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%).

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.