Category: Musicals

Dramas · Musicals

The Thing Called Love

LizLocke2 Comments
Image Credit: The Thing Called Love, 1993
Image Credit: The Thing Called Love, 1993

Anyone who knows me knows that I am addicted to prime-time television dramas. The O.C., Gossip Girl, Scandal– I’ve watched them all. One of my current guilty pleasures is the show Nashville, which my husband refuses to sit through because in his words, “All the men look the same, and I can’t tell anyone apart.” I have to admit, he’s kinda right; however, I’ll watch Connie Britton in just about anything, so I keep tuning in week after week. Now that the last season is over and my TV has gone dormant for the summer, I’ll have to get my romance and country music fix elsewhere- which brings me to this week’s film The Thing Called Love (DVD/Download). If you haven’t seen it, this Peter Bogdanovich 90’s classic is essentially what Nashville the TV show wishes it could be. No gimmicks, no flashy Christina Aguillera-casting, just good music and hot guys. Hello Music City!

The Thing Called Love follows young singer-songwriter Miranda Presley (no relation) on her journey from New York to Nashville. Between waiting tables at the Bluebird Café, spontaneously marrying bad boy musician James (played by River Phoenix, in his last completed film role) and rooming with a young Sandra Bullock at a disco-themed motel, she learns what it takes to write a great song. The songs for the film were written by stellar real-life country musicians, and actually performed by the actors themselves (a rarity in Hollywood). River Phoenix is so charismatic in his role, and it’s truly heartbreaking to realize this was the last one. Like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause- you watch wondering all the while what might have been.

My sources tell me that one of the essential drinks in Nashville is the Bushwacker. Originally invented in Pensacola, FL, bars of Nashville have somewhat adopted it as their own. This is a great one to sip as the weather heats up, and perfect for the film because you know Linda Lou Linden was downing these every night. Actually, her beauty pageant dress kind of reminds me of this white frothy concoction. While watching The Thing Called Love, I recommend drinking a Bushwacker.

Bushwacker

2 oz Kahlua coffee liqueur

1 oz dark rum

1 oz crème de cacao

4 oz cream of coconut

4 oz half-and-half

2 scoops Vanilla ice cream

Whipped Cream

Maraschino cherry

Pour liquid ingredients into a blender with a cup of crushed ice, and blend until mixed. Pour into a glass, then top with whipped cream and a cherry.

Bushwacker

There are a lot of variations of this drink, so feel free to add in Amaretto, Vodka, and/or Baileys Irish Cream, depending on how boozy you like your beverages (this could turn into the Tennessee version of last week’s Long Island Iced Tea if you really wanted it to). I’ve never actually been to Nashville, but this movie (and this drink!) make me want to go. Don’t worry though, I’d never be drunk enough to shout from rooftops or audition at the Bluebird. The ears of Nashville are safe. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Gigi

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Image credit: MGM, Gigi, 1958
Image credit: MGM, Gigi, 1958

Responding to a reader request this week, I’m featuring what has been deemed by many as the last great MGM Musical, Gigi (DVD/Download). The original Broadway play starred a young Audrey Hepburn, who sadly declined the lead role in this 1958 musical film version. Leslie Caron is charming enough, but let’s face it, she’s no Audrey.

Gigi is the story of a young woman in Paris who is groomed for life as a courtesan by her grandmother and great-aunt. She grows up thinking of family acquaintance Gaston as an older brother-type, until her meddlesome family pushes them together romantically. Gaston suddenly sees Gigi in a new light, and offers to make her his mistress. She refuses initially, then relents. Then he reconsiders their arrangement, but then proposes marriage. If this sounds confusing, it is. I actually needed some Wikipedia help to get through this one, and I’m still not sure I totally understood it. The main problem originates from the severe French accents that most of the actors use. I probably would have done better if they had actually spoken French, with subtitles. Much of the plot moves forward through the songs, however the tunes weren’t all that catchy to me. I prefer musicals with big, splashy song-and-dance numbers (like Singin’ in the Rain), and that just isn’t Gigi. This is more of a My Fair Lady, Rex Harrison “I’m speaking these songs because I can’t really sing” variety of musical. I tip my hat to Maurice Chevalier, who manages to make the pedophile anthem “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” seem marginally charming. This is probably the best song from the film, though I have personal negative connotations after dancing to it in a kindergarten recital while a Maurice Chevalier look-alike twirled us around on stage. And then I stumbled mid-twirl. But I digress.

There are some fabulous scenes at Belle Epoche haunt Maxim’s, where art nouveau scenery frames colorful men and women drinking champagne and gossiping. I love that the men in Gigi are unafraid to drink copious amounts of champagne, as I feel it’s fallen victim to a “girly” reputation in recent decades. Therefore, while watching Gigi, I recommend drinking a Sparkling Gigi-tini.

Sparkling Gigi-tini

1 oz Vodka

2 oz Pineapple Juice

½ oz Brandy

2 oz champagne

Mix Vodka, Pineapple, and Brandy together in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe glass, and top with champagne.

Gigi Tini

Two things I really did love about Gigi were the costumes and the sets. All that art nouveau fabulousness in Maurice Chevalier’s apartment made me swoon, and Leslie Caron’s white dress toward the end (which I mistook for a wedding dress because up until that point I still didn’t understand she was learning to be a courtesan) was pretty fantastic. How did I live all these years without black fans jutting out from my shoulders? Cecil Beaton was truly a master of art direction. With stunning visuals orchestrated by Vincent Minnelli, you could do worse than this musical. And of course, a little champagne makes everything better. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Funny Face

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Image credit: Paramount Pictures, 1957, Funny Face
Image credit: Paramount Pictures, 1957, Funny Face

With my wedding anniversary approaching this week, I got a little nostalgic and started looking back through some old photos. It was a very small affair 6 years ago, and the only things I held strong opinions on were the cake and the dress. The cake had to actually taste good, and the dress absolutely HAD to be modeled after Audrey Hepburn’s wedding dress in the film Funny Face (DVD/Download). I’m not delusional enough to think that my body AT ALL resembles Miss Hepburn’s, with her teeny tiny waste, but the dress she wears would look good on anybody. Thus a few phone calls and emails to our family dressmaker/tailor, some swatches sent back and forth, and voila- I had the dress of my dreams.

What’s ironic is that Audrey Hepburn never actually gets married in Funny Face. She plays a Greenwich Village bookstore employee, whose shop is suddenly overtaken by an obnoxious fashion magazine crew. Photographer Dick Avery (played by Fred Astaire and modeled after legendary fashion photographer Richard Avedon) spots Audrey and her “funny face” and decides that she is perfect for the magazine’s next campaign. She is flown to Paris where she models various to-die-for Givenchy ensembles and gallivants around the city, hanging out in beatnik coffee houses and staring up at the Eiffel Tower. The musical numbers in this movie are fantastic, and it’s such a joy to see Audrey dancing with the elegant and graceful Fred Astaire.

My drink this week is inspired by the magazine editor’s declaration “Think Pink!”, which is the first of many catchy tunes. Kay Thompson plays Maggie Prescott (essentially Anna Wintour before there was such a thing as Vogue Editor Anna Wintour), and she instructs her fashionable minions that pink is the next great color trend. Frankly, I like it a lot more than cerulean blue (ahem, The Devil Wears Prada). While watching Funny Face, I recommend drinking a Think Pink!

Think Pink!

2 oz vodka

2 oz grapefruit juice

1/2 oz lime juice

4 tsp Maraschino liqueur

Cherry and lime for garnish

Mix liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, then strain into a chilled glass.  Garnish with cherry and lime.

Think Pink!

I’d like to give a special shout-out to my husband for accompanying me to Target yesterday morning to snag the fabulous Lilly Pulitzer glasses used in the above photo.  Any man who will get up at 7:30 on a Sunday to stand in line with a bunch of crazed women shoppers is a keeper.  I guess maybe finding the right guy is even more important than finding the right dress ;-).  Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

The Sound of Music

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Image credit 20th Century Fox, 1965, The Sound of Music
Image credit 20th Century Fox, 1965, The Sound of Music

There has been a lot of media attention lately over the 50th anniversary of The Sound of Music (DVD/Download). That’s all the excuse I need to watch Julie Andrews frolic through the Austrian alps with a ragtag group of drapery-wearing children. The Sound of Music is a great film for springtime, and as I drive past fields of Texas bluebonnets, I can’t help wanting to pull over and burst into “The Hills are Alive.” Thankfully, I don’t (you’re welcome, Texas).  Only Julie Andrews and apparently Lady Gaga can pull this off.

The Sound of Music is about a nun-in-training who becomes the governess for a wealthy Austrian family just before WWII. The Von Trapp children lost their mother years ago, and their widowed father is a harsh disciplinarian. Since Julie Andrews is so good at handling precocious wealthy children, she plays the governess Maria. She teaches the kids to have fun, sing, dance, and melt their father’s heart. Captain Von Trapp is played by Christopher Plummer, and his secret attraction to Maria makes him pretty dreamy. Catchy songs by Rogers and Hammerstein make this a fun movie to watch, despite the creepy puppet show about 90 minutes in, and Maria’s heinous outfits. Thank heavens Captain Von Trapp briefly dates someone with style, the Baroness Schraeder. She gets a bad rap, wanting to send the kids to boarding school, but I actually really love this character. She wears gorgeous clothes, hosts fabulous parties, gets to date Captain Von Trapp, and is terrible at sports. A lady after my own heart.

We first meet The Baroness when she arrives in Salzburg with “Uncle Max”. He is the original cool uncle, and certainly no stranger to a cocktail. Unfortunately his good times are shattered when The Baroness serves him pink lemonade on the veranda. Just… lemonade. Max deserves better, so in his honor, while watching The Sound of Music, I recommend drinking a Pink Parasol.

Pink Parasol

2 oz Pink Lemonade

2 oz Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka

Club Soda

Build drink over ice, stirring gently before topping with club soda. Garnish with a pink parasol. I wonder if Marta ever got hers??

pink parasol

It’s hard to pick a favorite song in this stellar musical. “My Favorite Things”? “Edelweiss”?? “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”??? GAH- there are so many!! This movie makes me want to go to Salzburg and celebrate them all. Except the creepy puppet song- I can skip the yodeling.  Cheers!

Musicals

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School

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Image credit New World Pictures, Rock 'n' Roll High School, 1979
Image credit New World Pictures, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, 1979

It’s that time of year again- the kids are going back to school, teachers are saying goodbye to their summer freedom, and the countdown to Thanksgiving break has officially started. What a perfect time to watch a great high school movie. I was reminded of this week’s film Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (DVD) by a Cinema Sips fan, and the only thing I remembered about it from a viewing years earlier was that it had some REALLY bad acting, and some REALLY great music. After watching it again this week, I still stand by that opinion. Truly, it feels like one absurd concert film for The Ramones, much in the same way as Help! was for The Beatles. The plot is ridiculous (though thankfully, we’re spared the terror of seeing Ringo Starr try to remove a gaudy ring), but the music will leave you humming I Wanna Be Sedated long into the night.

The story of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School is relatively simple. Administrators at Vince Lombardi High School are cracking down on students listening to rock ‘n roll music. PJ Soles plays #1 Ramones fan Riff Randall, who enjoys rocking out to punk music in the parking lot of her high school, and looks like she’s pushing 30. She’s on a quest to give The Ramones a song that she’s written for them, and of course in the end, the ugliest rockers in history fight for the musical freedom of the students. There are some forgettable subplots involving Clint Howard as a high school Yenta, but really I want to just fast-forward to any scenes with The Ramones. They’re not actors, they’re barely humans, but I can’t take my eyes off of them. Crazy-talented Joey Ramone lopes across the screen while singing songs like Sheena is a Punk Rocker and Teenage Lobotomy, and I kinda swoon. Is this fine cinema? Please- it’s a Roger Corman production. Is this tons of fun? Absolutely!

When I put this movie on, I tried to think of a drink I might have ordered in the old CBGB, waiting for The Ramones to take the stage. To me, nothing says punk rock like Jack Daniels. I picture Sid Vicious swinging a half-empty bottle around on stage as he screams incomprehensible lyrics into a microphone and sweats more than a jogger in Death Valley. My drink this week may be a little low-brow, but so is this film. When watching Rock ‘n Roll High School, I recommend mixing up a Jack ‘n’ Coke.

Jack ‘n’ Coke

1 oz Jack Daniels whiskey

3 oz Coca-Cola (the more sugar, the better)

Mix the whiskey and Coka-Cola in a glass over ice. That’s it.

jack-and-coke

This is a pretty simple drink, which will leave you with more time for dancing around the living room (which you WILL want to do when the Ramones start playing). It’s bittersweet to watch this now, knowing that all of the founding members have died- most recently drummer Tommy Ramone (though he had already been replaced by Marky Ramone by the time this film was made in 1979). However, I still enjoy watching them in their heyday, sporting skin-tight jeans, thick bangs, and bored expressions. Because I rarely consume Jack Daniels, I opted to buy a tiny airplane bottle for this drink, which incidentally is the perfect size for one’s backpack, if you are headed back to school and can’t face another pep rally sober. Not that I know from experience…..   Cheers!

Musicals

Newsies

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Image Credit Walt Diwney Pictures, 1992
Image Credit Walt Disney Pictures, 1992

Page-boy caps. Attractive and well-choreographed boys singing and dancing on the streets of New York. Crutchy. That’s right, this week’s Cinema Sips headliner is…… Newsies (!!!!!!). I’ve been obsessed with this movie ever since it premiered on The Disney Channel in the early-90’s. I had no idea what a labor union was, but if it involved singing catchy tunes and Christian Bale as a hot teenager in a kicky scarf, by all means sign me up. This week, while coming down from my Valentine’s sugar buzz, I decided I needed a boost in the form of this totally entertaining movie musical.

Newsies (DVD/Download) was a pretty big flop when it premiered in theaters, but since then, it has gained the cult status it so richly deserves. Newsies tells the story of the newsboy’s strike of 1899, wherein the lowly newsboys battled the mighty Pulitzer and Hearst by organizing a union and striking for increased pay and better working conditions. Of course, this being Disney, there are some wonderful songs and brilliantly choreographed dance scenes interspersed among the drama, along with some truly terrible New York accents. Heavyweight actors Robert Duvall and Bill Pullman round out the cast, but it’s Christian Bale who really shines here. This film may be an embarrassing “what was I thinking?!” moment for him now that he’s SERIOUS ACTOR Christian Bale, but I don’t care. I’ll always love him most as Jack Kelly, the cowboy of Manhattan, sellin’ papes and breakin’ hearts.

I found inspiration for my drink this week in a wonderful book I was given, Tipsy Texan by David Alan. I wanted to do something inspired by my favorite song from the movie, Santa Fe. Unsure of how green chilies might translate into the beverage arena, I opted instead to try something using the Mexican liquor Mezcal . This is similar to tequila (in fact tequila is a type of mezcal) but it has a smokier flavor. I like to imagine that Jack Kelly would have eventually turned 18 and taken his dumpy girlfriend Sarah out west, picking up a bottle of this in a border town along the way. In a nod to the age group of most of the protagonists, I’m mixing the Mezcal with good old fashioned Coca-Cola, something I’m sure the Newsies drank their share of back then. When watching Newsies, I recommend drinking a Barro Negro.

Barro Negro (From Tipsy Texan: Spirits and Cocktails from the Lone Star State)

1 ½ oz Mezcal

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

2 orange wedges

3 oz Coca-Cola (Mexican Coke if you can find it).

Pour Mezcal and bitters over ice in a glass. Squeeze the juice from the orange wedges into the glass, then drop them in. Top with Coca-Cola.

Barro-Negro

As you watch Newsies and sip your drink, feel free to laugh at all the digs at Brooklyn, which wasn’t always the hipster-mecca it is now. Back in 1899, Brooklyn was apparently a scary place full of teenagers with sling shots. Also, I can’t stop laughing when Christian Bale does his interpretive dance midway through singing Santa Fe. I say interpretive because I think he’s interpreting riding a horse with jazz hands, but it’s difficult to tell. This movie is just a classic. A classic what, I’m not sure, but definitely a classic. So drink up, dream of Santa Fe, and remember- “Headlines don’t sell papes- Newsies sell papes.” Cheers!