Image Credit Miramax Films, The House of Yes, 1997
Happy early-Thanksgiving to all the Cinema Sips readers out there! I’m still recovering from the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan-athon last year (I maybe shouldn’t have had the brilliant idea to photograph and consume all the week’s drinks at once), so this year I’m just sharing one film- though it is absolutely one of my favorite Thanksgiving films. In The House of Yes (DVD/Download), no actual Thanksgiving food gets consumed, though there is the offer of “raw” cranberry sauce and croissants. I kind of love this, since admittedly I do not actually cook much on the big day (thank heavens for Texas BBQ take-out!). At any rate, less time in the kitchen means more time for movies and drinks later on. And that is certainly something to be thankful for!
The House of Yes is a dark comedy about one very dysfunctional family’s Thanksgiving holiday. Adapted from a stage play and directed by Mark Waters (of Mean Girls fame), this little indie gem from 1997 features Parker Posey in one of her best roles as a Jackie-O obsessed lunatic who has, ahem, a very close relationship with her twin brother (played brilliantly by the totally underrated Josh Hamilton). He brings home his new fiancé, and the family pretty much goes off the deep end. To top it off, a hurricane hits their town of McLean, Virginia, the power goes out, and they’re left with nothing but Liebfraumilch and dueling piano-playing to entertain themselves. I have to apologize to viewers out there for the presence of Tori Spelling as the fiancé. She garnered a well-deserved Razzie nomination for her performance, and that about says it all.
One of my favorite scenes is when Jackie and her brother Marty have a contest to see who can drink the most rum and Pepsi in a short amount of time. This actually sounds like one of those bizarre, bored-sibling holiday rituals that turns out to be amazingly fun. So without further ado, my drink this week is of course Rum & Pepsi. (Watch the movie, you’ll see why I had to do it.)
Rum & Pepsi
1 oz Rum
3 oz Pepsi
Ice (don’t forget the ice!)
Styrofoam cups (A real glass is fine if you’re trying to save the environment, like me. Baby steps)
Pour the rum and Pepsi over ice into a cup or glass. Or, do like Jackie-O and Marty and chug straight from the bottles.
Like I said, this film is pretty dark, and not exactly family-friendly. But since I always have a quiet Thanksgiving at home with my husband, I can watch twisted films like this. I’m sure everybody out there thinks that their family is a little weird, but take comfort in the fact that your family is probably not as weird as this one. When mom starts to hide the kitchen knives and your brother has to hide the bullets, then you know you’ve got problems. Cheers!
p.s.- the festive cocktail napkin in the above photo was crafted by my very talented mother! Thanks mom 🙂
Cinema Sips 
I don’t think I can do Pepsi and rum but I will check out Yes. We love Parker Posey and our official holidays are often either lonely, sad or dysfunctional too. I’m a late in life step- child– in-law. It makes my role as black sheep in my own family seem benign. I’ve been drinking rosemary gimlets with vodka since going to the La Belle opening.
I grow herbs esp rosemary and love this use for it.
Julia
I agree with you Julia, Rum and Pepsi is a bit tough to take. That’s why I’ll be posting a follow-up cocktail later this week for Thanksgiving, using rum and my home-grown mint!
I’m ashamed to say that this never made it to my small screen. It should’ve been a Netflix recommendation in the good old days a decade ago as a cheap college student, ahead of the trend by joining that red enveloped DVD-by-mail club. Maggie Gyllenhaal movies made the queue, how was this Parker P film left out? A mystery of life.
Oh well now is the perfect time to catch up! I love pretty much anything with Parker Posey in it, and this is definitely one of her best roles. AND, it’s currently streaming on Netflix, though I had to use the search feature to find it. Maybe if enough people start watching it, they’ll start recommending it. Let’s start a Cinema Sips movement!
From the mom, thankyou.