for that matter.

Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.

Price: $20.96 British Columbia.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 89/100. Bcwinetrends.com 90.

(Meyer Family Vineyards, 2022 Okanagan Valley Rosé, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13%).

Contact the winery for retail/shipping information.

RKS Literature: A Desperation for Acquaintances

“And then there was his sociability. It was a passion, a vice; he could not live without the company of his fellow beings. It was agony for him to be alone. He hunted company ferociously, as wild beasts pursue their prey. But the odd thing was that he never seemed to crave for friendship or intimacy. So far as I know, he had no friends, in the ordinary accepted sense of the term. He desired only acquaintances and auditors; and acquaintances and auditors were all that he had.”

Aldous Huxley, “Two or Three Graces”

RKS Literature: Once Out of The Womb

“Out of the womb, we’re in an unfriendly world, in which our wishes aren’t anticipated, where we’re no longer magically omnipotent, where we don’t fit, where we’re not snugly at home. What’s to be done in this world? Either face out the reality, fight with it, resignedly or heroically accept to suffer or struggle. Or else flee. In practice even the strongest do a bit of fleeing-away from responsibility into deliberate ignorance, away from the uncomfortable fact into imagination. Even the strongest. And conversely even the weakest can make themselves strong. No, not the weakest: that’s a mistake. The weakest become daydreamers, masturbators, paranoiacs.”

Aldous Huxley, “After the Fireworks”, 1930.

RKS 2023 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir

Should we get our hands grubby and talk about the price of a bottle of wine and quality? Why not setting forth the golden rule that the quality of a wine is not always reflected in its price! I am sure many of us have examples to share.

But pardon my grubbiness when I talk about Meyer Family Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan. I have been saying, in a moneygrubbing type of way, given the outrageously reasonable price of MFV Pinot Noirs one might be nutso purchasing Burgundian Pinot Noir. Yep I can hear the neurosurgeons, cardiologists and corporate senior management team members snickering away at some ignoramus having absolutely no respect on the altar of Burgundian Pinot Noir. Let them snicker and snicker loudly as I say Meyer can kick Burgundian Pinot Noir butt. Quel dommage pour France!

Before I am driven out of Wineville I screw open a bottle of Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Pinot Noir. The snickering mounts in intensity as I say it has a Stelvin cap. My God how nouveau riche!!! Who…them or me!

Produced from grapes grown from four distinctive vineyards in the Okanagan including Fat Coyote in Naramata! The wine was destemmed prior to fermentation. It spent 6 months in 100% seasoned French oak.

Aroma: Raspberry, strawberry, ripe red cherry and some milk chocolate intermingled with gentle oak. Inviting and highly agreeable.

2,800 cases produced.

Palate: The wine makes a point of being light on its feet and elegant with soft tannins. One gets the sense of a ferocity waiting to break out managed, if not mastered, by winemaker Chris Carson. At times an “elegant wine” should be excused from all sorts of descriptors on the palate and should be celebrated for its elegance. Celebrate this Pinot Noir.

Personality: This wine reviewer is making me blush. Did he read the Meyer motto, “We hope you enjoy our wines as much as we enjoyed making them.” Enough said.

Cellarbility: Consume by the end of 2025.

Food Match: The wine excels as a sipping wine. Truffle topped pizza beckons. Pushing the envelope a bit perhaps with Chinese BBQ pork?

Price: $24.43 in British Columbia.

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 92/100. Gismondi on Wine 92.

And this is a MFV entry level Pinot Noir. Just wait until you try some other “higher level” gems from these guys.

Best to check with the winery about shipping and retail availability.

RKS 2023 Wine: Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Chardonnay from British Columbia

Meyer Family Vineyards released a knockout 2022 Gewürztraminer recently. I think most wine drinkers recognize MFV for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays so let us try their “entry level” 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay 80% of which was aged in stainless steel and 20% in neutral French oak barrels for 6 months. Due to that high stainless-steel percentage and neutral French oak, one might expect a perky Chardonnay instead of a richer oaked Chardonnay.

It was made from grapes grown at the Old Main Road Vineyard on the Naramata Bench, Anarchist Mountain Vineyard in Osoyoos and the McLean Creek Vineyard in Okanagan Falls.

2,000 cases made.

Aroma: Apple, pear, mango, tangerine and a bit of pineapple.

Palate: Perhaps straightlaced and conservative might be preferred over perky. The acidity is present but in no way out of line. Pear, mango, apricot with a hint of ginger. Short finish. No flies on this Chardonnay. Technically correct.

Personality: Efficient, calm and businesslike. Reliable and trustworthy. I will not be dancing on the table with a lampshade on my head.

Food Match: Grilled porgy, sea bream or sea bass with a sauce of EV Olive Oil, lemon and Greek oregano.

Cellarbility: Drink by the end of 2024.

Price: $20.96 (British Columbia).

RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 87/100.

(Meyer Family Vineyards 2022 Okanagan Valley Chardonnay, B.C. VQA, Meyer Family Vineyards, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, 750 mL, 13%).

Best to contact the winery for shipping and retail availability.