RKS Film: “River Road”: Plot Line Uplifted by Supporting Actors…Really Uplifted!

“River Road” presents the viewer with arguably somewhat of a stale storyline but am I corrupted for having been around since the days of Woodstock? Drugs and musical fame and fortune shattered or altered negatively by drugs is nothing new in real life and in film. Gene Kruppa with Mary Jane. Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole with heroin. Hendrix, Joplin, Brian Jones, Elvis, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Prince etc. etc. Mamma Cass with a ham sandwich?

Matters took a twist with “Sid and Nancy” where poor Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was introduced to heroin by Nancy Spungen not that he would have avoided it without her!

In “River Road” an up-and-coming Canadian musician Travis is fresh off a gruelling three-month tour with his band and he’s been snorting a heck of a lot of blow. So upon returning to Vancouver he decides a break is required so he goes to his aunt’s Delta British Columbia home in the woods to rejuvenate. His aunt is in Mexico for a sabbatical. It is going well as Travis exercises, meditates, downs smoothies and goes to the gym. He reads in the afternoon and works on lyrics He regularly goes to a lookout point and watches the sunset where he “meets” Zoe a cute American girl who is not so innocent as she looks. They fall for each other and in Spungen fashion she introduces Travis to smack. It’s a wonderful first-time trip and their relationship is just humming along. The heroin moves from casual and recreational to habitual. Both Travis and Zoe predicably get very raunchy looking and more dysfunctional. Anything new here? Their desire for smack and lack of funds is a dangerous and destructive combination.

But wait a twist I haven’t seen before in the downward spiral ( “Drugstore Cowboy” excepted) flavored movies is that Travis and Zoe pack a pistol and go on a “Bonny & Clyde” petty crime spree. How low can rock bottom go? Well with smack death! So what do these desperate people do? They rob their dealer Fresno (Steven Roberts). Fresno is an unforgettable character a product of Canadian filmmaking and great natural talent. Canadian film has grit and roughness and it shines with Roberts. He is a very bad man but one with morals and one with morals can become very angry (and amused) when those morals are breached. His brief performance is so compelling it fortifies the plotline if not bolstering it to a “must see” film. Slight memories of “City of Vultures II”. I would compare Roberts’s amazing performance in “River Road” to that of William S. Burroughs’s (Tom the Priest) in “Drugstore Cowboy”.

Then there is a sleazy all-around hood and music producer “Cash Dirty” (Sunee Dhaliwal) who is both terrifying and comedic. In fact he is a comedian off screen! And what a maniacal brief performance he gives. It is riveting and coupled with Roberts’s performance again I will say again this is a “must see” film.

Cody Kearsley as Travis and Lexi Redman as Zoe deliver the goods but Dhaliwal and Roberts deliver it with a big shiny ribbon.

Will “River Road” be a classic in Canadian film?

“River Road” will be available to stream on Apple TV on August 3, 2022 followed by Amazon and Google Play on August 12th.

Written and directed by Rob Willey.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UyLVTfjRDs

RKS Film Rating 84/100.

RKS Wine: Portugal’s Delaforce 2015 Touriga Nacional

Exaggerating somewhat the red grape Touriga Nacional for Portugal is the equivalent of what apple pie is for the United States! Unfortunately I mention this grape to non-wine professionals and I receive blank stares except from Port drinkers who are always familiar with this grape of the Holy Grail. From what I have seen and tasted one is more likely to see the grape in a blend but on occasion you find it as a single varietal.

Having met with the producers years ago I just couldn’t resist reinvigorating some memories.

The aromas are heavily steeped in dark fruit particularly blackberry, black currant with a tad of black cherry. Although this is a table wine it evokes what your nose may experience in a more concentrated fashion with Port. The tannins are in the medium range. On the palate there is no doubt this is big wine that has been substantially tamed by a few years in the bottle. It has some spice and pepper with a cutting edge. Mostly blueberry!

The wine is a bit cloudy without any description that it is unfiltered so for me a warning sign the wine is a bit long on the tooth and must be consumed by the end of 2022. I would also note the fruit on the palate seems to have faded. No it is not flawed, at least yet, as it simply is in advanced age and will handle a good slab of grilled beef or Douro roast pork with potatoes and perhaps a bit of cabbage on the side.

Given its declining condition it is overpriced.

(Delaforce Touriga Nacional 2015, DOC Douro, Real Companhia Velha, Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal, $20.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 324517, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 86/100).

“Virus # 26” : Director’s Cut : “Virus # 26” “Lessons Learnt from the COVIDs: the Medicos”

Thank goodness the medicos did not run the show during COVID times. You must remember their whole moral fabric is to “save lives” or was it to peddle worthless vaccines kissed by “medical respectability”? The medicos were used by the politicos to terrify the population in an effort to stem the tide of COVID cases to underfunded and unprepared medical systems. So they were patsies! Medicos as a general rule are technocrats and many quite frankly are nerds with the personality of a cucumber. But they were valuable resources and a source of excuses in the struggle assisting (hopefully) the politicos in their decision making. And as for propaganda purposes they built the basis of the propaganda machine with their obsession with social distancing, mask wearing and leading the dog and pony show about vaccines. Their daily press conferences were about as exciting as watching paint dry. They largely failed to see or ignored the medical collateral damage caused by the shut down of economies and true to physician form most lacked compassion. It was numbers, numbers, numbers then admonishments and threats to the public if you don’t do this and that you are transformed into a killing machine.

I have a beef against my fellow physicians as they are neither economists nor politicians and in their ignorance they were duped by the politicos. And serving politicians that appointed them was a shortcoming they had a star role in playing. One has to remember they serve the elected politicians but their duty to the public’s health was largely forgotten during COVID. Perhaps the medico’s biggest disgrace was their slavish insistence about vaccines that clearly had low efficacy and when that fact became apparent they switched md stream and chirped they reduce the amount of severe cases despite by the time COVIDs petered out 8 different vaccinations were produced. Herd immunity can do quite fine without vaccines!

“Travels to a Different Time” : 6August2000: Athens, Greece: The Albanian Issue

Greece has been homogenous for quite some time. On this visit I am amazed to see the ethnic diversity that is starting to emerge in Greece. The new groups are starting at the bottom rung so as to speak. Many Greeks are uneasy with the influx of illegal immigrants. The Albanians are treated with suspicion and to some degree with Albanian organized crime rings operating in Greece they may one day be categorized as the New Mafia. For example after a hearty American style buffet headed to Omonia Square which has become an unsavoury area full of shady characters most of whom are Albanian with a fearful look in their eyes like the police will swoop down and expel them back to dirt poor and chaotic Albania. Took a taxi back to the hotel getting a view of the side streets near the Stanley Hotel. The taxi driver pointed out the groups of Albanian young men with disdain. As he said the Albanians are the new Gypsies in Greece. The heat of 40 is difficult to function in. You need a bottle of water every half hour. I make no judgements other than saying the Irish, Greeks and Italians had it very rough when arriving to Canada. In fact at one point in time there was an anti-Greek riot in Toronto.

“Travels to A Different Time” : 5August2000: Athens, Greece: Interesting Hotel in Athens Besieged by Shady Albanians

Last breakfast in Samos at the hotel. Horrible bickering amongst the hotel staff. If it continues that chef is going on a stabbing rampage! The taxi driver with the bum ticker picked me up and off to the airport. A beautiful last glimpse of Samos but the two rusting cars at the side of the road are a bit strange considering the strict municipal building codes in effect to maintain the architectural integrity of the towns on Samos. Yet why are these two rusting cars sitting on the shoulder of the road?

The check in process was disorganized and the Olympic flight (as usual) was delayed for 40 minutes. Allotted a crappy room at the Hotel Stanley but argued up to the top floor. Room 816 with a view of the Acropolis! The area is somewhat in decline with shady looking characters lurking about mostly Albanians. After the 1992 collapse of communism thousands of Albanians streamed in Greece many illegally. They managed to control the narcotics trade in Athens in short order. Petty thievery and cons abound. Break and enter crimes have soared over the past few years and the Albanians are blamed for it by many Greeks. I even had one Albanian guy offer to sell me a fake passport. Hotel Stanley is $150 USD a night half the rate of the Grand Bretagne and is a find but in a depressing district. They have rooftop bar and pool with a stunning view of the Acropolis. Speaking of the Acropolis headed out to see it again as I saw it last in 1970. It is still an amazing sight and the approach to through Plaka is interesting like being in a small Greek village with small winding streets. The view of Athens from the Acropolis is just about as spectacular as the Acropolis itself. Dropped into the Acropolis Museum. Back at the hotel for a rooftop pool swim. Although I try and avoid hotel restaurants given the seediness of the area had a dinner at the rooftop restaurant at the Stanley with a view of the Acropolis. The dinner was excellent and the service very well timed. Cretan white wine was bold and crisp. Complimentary dessert of peaches and watermelon.

The taxi driver that took me to Hotel Stanley from the airport said it was a great hotel in a bad district. At night he would not drive in it.

RKS Film: “All Must Die”: Norwegian Bachelorette Party Slasher Film

Gina (Viktoria Winge) is getting married to Even and there is a bachelorette party planned by her girlfriends in a remote cabin in the Norwegian woods. And it will have a horror theme.

Yes the girls are having a grand time boozing it up and joking as they head off in a van to the cabin. Then as evening sets in the horror games begin as Gina has to follow clues and riddles in a sort of horror treasure hunt. Gina discovers very horrific scenes in this little game. She is very uneasy and seemingly edging toward a terrorized state. But is it a game or something more?

Something has gone terribly wrong as in this “game” dead bodies start adding up. And close to the end of the film, the clever person you are, you’ve picked up on clues that started right in the opening scene and are developed throughout the movie! It may very well be that you are being misled!

I must be careful not to spoil a horror movie particularly when it is a bachelorette slasher film. But I took the bait and just got everything wrong. Now if I had paid very close attention to the opening scene of the argument between Gina and her fiancée Even I would have had the answer. Enough said other than only at the conclusion of the film will you home in on the significance of that opening scene!

Spooky with a devilish twist! Remember gal pal Stine has been committed in the past but someone else too!  Like a film with an unexpected twist this one is for you. Lots of blood and guts flying around. I say the biggest chill is at the closing scene of the film when a voice says, “You can start over again and this time it will be perfect”.

You’ll love the soundtrack.

RKS Film Rating 86/100.

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

This 2019 film will arrive digitally on August 2 including iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Xbox and Vudu. It was directed by Geir Greni.

RKS Wine: A Clownish Wine: No Disrespect Meant!

I see a wine with a “Fitou” appellation please forgive me but I think of a clown. I am not sure why? Perhaps it is my Montreal background where I recall a Quebecois clown Bobino that had a popular television show years ago. But Fitou has no similarity to “Bobino”. Should I report this to a neurologist as a reportable event?

While I ruminate over my mental state perhaps a focus on the wine that prompts the bizarre analogy should be tried. It is a blend of Grenache and Carignan. The Carignan was fermented separately via carbonic maceration and then blended with the Grenache and aged for one year in oak.

On the nose a juicy explosion of blackberry and black cherry embraced in a root beer and cactus pear perimeter. On the palate again blackberry rules the roost and not the “chickens have come home to roost” comment made by Malcom X after the assassination of President Kennedy.

Not a wine to titillate about but a hard worker that would be a great bistro wine with steak and frites or with a Bucky Burger at Deux Amis in New York City at 356 East 51st where you will encounter more locals than tourists from Idaho.

The wine is no clown but neither is it royalty. Given economic conditions these days I think I might feel more comfortable with a bistro winner than with a G 7 reception wine.

(Gérard Bertrand AN 990 2019 Fitou Grenache/Carignan, AOP Fitou, Gérard Bertrand, Narbonne, France, Liquor Control Board Of Ontario # 403683,$17.95, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 88/100).

RKS Wine: Quinta do Bom Retiro in The Douro: Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed!

If my memory serves me correct I flew to Porto from Toronto in November 2014 on my very first European media tour. I was travelling with B a writer freelancing for a major Canadian newspaper. From the airport we were picked by our driver Mr. Antonio and guide L from the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto and off to the Douro to Quinta do Bom Retiro a Ramos Pinto estate. Never having been on such a trip I wondered what I was doing in Portugal! I suppose I had to fly by the seat of my pants for 5 jam packed days of predominately Port tastings. Now that I had perhaps 3 glasses of Port in my life you may say the stress and uncertainty was high. I wrote 12 articles on that trip. A winery shows me hospitality it is my obligation to repay it.

Our first stop if I recall was Quinta do Bom Retiro. Quinta is Portuguese for farm but most of the Quintas I have visited are more akin to a Chateau. The road to the Quinta off the main road was narrow and a mistake would send you plunging to your death. I recall there was a large group welcoming two Canadian journalists. We had a splendid dinner and Ports and table wines were awaiting us. I did my best to avoid my exhausted head from plopping into the fine cut of ox on my plate and at 9 p.m. I begged off and had a tremendous sleep as becomes one who hasn’t slept in countless hours.

From a Newbie to a knight in the Order of Port Brotherhood!

Bottom line is that I have a soft spot in my heart for Ramos Pinto! So I see a Ramos Pinto wine “Duas Quintas” a happy light went on in my brain of days past.

The nose is crammed with a solid arsenal of black fruit particularly black cherry and blackberry. One immediately gets the impression this is a wine that takes no prisoners. Tannins are moderate and broad based. There is a bit of a chalky overtone with a bit of hot spice lingering in its finish. Again a cascade of black fruit. A strong willed and impetuous wine that is neither elegant or delicate but it is no monster. It certainly would suit a nice, rare slab of ox or Euro beef. A classic Douro wine that could use until 2024 to be a real cutie and ready to wink at you!

A blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca.

(Duas Quintas 2018 Ramos Pinto, Vinho Tinto, DOC Douro, Ramos Pinto, Villa Nova de Gaia, Portugal, $19.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 359893, 750 mL, 14%, RKS Wine Rating 91/100).

“Virus # 26″ Director’s Cut: Chapter 13:”Lessons Learnt from the COVIDs: the Politicos”

The politicos at first glance seemed to be managing the COVID outbreak. Sadly the inability of the medical systems to handle the initial wave was a result of continual cuts made to the medical systems by the politicos. That meant less PPE and less front-line medical workers, no vaccine or anti virals and in effect deregulation of long-term care homes. Some politicians accepted the blame while others like former President Donald J. Trump who so tragically bumbled COVID management created a whole host of diversionary tactics to shift the blame or change the topic of COVID ineptitude on American’s minds. But during the second wave of COVID-19 in 2021 he was no more as he met his deserved electoral fate in the 2020 Presidential election leading to the victory of “Sleepy Joe” Biden chattering afterwards like a monkey about “election steals”. He also met a nastier defeat which we will talk about shortly.

By the time COVID Plus petered out in 2027 just about any political leader in power at the outset of COVID-19 in 2019 was either defeated in election, removed by coup or subjected to an assassination attempt.

So there you have it the blame game is easy to play in retrospect and I place it on the politicos for a variety of reasons the primary being lack of proper funding, the deregulation of long term care facilities, ignoring the severity of COVID calling it a nasty flu and in many countries the lack of socialized medicine making the lower groups in the socio-economic scale easy targets for the virus.

But I am not sure how apportioning the political blame will help deal with the next virus. I’d rather add up our collective lessons and learn from them.

Whether a democracy or authoritarian government most of them played it the same way with some willing to accept more risk than the others. A politician exists to see another electoral win. When matters go askew a politician looks for a third party to blame. The medicos were used as a human shield to deflect electoral anger i.e. we were just relying on advice from our medical team!

“Travels to a Different Time “: : 2August2000: Samos, Greece: Bickering, Pale Chicken and Semi Raw Potatoes: Taxi Driver with Bum Ticker

At this small hotel there are often bursts of bickering. It started off in the morning very loud and heated. Over what the bickering is in honour of no idea. I have a limited Greek vocabulary. After breakfast off to the archeological museum in Vathi. Very small but some marble statues from 300-600 BC from the Ireon archeological site. Samos in those days was a recognized power trading in Egypt and Cyprus so there are many artifacts from these cultures in the museum. Interesting but after visiting Ephesus certainly not an overwhelming experience. For lunch a tiropita (cheese pie) and an orange juice followed by a coffee in the main square. Back to hotel for a brief siesta and more bickering over some pale looking chicken and not fully roasted potatoes. I understand “kota” is chicken and “patates” as potatoes. The argument was about the food not being cooked sufficiently. The chef was gesticulating wildly. Up at 16:00 in the blazing heat needing a Greek coffee to rejoin the world. At 17:00 off up the hills with a taxi driver with a bum ticker. Going to the monastery at Flammarion and the roads are treacherous. His ticker goes it would be a fatal trip over the edge! What a view of island and Turkey across the way. The monastery was austere and located in a pine forest. I managed to walk straight into a wall luckily only dazed with no cuts. We met a 75-year-old woman who for some tragic reason had been living in the monastery since she was 14.  As the taxi driver had a passenger to back down to Vathi in half an hour invited for a coffee and cookies at his home. The town is small and olive groves abound. No stores in sight. The passenger we picked up was Australian and what a ride down with spectacular views. Dinner was a souvlaki of top quality. I love it when they stuff the fries in the souvlaki. A small bottle of wine with a cap. Looks almost like an old beer bottle. Poor quality but cheaper than Coca-Cola.