If you’re on the hunt for the perfect holiday gift for someone who loves movies and cocktails, then you’re in luck because today, I’m sharing five things that have made my life a whole lot better in the last year. I personally own and enjoy all of these items, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them for a friend. A very nice friend; not a naughty one. Naughty friends get cheap bottles of wine and ironic napkins they will never use.
This book is great for both classic movie fans and the home bartender! The recipes are easy to make, and Muller’s pairings are always inspired. I find myself returning to it again and again when I’m stumped for what to make/watch that night.
It might surprise you how many movies were set or filmed in Connecticut, and this book takes the reader on a fantastic road trip through cinema history. Illeana Douglas has long been a favorite actress of mine, but this year she’s become a favorite author as well!
Breakfast at Dominique’s sells wonderful coffee inspired by classic film stars, and I’m particularly a fan of the Ava Gardner blend (used recently in an Espresso Martini while I watched Mogambo!). If you like espresso cocktails, or if you just want a great cup of coffee, then definitely order a few bags!
Picture the concept: you’re dead, BUT you can eat whatever you want without gaining an ounce of weight. You like broccoli? How about smothering it in cheese sauce? Big fan of shrimp? Here’s thirty of them! Pie? We’ve got nine of those—one for every day you’re in purgatory! Defending Your Life (Disc/Download) may be a smart, poignant romantic comedy, but it’s also one of the best foodie films to come out of Hollywood. When you’re planning your Thanksgiving menu this week, be sure to make some room for this Albert Brooks classic (and wear your stretchiest pants).
I remain grateful to The Criterion Collection for introducing me to so many of Brooks’ films this year, and while I love them all, I can’t help but be disappointed that he didn’t make more. This charming, insecure, curly haired man is everything I want in a romantic hero. The chemistry between recently deceased ad exec Daniel (Brooks) and the altruistic woman he meets in the afterlife (Meryl Streep) is off-the-charts sexy, and I wish every onscreen couple would take a lesson in flirting from these two. Daniel has to prove that he’s not going to let fear run his life before he can move on to the next astral plane with Streep, and if he doesn’t, he’ll be sent back to Earth- a miserable place where people only use 3% of their brain (these days, post-pandemic, we may be down to 2%).
Although Daniel is forced to relive difficult moments from his past while “on trial”, this Judgement City waiting room really isn’t too bad. There are bowling alleys and comedy clubs and tons of all-you-can-eat buffets. And did I mention there are no such things as calories? Since this week is Thanksgiving, and this is the only week of the year in which heavy cream is sitting in my fridge, it seems like a good time to go all out with a cocktail. While watching Defending Your Life, I recommend drinking this White Rein-Carnation.
White Rein-Carnation
2oz Vodka
¾ oz Peach Schnapps
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Heavy Cream
1 Egg White
1 oz Soda Water
Fresh Mint and Orange Twist (Garnish)
Combine all ingredients except soda water and garnish in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a glass, then pour back into the shaker to “dry shake” without ice for another ten seconds, until frothy. Double strain the mixture into a chilled collins glass, and top with soda water. Garnish with fresh mint and orange twist.
One of my favorite moments is when a waiter asks Daniel if he likes pie, and with the unabashed excitement of a small child, he replies, “I love pie!” I love pie too, but fear of hastening my own death keeps me from having it every day. However, Thanksgiving is the one time of year when you’re supposed to let go of the fear and give into pleasure. Where we can have the pie, and the cheese sauce, and the cocktail with the heavy cream, cholesterol be damned. Tomorrow, the fear will creep back in, but today, we feast. Cheers!
If you love The Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland but were disappointed by Disney’s 2021 film adaptation, then put on a classic that gives you all the thrills and animal encounters of a trip through Adventureland. John Ford’s Mogambo (Disc/Download) may be short on puns, but it’s long on danger and melodrama.
Starring Clark Gable as a big game hunter, and Ava Gardner as the cheeky New York socialite who upends his camp and his heart, Mogambo is a stunning Technicolor production shot on location in Africa. It’s wild to me that Ford would subject stars like Gable and Gardner and Grace Kelly to such an intense environment, but the authenticity of the continent shines through. During the course of a safari, Gable finds himself at the center of a love triangle with Gardner and Kelly, who plays the wife of a British anthropologist. Clark may be quite a bit older than both actresses, but he’s still got that twinkle in his eye that makes women of any age susceptible to his charms. Ava Gardner is a breath of fresh air in this movie, and it’s through her eyes that we see the wonder of this amazing place and all its creatures. She acts as the comic relief, to the point where I almost expect her to make a “ginger snaps” joke at the sight of a crocodile. Unfortunately, it’s just me making the lame dad jokes, from my couch.
Speaking of Gardner, I recently had the pleasure of trying the Ava Gardner Goddess Blend coffee from Breakfast at Dominique’s, and I loved it so much that I decided to use it in a cocktail! Strong and complex, this drink is Ava in a nutshell. While watching Mogambo, I recommend drinking an Espresso Martini.
Combine all ingredients except the beans in a shaker with ice, shaking vigorously for a full minute. Strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with coffee beans.
*Note, I tried making this with cold brew, but I couldn’t achieve that signature foam on top. To get it frothy, I instead made it with a freshly brewed shot of espresso and added a few dashes of Fee Foam.
The quality of the coffee you use in this martini has a big impact on the final flavor. One sip of the Ava Gardner Goddess Blend, and I immediately realized I’d never had great coffee until that moment. Now, I’m drinking it every chance I get! Honestly, the caffeine is probably a good thing out on the safari. You never know when you’ll run into a panther, or a trigger-happy Grace Kelly. Cheers!
If you like your nuns with a side of murderous melodrama, then strap in for the Technicolor fantasy of Black Narcissus (Disc/Download). A movie brought to my attention by Jenny Hammerton of Silver Screen Suppers, this was my first introduction into the world of Powell & Pressburger. After sinking into their completely immersive setting of a 1940s Himalayan monastery, consider me hooked.
Starring Deborah Kerr as the leader of a group of nuns tasked with setting up a convent on a remote mountaintop, Black Narcissus feels at times like a science fiction film (sample tagline: Trapped in isolation, the inhabitants of a spaceship go a little mad…). Maybe there’s a mysterious illness slowly claiming the lives of the these inhabitants, or maybe it’s all in their heads. Swap in wimples for spacesuits, and you’ve got the general vibe of Black Narcissus. These women are lonely, and it doesn’t help that there’s a handsome caretaker (David Farrar) coming around in his short-shorts to flirt and rile them up. He makes the nuns remember what their lives were like before joining the order, and eventually it all becomes too much for Sister Ruth, played marvelously by Kathleen Byron. Ditching her dreary robes for a smart new dress and dark red lipstick, she is your worst nightmare—a woman pushed to the brink, with nothing to lose.
Because color is such an important element to the production design of this movie, it seems fitting to drink one of the most colorful gins on the market, Empress 1908. The nuns make a big show of dropping a purple powder into some water in an effort to wow the locals at the new infirmary (I’m still not sure what the powder was—quinine?), but you can do the same at home with either your Empress Gin, or a pinch of Butterfly Pea Powder. This is definitely a floral-inspired cocktail because on this depressing mountaintop, we need flowers more than food. While watching Black Narcissus, I recommend drinking a Floral Gin & Tonic.
Floral Gin & Tonic
2 oz Empress 1908 Gin (OR 2 oz London Dry Gin w/ ¼ Teaspoon Butterfly Pea Powder)
4 oz Elderflower Tonic
Dried lime and flower garnish
Build drink over ice, stirring slowly to combine (if using the powder, stir a little more to fully mix). Garnish with a dried lime + flowers.
Floral G&T with Empress 1908 GinFloral G&T with London Dry Gin + Butterfly Pea Powder
I’m thrilled to be collaborating this week with Jenny Hammerton over at Silver Screen Suppers because she actually puts together a full meal for her pairings! If you want to craft your own dinner party for Black Narcissus, be sure to subscribe to the Dinner and a Movie Substack and come prepared with an appetite, plus your moodiest purple gin. Cheers!
I confess: I am not a cat person. Frankly, they terrify me. So when I heard about Jacques Tourneur’s 1942 B-horror film Cat People (Disc/Download), I assumed I’d have to close my eyes through most of it. However, I was delighted to discover that it’s actually the perfect level of spooky, supernatural fun during this Halloween season. Really, the only scary thing is how long I waited to watch this charming classic!
Starring Simone Simon as a Serbian illustrator who believes she’s descended from a line of “cat people”, the movie takes place in a bustling Manhattan where the female characters have a surprising amount of agency for the time period. We see career gals instead of housewives, and indeed, even after Irena marries a nautical engineer, she’s still a fairly independent person (albeit a troubled one, under the care of a psychiatrist). You see, Irena believes that if she becomes aroused with strong emotion, she’ll turn into a jungle cat and attack. This becomes inconvenient for her husband, and it isn’t long before he’s looking at his female co-worker with straying eyes. Here is where the film becomes more domestic soap opera than supernatural horror, and probably why I enjoy it so much. Although we see plenty of zoo cats pacing in their cages, and hear frightening hisses from the shadows, the audience is spared any encounters with gore. The horror is achieved by building tension and fear, much like Rosemary’s Baby would do decades later.
One of my favorite lines is when Irena gets hissed at by a kitten and laments, “Cats just don’t like me.” Same girl, same. However, one “cat” I do get along with is of the cocktail variety! While watching Cat People, I recommend drinking a Black Cat.
Black Cat
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Cherry Brandy
3 oz Cranberry Juice
3 oz Cola
Maraschino cherry (garnish)
Fill a glass with ice, and top with vodka, cherry brandy, cranberry juice, and cola. Stir well to combine, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.
If you’re looking for sexy supernatural fun this week, I’d suggest doing a double feature of Cat People and I Married a Witch, the Veronica Lake classic from the same year. Both feature strong female leads, ancient curses, and glamorous costumes, and as an added bonus, neither one is frightening enough to keep you up at night. Cheers!
I thought I was through with being scared by Nicolas Roeg after watching Anjelica Huston peel her face off in The Witches, but it turns out, there was one more bit of nightmare fodder waiting for me. Don’t Look Now (Disc/Download) is a gorgeous, moody thriller based on the story by Daphne du Maurier, and perfect for those times when you want a dash of sexy sophistication with your horror.
Although I love the Venice of David Lean’s Summertime, Roeg’s Venice in Don’t Look Now feels much more authentic to the Venice I’ve personally encountered. This is a decaying city, full of narrow dark alleys, crumbling mosaics, and murky water. It’s also the perfect place to stage a horror film because one never knows what’s hiding in the shadows, or what you’ll find around the next corner. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are fantastic together, playing a married couple still grieving the death of their young daughter, living in Venice while Sutherland works to restore a church. During a lunch break, they encounter a blind clairvoyant who informs them their dead daughter’s spirit is still with them. Also… danger is imminent. Roeg plays with time in a really interesting way, flashing backwards and forwards to knock the viewer off balance. You aren’t really sure where you are until the thrilling climax makes everything clear. In one second, this ghost story becomes something much more sinister.
Don’t Look Now is filled with flashes of red, usually in the form of a little girl’s raincoat. Let’s make an appropriately macabre Italian cocktail with a splash of Campari and a few grapefruit bitters. While watching Don’t Look Now, I recommend drinking this Death in Venice cocktail.
Death in Venice
½ oz Campari
3-4 dashes Grapefruit Bitters
5 oz Prosecco
Pour Campari and grapefruit bitters into a chilled flute and top with Prosecco.
This film caused a lot of controversy at the time of its release because of its very “aerobic” sex scene, a scene I actually thought was well-constructed. Roeg cuts back and forth from wild passion to the mundane task of getting dressed for a night on the town, from biting and clawing to putting on socks. This scene represents a lot of what I like about this movie—it mixes the terror of death with the everyday business of living. Maybe that makes it even scarier, for that flash of red can appear on even the most ordinary of days. Cheers!
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Strong enough to reduce a middle-aged woman to tears, as an animated crab sings “Kiss the Girl” to two beautiful people in a rowboat. Tears were also shed during Halle Bailey’s rendition of “Part of Your World”, even though I personally want to be where the people aren’t. The 2023 version of The Little Mermaid (Download) may be billed as an updated “live-action” spin on the 1989 cartoon that captured my 6-year-old heart, but the elements that made the original great are still there: a room full of gadgets and gizmos, a cute dog, and a Rubenesque sea witch.
Let’s get my two critiques out of the way before we get to cocktails:
This movie is far too long. Are children able to sit through two-and-a-half-hour runtimes? I have trouble, and I’m forty.
I don’t consider this to be live-action, but rather, “more realistically animated”. Actual, live humans account for about 20% of what’s happening onscreen. Splash was live-action, and The Little Mermaid is not Splash. Unfortunately.
As for what the film is, I would say it’s still a fun, romantic fantasy about following one’s heart. This new iteration gives us a better sense of the time period and geography than the original cartoon did, and it allows for a bit more character development. Turns out Ursula is Ariel’s evil aunt, and Prince Eric is an adopted wannabe Magellan. I like that he has more of a goal than “Prince”, and I also like the snarling sibling relationship between Ursula and King Triton. Turns out, families are complicated messes, even in a Disney movie.
With the film’s Caribbean setting, it seems appropriate to make a Rum-based cocktail. While watching The Little Mermaid, I recommend drinking this classic Fish House Punch.
Fish House Punch
¾ oz Dark Rum
¾ oz Cognac
¾ oz Peach Brandy
½ oz Simple Syrup
¼ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Lemon Juice
Lime Slice
Maraschino Cherry
Fill a shaker with ice. Add all the liquid ingredients and shake until chilled. Strain into a glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with a lime slice and cherry.
You might be tempted to make something colorful and sugary for this movie, but I prefer to stay true to the time period in which it’s set. This seems like the kind of drink that would be passed around by sailors as they’re telling tall tales of sirens and shipwrecks, while ladies struggle with their corsets. As for me, I’m content to drink it in my living room with my very cute dog, surrounded by my thingamabobs. Cheers!
With the historic 2023 Hollywood writer’s strike thankfully coming to an end, it seems fitting to watch a movie where a screenwriter comes to an “arrangement” with a Hollywood studio exec, and in effect gets the final word. Robert Altman’s The Player (Disc/Download) is a fun satire of the industry, where pitches get made on the fly, stars wander in and out of the frame, and power is fleeting. What did it take to get a movie greenlit in 1992? Apparently, Julia Roberts and a happy ending.
I always love movies and television shows where stars play a version of themselves, and The Player is chock full of cameos from people like Burt Reynolds, Cher, Jack Lemmon, and Buck Henry (just to name a few of the 60+ celebrities parading through, both major and minor). This speaks to the idea that Los Angeles is a “company town”, and even though the Classic Hollywood studio system may be long gone, there’s still a lingering hierarchy in place. Actors are close to the top of the food chain, while screenwriters are unfortunately down at the bottom. Producers and execs? They’re at the very top. Tim Robbins is fantastic as hotshot studio exec Griffin Mill, playing the role with a pitch-perfect note of smarmy insincerity. The plot transitions into a comedic noir when Griffin inadvertently murders a screenwriter he thinks has been sending him death threats (a twist straight out of the classic film posters lining his office walls), and he quickly has to pivot from a man who has everything, to a man who has everything to lose.
With so many Hollywood locations used in the filming of this, it shocked me that The Ivy wasn’t one of them. Growing up in the ’90s, I thought this restaurant behind the white picket fence was where all the big deals happened. At least, that’s what People magazine led me to believe! Altman may have skipped it, but that doesn’t mean we have to. While watching The Player, I recommend drinking The Ivy Gimlet.
The Ivy Gimlet
3 oz Vodka
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup
6-8 fresh mint leaves
Lime Wheel
Prepare glass by rubbing a lime wheel around the rim, then dip in sugar. Fill with crushed ice, then set aside. In a metal shaker, muddle mint with lime juice and simple syrup. Add vodka and a few ice cubes, and shake until chilled. Pour entire contents of shaker into prepared glass. Garnish with lime wheel and more fresh mint.
When Griffin says at one point, “I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process,” one wonders if today’s execs saw this film as a roadmap to where the industry might be headed next. As ludicrous as some of these pitches in The Player are, I’d give anything to see these types of original movies on offer at the local cineplex. Without existing IP, how does anything get greenlit now? The sad fact is, most of the time, it doesn’t. Movies: now, more than ever… a repackaging of something you’ve already seen before.
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of Cinema Sips, and what a decade it’s been. I’m proud that the blog still feels every bit as fresh as it did back in September 2013 with my very first post, A League of Their Own (paired with a Rockford Peach Fizz), while the pictures and recipes have only gotten better with each passing year. I will probably always struggle to use WordPress, but working on my writing and mixology skills has always taken priority over working on my web design skills. I may not know what SEO is, but I have a decent grasp on commas and Campari.
When I decided to start blogging, I knew I had to pick a topic that excited me; one that didn’t feel like work each week. Enter: movies and cocktails. Writing Cinema Sips has never been a chore because I love watching movies, I love experimenting with new cocktails, and I love sharing my thoughts about the things that excite me. To create a low-pressure, fun community, I’ve purposely never tried to monetize the blog in a major way, or create a paywall, or try to get sponsors. That would make it feel like work. My Amazon Affiliate links are mostly just a helpful way to guide readers toward the movies I’m talking about. Maybe I’m doing blogging wrong in terms of the greater influencer sphere out there, but I’m doing it right for me. Hopefully, it’s right for you too.
When I was doing author events and interviews this summer in support of my debut novel Follow the Sun, I got a couple of questions over and over. Maybe you’ve wondered about them too, so I’ll address them here:
Will you continue the blog now that you’re a published author?
Will there ever be a Cinema Sips book?
To answer the first question, there would be no Follow the Sun without Cinema Sips. Exercising my writing and editing muscle each week on this blog has made me a better novelist, and the community I built helped in a million different ways when it came to getting published. I still love coming here this week, so I’m going to keep it up as long as I still feel that way. That being said, there might be a skipped week or two if I’m particularly busy with other things or need a break.
As for a Cinema Sips book, well… it’s complicated. I spent the last ten years trying to sell a fiction manuscript. Non-fiction book proposals are a whole different beast. Right now, I’m more interested in putting my energy toward the next fiction manuscript and maintaining this blog for all to enjoy. That’s not to say that if a book editor approached me about doing something I’d dismiss it automatically; it just means I’m not actively seeking that opportunity out. In short, I’m open, but my phone is not ringing off the hook like Julie Powell’s in Julie & Julia. And I’m okay with that. Que sera, sera, as Doris Day would say.
Instead of a new movie/cocktail post this week, I thought it would be more fun to share some of my previous favorites. These are posts where I felt like the pairing was spot-on, and they’re recipes I’ve made again and again. Maybe you want to mix one and join the celebration! Be sure and let me know in the comments if you have a favorite Cinema Sips pairing, or thoughts on where you’d like to see the blog go from here. I’m excited about what the next ten years will bring, and as always, from the bottom of my heart, cheers.
10 Things I Hate About You w/ “Prickly Pair” MargaritaBeauty and the Beast w/ Rosewater GimletCasablanca w/ Moroccan ’75The Goodbye Girl w/ New York SourIn Her Shoes w/ CosmopolitanJurassic Park w/ Isla de SangreL.A. Confidential w/ Gin GimletRear Window w/ Peeping Tom CollinsSummertime w/ BoulevardierTropic Thunder w/ Jungle Bird
In times of uncertainty, I often ask myself—What Would Doris Do? Brought low by the summer doldrums, I recently embarked on a complete Doris Day re-watch, starting with Romance on the High Seas, ending with With Six You Get Eggroll, and covering everything in between. The hope is that her smile will make me smile. Maybe seeing her pluck and tenacity in the workplace will get me back to work. After the publication of my novel Follow the Sun, I’ve been at loose ends, not sure where I go from here. I climbed the mountain, came back down, and… now what? I just start over from scratch? Climb another mountain? Climb every mountain?
In this week’s pick It Happened to Jane (Disc/Download), Doris does just that. Her husband has died, leaving her with two small children and a lobster business to run. She has her best friend Jack Lemmon on hand to lend support, but he’s too scared to admit he harbors romantic feelings for her, and she’s too busy trying to restart her life to see what’s been right in front of her all along. There’s a great David & Goliath storyline as Lemmon and Day battle the big bad railroad tycoon (Ernie Kovacs) whose budget cuts have resulted in a train full of rotten lobsters, and in our current era of workers facing off against greedy CEOs, the plot feels quite contemporary. As usual, Doris triumphs with her signature mix of talent, strength, and vulnerability, making us believe that everything’s going to be okay in the end. That’s why her movies and her star persona endure—because we’re all looking for that brand of hope. If she can make it through the Warner Brothers years, with terrible parts in terrible movies (ahem, Tea for Two), to get to It Happened to Jane and Pillow Talk, maybe I can make it through this weird time of having a published book on the shelf (admittedly, a book not many have heard of), coupled with a tremendous amount of anxiety about whether there will be a second one someday. If Doris Day can find love with Jack Lemmon and save her lobster business, maybe I can pull myself out of bed and write something bigger than a blog post.
Speaking of Jack Lemmon, I’m very grateful that his last name lends itself so well to citrus cocktail puns. Plus, I can always count on him to lift my spirits in much the same way Doris does. However bad my day is, however many lemons the universe has served up, Jack can turn it around. Well, Jack Lemmon and a cocktail. While watching It Happened to Jane, I recommend drinking this Lemmon-Drop.
Lemmon-Drop
2 oz Luxardo Limoncello
2 oz Vodka
1 oz Simple Syrup
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Lemon twist for garnish
Combine limoncello, vodka, simple syrup, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
By my calculations, I’ll be done with the Doris Day re-watch around January 2024. Hopefully by then, I’ll have absorbed her wisdom and possess a clearer idea about where I’m headed next. Maybe I’ll begin to view starting over as an exciting thing instead of a scary thing. Lord knows, Doris had to do it plenty of times both in her personal life and on the screen. In the end, she was okay. She had a great life full of laughter and dogs and bicycle rides through Beverly Hills. Those early Warner Brothers films were merely a blip in her autobiography. So for now I’ll just say, “Que sera, sera.” What will be, will be.
Cinema Sips 