RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film: “Are We Done Now”: A Panoply of Emotions

In the swirl of COVID Pamela Givers (Gabrielle Miller) as a registered clinical counsellor soothes and probes the emotions of emotionally afflicted clients. Pamela is mask and hand sanitizer obsessed so she is hardly COVID neutral and she is not without emotional problems herself.

A client of Pamela, film producer Dev Greene (Ben Immanuel) approaches Pamela with the idea of him producing a documentary on the possible effects of the COVID lockdown on society, particularly mental health and in doing so he will interview some of her clients all COVID afflicted to some degree but not so completely, spicing up what could have been yet another COVID centric production. The viewer may sigh and say not again as haven’t we heard all this before? Yes, we have so on rolls, through the documentary interviews and the therapy sessions, the usual side effects of the lockdown on personal relationships, incessant video calls, “stay safe” mutterings, endless radio stories, fears of physical proximity, toilet paper shortages, long distance seating, face shields and masks. It’s a yawner to start spruced up by the feisty wine swilling mother from hell Jenny (Camille Sullivan) blasting poor flaky daughter Lennon (Natalie Farrow). Sullivan kept me watching and I am glad she did as the film intensified as we are introduced to some eccentrics, deluded, motor mouths and COVID paranoiacs.

These cast of characters possess interesting case studies on humanity which is far more gripping than a “boring COVID story.” Emotions of the clients and their friends fly deeply making the film compelling with the intensity relieved by satire, lampooning and old-fashioned humor. There is rage, defiance, fear, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion not to mention a masterful lampooning of social media influencers.

The motto? COVID didn’t completely socially obliterate relationships it often altered them and sometimes for the better.

Impeccable casting but Camille Sullivan as Jenny, Natalie Farrow as Lennon and the loquacious Jayme (Elliot Ramsey) sparkle and draw you in.

VOD release 30September2025.

Written and directed by Ben Immanuel.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Film Rating 83/100.

RKS Literature: Avoidance of Catastrophic Thinking (Yukio Mishima)

“He believed that only a vulgar mentality was willing to acknowledge the possibility of catastrophe. He felt that taking naps was much more beneficial than confronting catastrophe. However precipitous the future might seem, he learned from the game of kemari that the ball must always come down. There was no call for consternation. Grief and rage, along with other outbursts of passion, were mistakes easily committed by a mind lacking in refinement. And the Count was certainly not a man that lacked refinement.”

“Spring Snow”, Yukio Mishima, 1968.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film: “The Age of Water”: Drinking to Death and Toasting Economic Short-Term Prosperity

In the Mexican state of Guanajuato, the town of La Cantera has a serious water quality problem. Independent professional testing and verifications have determined its drinking water drawn from the town’s well has a high degree of radioactivity associated with volcanic rocks leading to the formation of radon gas surfacing below from the groundwater where it mixes with the water and when entering the body radon remains permanently which was determined to be the cause of the death of three small children in La Cantera by leukemia.

Agribusiness consumes huge amounts of groundwater

The mothers of the deceased children address the town council and mayor to delve deeper into the issue of poisoned water causing the death of their children and failing to receive any redress form MAYOYE a civil group pressing for further investigation.

After the death of the three children health authorities appeared suddenly in La Cantera with loudspeakers asking the townsfolk to attend a meeting to reassure them there is no link between the deaths and “contaminated water”. Their view is that the deaths are normal. They never returned.

The Governor of Guanajuato states on a newscast show me what caused the deaths and I’ll act. He does not say he will investigate but leaves it to water quality complainants to show him causality between the deaths of the three children and the water quality before he acts.

The water commissioner of the national water commission CONAGUA in Guanajuato, Humberto Navarro, expresses the crucial importance of adequate water supplies for investors, industry and farmers. Guanajuato is a huge exporter of produce to the United States and Canada and enormous quantities of water are required. He dismisses testing results as they were not conducted by any governmental body rather through a university expert, Dr. Adríán Ortega, with expertise in water quality.

Dr. Ortega notes the groundwater supplying La Cantera is between 5,000-35,000 years old and is being drawn up at unsustainable levels and the water remaining contains high levels of fluoride and arsenic that in addition to use for agribusiness and the numerous auto manufacturing plants in Guanajuato is the source of water for households. Fluoride in concentrated levels decreases a child’s IQ by as much as 40% through its damage to neurotransmitters. Some 50,000 to 60,000 people in the area rely on this water for household use.

The MAYOYE ladies continue the struggle for clean water rights suffering harassment, job loss, delegitimization, threats and a lack of co-operation from any level of government.

After the making of the documentary in 2024 the newly elected mayor of La Cantera acknowledged MAYOYE’s efforts and publicly promised to reopen the issue.

Mexican politicians and bureaucrats appear to place more importance on industrial development than the damage caused to the health of its citizens by deadly water!

These same water quality issues are present in the Southwestern United States where groundwater is an important source of household water.

Directed by Isabel Alcántara Atalaya and Alfredo Alcántara and will premiere on PBS 8September2025 at 22:00 hours and will stream on the PBS app through 7December2025.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: Is There Any Pizzazz in Magnotta’s Limited Edition PZaZZ?

Magnotta Wines presents us with an Ontario VQA red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is non-vintage with the winery website stating the wine is from “a combination of two outstanding vintages of premium red blends of which 50% is from appassimento wines.” What were the outstanding vintage years?

The website also sates that “selected” Limited Edition wines, of which this wine is described as one are barrel aged in French/American oak for 12-18 months then bottle aged for an additional 6 months. Is this wine one of those “selected” Limited Edition wines? Are the oak barrels new or old or a combination of the two? Befuddling consumers?

Aroma: Blueberry, cassis, black cherry in a raspberry frame.

Palate: Bit of a tannic kick accompanied by a dose of pepper. Blueberry, date, purple Ontario plum and some sour cherry nectar with a lingering pepper finish.

Personality: I try to show my sophistication with an enormously heavy bottle which some consumers may associate with top quality wines. I am certainly a decent wine but does the vague term “Limited Edition” really add anything to my quality? May I humbly suggest decanting me for an hour to draw out a bit more complexity?

Food Match: Tis the season for abundant Ontario produce so why not a sour dough crust pizza with field plum tomato sauce topped with Mortadella and Niagara peach slices.

Price: $19.45 CDN.

Cellarbility: No harm in hanging around until 2026-year end. Might soften a bit but don’t count on it.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 89/100. Wine Align Community Score 89.

(Magnotta Limited Edition Non-Vintage PZaZZ, VQA Ontario, Magnotta, Ontario, 750 mL, 14.6%).

RKS Literature: Meditation and Returning Back to the Garden (Yukio Mishima)

“Even though he was plunged in meditation from morning to night, he was loath to direct his immense emotional reserves toward a single conclusion. Meditation had a great deal in common with kemari, the traditional sport of the Ayakuras. No matter how high one kicked the ball, it would obviously come back to earth again at once. Even if his illustrious ancestor Namba Munetate could excite cries of admiration when he picked up the white deerskin ball by its thongs of purple leather and kicked it to such incredible heights that it topped the ninety-foot roof of the imperial residence itself, it must inevitably fall back again into the garden.”

“Spring Snow”, Yukio Mishima, 1968.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine: & Evermore Chardonnay: Can an Ontario “Budget” Chardonnay Deliver?

If one pauses momentarily in a wave of Canadian patriotism accentuated by Trumpian carnival barking annexation of Canada aggression and decides to buy Canadian wine one may discover Canadian wines can be pricier than many Chilean, Spanish, Argentinian and Portuguese wines. Chardonnay is no exception so with interest we try a $16 & Evermore 2023 Chardonnay from Niagara, Ontario. An Artisan Wine Co. brand sort of akin to E.J. Gallo in California?

Aroma: Typical Niagara Chard pear, apple and lemon but add to that custard and marzipan. Lean but hopefully not mean!

Palate: The leanness continues on the palate with apple, pineapple and Flemish pear with a surprisingly long yet somewhat bereft finish.

Personality: I am unoaked so you might well expect leanness as a starting point if you are comparing me to oaked Chardonnay. I am the naked grape!

Food Match: Fresh caught perch from Minor Fisheries at Port Colborne in Fort Erie made into a fish chowder.

Price: $16 CDN.

Cellarbility: Don’t surpass 2025 New Year’s Eve with your pre dinner oysters.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Wine Rating: 86/100. Wine Align Community Score 86.

(&Evermore 2023 Unoaked Chardonnay, VQA Niagara Peninsula, 750 mL, 12.7%).

RKS 2025 Documentary Film: “In Hell With IVO”: A Most Interesting Bulgarian!

I was last in 1973 Bulgaria as a whippersnapper with shoulder length hair. There were very few adventuresome tourists in that part of the Iron Curtain at the time. As I was walking the streets of Sofia drinking some green carbonated beverage of unknown composition three Dutch young folk stopped me and asked how I entered the country with long hair intact. They had their locks shorn at the Bulgarian border having entered Bulgaria by car and the police were now stopping all longhairs on the streets of Sofia and escorting them to barbershops to maintain the purity of the socialist order. Being a filthy rich capitalist that flew into Sofia from Athens I was left untouched at customs. The point was that for an Iron Curtain country Bulgaria had a puritanical streak. The Romanians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, Poles and Hungarians left me luxuriate in my decadent long hair.

Screenshot

I was curious about this documentary touching the antics of 44-year-old Ivan Dimchev a Sofian dressed in bizarre but creative attire, singing smutty songs, appearing in outrageous performances, playing the comedian and writing a play, ”In Hell With Jesus” without being arrested but Bulgaria is no longer a communist state and morals have shifted from those in 1973 at which time Dimchev would have been transported to a Gulag.

This documentary showcases a very talented renaissance man; a comedian, a dancer, a playwright and a performance artist who transcends shock value displaying impressive artistic talent. Perhaps the comments of a radio show host describing IVO as extremely likeable, free, disturbing, obnoxious and insolent best describes the character unfolding in front of the viewer.

Why is IVO the way he is? Could it be the abuse he claims to have been subjected to by his father and lack of support of his mother when he advised her of his coming out at 18 years of age and her blind eye to paternal abuse. IVO considers himself in hell and causes hell to the people around him. He claims to have been in literal hell with all its manifestations and the only reason he is on earth with his partial sanity is that he kept Jesus in his heart!

Once you transcend the seemingly outrageous IVO, and you will do that relatively quickly, he is an intelligent and highly talented artist the  message his creativity perhaps based in the healing of his personal trauma.

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

“Ivo in Hell” is directed by Kristina Nikolova and will be screening as a regional premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival on 21August2025.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 83/100.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine: Southbrook Triomphe Merlot From Niagara

Niagara Merlot appears to be making great strides for itself whether it be Peninsula Ridge or Peller Estates. Could it be a judicious use of oak that is the key?

This Southbrook Organic Merlot was wild fermented in new and used French oak barrels aged for 18 months.

Aroma: Raspberry, black cherry and cassis with a slight earthy funk.

Palate: Moderate and peppery tannins. Chalky if not brackish running hot. Pepper, blackberry and raspberry continuing hotness on the long finish.

Personality:  I admit it I am a bit of a hothead obfuscating that trademark Southbrook purity. You won’t get warm and fuzzy Washington State Merlot from me.

Food Match: Stuffed Ontario field tomatoes and eggplant with lots of dill!

Cellarbility: Can hold into 2028 but can’t see it improving.

Price: $28 CDN.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine Rating: 86/100. Rick VanSickle 91.

(Southbrook triomphe Organic 2021 Merlot, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Southbrook Vineyards Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, 750 mL, 13%).

RKS Literature: Imagination (Yukio Mishima)

“Those who lack imagination have no choice but to base their conclusions on the reality they see around them. But on the other hand, those who are imaginative have a tendency to build fortified castles they have designed themselves, and to seal off every window in them.”

Yukio Mishima, “Spring Snow”, 1968.

RKS 2025 Documentary: “Divia”: All Manner of Destruction: All Manner of Resilience

The Euro documentary “Divia” has no dialogue simply music. Its astonishing cinematography is a work of art. It is a panorama of destruction of flora and fauna, man, his environment and his machines of death and destruction. Nature has been wounded but is far from defeat.

If you have watched the documentaries “Russia at War” and “2,000 Meters to Andriivka” you will have witnessed the brutal fighting in Ukraine with the focus on man, machine and technology. While there is footage of destruction in those films “Divia” is more comprehensive and lyrical showing the pristine habitant of Ukraine juxtaposed with its savage defiling. Its pictorial horror at times has a certain artistic beauty a luxury for the viewer and a hell for those humans and animals subjected to it.

All manner of destruction to man, machine, flora and fauna is presented. Rotting corpses of man, marine life and animal, rusted tanks and armoured vehicles, tanks being hit with high explosives, military garbage, bombed bridges, shell casing fragments, land mines, flooded villages, villages on fire, destroyed villages, explosions, huge patches of deforestation and flooded forests.

Yet in all the destruction nature continues the best way she can whether it be sunflowers growing in front of abandoned trenches, a bear swimming in a pond with a huge piece of shell casing seen in the clear pool or pheasants scooting about in tank treads. A sense of resilience imparting some shred of hope that one day Ukraine will be at peace and nature will not have to struggle to repair the damage wreaked upon it.

Divia has a meaning or connotation of something sacred, blessed or associated with deities. If there is anything sacred in this documentary it would the resilience of nature.

Watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1rJanwSsiw

This Ukrainian, Polish, American, Dutch and UK production is directed by Dmiytro Hreshko and will be having its regional premiere on 19August2025 at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 94/100.