Tag: Christmas movie

Action/Adventure/Heist · Holiday Films

Batman Returns

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Batman Returns, 1992

If you haven’t heard yet, it’s hell here. Never in my wildest nightmare did I think America would one day resemble Gotham City in Batman Returns (Disc/Download), but here we are. Gross billionaires have purchased even grosser politicians to do their evil bidding, “heroes” are kind of useless, and women have been pushed to their breaking point. Like Selina Kyle, we’re all going a little feral.

Batman Returns has always been my favorite Batman movie, for a lot of reasons. Tim Burton sets a perfectly campy tone, capturing the spirit of the earlier comic book and television show while still incorporating his signature brand of the macabre. Michael Keaton is my favorite actor to wear the cape, but in this film he’s met his true match in Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. They’ve both got secrets, which means they’re both holding back pieces of themselves. It’s an equal playing field that Batman’s never experienced before or since. Then there’s Danny DeVito as The Penguin, a character that seemed too weird to exist, until he did. By the year 2025, it’s not absurd to think that the general population would rally behind a rotund, sweaty, cartoon villain with childhood trauma and weird stuff going on with his hands. All it takes is fear mongering, and a lot of money from a corporate overlord who doesn’t care how much damage he’s inflicting on the planet, or its people.

Michelle Pfeiffer may have been responsible for a lot of unrealistic body goals in the mid-1990s with her skintight Catwoman suit, but she’s also responsible for a lot of little girls (me) thinking they could grow up and have a fabulous pink apartment full of kitschy knickknacks and neon signs. And if the mood strikes, there’s always a can of black spray paint to shake things up. While watching Batman Returns, toast the greatest female action hero with this Kitty Highball.

Kitty Highball

2 oz red wine

¾ oz ginger syrup (I used Liber & Co.)

½ oz lime juice

Soda water to top

Lime wheel (garnish)

Fill a Collins glass with ice and set aside. Combine wine, ginger syrup, and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into prepared glass. Top with soda water and stir gently. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Gotham City looks great at the holidays, and it’s fun to experience Burton’s giant set pieces, such as exploding presents, enormous Christmas trees full of clown assassins, and snow-covered parks where Penguin feels right at home. It’s a movie that gets more and more relevant with time, but I hope it won’t stay that way forever. I’m ready for Batman Returns to go back to being a fantasy instead of a documentary. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies · Holiday Films · Uncategorized

We’re No Angels

LizLockeLeave a comment
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!

Dramas · Holiday Films

Babygirl

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Babygirl, 2024

The last time I did a Dystopian Christmas series was in 2017, and back then, I featured the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut. I thought this would be the end of my anti-holly jolly picks, until (supposedly) seventy-seven million Americans decided they wanted Dystopia: The Sequel! So, in the spirit of “you asked for it”, I’m watching a Christmas movie for these darkest of times: Babygirl (Disc/Download).

I’ve always thought of Babygirl as the spiritual follow-up to Eyes Wide Shut. Both films take place at Christmas, both star Nicole Kidman, and both fall into the “psycho-sexual thriller” genre. But where Eyes Wide Shut features Tom Cruise gallivanting to orgies and basement jazz bars while Nicole stays home wrapping gifts, in Babygirl the tables are turned. Here, she finally gets to explore the phrase, “If you men only knew…”

As robotics exec Romy Mathis, Kidman plays a woman who seemingly has it all. Great job, two kids, a devoted husband (played by Antonio Banderas), and a fabulous selection of cashmere coats. But still, it’s not enough. She longs to explore her sexual kinks, and she does so with the hot new office intern (Harris Dickinson). I see echoes of Belle du Jour as Romy puts herself in debasing, risky situations, addicted to her secrets and powerless to stop. One can’t help but be enthralled by the chemistry Romy shares with her younger lover, but also by the tension of waiting for it all to implode.

In one particularly interesting scene, Romy shows up to the office happy hour where her paramour sends over a glass of milk. I prefer to mix that milk with some other ingredients, so while watching Babygirl, I recommend drinking the classic Tiki staple, a Rum Cow.

Rum Cow

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

½ oz simple syrup

1 ½ oz milk

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Fill a shaker 1/3 full with ice, then add rum, simple syrup, and milk. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Dust with grated nutmeg.

Babygirl definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you’re the type of person who likes psychologically fraught tales about adult relationships, you’ll probably enjoy this. Even if you’re only here for the cashmere coats and Harris Dickinson’s hotel striptease, it’ll be worth your time. Cheers!

Holiday Films

Champagne Problems

LizLocke1 Comment
Image: Champagne Problems, 2025

Holiday movie season is upon us, which deserves a toast with whatever you can afford. Thanks to tariffs, it may not be Champagne, but even if it’s just your finest bottle of Trader Joe’s Blanc d’ Blanc, everyone deserves to taste the stars. On that note, I couldn’t think of a better movie to kick things off than the new Netflix release Champagne Problems.

First, I want to welcome Minka Kelly to the Christmas Movie Universe. Her Friday Night Lights co-star Aimeé Teegarden has been riding this seasonal train for a few years now, and it’s about time she had another Dillon, TX resident out there with her. In Champagne Problems, Minka plays V.I.B.P. (Very Important Business Person) Sydney Price, who travels to Paris with the intent to purchase a champagne company. But before the Big Meeting™ happens, her flaky sister encourages her to have one magical night in the city. She quickly meets-cute with a charming French guy in the most charming French bookstore, and they end up sharing a Before Sunrise evening together. However, at the Big Meeting™, guess who walks in- the charming French guy she just slept with!! It turns out he’s heir to a Champagne fortune, and now she’s got to go to his family’s chateau to compete against other V.I.B.P.s to win the company. This competition includes:

  • Eating a smorgasbord of French cheeses
  • Trimming the vines
  • Snuggling with the cutest dog alive
  • Fixing a vintage Citroën (in true holiday movie fashion, she is not just a businesswoman; she’s also an amateur mechanic!)

Obviously, the best beverage pairing for this movie is Champagne. You could certainly open a nice bottle and call it a day, but I wanted to challenge myself to come up with a sparkling cocktail worthy of Minka’s debut. While watching Champagne Problems, I recommend drinking this American in Paris cocktail.

American in Paris

1 oz St. Germain

½ oz Cocchi Americano

3 dashes orange bitters

3-4 oz Champagne or sparkling wine

Lemon twist and romemary (garnish)

In a cocktail shaker, combine St. Germain, Cocchi Americano, and bitters with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe. Top with Champagne, then garnish with a twist of lemon and sprig of rosemary. (Optional: dust Rosemary with powdered sugar to mimic “snow”)

This movie checks a lot of boxes for me, including international travel, alcohol, attractive actors, and the aforementioned cute dog. If you only watch one streaming/TV holiday movie this year (although, why would you ever stop at just one???), make it Champagne Problems. Cheers!

Holiday Films

The Holdovers

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Holdovers, 2023

It’s rare for me to consider a twenty-first century holiday flick an instant classic, but the second I saw the vintage title cards of The Holdovers (Disc/Download), I knew I would be watching this film every December, without fail, for the rest of my life. Move over Carol, The Holiday, and Love Actually; there’s a new tradition in my house.

Set during Christmas 1970, The Holdovers reunites director Alexander Payne with his Sideways muse Paul Giamatti. The comparisons to that movie are inevitable because once again, Giamatti plays a teacher who has failed to live up to his full potential. He spews intelligent insults, drinks a lot, and is extremely awkward with women. However, pairing him with a teenage boy (Dominic Sessa) instead of a fully grown man who acts like a teenage boy brings a new layer to the his performance. He’s a protector instead of a sidekick. And to the cook who’s forced to stay over with him and the boy at an abandoned New England boarding school over Christmas: friend and ally. Da’Vine Joy Randolph rightly won the Best Supporting Actress for her role as the grieving mother who just lost her only child to the Vietnam War, and seeing her bring so much nuance to this performance is watching a master at work. She makes it look easy, when it was probably anything but. Really, the whole movie could be described this way. If you told me this film was actually made in 1970, I would believe you because the cinematography, the production design, the soundtrack, and the costumes are all seamless. There is nothing that hints at the year 2023, and nothing to indicate the level of work it must have taken to achieve this kind of authenticity. Because of that, we can just sit back and enjoy a movie that already feels like it’s been part of our lives for the last fifty years.

My favorite scene in The Holdovers involves our three principal characters in the parking lot of a Boston restaurant, enjoying Cherries Jubilee “to go”. If you’re familiar with the dessert, then you know it’s prepared tableside, with cherries and brandy lit on fire, then spooned over ice cream. This cocktail uses that cherry flavor while also referencing the giant bottle of Cognac stolen from the headmaster’s office. If you’ve gotta go, go big. While watching The Holdovers, I recommend drinking a Vanderbilt cocktail.

Vanderbilt

1 1/2 oz Cognac

1/2 oz Cherry Heering Liqueur

1/8 oz Simple Syrup

2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Brandied cherry, lemon twist (garnish)

Stir ingredients together in a mixing tin with ice, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry and lemon twist.

Of course, you could always opt for a bottle of Miller Highlife (it is the champagne of beers), however I prefer to bring a little class to this party. After all, it’s a very fancy boarding school full of very fancy people who may or may not have learned some valuable knowledge in exchange for their pricey tuition. Entre nous, I’m pretty sure the biggest lessons happened outside the classroom. Cheers! 

Holiday Films

Hot Frosty

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Image Credit: Hot Frosty, 2024

After a rough November, I’m ready to laugh again. Somehow, the Netflix gods knew exactly what I needed and delivered in the form of the delightful holiday flick Hot Frosty. Starring Lacey Chabert as a widowed small-town diner owner, and Dustin Milligan as a snowman come to life, this movie exudes all the innocent charm of the Jimmy Stewart classic Harvey… if Jimmy was totally shredded and shirtless for half the movie.

Why do I like this one so much? Well, in addition to Dustin’s abs, I also related to the snowman’s problems with temperature regulation. After the hottest fall on record in Texas, I felt this line in my bones: “He has extreme heat sensitivities! He’s not going to make it till the 26th!!!” Am I… a snow woman? Do I need to start munching on ice cubes to stay cool? Become a streaker? Happily, he and I both found partners who are understanding about our heat sensitivities and don’t force us to submit to uncomfortable situations. They want us to “lay low”. They recognize that we’re indoor kids, and we’d be better off watching cooking shows in a cold house than sweating in a crowded diner. To this end, the best thing about Hot Frosty is the way it shows a romance where people are simply nice to each other. They take care of each other. No fake dating, no lies, no triangles, no second chances—just straight-up kindness. And boy, couldn’t we all do with a bit of that right now.

Being as heat intolerant as a snowman, I can tell you that frozen beverages are the only way to survive. Jack Snowman makes a mean eggnog, so why not make it frozen? After all, it’s still ridiculously hot in many parts of the country, and I’m pretty sure my winter coat won’t see the light of day in 2025. While watching Hot Frosty, I recommend drinking a Frozen Eggnog.

Frozen Eggnog

2 cups Store-bought Eggnog

½ cup Half-and-Half

½ tsp Nutmeg

2 oz Brandy

2 oz Dark Rum

1 cup Ice

Star Anise + Grated Nutmeg (garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth, then pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with a dusting of nutmeg, and star anise.*

*Note: If you’re lucky enough to own a Cuisinart Soft Serve Machine (as I do), I recommend blending the ingredients first, then pour into the machine. Let it churn for 10 minutes, then dispense. This gives the drink a much better consistency than straight out of the blender.

I admit, I was skeptical when I first learned the premise of this movie; it sounded too corny to be believed. And yet, it does make me believe in the power of love and community. If you enjoy Ted Lasso and Schitt’s Creek, you’ll probably like Hot Frosty for the same reasons. And if you’re just there for the abs, well, you won’t be disappointed. Cheers!

Classic Films · Holiday Films · Musicals

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964

During a recent conversation with a friend, the subject of 1960s Christmas movies came up. Trying to list my favorites, I quickly hit a wall. Seems the 1940s and the 1990s pretty much cornered the market on holiday flicks. Maybe that’s why I wrote such a lengthy Christmas section into my novel Follow the Sun—I wanted to create a stylish world of silver tinsel trees, Shiny Brite ornaments, and elaborate teased updos. A world of Henry Mancini albums on the hi-fi, fondue on the buffet table, and structured Saint Laurent evening gowns. Like my novel, Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Disc/Download) only has a brief stopover at Christmas, but it’s memorable enough for me to consider this a holiday film. And not just any holiday film, but the most glamorous one in existence.

Presented in operatic form, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg has a straightforward (albeit tragic) plot. Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve) and Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) are young, gorgeous, and madly in love. They consummate the relationship shortly before Guy leaves for war, and although Geneviève promises she’ll wait for him, her meddling mother forces her to doubt he’s ever coming back. Pregnant and alone, she marries someone else, leaving the father of her child heartbroken upon his return. Eventually, he moves on too, and years later they share a sad reunion under the backdrop of a snowy gas station. With stunning production design and more color than I’ve ever seen in a movie, Umbrellas manages to make a world papered in pink and orange damask impossibly sad and beautiful. As Catherine Deneueve trudges back to her car on that cold Christmas Eve, your heart just breaks for her. This is the definition of a Blue Christmas.

I covered this movie years ago for Moviejawn with a Crème de Violette cocktail, however this was before Empress 1908 gin came into my life. Distilled with butterfly pea flower, this gin has lately given rise to many colorful cocktail experiments. One of my favorite gin botanicals is cinnamon, so I’ll be using it for a holiday twist on a French ’75. While watching The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, I recommend drinking a Cinnamon ‘75*.

Cinnamon ‘75

1 ½ oz Empress 1908 Gin

¾ oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Cinnamon Syrup

1 tsp. Maple Syrup

Champagne, to top

Cinnamon stick garnish

Combine gin, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, and maple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with champagne, and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

*Recipe adapted from Empress Gin website

I like to think the characters of Follow the Sun would have seen this movie upon its release in 1964, and maybe Caroline, drawn to the emotional music score, would have returned more than once. Perhaps Daphne narrowly missed out on the Catherine Deneuve role because of her lackluster singing voice, and she still holds a grudge against Jacques Demy. Maybe it caused them to realize (as it caused me to realize) that the holidays might be painful as we think about those we’ve loved and lost, but nevertheless, there’s still beauty and glamour all around. Joyeux Noël!

Holiday Films

A Merry Christmas Wish

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Image credit: A Merry Christmas Wish, 2022

So far, my holiday season has been pretty lackluster. Not only are decorations nixed because of ongoing home renovations, but I haven’t had time to watch a single made-for-TV Christmas movie. It’s a TRAVESTY, I tell you! But for the sake of this blog, I managed to carve out 90-minutes to watch a flick that kept taunting me from the Hulu home screen, screaming, “Watch me!” Finally, I listened, and hit play on A Merry Christmas Wish.

As I’ve probably said before, I could write an entire dissertation on the lackluster male leads populating holiday movies. I call them “Potato Men”, as in they look like someone stuffed a beige potato into a Rudolph sweater. Shapeless, colorless, utterly forgettable. So naturally, the first thing that drew me to MCW was the presence of Cameron Mathison, an All My Children favorite from way back, and someone far too good looking to ever be confused with a Potato Man. Here, he plays a small-town charmer who’s been looking after the farm of a recently-deceased man; the same farm that’s just been inherited by the dead guy’s city slicker niece (Jill Wagner). A high-powered advertising exec, she gives herself two weeks to clean out her uncle’s house and throw one last holiday market, the Winter Wonderland, without succumbing to the charms of small town life. Spoiler alert: she fails miserably when she realizes she likes the looks of both Cameron, and knotty pine walls.

Something I can’t help noticing is how similar this movie is to my other favorite NYC ad exec-out-of-water story, Baby Boom. MCW is basically that, without the baby. But where Diane Keaton turns her marketing prowess to gourmet baby food, Jill Wagner shines a spotlight on local honey. This rosemary honey is perfect in a cocktail, so while you’re watching A Merry Christmas Wish, I recommend drinking a Rosemary Honey Old Fashioned.

Rosemary Honey Old Fashioned

3 oz Whiskey

1 oz Rosemary Honey Simple Syrup (boil ½ cup honey + ½ cup water + 2 rosemary sprigs, then cool)

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

1 Rosemary Sprig

Orange Garnish

Combine whiskey, rosemary honey, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Stir to chill and combine, then strain into a glass filled with a large ice cube or ball. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary, and dried orange.

Tasty cocktail inspiration aside, A Merry Christmas Wish features so many things I love in a holiday movie. Cookie baking! Baby goats! Wrong-for-you boyfriend who wants to tear down the farm and build condos! But the thing I love most is that it doesn’t succumb to the tired enemies-to-lovers plot that somehow never lives up to the gold standard of The Goodbye Girl. For once, our hero and heroine are not mean-spirited grumps until the Christmas spirit moves them. They are kind, fun, and flirty, and the only impediment to them running off into the sunset together are their jobs, not their personalities. If you ask me, kindness, and a little whiskey, are the best examples of the Christmas spirit. Cheers!

Holiday Films

Black Christmas

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Black Christmas, 1974

If nothing else, 2022 is the year I overcame my aversion to scary movies. Although I still wouldn’t call myself a “fan”, I’ve nevertheless grown to appreciate vintage horror for its humor, style, and great practical effects. So rather than watch the newer iterations of this week’s Black Christmas (Disc/Download), I’m going back to the original slasher flick of 1974.

If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “The call is coming from inside the house,” well then, you can thank Black Christmas for putting it into the lexicon. This Canadian film starring Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder is like a vintage Scream, with gaudy lights, shag carpeting, and a lot of booze. Just before Christmas break, a serial killer targets a sorority house, making obscene phone calls, watching and waiting to make his move. There are several long, tense sequences of the killer stalking his prey, followed by murder scenarios that are thematically pretty gruesome, if not visually. Overall, I enjoyed this movie immensely because it’s just so weird and funny in moments where one would expect the opposite. I’m not going to have nightmares of a dead sorority girl covered in plastic, holding a creepy baby doll; I’m going to have nightmares about her patterned curtains.

One of the best things about Black Christmas is house mother Mrs. MacHenry, or “Mrs. Mac” to her friends. She’s got all kinds of exciting hiding places for her liquor, including hollowed out books and a toilet tank! Let’s give a proper toast to the woman who’s always “hanging around”, or better yet, make it a eulogy. While watching Black Christmas, I recommend drinking this Macintosh apple riff on a Dark & Stormy- a Mac Attack.

Mac Attack

1 1/2 oz Largo Bay Apple Spiced Rum

1 oz Apple Cider

1/4 oz Lemon Juice

1 dash of Angostura Bitters

Ginger Beer

Dried lemon slice

Combine rum, apple cider, lemon juice, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer, and a dried lemon slice.

I applaud a film that keeps me guessing, and Black Christmas managed to surprise me right through to the end. Sure, there were plenty of moments where I yelled at the dumb girl on the screen, but the truth is, none of us can predict how we’d react in scary situations. I like to think I wouldn’t move closer to the closet where I’d just heard a strange noise; that I would instead run away like a normal human with a shred of self-preservation instincts, but who knows? All I’ll say is, if I go missing, check the attic. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Holiday Films

The Silent Partner

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image Credit: The Silent Partner, 1978

If you’re burned out by the sentimentality and commercialization of Christmas, have I got a movie for you. The Silent Partner (Disc/Download) is an unexpected holiday find, though a fantastic one. Nothing like a little Santa bank heist to put me in the yuletide spirit!

With a screenplay by Curtis Hanson, I knew I was in for a twisty, suspenseful good time. What I didn’t expect was how dark this movie would ultimately turn out to be, like a mashup between Hitchcock and Argento. Elliott Gould plays a bank teller with a dead-end love life who stumbles onto a mall Santa’s plot to rob his local branch. In an effort to finance his exotic fish collection (yes, you read that right), he starts secretly stashing money from the bank’s till before the impending robbery occurs. When the crime actually happens, St. Nick (Christopher Plummer) walks off with a little bit of money, while Gould ends up with the real fortune. However, this mild-mannered everyman didn’t bet on Santa being a twisted sadist who will stop at nothing to get his rightful share. I won’t spoil all the surprises this movie has to offer, but let’s just say Capt. Von Trapp looks great in panty hose.

Although The Silent Partner is an extremely suspenseful movie, rest assured there are a lot of fun, campy moments too. Boobs abound in this 1970s bra-free wonderland, under everything from cheeky t-shirts (my favorite: “Penalty For Early Withdrawal”), to slinky cocktail dresses. Elliott Gould’s character is perpetually horny, but I really can’t blame him. These bankers like to party, and things get a little loose. This holiday season, let’s toast a bygone era with this Blowfish cocktail.

Blowfish

2 oz Canadian Whiskey

1 oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Crème de Cassis

½ oz Simple Syrup

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice.  Shake until chilled, then strain into a tumbler with a large ice ball.

I love the Toronto location of this movie because we rarely get to watch a film shot in Canada that’s actually set in Canada. As it turns out, our neighbors to the north have a lot to offer. That list includes (but is not limited to) John Candy, funny Monopoly-looking money, and a really bizarre take on Christmas.  Cheers!