Category Archives: film

RKS Film: “Waking up Dead”: Rock Bottom to Death or Salvation?

If you have viewed the 1947 or 2021 version of “Nightmare Alley” you have a very vivid recollection of what rock bottom is. In that film there was rock bottom to start, then success and then a horrific nightmarish rock bottom. In “Waking Up Dead” there would be a linear line of a descent toContinue reading “RKS Film: “Waking up Dead”: Rock Bottom to Death or Salvation?”

RKS Film: “Drinkwater”: Intelligent Teen Angst

Yes we have seen countless teen angst films such as “Rebel Without a Cause”, “Breakfast Club”, “Acid Test” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. There may be a fine line between vapid teenploitation films and intelligent teen angst films. “Drinkwater” falls into the intelligent teen angst genre. So expect some of usual plot lines; “Drinkwater” containsContinue reading “RKS Film: “Drinkwater”: Intelligent Teen Angst”

RKS Film: “Shady Grove”: Misandrist Suspense

“Shady Grove” is not a horror film as I see it. It is in the misandrist suspense category. It is one of those films that drops a multitude of hints along its plot line but the hints only make sense after the closing credits roll. Sort of like a puzzle suddenly making sense. Shaina (NikiContinue reading “RKS Film: “Shady Grove”: Misandrist Suspense”

RKS Film: “Nelly and Nadine”: One of Europe’s Best in 2022?

“Nelly and Nadine” is a Belgian/Swiss/Swedish documentary and is one of 13 films on the short list for the best film for the 2022 European Film Awards that will be announced in Reykjavik on December 10th. The documentary begins with the narrator commenting on a film reel shot on April 28, 1945, in Malmo SwedenContinue reading “RKS Film: “Nelly and Nadine”: One of Europe’s Best in 2022?”

RKS Wine: A Glass of Freakshow with “Nightmare Alley”?

Does being politically correct make you nauseous? Being averse to dig into this subject let me give you an example. I was waiting to board an Air Canada flight in Athens headed for Toronto on September 20th. I talked to a father and daughter from Ohio who lived a couple of hours south of ClevelandContinue reading “RKS Wine: A Glass of Freakshow with “Nightmare Alley”?”

RKS Film: “Eleftheromania”: Greek Prisoners in Auschwitz Face Moral Dilemma

A well acclaimed short film “Eleftheromania” is based on 4 years of research by Gregory C. Pappas through firsthand evidence and research of the Auschwitz archives. Greece was occupied by the Germans in the Second World War and the Greek population suffered atrocities when their resistance fought the Germans. Villages were decimated by mass executions.Continue reading “RKS Film: “Eleftheromania”: Greek Prisoners in Auschwitz Face Moral Dilemma”

RKS Films: “True Things”: A Cad Leading a Lamb to the Slaughter

“True Things” is a BritGrit film about an obsession or perhaps the extreme desperation of a woman seeking a relationship encompassing both sex and love. It is also a study of a cad and a lout exploiting that obsession and desperation. Kate Perkin is a thirty something clerk processing claims of some sort in aContinue reading “RKS Films: “True Things”: A Cad Leading a Lamb to the Slaughter”

RKS Wine: The Return of the Penniless Pensioner and the Tirana Tigress in Albania

After months of radio silence, I received a Facetime call from the Penniless Pensioner from the capital of Albania, the glistening Tirana. We chatted like it was yesterday! His last love affair with the Russian Svetlana crumbled rather quickly after her yacht was confiscated in Montenegro. Apparently her yacht was stolen from Crimea when theContinue reading “RKS Wine: The Return of the Penniless Pensioner and the Tirana Tigress in Albania”

RKS Film: “Dead Bride”: Spaghetti Horror Film?

Do you remember those delightfully different Westerns in the 1970’s shot in Spain and Italy. Not only were they enjoyable but they played a role in reviving a languishing genre of film so popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The horror genre of film has never really languished but the Italian “Dead Bride” is aContinue reading “RKS Film: “Dead Bride”: Spaghetti Horror Film?”

RKS Film: “The Last Out”: Cuban Fodder for Major League Baseball?

“The Last Out” is a PBS POV documentary which you can stream free (assuming you are not geoblocked) until 2November22 at pbs.org and the PBS Video app. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of three Cuban baseball players fleeing the poverty and lack of baseball opportunities to make their career, hopefully, in American professional baseballContinue reading “RKS Film: “The Last Out”: Cuban Fodder for Major League Baseball?”