Image credit: The Spirit of Christmas, 2015.
Sing it with me: It’s the most…Wonderful time…Of the year. That’s right, I’m talking about CHRISTMAS MOVIE SEASON!!!! I’ve featured a lot of great holiday classics over the years, but now it’s time to move to the small screen. We are living in the age of the made-for-TV Christmas Movie, and Hollywood just can’t compete anymore (see: Last Christmas). Thanks to Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix, we’ll never have to experience this holiday without bland men in chunky sweaters, klutzy heroines, and cookie baking contests ever again. There’s literally a movie for every day of December. It was tough going, picking out just 4 or 5 for Cinema Sips, but I suffered through a lot of research to bring you the best of the best (really, it was my husband who suffered. I loved it). Kicking things off is my personal favorite, The Spirit of Christmas (Disc/Download).
Remember what I said about bland men in chunky sweaters? Yeah, not this movie. The Spirit of Christmas features a sexxxxxxxxy bootlegger ghost haunting an inn for twelve days every December, mixing up cocktails, trimming his beard, and trying to figure out who killed him nearly a hundred years ago. Enter Kate, the big city estate attorney tasked with getting the inn appraised for sale, who comes face-to-ghost-face with hot bearded Daniel, forcing him to open both his heart and his liquor cabinet for her. This movie truly has it all: romance, cocktails, actual snow, a little murder mystery, and cheesy supernatural effects. It’s like they decided to throw all the genres together and see what happens. The plot is ludicrous, but I’ll have you know that Daniel wears GLASSES, a vest, suspenders, a shawl cardigan, and in one glorious scene, an unbuttoned shirt. And did I mention the beard?
Before his fatal death blow, Daniel made a living as a talented rum-runner in the days of Prohibition. So let’s celebrate The Spirit of Christmas with this Rum Runner cocktail!
Rum Runner
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Dark Spiced Rum
1 oz Banana Liqueur
1 oz Chambord
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Pineapple Juice
Splash of Grenadine
Fresh fruit for garnish
Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with fruit and drink umbrella.
It may seem a little strange to be drinking a tropical tiki drink while watching a Christmas movie, but honestly, it’s not as strange as the movie itself. Case in point, Kate’s “gift” to Daniel is an old birth certificate proving that it was his baby who died shortly after birth, and not his girlfriend’s supposed lover’s. In other words, “Merry Christmas, it was YOUR dead baby.” All I can say is strap in—it’s gonna be one wild December on Cinema Sips. Cheers!
Cinema Sips 