Friendship and Vengeance

13 January 2018 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Ballad of Lefty Brown  (Theaters-2017; Streaming-2017)  Rated: R  Runtime: 111 minutesM Lefty 2017

Genre: Action-Drama-Mystery-Thriller-Western

els – 7.5/10

IMDb – 6.3/10

Amazon – 4.0/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 6.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.6/5

Metacritic Metascore – 63/100

Metacritic User Score – 7.5/10

Directed by: Jared Moshe

Written by: Jared Moshe

Music by: H. Scott Salinas

Cast: Bill Pullman, Peter Fonda, Joe Anderson, Tommy Flanagan

Film Locations:  Montana–cities of: Bannack, Virginia City, Nevada City and Harrison

Budget:  NA

Lefty Brown (Pullman), a hapless cowboy and life long partner and friend to his boss, the newly elected senator from Montana, Edward Johnson (Fonda), are riding the grassy hills, searching for horse thieves, when they are bushwhacked by a group of rascally devils in which Johnson is killed and Lefty is knocked silly but survives. As Lefty regains his senses, what little he ever had, he vows vengeance on the killers of his companion of 40 years. Thus begins the Lefty’s quest across the desolate and open lands of Montana, hunting for the killers of his one true friend; a hunt that tests his fortitude, his courage, and his loyalty, but it is the hunt for the truth that ultimately defines his essence as a man.

In 1955 Gunsmoke premiered on CBS television and ran for 20 years and 635 episodes, during which time it became quintessence of the western genre and likely, the most beloved. The core, twin pillars of the show included the just and honorable, but isolated, Marshall Dillon (James Arness) and his trusty but ornery sidekick: Fetus (Ken Curtis). The Ballad of Lefty Brown is the story of Fetus with Chester’s (Dennis Weaver) limp thrown in for good measure, out to avenge Matt’s death. Pullman plays Fetus aka Lefty to absolute perfection.  It is one of the greatest pieces of acting that I have seen in years. I hope they reserve one of the best actor awards for him. His acting is worth the price of admission, but watch it also for the supporting acting, the fervent story and the grand panoramic cinematography.

Double Time

12 January 2018 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Sniper: Ultimate Kill  (Theaters-NA; Streaming-2017)  Rated: R  Runtime: 90-93 minutes

Genre: Action-Drama-ThrillerM Sniper 2017

els – 5.5/10

IMDb – 5.6/10

Amazon – 4.0/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – NA/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.2/5

Metacritic Metascore – NA/100

Metacritic User Score – NA/10

Directed by: Claudio Fäh

Written by: Chris Hauty

Music by:  Frederik Wiedmann

Cast:  Chad Michael Collins, Billy Zane, Tom Berenger, Danay Garcia

Film Locations:  Bogota, Columbia

Budget:  NA

The DEA sends marine sniper Brandon Beckett (Collins) to Columbia to assist in capturing the biggest drug lord in all of South America and eliminate his deadly enforcer: “The Devil”.  The Devil, a sniper supplied with special tracking ammo, plays a cat and mouse game with Beckett to prevent the DEA from capturing the drug kingpin.  The bad guys manage to always be one step ahead of the good guys, providing for lots of action and thrills along with the expected and predictable plot twists.

This is the 7th film in the Sniper franchise which began with the 1993 movie: Sniper.  This is Claudio Fah’s second Sniper movie that he has directed, his first being the 2011 Sniper: Reloaded.  His direction produces exactly what this movie should be; an action movie first and foremost with very little time allotted for character development or subtle plot details.  The main actors are the accomplished and capable actors; Berenger, Collins, and Zane, with Sniper: Ultimate Kill being the first movie in the franchise where all 3 have appeared together. The only faulty acting in this movie is by Danay Garcia who just manages to recite her lines without tripping over her tongue and strangling herself.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill is a fun action movie that provides enjoyable viewing if you’re not looking for anything too cerebral or containing profound substance. You have seen this movie a 100 times in various forms, but when they are well done they are worth an hour or two of your time. Turn down the lights and pass the popcorn.

Where the Money Is

10 January 2018 By in Books Nonfiction Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

The Billionaire’s Vinegar B Billionaire's Vinegar.jpg

Written by:  Benjamin Wallace

Published by:  Three Rivers Press

Copyright:  © 2009

Originally Published by: Crown Publishers

Copyright:  © 1994

On 5 December 1985 Kip Forbes, son of Malcolm Forbes, acting as his father’s agent, sat in Christie’s London auction room waiting to bid on a 1787 bottle of Chateau Lafite, supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the U.S. Forbes had intended to bid no more than £5000 for the bottle but when the bidding ended and the dust settled, he had set the price record for a single bottle of wine; tendering £105,000 or about $156,000 at the then current exchange rates.

Almost from the beginning the wine’s authenticity was questioned. The place it was discovered and how many bottles were found at the site has never been fully or satisfactorily revealed. Students of Jefferson could not find any conclusive proof that the former president ever possessed this wine; important because Jefferson catalogued and inventoried everything. Dating techniques were unable to assign a definitive date except give it a range of somewhere between 50 to 200 years old. The engraving on the bottle was certified old, and new by different experts.  The wine, when opened, actually a different bottle from the same Jeffersonian lot, was delicious; a very rare occurrence for a 200-year-old bottle of red wine.

The Billionaire’s Vinegar is the story of this suspect bottle of wine, and the exclusive club of people who are connected with it. Benjamin Wallace tells this tale of mystery and intrigue through the use of short vignettes and biographies of those involved, much as if he were writing a series of magazine articles; not surprising since that is what he does for a living: write magazine articles.  He presents the evidence that exists in excruciating detail, but it is not enough to truly settle the debate, although he convincingly posits that the whole affair was a con.

When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks he replied, supposedly, “because that’s where the money is”.  The rare and old wine market is an expensive hobby, open only to those whose pockets are deep and full.  Always an attraction for those dissatisfied with their shallow and empty pockets.

Tahbilk Shiraz 2012

3 January 2018 By in Red Wine Tags: , , Leave a comment

W Tahbilk 2012Shiraz from Nagambie Lakes, Australia

100% shiraz

13.7% alcohol

Opened 26 Dec 2017

els: 9.0/10

Australian Wine Companion: 92

Wine and Spirits: 91

Robert Parker: 90

The Wine Front: 90

Cellar Tracker: 89

Tahbilk established itself in 1860 as the first winery in the Goulburn Valley of Central Victoria, Australia, and is one of the oldest wineries in Australia. The Daung-wurrung, a Victorian aboriginal clan, in their native language called the area tabilk-tabilk or the ‘place of many waterholes’, so named because the local Goulburn River dried up periodically and left isolated bodies of water: ‘waterholes’; in the river and along its billabongs. Reginald Purbrick purchased the winery in 1925 and 5 generations of family have been making wines there ever since.

The Shiraz vineyards encompass about 75 acres and contain vines planted between the 1930s and 2000s. The vineyards are situated less than 500 feet above sea level experiencing cool nights of about 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the days hover in the low 80s during the growing season. Rain is sufficient at about 1.5 to 2.5 inches per month. The soils are sandy.

The wine is fermented in open-topped oak barrels and aged in 100 year French oak barrels.

This is a brilliant, garnet colored wine with a pale pink rim. Aromas of red fruits and dark berries, with a hint of oak. Very nice tasting, balanced, medium bodied and smooth, with thick tannins; producing a long, dry, satisfying finish. A classy girl of a wine, reminiscent of long, perfect legs, anchored to glossy stiletto heals, and, unfortunately, partially retiring inside a white silk dress, slit long on the left thigh; the dress continuing upward along luscious curves  with a single, lonely strap across the right shoulder.

An outstanding wine. Serve with beef, lamb or wild game. Decant and aerate for one hour before drinking.

$13.99  wine.com

Kill and Die–Order Not Important

2 January 2018 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

24 Hours to Live  (Theaters-2017; Streaming-2017)  Rated: R  Runtime: 92-93 minutesM 24 2017

Genre: Action-Mystery-Thriller

els – 5.5/10

IMDb – 5.8/10

Amazon – 3.6/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 4.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.0/5

Metacritic Metascore – 38/100

Metacritic User Score – 5.8/10

Directed by:  Brian Smrz

Written by:  Zach Dean, Jim McClain, Ron Mita

Music by:  Tyler Bates

Cast:  Ethan Hawke, Rutger Hauer, Paul Anderson, Qing Xu

Film Locations:  South Africa, Hong Kong, USA

Budget:  NA

Travis Conrad (Hawke) is an assassin, on sabbatical or as he states, a ‘hiatus’ from Red Mountain, a mercenary and security firm; a fictional representation of the real world Blackwater. He is re-activated by the company for an urgent time-sensitive task. His new mission is to eliminate a former Red Mountain employee who is going to testify against his employer; stating under oath that Red Mountain conducted Mengele-like medical experiments on scores of South African subjects.

The experiments were attempts to bring the dead back to life, and they succeeded, although success was bought with a costly, and gruesome, high body count.  Conrad, while tracking the rogue employee is killed, but is re-animated by the same back-from-the-dead procedures that Red Mountain has pioneered.  The catch is that there are some rather unpleasant side effects and the process is only good for 24 hours at which point he dies again.

This is a fun movie with lots of shooting, bullets, and bloody deaths. No hidden messages except the usual boiler plate of corporate boogeymen and anything for a buck, but that’s really not hidden; it’s full on in your face. This is Brian Smrz’s sophomore attempt at direction and he keeps it coarse with no frills, no long drawn out drama scenes to distract from what this movie is: an action movie.  The story holds together, it’s sparse and the actors give all that it takes to keep this movie going without any cringe worthy line delivers. The only negative is that Rutger Hauer was under utilized.  He could have brought more color to the film’s main sequences but the writers left him in a side story role, which was too bad.

Grand Forks, ND Housing Market

1 January 2018 By in Real Estate Tags: , , Leave a comment

Trends from the previous month:

  1. The overall market is experiencing a price drop in single family homes, not only in the absolute price of average and medium homes values but in the price/sq.ft. The price drop is totally due to homes selling for less than $500,000. Homes above this value are posting a slight increase in value but the sample size is likely too small be statistically significant.
  2. There are approximately 14% fewer homes on the market in December.
  3. All houses are experiencing a significant increase in the days on the market before selling.RE Housing Dec 2017

Truthers

27 December 2017 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Unlocked  (Theaters-2017; Streaming-2017)  Rated: R  Runtime: 98 minutesM Unlocked 2017

Genre: Action-Mystery-Suspense-Thriller

els – 4.5/10

IMDb – 6.2/10

Amazon – 4.1/5 stars

Rotten Tomatoes Critics – 4.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes Audience – 3.5/5

Metacritic Metascore – 46/100

Metacritic User Score – 6.1/10

Directed by:  Michael Apted

Written by:  Peter O’Brien

Music by:  Stephan Barton

Cast:  Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Michael Douglas, John Malkovich

Film Locations:  Prague, Czech Republic; London, England

Budget:  NA

A PTSD undercover CIA agent, Alice Racine (Rapace), assigned to a desk job in the immigrant slums of London, unlocks, or extracts information from an Islamic currier that has the potential to bring unfathomable terror to London and the world. The information she obtains is immediately compromised by a mole inside the CIA, and thus, begins a shoot ’em up race to find the mole and stop the terrorists from releasing a deadly biologic agent into the city population.

An all-star cast, along with an accomplished director: Apted, give their all to make something out of an incredibly predictable, misguided and sophomoric screenplay, but in the end it isn’t enough. When Eric Lasch (Douglas) makes an appearance early in the movie, you can get up and leave, the general outline of the movie is writ large and by continuing to watch the show you only gain the details and a headache.

Peter O’Brien is wholly responsible for this mixed up attempt of a spy thriller. If he had written this story without a Hollywood PC twist it may have worked, but instead his fantasy world beliefs make a total and unbelievable mess of the plot. This script makes some sense when you realize that O’Brien’s previous efforts included writing scripts for video games; his greatest credit being for Microsoft’s Halo: Reach.  What doesn’t make sense is how any one paid money to turn this script into a movie. Hopefully after this fiasco he will leave the movie business, and return to the realm of first person shooter games where the story is buried beneath the body count.

La Rioja Alta Vina Alberdi Reserva Tinto 2010

26 December 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

W Alberdi 2010Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain

100% tempranillo

13.5% alcohol

Opened 21 Dec 2017

els: 9.0/10

James Suckling: 95

Robert Parker: 91

Cellar Tracker: 90

Wine Spectator: 89

La Rioja Alta, founded in 1890, within the Station Quarter of Haro, Spain, offers some of the finest  wines coming out of the Rioja producing region. The Vina Alberdi brand was added to the firm’s lineup of great wines in 1978, making its newest label, out of 5, and the only one made with 100% Tempranillo grapes.

The Rioja region’s wine history is tied into the arrival of the Phoenicians, and their wine making skills, 3000 years ago, with their arrival and founding, in the 11th century B.C., of what is now city of Cadiz along the southwestern Spanish-Atlantic coast. They likely continued their migration to the Rioja region via sea routes along the Atlantic-Iberian coast. The Romans continued, and expanded, the wineries in the Rioja area starting around the 2nd century B.C.; credited with the planting many of the vineyards in the area. During the Middle-Ages, Christian pilgrimages through the area provided a continuous market, and free advertising, for these northern Spanish wines.

In the 19th century the French vineyards were devastated and destroyed by the very small critter: Daktulosphaira vitifoliae.  With the resultant collapse of the French wine industry many of the country’s wine artisans migrated south into the Spanish wine growing regions, bringing with them their expertise and customs, especially from the Bordeaux region.  La Rioja Alta’s first winemaker in 1890 was the Frenchman, Monsieur Vigier, coming during the period, in the late 19th century, of the greatest vineyard destruction in France where 65-90% of the vineyards succumbed to the Phylloxera.

La Rioja Alta’s estate owned vineyards: Las Monjas, Bardal and Las Cuevas, which provide the Tempranillo grapes for this wine, grow at 1600 to 2000′ above sea level, a few miles from Haro. The soils are chalky and clayey, nurturing vines that were planted more than 40 years ago. Growing season temperatures range from a the low 50s at night to the low 80s Fahrenheit during the day, with atypical  20 degree, night-to-day, temperature swing. Rarely does the area experience freezing temperatures. The spring and summer months average 1.75 to 3 inches of rain per month.

The Tempranillo grapes are manually harvested and the wine spends 12 months in new American oak barrels and an additional 12 months in 3-year-old, or more, barrels.  Every 6 months the wine is romantically racked (trasegamos) by the light of a candle. The 2010 vintage was bottled in 2013.

This is a brilliant, dark cherry-red wine with a peachy-pink rim. Aromas of red fruits and berries, with a hint of oak and caramel. Very nice tasting, balanced, medium bodied and smooth, with a crisp acidity and just right tannins, producing a long, dry finish. The wine evokes visions of the gently undulating curves of a gypsy dancer in an iridescent, flowing chiffon red dress; her body pulsating and pressing to the slow Bolero beats in a smoky, steamy, waterfront Cadiz club.

An outstanding wine. Serve with cheese or light fare. Decant and aerate for one hour before drinking.

$11.00-33.00  wine-searcher.com

Poetry with Notes–Snowblind Friend

24 December 2017 By in Music Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

He said he wanted heaven but prayin’ was too slow                                                   So he bought a one way ticket on an airline made of snow

Written by Hoyt Axton
Album: My Griffin is Gone 1969
Album: Snowblind Friend 1977

 

Addicts, that live long enough, cultivate an affair of abhorrence and romance with their dependence, a dishonest balance of hate and love. Love, a word that portends need, not affection, in the language of addiction; an unnatural longing disguised as amour and passion, all dressed up as a friend that will stay with them. The friend, though, is fake; only despair, disgrace and despondency will this friend bring.  Hate, for knowing that their friend will remain only till he takes everything. Hate, for the lost chances of respect and reward. Hate for knowing it is all a lie.

Hoyt Axton, agonized, struggled, lived a life of hypocrisy, over booze and cocaine most of his life. Partnering with local law enforcement to discourage kids from using drugs, until the local law enforcement busted him for using drugs. Relying on his friends to provide and protect until his next meager royalty check arrived. Awakening from his alcohol and drug binges, seeing the devil sitting by his side; waiting, smiling. Knowing God only when he wrote a song that was “right”, but the devil’s pen was always dry. Aware that God and song were his real love, but the devil and drugs were a simpler high. Heaven came slowly with a cost during his Earthly time, the devil was faster; the cost payable at a later date.

Axton wrote, in song, repeatedly of his “unholy” habit, always lamenting, but not relenting on his usage: Della and the Dealer, The Pusher, Boozers are Losers, The No-No Song; all were a cry for help and release.  The best though, the most poetic, was Snowblind Friend. A dirge of knowing the end, knowing the final trip along the road coated with alcohol and cocaine, a song of death with no honor, death as a way out, but with a pleading, please…please, not today.

Snowblind Friend

You say it was this morning when you last saw your good friend
Lyin’ on the pavement with a misery on his brain
Stoned on some new potion he found upon the wall
Of some unholy bathroom in some ungodly hall

He only had a dollar to live on ’til next Monday
But he spent it all on comfort for his mind
Did you say you think he’s blind?

Someone should call his parents, a sister or a brother
And they’ll come to take him back home on a bus
But he’ll always be a problem to his poor and puzzled mother
Yeah he’ll always be another one of us

He said he wanted heaven but prayin’ was too slow
So he bought a one way ticket on an airline made of snow
Did you say you saw your good friend flyin’ low?
Flyin’ low, dyin’ slow

You say it was this morning when you last saw your good friend
Lyin’ on the pavement with a misery on his brain
Stoned on some new potion he found upon the wall
Of some unholy bathroom in some ungodly hall

He only had a dollar to live on ’til next Monday
He said he wanted heaven but prayin’ was too slow
So he bought a one way ticket on an airline made of snow
Did you say you saw your good friend flyin’ low?
Dyin’ slow, flyin’ low
Did you say you saw your good friend flyin’ low?
Dyin’ slow, flyin’ low, flyin’ and dyin’ slow

Rutini Malbec 2013

19 December 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

W Rutini 2013Malbec from Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

100% malbec

14.0% alcohol

Opened 15 Dec 2017

els: 9.0/10

Cellar Tracker: 92

Wine Spectator: 91

Wine and Spirits: 89

Wine Enthusiast: 88

Felipe Rutini was born in 1866, into a winemaking family in the central Italian agricultural Province of Ascoli Piceno, which is less than 20 miles west of the Adriatic Sea. He graduated from the Royal School of Agriculture as an agricultural technician in the city of Ascoli Piceno. Disillusioned with the Italian unification and the constant wars in Europe, he made his way to Mendoza, Argentina at the young age of 18 and a year later founded the La Rural winery in the district of Coquimbito, currently located in the southeastern portion of the Mendoza metro area. People definitely made their mark earlier in life during the days of horses and steam.

His sons, after their father Felipe Rutini’s death in 1919, took over the winery and were the first to plant vineyards in the Uco Valley, around Tupungato, in the year of 1925. The winery eventually established two more vineyards in the southern portion of Uco Valley in the San Carlos Department. All 3 of these vineyards: Gualtallary, The Consultation, and The Altamira; totaling approximately 620 acres, are a source of grapes for this Malbec. In 1994, the Rutini winery and vineyards were sold to Argentinian investors including the wine makers: Nicolas Catena and Jose Benegas Lynch.

The vineyards are situated 3100 to 4100′ above sea level in the shadow of the Andes Mountains and the 21,500′ Tupungato volcano. The soils are well-drained, alluvial to colluvial, rocky sands to loams, one to four feet thick. Temperatures reach into the 80s during the growing season days and dip into the mid-50s at night.  Rain varies from 1 to 3.5 inches per month.

The grapes are manually harvested and the wine spends 12 months in new French and American oak barrels. Later vintages are stored in new and second use oak barrels.

It is a dark plum-colored wine with blackberry and earthy aromas. Huge tannins and shanghaied acidity produce a long grope of a finish. I drank a bottle of this wine several years ago and it was mediocre, plain and uninteresting, at best.  It has aged well in the bottle and exhibits a greater punch and grab now. Also it was about half the price a few years ago, re-enforcing the maxim: buy early, drink later. Serves well with red meat.

An outstanding wine. Decant and aerate for one hour before drinking.

$32-40  wine-searcher.com