RKS Film: “Good Life”: Entrepreneurs Hustling Entrepreneurs!

Remember that famous phrase of P.T. Barnum, “There is a sucker born every minute.” In the documentary “Good Life” there are many youthful suckers born. Take your choice of treating the film as a serious look into the minds of young entrepreneurs or a comedy exploring the gullibility of Musk and Branson wannabes. Many call themselves “founders”. Salespeople become brand ambassadors directed in the wrong direction by these brilliant founders. In an hilarious scene a schoolboy looking brand ambassador with a juvenile bag on his back making him so different from an old school merchant he is hustling has no pen or paper nor any business cards. He is criticized by the merchant for not having these basic tools as that is the way “we do business around here.” The poor kid is so clueless he says that he will give the merchant his number by entering it on his phone. He strikes me as naïve as the brilliant “founder” who creates a “wonderful” app that assembles “brand ambassadors” known by primitive capitalists as “salespeople”. Little schoolboy has lost any credibility he had if any.

This documentary focuses on a “tech farm” in Stockholm that sells space to 40 entrepreneurs in a large house. Like animals in an old east German circus, they live in “pods” as a “community”. All jammed together they can dream and scheme on how to be the next Branson or Musk. This tech farm is a start up itself looking to make a profit. It encourages its “residents” to dream as after all its investors need to make a return on their investment. Looks like young “founders” hustling wannabe founders. These hustling entrepreneurs dream of founding a hundred tech farms throughout the world. A virtual McDonalds of commodified ideology.

These “residents” think they are a blazing group of capitalists seeking their own liberation by enslaving a lesser breed of humans than themselves. Their ideas are hardly innovative and many are exploitative and childish such as create a casual workforce of eternal giggers rewarding their performance with points and prizes. Work in a corporation and feel the distaste of employees for such brazen and stupid manipulative tactics. I’ll leave it up to you to see how innovative these “residents” really are. Could it be they are “inmates” in a prison of their own minds?

This documentary has no answers but hints of suggesting resident delusion. It is up to you to determine if they are the wave of the future or cannon fodder for tech farm start up by its “founders”.

The film had its premiere at Toronto Hot Docs 2022.

You can see the trailer here https://vimeo.com/686623961

RKS Film Rating 90/100.

Directed and produced by Marta Dauliūté and Viktorja Šaiulyte.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 13August1975: Lahr, Germany: Meeting up with Fritz

Up for a continental breakfast. Not sure how many more of those I can take. Off to the autobahn via a tram and stupid me forgot to buy a ticket. I thought the conductor would come and take payment. Well “control” came and bawled me out in a nasty voice and threatened to confiscate my passport. I’d fight him to the death over that. I paid and he stormed off. There were 8 people on the autobahn hitching. I have never seen so many! I phoned Fritz before getting a lift. I took a tram from Basel to the German border and he picked me up there and went to his home which was very nice. What really happened between my mother and Fritz I am not quite sure. He has aged and looks preoccupied and nervous. On edge. We had a beer and a light supper It was a tense reunion He insisted in driving me to camping at Lahr. His wife is in a psychiatric institution in Frieberg. Lahr was quiet until a convoy of Canadian tanks rolled by on its way to the Canadian army base.

“Travels to a Different Time ” : 12August1975: Zurich, Switzerland: Arrogant Not So Good-Looking French Girls

Birthday today as no longer a teenager. Was up in the farmhouse at 06:30 for fresh bread and homemade jam. My host gave me some Swiss coins. When the rain subsided off to the road and 4 lifts later in Zurich. Got a room near the train station for $8 but at least lots of hot water. After a hot shower into town for a big gut busting meal. The river running through Zurich is so clean. Found a disco and I met two French girls who were not so very good looking but so very arrogant. Good riddance snobs. Had a cold coke at the hotel bar and crashed to the pouring rain outside. I am feeling numbed out and exhausted. Four months of tramping around in less-than-ideal weather being bitten by swarms of bugs and a total lack of any meaningful female companionship. No I am not going to say I should have been in Greece or Yugoslavia as I had a mission to travel a less travelled road but there has been a price. This year it seems to be a fact-finding mission than a hedonistic blow out. Wine women and song abandoned to communist hardship and deprivation not to mention atrocious weather. I do not regret it. My fifth birthday in Europe!

RKS Wine: Mayhem’s Sauvignon Blanc: The Best in the World?

The Mayhem 2020 Sauvignon Blanc was the best white wine I reviewed last year. Not the best Canadian but the best in the world. Yet all the trumpets are blaring in New Zealand about their Sauvignon Blanc and if they aren’t careful about over production those trumpets could soon be playing a funeral dirge. And to get off the topic Mayhem’s Gewurztraminer marches with the best Alsatians.

The Mayhem 2021 Sauvignon Blanc from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia has a nose as big as Jimmy Durante’s and its personality is equally full of intensity. Super dense and solid with pear, guava, clementine, mango and pineapple. A huge mouthfeel with notes of sweet grapefruit, pear tartine, pineapple juice and Australian Impossible Pie. The acids are so well tucked into the body of the wine they compliment it rather than deface it. The wine is dry but pleasantly so. The finish is short with a tiny good-bye kiss of ginger. Serve chilled on a stinking hot day as thirst quencher but my take is that it is built for food. Simply prepared lake fish such as walleye, perch, pike or bass. As asparagus season has arrived saving us from the wooden and pale Mexican and Peruvian asparagus so try local with Roasted Asparagus with Crispy Leeks and Capers (check New York Times for recipe).

There is something unique about the Mayhem Sauvignon Blanc. It has a bit more grip on its palate than most Sauvignon Blancs. Most Sauvies are steel fermented but this Mayhem has been fermented in 100% French oak 13% of which was new.

(Mayhem 2021 Small Lot Sauvignon Blanc, Naramata Bench, Okanagan Valley, BC VQA, Mayhem Wines, Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, $27, 750 mL, 13.3%, RKS Wine Rating 94/100).

As only 113 cases were made best to check with winery how to purchase at Mayhemwines.com 

“Travels to a Different Time” : 11August1975: Alstätten, Switzerland: Staying in the Hills with A Young Swiss Farmer

A good sleep but still tired after that Magic Bus trip. A monotonous continental breakfast. Got a lift with an Italian in a Fiat saying he was going all the way to Austria but he changed his mind 40 kms before the border. Next ride being rescued out of the rain was with some Germans in a VW van. After a 4 hour wait a ride with a Swiss who said he was going into Switzerland but as we approached the Swiss border he let me out somewhat freaked out. I am beginning to think I may be a liability to transport over the border. Drugs? I ended up in Alstätten Switzerland where I met a sculptor and his wife. Stayed at his farmhouse which was beautiful and up in the hills. His kittens were frolicking about. Dinner was ham and eggs with fresh bread.

RKS Film: “Banksy Most Wanted”: Where is He/Them?

“Banksy Most Wanted” delves into the search for graffiti artist Banksy known only by a few and an expert at identity avoidance through use of false news stories and the loyalty of the few who do know him.  There is the possibility as well that Banksy may be a grouping of individuals. As Banksy says, “If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to wear a mask. “

Anonymity has only created a Clyde Barrowish manhunt by investigative journalists that has resulted in a couple of possible exposures. One plausible one was Robert Del Nanja of the group Massive Attack. Several Banksy tags can be timed to coincide with Del Nanja’s professional appearances in cities contemporaneously where Banksy tags appear. De Nanja denies he is Banksy.

Through examination of corporate regulatory filings Robin Gunnigham was next identified as Banksy and a forensic identification gives some support that that conclusion which Gunningham denies!

Then in Bristol, England, the local in which Banksy tags were first spotted, a boy’s club director arrives to work to find a Banksy on the exterior walls of the club which is auctioned for 403,000£ to support several struggling boy’s clubs in Bristol. The Director of the boy’s club whose walls were tagged by Banksy claims Banksy was once a member of the club and he will not reveal his name.

A fascinating exploration of Banksy and his rise to fame. Is it all a marketing scheme to augment his commercial value? As one person in the documentary says if Jack the Ripper had been identified would he still have the notoriety he has today?

Directed by Aurélia Rouvier and Seamus Haley. It has just been released on Digital/Video on Demand.

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_N5TrJ9c4

RKS Film Rating 86/100.

“Travels To a Different Time” : 10August1975: Bolzano, Italy: Sex Crazed Magic Bus Driver: Riding in an Italian Ambulance

After R and R in Amsterdam on the Magic Bus to Munich from Amsterdam. Caught the Magic bus outside the zoo. I had a good party time without thinking about much and noting it in the travel journal. But the time had come to move on. The bus was an hour late. The bus driver seemed to move at a snail’s pace. The Magic Bus people do not seem well organized. Somewhere in Belgium at 2 in the morning the bus driver stopped in a small town and disappeared for some nooky nooky with his girlfriend, He was booed and hooted when he returned three hours later! Most of the passengers were on their way to Athens which was tempting but been there and done that. In a quick change of mind hopped off at Innsbruck right at the Autobahn, My next lift was on an Italian ambulance travelling to Bolzano which is just north of the Yugoslavian border. Hit the campground in this Italian Alpine own. The camping looked like a hole in the wall so rented a room which was $5 plus breakfast. Not having slept or washed in 35 hours the hot water and bed was a luxury I could afford. I splurged with a $5 dollar meal. Had a beer afterwards in bed at 23:00. Zurich on my mind tomorrow.

RKS Film:“We Are The Thousand”: A Delightful Escape From Documentary Depression Rocking with The Foo Fighters

I have finished reviewing some 24 documentaries over 60 days for two film festivals, Toronto Hot Docs and Earth X. 80% of those were depressing dealing with genetic manipulation, child abuse, politically sanctioned murders, deforestation, pig feces overflow etc. After this down ride I welcomed “We Are The Thousand” which is crammed with good cheer, happiness and camaraderie. If I had a smile meter this doc would be 98 out of a hundred.

Imagine a small group of Foo Fighter aficionados organizing “a big band” arrangement to woo the Foo to play in a small Italian village of Cesena. Through a minimal budget and countless hours of planning and coordinating 1,000 musicians in Cesena to play the Foo Fighter’s “Learn to Fly”. Drummers, vocalists and guitarists playing in perfect harmony to “Learn to Fly” which contained a plea for the Foo Fighters to play a concert in Cesena. And the video went viral with over 26 million views all over the globe in just two days. As of today this tally is closing in on 60,000,000. And yes the Foo Fighters play a concert in Cesena. An incredible feat. But behind that feat you’ll be introduced to the 1,000 musicians ranging from children to a terminally ill senior guitarist. And can you imagine a young man, a drummer with a Mohawk being invited by the band to play drums for one of its numbers in their Cesena concert.

Let me stop here and say this is a documentary of Niagara Falls proportion rocketing good will everywhere. A feel-good movie to be seen whether or not you have even heard of the Foo Fighters. A Woodstock of optimism!

The Director is Anita Rivaroli and the film will be opening in several theatres on June 3 as well as on VOD/digital platforms including iTunes/Apple, Dish TV Network/Dish Digital, Amazon Prime Video. Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, Vimeo Direc TV. You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPG4RbhZFo

RKS Film Rating 90/100.

Just to be sure you watch it here is the official “Rocking 1,000” Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JozAmXo2bDE

“Travels to a Different Time” : 22July1975: Into Amsterdam

Up after a few hours of sleep. This camping in the woods is free but it would be nice to have a shower and bush the old molars. We were lucky to see a gas station as we were low on petrol. So it was non stop for a few hours to Amsterdam and we arrived at 08:30 and the city was waking up. We stopped at a coffee shop and the driver and the Irish guy went to the washroom to wash up leaving me downstairs with two mugs of steaming coffee. The owner was taking a bird and became a bit surly. After twenty minutes they appeared to finish off their coffee. Back at the Peugeot we said our good-byes. I hopped on the bus to a camping site within the city for 80 cents a night and only cold water. Only young people here. Bought some food at the store for dinner then talked to neighbours and out like a light at 21:30.

RKS Film: Toronto Hot Docs Winner “Eternal Spring”: The Rise of Animation in Documentaries

The Canadian documentary “Eternal Spring” may be a watershed documentary with its use of animation to tell the story of the Falun Gong “hijacking” of Chinese State television in Changchun, China on March 5, 2002. Changchun was the birthplace of Falun Gong which is a “spiritual” practice pointing out a clear path to elevating yourself in a step-by-step process. I have been seen them for years meditating and Tai Chinging themselves outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto. Although I would have appreciated a more comprehensive treatment of why Falun Gong represents a threat to the dictatorship of the communist party, we are told they were becoming increasingly popular in China and any movement other than the Chinese communist party is perceived as a threat to the party’s hegemony.

This is why Falun Gong has been outlawed by China in 1999. It’s members have been beaten, tortured, imprisoned and murdered by Chinese authorities due to a perceived quiet threat they pose. Their hijacking of a TV signal gave them an opportunity to respond to the vilification and persecution they had been suffering. They were successful but most of the main group that carried out the hijacking have been murdered or imprisoned.

Much of the story is told through the animation of Daxiong a member of Falun Gong and a participant in the television hijacking. The animation is along comic book animation traditions and no wonder as Daxiong had been fixated on comic books since a child. The animation works well offering a way to recount the episode in a different fashion than recreation using actors or narration. It creates a fluidity of excitement. Falun Gong joins the Christians, Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims as threats to the communist hegemony and atheist nature touted by the party.

The documentary won the Audience Award for Top Documentary at Hot Docs Toronto Festival. It next shows at the New York Human Rights Film Festival on May 23/24 and then June 2 at Krakow Film Festival.

RKS Film Rating 89/100.