Classic Films · Comedies

Arsenic and Old Lace

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Image: Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944

Before watching the beloved classic Arsenic and Old Lace (Disc/Download), I never would have believed any one movie could contain so many random topics such as serial killers, the Panama Canal, plastic surgery, Niagara Falls, etc. Frank Capra has made me a believer in the oddball, the screwball, and heck, even baseball! Let’s pour a drink and unpack this weird, wonderful film.

Cary Grant starts the movie at the NYC marriage license bureau, about to get hitched to the loveliest girl-next-door, Elaine. Ironically, he is also the author of a book about why men should never get married. Before Mortimer can leave town on his honeymoon, he first has to check in with his elderly aunts to share the good news. While at their home, he discovers the dead body they stashed in the window seat, still awaiting its proper burial in the basement. The aunts have been poisoning their lodgers for years, and Mortimer’s brother has been aiding and abetting, under the delusional persona of Teddy Roosevelt. He thinks all the victims died of Yellow Fever while digging the Panama Canal, which apparently runs through their Brooklyn basement. Things get weirder still when a Frankenstein look-alike shows up at the house, who turns out to be psychotic eldest brother Jonathan. He’s accompanied by plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (the always-creepy Peter Lorre), and yet another dead body in the trunk of his car. Cary Grant is the glue that keeps this madcap story from going completely off the rails, and even though his performance is about as broad and hammy as I’ve ever seen from him, he’s the level-headed one in a family of lunatics.

My favorite part of the movie is every time Teddy makes a run up San Juan Hill, shouting, “CHARGE!!!” as he dashes up the staircase. Before he gets carted off to the Happy Dale mental asylum, let’s toast him with this appropriately named classic cocktail that’s probably a little safer than the aunts’ elderberry wine. While watching Arsenic & Old Lace, I recommend drinking a Roosevelt.

Roosevelt

1 ¾ oz dark rum

½ oz dry vermouth

¼ oz orange juice

1 barspoon simple syrup

Orange Twist

Combine dark rum, vermouth, orange juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe. Express the orange peel over the glass, then use as a garnish.

This is a perfect movie for Halloween because not only does it take place on October 31st, but there’s a delightfully spooky cemetery, a Boris Karloff look-a-like, and a lot of unexpected visitors knocking on the door. If you’re looking for more of a treat than a trick, give Arsenic and Old Lace a watch. Cheers!

Classic Films

Captain Blood

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Image: Captain Blood, 1935

From the title alone, it may seem like this week’s film Captain Blood (Disc/Download) is a perfect Scary Movie watch. Turns out, this is not a tale of vampire seamen. Rather, it’s the swashbuckling adventure flick starring Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland, and it’s the perfect way to celebrate the release of A Star is Scorned, the terrific Classic Hollywood-era romance from one of my favorite authors, Maureen Lee Lenker!

If you think classic film stars cosplaying the 1600s can’t be sexy, think again. Captain Blood enters the movie as Dr. Peter Blood, making him not just a Hot Pirate, but also a Hot Doctor. He gets sold into white slavery after being convicted of treason, all for the crime of treating an injured man who rebelled against the petulant, cruel King James II. As he explains so perfectly, his loyalty is to his fellow man, not his king.

Same, Dr. Capt. Blood, same.

Once his slave ship lands in the West Indies, he begins an enemies-to-lovers romance with Arabella (Olivia DeHavilland) that spans several islands and regime changes. Blood finally manages to escape his bondage when Spanish pirates attack and leave their boats unattended for a night a drunken revelry. After this, the doctor goes full-on buccaneer, amassing doubloons and flying the Jolly Roger. There are sword fights, cannon blasts, and even a peg leg or two, as his path leads him toward new enemies, and old loves.

I use blood orange cordial in a lot of drinks this time of year, and it’s a great option when fresh blood oranges are out of season. This cocktail uses rums from some of the places Capt. Blood sails to during the course of the movie, which really makes the settings come alive. While watching Captain Blood, I recommend drinking a Bloody Grog cocktail.

Bloody Grog

½ oz grenadine

½ oz blood orange cordial (I use Liber & Co.)

2 oz Jamaican pot-still rum

½ oz Overproof 151 rum

½ oz Allspice Dram

1 oz lime juice

1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

Garnish: blood orange wheel and fresh mint

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, and strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a blood orange wheel and fresh mint.

In Lenker’s latest novel, the main character Flynn Banks is just as dreamy as Errol Flynn, and comes complete with a trained monkey named Rallo (if you were a Marcel fan during the heyday of Friends, then you’ll be as excited as I am about this detail!). The scenes of sword fighting are super fun, and Flynn’s California beach house is giving big Mildred Pierce vibes. If you watch Captain Blood and need more classic Hollywood romance and adventure in your life, definitely give this book a read. Cheers!

Dramas

Interview with the Vampire

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Image: Interview with the Vampire, 1994

Not all gothic vampire movies have to be scary. Case in point: the super campy, super queer, Interview with the Vampire (Disc/Download). It’s the kind of movie that makes you wonder how it ever got made, and also, why did we ever stop making things like this?

Based on the novel by Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire is told from the perspective of Louis, a sensitive vampire who abhors murder. He was ushered into the dark life by Lestat, the vampire rogue who delights in the seducing and killing of humans. Brad Pitt plays Louis with all the excitement of a wet napkin, while Tom Cruise turns in perhaps the most charismatic performance of his career as Lestat. He’s funny, wild, sexy, and deserves as many sequels as the Mission Impossible franchise. I know which character I’d rather watch half a dozen iterations of, and it’s not Ethan Hunt. The movie also has the good fortune of casting lil’ miss Kirsten Dunst in the role of Claudia, a plague victim turned child vampire whom Louis and Lestat raise as their own, like one little modern vampire family. I’ll say it again: how did this get made, and why can’t we make more??

In addition to its giant stars and impressive special effects, the film also boasts incredible costume and production design. One gets the sense that we’re really seeing New Orleans at the tail end of the 18th century, and it’s remarkable how much of its style has endured into the modern day. I found a terrific cocktail book on my last visit to NOLA, which charts the supernatural lore of the city through its bars and cocktails. I chose to make a recipe from the book that felt like something Lestat would drink, right before draining an unsuspecting victim’s blood in the shadowy nook of a centuries-old bar. While watching Interview with the Vampire, I recommend drinking this Jazzy Vamp.

Jazzy Vamp (adapted from recipe in Hauntingly Good Spirits: New Orleans Cocktails to Die For by Sharon Keating and Christi Keating Sumich)

1 oz Cognac

½ oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Rose Cordial

3 oz Champagne or Prosecco

Lemon Peel and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry (garnish)

Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Add the lemon juice, cordial, and Cognac. Shake well and strain into a champagne flute. Top with champagne or prosecco, drop in a cherry, and garnish with a lemon peel.

More than anything in this film, I love how Louis thinks he’s seen his last sunrise in 1791, but thanks to the invention of moving pictures, he gets to watch them again over a century later. Whether it’s through F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise, or Robert Towne’s Tequila Sunrise, he seeks out the thing he’s been missing most, becoming a cinephile in the process. Is it weird how desperate I am to hear his review of Before Sunrise? 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.

Dramas

All the Real Girls

LizLocke2 Comments
Image: All the Real Girls, 2003

If you thought Nora Ephron had the monopoly on romance and cozy fall vibes, think again. As David Gordon Green proves with All the Real Girls (Disc/Download), you don’t need to be a wealthy Manhattanite to fall in love under the changing leaves—it can happen even in rural America.

In addition to being a great example of the stellar indie film scene of the late-90s/early-2000s, All the Real Girls marks the debut of Danny McBride, an actor I find myself inexplicably drawn to. Even though his role here is small (in typical McBride fashion, he plays a character named “Bust Ass”), it’s obvious this man was meant to be a star. Or even better: a Gemstone. This is also an early film in Zooey Deschanel’s career, defining her as a sensitive soul with big eyes, delicate mannerisms, and a pretty good North Carolina accent. Her character Noel falls for her brother’s best friend, Paul (Paul Schneider). They get together against the brother’s wishes, and although everyone assumes womanizer Paul will break her heart, it’s Noel who shatters his. The story feels real and lived in, as though it could have happened to someone you know. Or maybe it happened to you.

The characters in this movie seem to enjoy their tall boys, but watching that beautiful autumn scenery makes me want to curl up with a cozy cocktail. While watching All the Real Girls, I recommend drinking this Cinnamon Rum Old-Fashioned.

Cinnamon Rum Old-Fashioned

2 oz Aged Rum (I used Appleton 12-yr)

½ oz Cinnamon Syrup

2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Orange Peel

Cinnamon Stick (garnish)

Place a large ice cube in a glass and add the rum, cinnamon syrup, and bitters. Stir gently for about twenty seconds to combine, chill, and dilute. Twist the orange peel over the glass to express the oils, then drop in. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

I’m not sure why David Gordon Green pivoted to lowbrow comedy and horror after this movie, but I keep hoping he’ll return to the foothills of Appalachia for another romantic drama. Maybe this is as foolish as wishing fall would come to my street in Central Texas sometime before December, but a girl can dream. And in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the changing seasons on my movie screen. Cheers!

Comedies

This is Spinal Tap

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Image: This is Spinal Tap, 1984

While I’m typically anti-sequel/franchise in my movie tastes, I couldn’t help but be excited about the recent return of one of my favorite fictional bands. This is Spinal Tap (Disc/Download) essentially created the mockumentary genre, and though I haven’t been lucky enough to see Spinal Tap II yet (distribution is sadly lacking in my area), I’m glad Guest & Co. are still out there, rocking hard and giving the world a much-needed laugh.

Starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer as a fictional British heavy metal band, This is Spinal Tap mimics the look and tone of rock documentaries like The Last Waltz, so much so that you might be fooled into thinking this is an actual non-fiction project about a trio of narcissistic, dim-witted musicians. The laughs come from the film’s absurd scenarios, improvised dialogue, and song lyrics, but never from stereotypical “jokes”. We laugh at Guest and McKean sporting matching herpes sores, not because anyone ever points them out, but because they don’t. Tap never underestimates the intelligence of its audience, yet it challenges us in new ways. Because the film’s actual director Rob Reiner plays fictional on-screen director Marty Di Bergi, the lines of real and fake are continuously blurred. By the time the song “Big Bottom” is played, you’ve already forgotten these aren’t “real” rock songs because the fact is, they are real, and they are rock n’ roll. They also happen to be incredibly funny.

Now that Spinal Tap has come back around, it got me thinking about “Auld Lang Syne”, Robert Burns’ ode to the remembrance of old friends. The movies of Christopher Guest defined my young adulthood, and they’ll always be synonymous with the nights I spent with my college crew laughing at Waiting for Guffman in someone’s dorm room, or screaming like a groupie during the Mighty Wind tour. Whether you’re watching the original or the sequel, let’s toast the movie friends (and rock stars!) that should never be forgot with a classic Bobby Burns cocktail.

Bobby Burns

2 oz Scotch

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

¼ oz Bénédictine

Garnish: Lemon Twist

Stir the ingredients over ice, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink to express the oils, then rest it on the rim.

I always assumed A Mighty Wind’s reunion of Guest, McKean, and Shearer as The Folksmen would be the closest we’d get to an on-screen Tap reunion, but happily, these guys keep coming back for more. From miniature Stonehenge sets, to amps that go to eleven, This is Spinal Tap is the enduring comedy masterpiece that will never seem old-fashioned, even if the players are now…well… old. Cheers!

Dramas

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

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Image: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1974

Don’t you just love a diner? The smell of pancakes, maple syrup, and coffee. The sound of a waitress asking whether you want toast or a biscuit (biscuit; always a biscuit). And most of all, a cross section of humanity, the whole place filled with hangovers and hard workers. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Disc/Download) is a bit like the diner it depicts: quiet some times, abrasively loud at others. Let’s pour a drink and park ourselves in a comfy booth.

Martin Scorsese made this film in between Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, and although it has the realism, incredible performances, and artistic flair of those two films, Alice Doesn’t Live Here is an odd choice for a guy who would make his name in the gritty neighborhoods of New York City. This romantic drama (I use the term “romantic” loosely) follows newly widowed Alice (Ellen Burstyn) on the road to Monterey, CA with her son Tommy. Along the way, she finds a bad romance with Harvey Keitel, a good romance with Kris Kristofferson, and a job as a waitress in Tucson. It’s a far cry from her dream of being a lounge singer, but at least it’s work. Tommy starts hanging out with the local troublemaker (Jodie Foster, who I’m convinced came out of the womb sounding like a jaded middle-aged woman), and pretty soon, Monterey starts to seem like a silly childhood fantasy. They’ve already started building a better life without even realizing it.

Regarding diner food and brunch beverages, I’ve always wondered why I rarely see an espresso martini made with maple syrup. Coffee and pancakes go together pretty well, right? I tried it for myself this week, and I’m very pleased with the results. Now I just need the pancakes. While watching Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, I recommend drinking this Maple Espresso Martini.

Maple Espresso Martini

2 oz Vodka

1 oz Chilled Espresso

1/2 oz Coffee Liqueur (I used Mr. Black)

1/2 oz Maple Syrup

2 dashes Black Walnut Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake for about thirty seconds, then strain into a coupe or martini glass.

The thing I love most about this movie is how it depicts the changing ideas of what it meant to be a woman in the 1970s. Alice is a complex character who’s forced to adapt into a society that still demeans women, yet now expects the world from them. She’s both cautionary tale and inspiration, and definitely someone I’d love to take a road trip with. Cue the Elton John. Cheers!

Classic Films · Musicals

Cabaret

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Image: Cabaret, 1972

Every June, July, and August, The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX does three months of revival programming and cranks their air conditioning down. Waaaaaaay down. Just like a rouged Joel Grey and his beautiful orchestra, my Summer Classic Film Series went out on a high note with 1972’s Cabaret (Disc/Download). A perfect finale to a season of stellar cinema, this musical masterpiece mirrors the joy and inclusivity of my favorite movie theater, as well as the frighting world outside its doors.

I’m a big fan of Bob Fosse as film director, and his trademark elements of sexy dance numbers, quick editing, and dreamy cinematography are a perfect match for this tale of the final hedonistic days of the Weimar Republic. Part of what makes Cabaret so emotionally engaging is that the audience understands what’s coming, even when the characters don’t. We know the slow creep of fascism is headed for Berlin, just as we know the days of public and private freedoms are numbered. Cabaret is proof that there have always been people who don’t conform to the traditional ideas of gender and sexuality, there have always been artists and intellectuals who push boundaries, and they will continue to exist, no matter how hard the intolerant try to erase them.

In the care of Fosse, this film often feels like a hallucination. Joel Grey floats through Berlin’s Kit Kat Klub like a nimble sprite welcoming us to the land of “anything goes”. Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles sings her heart out, staring off into her own version of Oz, allowing the audience to feel like part of this hopeful dream. Let’s toast this magical place with a cocktail similar to one I enjoyed at the Paramount, the Poet’s Dream.

Poet’s Dream

1 oz Gin

1 oz Dry Vermouth

½ oz Bénédictine

2 dashes Orange Bitters

Lemon twist

Combine gin, vermouth, Bénédictine, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to chill, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Like its twenty-first century audience, the characters of Cabaret all seem to be hurtling toward a violent, uncertain end. We don’t know what will become of Sally, the Master of Ceremonies, and the Kit Kat Klub. We don’t know if Brian will be safe in England once the bombing starts. We don’t know if Fritz and Natalia will be sent to a concentration camp. And maybe that’s why Cabaret feels like such an essential film for these times. It’s a rallying cry to live it up while we can because nobody knows what the future holds. Cheers!

Dramas

Silkwood

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Image credit: Silkwood, 1983

Happy Labor Day to all you Cinema Sips readers! Today, we celebrate the contributions of the American labor movement, and because I’m an elder Millennial raised on Newsies, I am very pro-labor. As workers across the country continue the fight to hold our 21st century robber barons accountable, and as nuclear energy makes a sudden comeback thanks to the regime’s inexplicable hatred of windmills (?!), there’s never been a better time to revisit Silkwood.

Watching the opening credits of this movie is like reaching into a mystery grab bag—you never know who’s going to pop up! Silkwood director Mike Nichols is someone I closely associate with smart, funny films like The Graduate, Working Girl, and The Birdcage, while screenwriter Nora Ephron is the queen of romantic comedies. Then there’s Kurt Russell as the sweet, shirtless, banjo-playing boyfriend of Meryl Streep and her unfortunate mullet. Finally, we have Cher as the lesbian roommate dating a funeral parlor beautician. This all sounds like the set-up to a comedy, and yet Silkwood is firmly in the melodramatic biopic genre. The roomies all work in a factory making nuclear fuel rods, where naturally, the conditions are terrible. Long hours, limited safety protocols, no vacation time, low pay, etc. After Karen Silkwood (Streep) is exposed to high levels of radiation and gets involved in her local labor union, she becomes someone the company wants to silence. Subjecting her to even worse conditions, and multiple “Silkwood showers” where they scrub her skin raw to remove trace amounts of radiation, Karen continues the fight until her last breath.

Most of my knowledge about nuclear energy is limited to gripping tales of meltdowns and catastrophes, like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Also, my husband makes ceramic glazes that look like molten nuclear waste, so the disaster narrative is heavily reinforced in our house. While you’re watching Silkwood, calm your anxiety with this Plutonium Daiquiri.

Plutonium Daiquiri

1 oz Overproof Rum

1 oz Lime Juice

¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse

¼ oz Falernum 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a dried lime wheel.

My financial advisor is convinced Uranium is about to take off, which is just one more example of America’s slow slide back to the 1950s, in all aspects of our lives. To be clear, I like the era’s dresses, houses, and movies, but the rest of it can stay in the past. As Silkwood proves: if you really want to make America great, listen to the workers. Listen to the scientists. Listen to the journalists. Don’t listen to the CEOs. Cheers!

Uncategorized

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!