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Classic Films · Comedies · Holiday Films · Uncategorized

We’re No Angels

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Image: We’re No Angels, 1955

If you want to get me excited to watch a movie, all you have to do is tack on VistaVision before the opening credits. Paul Thomas Anderson has been bringing the format back into the zeitgeist with his 2025 release One Battle After Another, but there are so many classic films that benefited from its vivid colors and wide aspect ratio. One of these is the 1955 Christmas movie, We’re No Angels (Disc/Download), starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray as a trio of escaped convicts on Devil’s Island.

I confess, I had to look up Devil’s Island on a map to see what kind of setting we were dealing with. Turns out, it’s solidly in what I like to call “Rum Country”, off the coast of French Guiana in the Atlantic ocean. In 1895, our three main characters escape from the island’s penal colony and take refuge in a general store. They convince the manager to let them fix the roof, with the intention of robbing him blind. But then, they get sucked into the manager’s family affairs, soon realizing they enjoy selling unnecessary junk to customers, cooking a (stolen) Christmas dinner, and menacing some evil relatives. But the true MVP of this movie is Adolphe the snake, who has no lines, but is the most integral to the plot. An honorary “fourth angel”, he’s judge, jury, and executioner all in one.

Because of the film’s tropical setting, I’m inclined to make a Tiki cocktail. There’s a great scene of a woman buying a bottle of Chartreuse for her Christmas celebration, and if you can find some these days, that’s reason enough to throw a party. While watching We’re No Angels, I recommend drinking A.C. Davidge’s 1949 classic, the Palm Breeze.

Palm Breeze

½ oz lime juice

½ oz dark Jamaican rum

½ oz white crème de cacao

¾ oz yellow Chartreuse

1 tsp grenadine

Gummy snake (suggested garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a gummy snake.

It’s fun to watch these tough guys get into the holiday spirit on a tropical island, and for that reason, I think We’re No Angels would make a great double feature with Donovan’s Reef. Just remember to keep the rum flowing and watch your wallet…  

Cheers!

Classic Films · Uncategorized

The Night of the Hunter

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Night of the Hunter, 1955

Happy Scary Movie Season to all you brave cinemagoers! I like to do a month of spooky, supernatural, and chilling features every October, and this week, we’re starting with a truly nightmarish classic film. Pull the covers all the way up to your chin and leave a light on for this week’s pick, The Night of the Hunter (Disc/Download).

In Charles Laughton’s single, brilliant directorial outing, Robert Mitchum stars as a murderous preacher who targets women in rural communities. After getting locked up and hearing his cellmate talk about some stolen money, he makes his way to the death-row inmate’s family under the guise of spiritual counsel. Shelley Winters plays yet another gullible lady taken in by a handsome face (see also: A Place in the Sun), while her two kids remain more suspicious of the charismatic preacher.  They alone hold the knowledge of where their father hid the money, and after their new stepdad disposes of their mom with a knife to the throat, they must outrun this psycho before he kills them next. The children set off down the Ohio river in an old rowboat, barely eating or sleeping as they try to stay one step ahead of Mitchum. Finally, they wash up on Lillian Gish’s property, and she takes the orphans in, protecting them as only a feisty old woman with a shotgun can do. Mitchum’s tattooed hands spell the words “Love” and “Hate”, and the movie’s suspense builds as we wait to see which one will triumph. Will it be the monster in the basement, clawing at their ankles, or will it be the strong maternal figure who walks with them in the sunlight?

The movie’s river journey is incredibly haunting, due to the scale of the woodland creatures in the foreground of the frame, and the melancholy song sung by the little girl, Pearl. This variation on a French Pearl cocktail evokes the American South through its inclusion of Herbsaint, an anise-flavored New Orleans liqueur popular in many spooky cocktails. While watching The Night of the Hunter, I recommend drinking a Pearl River.

Pearl River

2 oz Gin

¼ oz Herbsaint

¾ oz Lime Juice

¾ oz Simple Syrup

Fresh Mint

Lime and mint sprig (garnish)

Muddle a few leaves of mint with lime juice and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker. Add Herbsaint, Gin, and ice to the shaker, and shake to chill and combine. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.

The reason this film feels so powerful to me is that we all remember the feeling of being kid, and realizing the adults couldn’t always protect you. I’ve relived it again this year, as those I once turned to for comfort have fallen prey to the fearmongering, false prophecy, and grift of a dangerous charlatan. I want to scream, and cry, and ask:

“Why don’t you believe he’s hurting me?”

“Why won’t you protect me?”

“Why can’t you see through the lies?”

But the scary thing is (and this is really scary): I don’t think anyone is coming to save me. I don’t know if there’s a Lillian Gish out there, pure of heart and brave beyond measure, waiting at the end of the river. I’m starting to feel like the one of the kids in the rowboat, tired and afraid.

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Psycho Beach Party

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Psycho Beach Party, 2000

Because I’ve spent the last three months immersed in 1950s-60s beach movies, it feels appropriate to end the best summer ever with a spoof of the genre. Psycho Beach Party (Disc/Download) is the perfect transition film for this particular time of year when it’s still hot, but you’re itching to break out the whiskey and horror.

Psycho Beach Party is the brainchild of drag performer Charles Busch, who wrote another favorite of mine, Die, Mommie, Die!. But where that film was a parody of 1950s/60s melodramas, Psycho Beach Party is a parody of 1950s/60s beach romps and B-movie slashers. Instead of Gidget, we have “Chicklet”, perfectly played by Lauren Ambrose. She combines the innocence of Sandra Dee with the unpredictability of Norman Bates, using her off-beat comedy style to portray a surfer girl with multiple personality disorder. Amy Adams also appears in one of her earliest roles as bikini-clad mean girl Marvel Ann, and she’s so committed to her character that I almost didn’t realize this is the same six-time academy award nominee I’m used to seeing on a red carpet. And speaking of bikinis, every outfit is a feast for the eyes—a riot of color and fun patterns that can sometimes make Chicklet go a little bit insane. Who knew polka dots could be deadly?

While the dismembered body parts are piling up, Chicklet is still out there trying to prove she’s old enough and cool enough to surf with the guys and attend Kanaka’s big luau. Let’s mix up one last Tiki beverage for summer, as we say farewell to the rums and coconut, and hello to whiskey and bitters. While watching Psycho Beach Party, I recommend drinking a Surf Liner.

Surf Liner

¾ oz Orgeat

2 oz Rye Whiskey

1 oz Pineapple Juice

¾ oz Lemon Juice

2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Pineapple Leaf (suggested garnish)

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a Tiki mug or glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple leaf.

Although slasher films aren’t in my typical wheelhouse, I’m glad I took a chance on Chicklet and the gang. If you’re the kind of person who likes Scream, but also Beach Blanket Bingo, Psycho Beach Party will become your newest obsession. Cheers!

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The Right Stuff

LizLocke4 Comments
Image credit: The Right Stuff, 1983

No matter how old I get (truth: I got a little older today), the history of space travel will always be fascinating to me. The fact that there were people brave enough to strap themselves to a bomb and hope for the best, all in the name of scientific progress and patriotic bragging rights, is truly wild. This week’s film The Right Stuff (Disc/Download) was the first film to ignite my interest in the 1960s Space Race, and I still carry the torch.

At over three hours long, this movie has always felt more like a miniseries than a feature film. It has a mostly “Hey, it’s that guy!” cast, with the exceptions of Ed Harris as John Glenn, Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper, and a dreamy Sam Shepard as sound barrier-breaker Chuck Yeager. I like that it takes us from the early days of post-WWII test pilots to the original Mercury astronaut program at Cape Canaveral, and finally to the formation of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Apollo 13 picks up where this film leaves off, and that’s as it should be. There’s enough material with the Mercury Seven, and the strange reality show they inhabited, to warrant the narrower focus. The movie may not be 100% historically accurate, but it tells a compelling story of man and country striving for greatness. The word “great” has certainly lost its meaning over the last ten years, but I think pushing against the bounds of technology, science, and even the atmosphere itself qualifies.

I’ve already featured a classic Saturn cocktail on Cinema Sips for the sci-fi fantasy Logan’s Run, however I’ve been wanting to play around with this drink for a while. Though traditionally made with gin, I’m trying it with vodka today, since the Soviet Union played such a pivotal role in nudging our American space program to fruition. Nothing like a little competition between petty bureaucrats to get things done. While watching The Right Stuff, I recommend drinking a Sputnik.

Sputnik

1 ½ oz Vodka

½ oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup

¼ oz Velvet Falernum

¼ oz Orgeat

1 oz Sparkling Wine

Lemon Twist + Cherry (garnish)

Combine vodka, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, falernum, and orgeat in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a martini glass. Top with sparkling wine, and garnish with lemon twist and cherry.

Although I have mixed feelings about the current space program (I don’t love that we’re sending billionaires and pop stars up there for ten minute larks, and I also don’t love the environmental impacts this has wrought on my state), I do think it’s essential to keep striving for new knowledge. As I conclude this trip around the sun and prepare to start the next one, I can’t help but think of John Glenn orbiting the Earth, eyes full of wonder. I hope this next trip brings a little of that magic and hope back. Cheers! 

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SPECIAL REPORT: Arizona Tiki Oasis 2025

LizLocke2 Comments
Liz Locke at Arizona Tiki Oasis 2025

Aloha to all you Cinema Sips readers! I’ve just returned from my first trip to the Arizona Tiki Oasis festival, and gosh does real life seem dull by comparison. No elaborate tropical headpieces at the grocery store. No parasols on the morning dog walks. No elaborate drinks prepared for me by the nation’s top mixologists. Take me back to the desert!!!!

As many of you know, April is also the month of the Turner Classic Movies festival, but due to scheduling conflicts and the rising cost of passes (and a rising annoyance at standing in long lines while premium passholders breeze right into packed screenings), I decided to devote my vacation time to cocktails instead of movies this year. I like that pretty much everything at Tiki Oasis is a la carte, particularly since my husband and traveling partner is a non-drinker. I could attend mixology seminars while he met mug makers and Hawaiian shirt vendors, and we only had to buy as many cocktails or mocktails as we wanted. An ideal couples trip for us!

AZ Tiki Oasis batch cocktail + mocktail in the former Scottsdale Trader Vic’s

The first night, we lucked out when a fellow Polynesiac handed us two unused tickets to the VIP party. Whoever you are, bless you. Thanks to this generosity, I was able to discover a new favorite gin: Rangoni Spirits’ Brando Motu Gin. That’s right, Marlon Brando has a gin! This might just inspire me to watch Apocalypse Now again—a movie that has thrice put me to sleep. But maybe with a Tiki cocktail like the “Colonel Kurtz’s Downfall”, I’ll have better luck.

Day 2 was largely spent away from the festival sightseeing around Phoenix, though we did return for a Sunset Soiree with lovely views of Camelback Mountain. The Hotel Valley Ho is a perfect host for the fest, with tons of scenic overlooks and mid-century modern styling. Speaking of, if you are a lover of 1960s fashion, then you’ll definitely find a hive of mod fashionistas at Tiki Oasis. I thought I was the only one who loved caftans and weird hats—not so! Walking into any party was easy and fun because no matter what, you could strike up a conversation about someone’s outfit. Finally, I’d found my people.

My new hat! Very “Sandra Dee in A Summer Place“

The next two days were largely taken up by seminars, including a great one by Jeff “Beachbum Berry” himself, whose recipes I’ve featured here on Cinema Sips. A natural storyteller, he had some fascinating tales of how the Tiki movement got started and where it’s headed in the future. I also got to learn about the “Lost Rides of Disneyland”, and take a tour of the Hotel Valley Ho- site of Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner’s first wedding ceremony, and refuge to many stars over the decades. This made the Valley Ho the perfect complement to AZ Tiki Oasis, due to huge role Hollywood played in the popularization of Tiki during the 1930s and ’40s.

Beachbum Berry lecture w/ refreshments
Lost Rides of Disneyland

All in all, it was inspiring to see how passionate the Tiki community continues to be. This was a smaller festival compared to the main Tiki Oasis that happens in San Diego every August, but it was perfect for a first-timer like me. I can’t wait to share some of the recipes I discovered as we go through more movies this summer, but in the meantime, here’s one I particularly enjoyed: the Mister Bali Hai. Cheers!

Mister Bali Hai

1 oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

1 oz Pineapple Juice

½ oz Coffee Brandy

1 oz Myers Dark Rum

¾ oz Tanduay Silver Rum

Combine all ingredients with 12 oz crushed ice in a shaker. Shake to chill, then pour entire contents of shaker into a double old-fashioned glass or tiki mug. Top with more crushed ice, and garnish with dried lemon and swizzle stick.

Mr. Bali Hai

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To Have and Have Not

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Image credit: To Have and Have Not, 1944

If you’ve already seen Casablanca and find yourself longing for more Bogey, more romance, more resistance fighters, and more cocktails in a foreign piano bar, then you’ll definitely want to check out this week’s pick To Have and Have Not (Disc/Download). With a main character named Captain Morgan, this movie practically begs you to watch it with a drink!

In her star-making turn, Lauren Bacall explodes onto the silver screen as the smart, sultry “Slim”, a jet-setting American pickpocket who’s landed on the French colony of Martinique. Bogart’s Steve Morgan is a salty fisherman who can’t take his eyes off the beautiful dame in the hotel bar, a task that proves even more difficult after she starts flirting with him. Their romance becomes dangerous once Steve gets embroiled in a scheme to transport resistance fighters in his boat, landing him in hot water with the Vichy authorities. Political intrigue aside, this movie is worth watching for the electric chemistry between Bogey and Bacall, as well as Bacall and a movie camera. With one little shake of her hips in the film’s final moments, a star is born.

Because this movie is loosely based on an Ernest Hemingway novel (very loosely), it seems like a great time to revive the Hemingway Daiquiri. This on-the-rocks iteration is lighter than the traditional version that’s served up, but it still has the same wonderful flavors. While watching To Have and Have Not, I recommend drinking a Hemingway Highball.

Hemingway Highball

1 ½ oz White Rum

1 Barspoon Maraschino Liqueur

1 Barspoon Lime Juice

3 oz Fever Tree Grapefruit Soda

Cherry and Lime Wheel (garnish)

Combine rum, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice in a glass with ice. Top with grapefruit soda, and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a cherry and lime wheel.

Bacall’s wardrobe is absolutely stunning in this film, her menswear-inspired suits both powerful and feminine at the same time (a trademark of many of Howard Hawks’ leading ladies). One look at her singing next to Hogey Carmichael on the piano, and I get the immediate urge to whistle. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Uncategorized

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1984

A much-anticipated trip to experience the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland prompted this week’s watch; the second installment of Spielberg’s Indy trilogy that I’ve always referred to as “the gross one”: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Disc/Download). As a child, I couldn’t get past the monkey brain scene, but as an adult, I made it all the way through pits of fire and creepy crawlies, and a sprawling underground city of child slave labor. When I tell you I have earned that trip to Disneyland, believe it.

Although my favorite Indiana Jones movie will always be Last Crusade, the sheer weirdness of Temple of Doom bumps it up to second place in my eyes. Imagine, you create a character that looks like he came straight from the Golden Age of Cinema, a hero adults and children can all rally around, and then you… send him into a whirlpool of black magic and voodoo cults. You serve him eyeball soup and raw beetles. You give him a heroine who, while stylish and beautiful, is fairly annoying throughout the entirety of the film. If not for Short Round and the fabulous production design, there wouldn’t be much to recommend in this movie. However, the relationship between adventurer and precocious child is every bit as fun as the one between adventurer and precocious old man in Last Crusade. This movie takes the viewer on a circuitous, bizarre ride, but it manages to keep Harrison sweaty and shirtless for a satisfactory amount of time. And at this particular moment in my life, that’s enough for me.

Make no mistake, the banquet scene is still gross. It helps if you have a cocktail and a blindfold, and preferably an empty stomach. While watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, I recommend drinking this Temple ‘Tini.

Temple ‘Tini

1 1/2 oz Dark Spiced Rum

1/4 oz Banana Liqueur

1/4 oz Vanilla syrup

3/4 oz Cold Brew

3 dashes Ginger Bitters

Gummy snake (garnish)

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a gummy snake.

Although the Disney Imagineers built a ride inspired by the production design of Temple of Doom, I really wish they had instead focused on the Shanghai nightclub where this story begins. Like Rick’s Café, Club Obi Wan looks like the perfect place to sip a cocktail amid the chaos of war, or crowds of screaming children. A missed opportunity, Disney. Cheers!

Classic Films · Uncategorized

Mandalay

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Image credit: Mandalay, 1934

My recent discovery of the classic Pegu Club on a Mississippi library lounge menu brought me to this week’s film Mandalay, a stylish Pre-Code gem starring Kay Francis and directed by Michael Curtiz. Lucky for us, we don’t have to travel far to go on a cinematic journey with cocktails.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Pre-Code movies are the best. Mandalay exemplifies all the hallmarks of what I love most about these movies through Francis’s character Tanya. Left penniless by her deadbeat boyfriend at a brothel in Rangoon, Tanya is forced to work as a “hostess” to all sorts of nefarious characters. Eventually, she draws the attention of the local police, who politely suggest she board the next boat out of town and not come back. Her destination: the cool, green hills of Mandalay. But before she can get there, she meets and falls for an alcoholic doctor on the ship, who is on his own journey to a fever-ridden area just beyond the city. Unfortunately, Tanya’s ex is also on the ship, and she’s forced to do some less-than-legal things to extract herself from his web.

Circling back to the Pegu Club cocktail, this was the signature drink served at the Pegu Club in Rangoon to British officers and businessmen. I can absolutely imagine it being served at the gentleman’s club in this movie, and “Spot White” probably would have enjoyed a few in between clients and jam sessions on the piano. While watching Mandalay, I recommend drinking a classic Pegu Club cocktail.

Pegu Club

1 ½ oz Gin

¾ oz Orange Curaçao

½ oz Lime Juice

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Eventually, Tanya and the doctor decide to atone for their sins by going to the dangerous part of Mandalay together, and their fate is left up to the viewer to decide. My opinion? Hot Doc cures the fever, they live happily ever after, and Spot White wears a new Orry-Kelly gown every single day from then on. Also, giant hats. Cheers!

Comedies · Uncategorized

Private Benjamin

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Private Benjamin, 1980

Sometimes I go into a movie with no advance knowledge of the plot, but many expectations based on the star, the title, the screenwriter, etc. I thought I knew what kind of viewing experience I was in for with Private Benjamin (Disc/Download), but this one shocked me again and again.

Because it’s Goldie Hawn, and because the premise involves a beautiful, wealthy lady entering the Army, I expected a fish-out-of-water comedy. Something akin to Troop Beverly Hills where a spoiled woman is forced to rough it, discovering an inner strength she didn’t know she possessed. She would probably be helped by some wonderful gal pals and find love by the end of it. You can understand my assumptions, based on the fact that both movies include Craig T. Nelson, main characters who know the difference between khaki and mushroom, and massive 1980s hair. But it turns out that halfway through Private Benjamin, Judy Benjamin takes a left turn after being sexually harassed in the elite paratrooper unit, landing herself a sweet administrative gig in Europe where she meets a dreamy French gynecologist. He’s suspected of being a communist, so she must choose between the Army and her new man. Because of her upbringing, she chooses the man. But then, the man turns out to be garbage, and she manages to choose herself in the nick of time. Phew- this movie is so bonkers, I need a DRINK.

I recently discovered the classic Army & Navy cocktail, and while I’m sure there are any number of military-themed films to enjoy this with, my pick goes to the one featuring Goldie Hawn scrubbing the latrine with an electric toothbrush. It’s a classic for a reason. While watching Private Benjamin, I recommend drinking this Army & Navy cocktail.

Army & Navy

2 oz London Dry Gin

1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

¾ oz Orgeat

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Grapefruit Twist

Combine gin, lemon juice, orgeat, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

Because the script was co-written by Nancy Meyers, I shouldn’t be surprised that Judy has a penchant for interior décor and looks right at home in a French Chateau. But I also shouldn’t be surprised that this character triumphs over the lackluster men in her life, finding companionship and family in the most unexpected of places. Like the Army & Navy cocktail, you can’t judge Private Benjamin by its title, or its ingredients. It is a uniquely wonderful concoction, sure to put you in a good mood. Cheers!

Classic Films · Uncategorized

The Thomas Crown Affair

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968

The 1960s gave us a lot of great things, not least of which was the “sexy heist” genre. With films like How to Steal a Million, The Italian Job, Gambit, Ocean’s Eleven, The Pink Panther, and many, many others, it was a great time to be a robber in a Savile Row suit. Thus it’s no surprise that one of the most iconic heist films came out of this period, Norman Jewison’s 1968 classic The Thomas Crown Affair (Disc/Download).

Although most people are probably more familiar with the 1999 remake starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, the original starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway is even better (in my opinion). I always thought the newer one tried too hard to be sexy, but back in the sixties, there was no trying- these people just were sexy. Tightly edited by Hal Ashby, the audience is pulled into the story immediately as Crown begins orchestrating a complex bank robbery. It’s a tense, perfectly planned job, and at the end of it, a bored millionaire walks away with more money than he needs, just to prove that he can. All goes swimmingly until he crosses paths with the insurance investigator hired to find the criminal mastermind, and unfortunately she’s his perfect match. Neither anticipates falling in love over fireside chess games, dune buggy runs on the beach, and cute strolls through the farmers market, but it quickly happens. The story takes some interesting turns, and even the ending is unexpected for someone well-versed in these movies. It takes a lot to surprise me, but this one did.

Norman Jewison always brings a dose of cheeky realism to his pictures, and Thomas Crown is no exception. Watching McQueen and Dunaway stroll through various Boston neighborhoods (some of them upscale, some of them decidedly not) grounds these extraordinarily beautiful and intelligent people in an actual time and place. While you’re watching The Thomas Crown Affair, do yourself a favor and pour a Boston cocktail.

Boston

1 ½ oz Gin

1 ½ oz Apricot Brandy

½ oz Lemon Juice

¼ oz Grenadine

Cherry garnish

Combine gin, apricot brandy, lemon juice, and grenadine in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Sexy heist movies are always an automatic watch in my house because the good ones keep me on my toes until the very end. I love a script that makes me wonder whether or not the robber will get away with it, and whether or not I want them too. Plus, the style is always superb. I know I can count on beautiful dresses, jewels, sports cars, and perfectly coifed hair, and in a world of so much uncertainty, isn’t it nice to be certain about these small but wonderful details? Just sayin’, if Hollywood ever wants to save itself, bring back the sexy heist. Make a dozen of them. I’ll buy every ticket. Cheers!