RKS Film: Are Review Embargos Self Defeating? The Early Bird Catches the Worm!

I am in the midst of reviewing some films that are showing at the 2023 Toronto Hot Docs Festival. With over 200 documentaries showing between April 27 and May 7 as a sole reviewer I hope to review 15 or so films. Often with releases of films before their release date or very close toContinue reading “RKS Film: Are Review Embargos Self Defeating? The Early Bird Catches the Worm!”

RKS Film: The Best Documentaries of 2022

The Best Documentaries of 2022 President (96) Perfecting the Art of Longing (96) American Reckoning (95) Who Killed Vincent Chin(94) Lodo (93) Yanis Varoufakis: Eye of The Storm (93) Anonymous Club (93) Young Plato (93) Jon Bénet’s Tricycle (93) The Last Tourist (93) The Killing of a Journalist (92) The Quiet Epidemic (92) Silent BeautyContinue reading “RKS Film: The Best Documentaries of 2022”

RKS Film: “Last of the Right Whales”: Despair and Hope

“Last of the Right Whales” is a documentary about the perils North Atlantic right whales face and what is being done to save them from extinction. It is bound to enthrall viewers yet cause some emotional trauma. The drone photography is nothing but spectacular and sickening when watching right whales entangled in fishing ropes orContinue reading “RKS Film: “Last of the Right Whales”: Despair and Hope”

RKS Film “Apostles”

Doesn’t this sound wretched? “Apostles” is Scud’s 8th film. Why would director Danny Cheng refer to himself as Scud a faulty Iraqi missile! Is he playing with us? “Apostles” is one of those “artsy films” if you throw my way, I am free to interpret it in artsy ways and never be wrong! As anContinue reading “RKS Film “Apostles””

RKS Film: “Paradise City”: Sucking on the Teats of Past Glory

“Paradise City” reunites John Travolta and Bruce Willis 27 years after their performance in “Pulp Fiction”. Both Willis and Travolta in “Pulp Fiction” were out of their stereotypical roles and that film might have or could have reinvented both these actors. Willis of late it has been revealed is suffering from Aphasia a cognitive disorderContinue reading “RKS Film: “Paradise City”: Sucking on the Teats of Past Glory”

RKS Film: “The Human Trial”: Should Private Enterprise Have the Power to Control Pain, Suffering and Life Itself?

The documentary “The Human Trial” is a five-year journey exploring the development of stem cell laden implants into human subjects suffering from Type 1 Diabetes in the anticipation they will produce insulin. Five million people a year die from complications attributable to diabetes. If it doesn’t kill you it may very well blind you orContinue reading “RKS Film: “The Human Trial”: Should Private Enterprise Have the Power to Control Pain, Suffering and Life Itself?”

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: “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”