Tag: Benicio Del Toro

Comedies

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

LizLocke1 Comment
Image: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998

I’m writing to you from the cold confines of an air-conditioned casino, marked safe from the “dry heat” of Sin City. As the most boring Vegas-goer you’ll ever meet, I’m basically the opposite of the characters in this week’s pick Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Disc/Download). But even though I’m a “three drinks is my limit” kind of girl, that doesn’t mean I’m not up for a cinematic visit to the weird, drug-fueled land of Hunter S. Thompson.

In my opinion, this cult classic survives thanks to three things: Johnny Depp’s narration, the soundtrack, and the production design. Thank goodness director Terry Gilliam chose to stay faithful to Thompson’s original novel by setting this in 1971 because the time period offers a rich visual language you wouldn’t get if it was set in the 1990s. This language includes pink shag carpeting at the Flamingo hotel and casino, the revolving carousel bar at the circus-themed casino (how I wish Circus Circus had instead been named Bazooko Circus!!!), and vintage signs blinking over the Strip. I’m along for this ride because the music is good, the guy on the bar stool is saying some pretty interesting things, and I like how everything looks. I’m not there for the plot, of which there is none, or the drugs, of which there are too many.

Speaking of the revolving carousel, I’ve been to the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, but that one sort of creeps along. The Bazooko Circus carousel is a tilt-a-whirl by comparison! While you’re watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I recommend drinking this Carousel cocktail, adapted from Tim Miner’s recipe for Death & Co.

Carousel

1 oz cognac

¼ oz absinthe

½ oz Crème de Noyaux

¾ oz lime juice

½ oz pineapple juice

½ oz simple syrup

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

With its strong Tiki vibe and strange collection of ingredients, this’ll make you feel like you’re Hunter S. Thompson in a Hawaiian shirt, cozied up to a Vegas bar with your favorite attorney. Maybe the absinthe will make you hallucinate bats or narco agents—who’s to say? Cheers!

Dramas

One Battle After Another

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: One Battle After Another, 2025

Another Oscar season in the books means another Best Picture winner crowned, and this year, the honor went to One Battle After Another (Disc/Download). It’s been a long time since I felt like the recipient of this award actually was the best picture of a given year, but leave it to Paul Thomas Anderson to deliver a movie critics, voters, and this jaded moviegoer can all agree on. This calls for a celebratory cocktail.

I’ve been a superfan of PT Anderson since Boogie Nights, and while Magnolia remains my favorite of his films, One Battle After Another is a worthy addition to the California canon. In this tense thriller/drama, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a stoned revolutionary who must balance fighting the forces of evil with raising his teenage daughter. He sacrifices the excitement of the cause, along with his libido, to be the stay-at-home dad she needs, until the day his peace is threatened by the vengeful Colonel Lockjaw (Sean Penn, quite obviously playing Greg Bovino). This sets off a chain reaction of good guys on the run, bad guys in Patagonia vests calmly plotting the next Holocaust, and great teachers like Sensei Sergio just trying to help the people of his community.

As soon as I heard the phrase “The French 75”, I knew I loved this movie. A bunch of badass female fighters named after my favorite cocktail? Heck yes! I’ve already done the gin version of this drink on the blog, but a recent trip to New Orleans proved to me that the classic cognac version is where it’s at. While watching One Battle After Another, I recommend drinking this Classic French ’75.

Classic French ‘75

1 ½ oz cognac

½ oz simple syrup

½ oz lemon juice

2-3 oz champagne

Lemon twist

Combine cognac, simple syrup, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a cocktail glass. Top with champagne, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Screenshot

It’s pretty amazing when script development, shooting schedules, and studio timelines all align to give us the movie we need at the exact moment we need it. Who could have predicted that all the chaos and horror of the last fifteen months would be happening right when One Battle After Another releases and sweeps award shows? I guess many people knew; perhaps people smarter or more cynical than me. Hollywood tends to reward movies that project a certain image of what the film community wants to believe of itself, and by awarding the Best Picture Oscar to One Battle After Another, Hollywood has sent a clear message that they do not stand with ICE. They’re telling us to have faith that this regime will be defeated, by The French 75s, or The Whiskey Sours, or whatever mocktail name sober Gen Z wants to give their coming revolution. I’ll be ready with the shaker. Cheers!