Image credit: Flight of the Navigator, 1986.
As kids across America flock to see what passes for entertaining children’s movies these days, I can’t help but reminisce about some of my own summer favorites from childhood. All month long on Cinema Sips, I’ll be featuring kids movies that are near and dear to my heart, along with a cocktail pairing to make it just that much more fun. Because let’s admit, as much as we tell kids to cherish their youth, sometimes it’s pretty great to be an adult.
Kicking things off is that Fourth of July classic, Flight of the Navigator (DVD/Download). Oh how my brother and I loved to shout “compliance!” at each other in the late 1980’s, in that weird pseudo Pee-wee Herman voice. The story of a boy who gets abducted by aliens, then returned 8 years later having not aged a day, is the stuff of bad sci-fi, but somehow it works here. Maybe it’s because of the Disney Soarin’ music, or the creepy puppets, or just the bad 80’s hair (ahem Sarah Jessica Parker). But whatever it is, I loved it then and my feelings have not faded. If anything, my appreciation for Twisted Sister has only deepened.
Inexplicably, the 1980’s technology in this film includes the R.A.L.F., or Robotic Assistant Labor Facilitator. It’s basically a big cardboard box that delivers papers and food. A prehistoric Amazon drone if you will. This acronym, and the movie’s Florida setting inspired my cocktail this week, the R.A.L.F. (or, Rum And Lime Flip).
R.A.L.F.
2 oz Dark Rum
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1 whole raw egg (yolk included)
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled, and the egg has emulsified. Strain into a coupe glass.
Sculptures by Chris Bathgate
No, your eyes do not deceive you- that is not a time-traveling Bruiser, come to visit us in 2016. In fact it’s my look-a-like dog Peaches, who was very excited to see her doppelgänger on screen this week. She thought the frisbee scene was aces, but she’s still not sure about the scary giant eyeball on the ship. Really, neither am I. Cheers, and Happy Fourth of July!
Cinema Sips 