Tag: Cherry Heering

Comedies

Chances Are

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Chances Are, 1989

When people ask me to name my favorite movie, I always have a hard time answering. How does anybody pick just one? But when it comes to naming my favorite movie genre, it’s easy: Interdimensional Romance. I credit the Criterion Channel with coining this term, which basically means romance that defies the laws of space, time, and even death. You may have heard the phrase: “Every love story is a tragedy if you wait long enough”. But in an Interdimensional Romance, love doesn’t end with death—it merely changes into a new form. Chances are, you probably haven’t heard of the movie Chances Are (Disc/Download), but if you believe in the idea that love can’t be limited by our brief human lifespans, you should give this reincarnation rom-com a watch.

Featuring an absolutely stacked cast (Robert Downey Jr., Cybill Shepherd, Ryan O’Neal, and Mary Stuart Masterson), Chances Are follows Washington DC lawyer Louis Jeffries, who dies on the night of his first wedding anniversary, leaving his new bride widowed and pregnant. Upon arriving in heaven, he desperately pleads with the bureaucrats in charge to send him back. They agree to return him to Earth in a new body, however they forget to erase his memories before he departs. That reincarnated baby eventually grows up to take the form of Robert Downey Jr., and through a series of coincidences, Louis finds himself back in his old Georgetown home, triggered by the memories from his past life. Things get weird when he enters into a love triangle with both his wife and his daughter, which then becomes a quadrangle when Ryan O’Neal starts bedhopping. I think this is what they call “high concept”.

If you want to remember Washington DC as it was, with its tasteful, elegant Reflecting Pool and people in suits doing the very important work of keeping our laws, our journalistic integrity, and our cultural institutions intact, then you’ll enjoy seeing the city as it was in 1989. I also love the addition of a cherry tree named George, so while you’re watching Chances Are, I recommend drinking this “George” cocktail.

George

2 oz gin

½ oz Cherry Heering

1 oz lime juice

½ oz simple syrup

2 oz sparkling wine

Cherry garnish

Combine gin, Cherry Heering, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with sparkling wine, and garnish with a cherry.

I had another reason for watching Chances Are this week, and it’s not just my love of Cybill Shepherd’s power suits. You see, my book Follow the Sun recently got reincarnated with a pretty new cover and more marketing support:

I had to laugh, thinking about all the times over the last decade when I’ve said this book was dead. First, when a former agent sat on it for nearly a year, with no response to my emails. Then, when I tried to get a new agent, and again got no response to my queries. Then, when I finally got a great agent, but editors didn’t respond to the pitch (are you sensing a pattern yet?). Then, when I connected with a great editor, got a contract, and the book was finally being published, but marketing didn’t respond. At that point, I thought for sure I’d reached the end of the road. This book was officially deceased, buried under the millions of books published every year that you’ve also never heard of. But three years later, here we are—resurrected again, in a slightly different form. I used to call Follow the Sun my zombie book, but after watching Chances Are, I think I should call it my reincarnated book. Because the truth is, every time it dies and gets reborn, it comes back just a little bit better. This time, the words haven’t changed, but the packaging has improved. I don’t know if there’s another life in store for Follow the Sun after this, but if there is, I hope it’s a good one. I hope it finds the people who will love it. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

The Girl Can’t Help It

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: The Girl Can’t Help It, 1956

If you haven’t watched My Mom Jayne yet, STOP what you’re doing and go watch Mariska Hargitay’s stunning documentary right now!!! Then, after you’ve finished crying a river, check out one of Jayne Mansfield’s best performances in Frank Tashlin’s The Girl Can’t Help It (Disc).

Taken as a whole, the movie feels like a parody of itself. The producers knew Jayne was constantly compared to Marilyn Monroe in the press, so they got The Seven Year Itch’s Tom Ewell to play yet another schlub who miraculously catches the eye of a woman waaaaaay out of his league. The movie uses Jayne’s physique and exaggerated costumes to hilarious effect, with big chunks of ice melting as she walks down the street, and milk boiling over in the milkman’s hands. She swings those hips like Jessica Rabbit, as though her upper and lower halves aren’t even connected to the same body. Mansfield’s mob girlfriend character Jerri Jordan is reluctantly trying to break into the music business, which gives Tashlin an excuse to feature a ton of R&B artists from the time period. Acts such as Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Platters, and Eddie Cochran pop up in nightclubs and on television, and it’s wild to see the real people behind the voices I’ve come to know so well in my vinyl collection. But the greatest treat of all is Julie London, who plays “the one who got away”, appearing like a ghost to Tom Ewell’s agent character. Having owned Julie is her Name for many years, losing it, then somehow gaining it back from my deceased uncle’s estate, I feel like Julie’s ghost won’t leave me alone either.

Because boobs (and milk) are such a running gag in this movie, I had to do a cream-based drink. The cherry flavor is sweet like Jerri, and it feels like a frothy confection in a glass—a cocktail version of Jayne’s final pastel evening gown. While watching The Girl Can’t Help It, I recommend drinking a Cherry Jordan.

Cherry Jordan

1 oz Vodka

1 oz Cherry Heering

½ oz White Crème de Cacao

1 oz Heavy Cream

Maraschino cherry

Combine vodka, Cherry Heering, crème de cacao, and cream in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Shot in glorious DeLuxe Color, The Girl Can’t Help It is a true feast for the eyes. The costumes and sets pop like a Powell & Pressburger picture, as if The Red Shoes had been directed by the guy who drew Looney Tunes. This movie is campy, fun, and surprisingly clever, and it’s the perfect way to celebrate a woman who was all these things, and more. Cheers!