Tag: Cinema Sips

Classic Films · Foreign · Musicals

The Young Girls of Rochefort

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Young Girls of Rochefort, 1967

If you need a little cinema help to fight the grey skies of winter, then you’ll definitely want to check out this week’s pick, the 1967 French musical The Young Girls of Rochefort (Disc/Download). With a color palette straight out of my fantasies (so much pink!!!!!), fun choreography, and even the inclusion of classic Hollywood musical star Gene Kelly, this confection of a movie will have you longing for French fries, cocktails, and candy-colored days in France.

Starring real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac as singing twins Delphine and Solange, Jacques Demy’s follow-up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the perfect antidote to that bittersweet tragedy. These girls are fun, carefree, and want nothing more than to go to Paris, fall in love, and pursue their artistic ambitions. Delphine wants to be a dancer, Solange a composer, and unfortunately Rochefort is just too small of a pond. They can’t spend all their days in caftans, gazing out the windows of their pink apartment, lamenting their boredom.  They’ve got to put on matching hats and dresses and get out into the big, bright world! Luckily, Gene Kelly arrives, ready to make Solange’s dreams come true, while Delphine pines for a painter she’s never actually met. Truthfully, this film is full of near misses, right up to the very end. It keeps me yearning for that happy ending, almost as much as I yearn for their wardrobes. And boy, do I yearn.

One of the highlights of this movie, for me, is the twins’ mother’s French fry stand. It sits in the center of the town square, designed with gorgeous Mid-Century Modern details, and by all appearances seems to serve nothing but French fries, coffee, and cocktails. If someone gave me an unlimited amount of money and told me to go make whatever I wanted in the world, I would build an exact replica of this French fry stand. My city would cheer, and I’d be a hero. Unfortunately, I do not have an unlimited budget, so I’ll have to settle for frozen fries and this Gemini Gimlet in my “nice, but not Young Girls of Rochefort Girls nice” Mid-Century Modern home.

Gemini Gimlet

2 oz Pink Gin

1 oz Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

Lemon Twist

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

You could certainly make this drink with your favorite clear gin, but I think Beefeater’s Pink Strawberry gin gives it a little more of a Demy flair. I could absolutely picture Delphine sipping one of these at an outdoor table while she fends off the advances of traveling carnies and speculates about the town serial killer. Besides, if you’re the kind of person who dreams, wouldn’t you rather do it in color? Cheers!

Sci Fi · Uncategorized

Starman

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Starman, 1984

If typical romantic fare has you rolling your eyes with boredom, and you just cannot stand to see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days show up in your watch suggestions yet again*, then maybe you’re ready for John Carpenter’s Starman (Disc/Download), a bonkers sci-fi romance featuring a naked Jeff Bridges, a creepy CGI baby, and love on the run.

Starring Karen Allen as the recently widowed Jenny Hayden, and Jeff Bridges as the alien who crashes into her Wisconsin backyard and adopts the physical body of her recently deceased husband (thanks to an old photo album, a lock of his baby hair, and some truly bizarre special effects), this movie has similar visual elements to other campy Carpenter classics like They Live, The Thing, and The Fog, but it also manages to tell a moving story about grief and connection. Although I laugh pretty hard at Bridges’ halting alien voice, my heart twists when Jenny is forced to reckon with this terrifying stranger who happens to look exactly like the love of her life, as though even the memories of his face and smile aren’t sacred anymore. Carpenter may be known for horror, but honestly, I can’t think of anything scarier than the place our heroine inhabits at the start of this movie.

A fun element to this story is the collection of “energy balls” our alien uses to start fires, heal the dead or dying, and send interplanetary messages. Basically, any task you would need a bit of magic to accomplish. I don’t have any of these silver balls myself, but I do have a bottle of Fireball Whiskey. While watching Starman, make a little magic of your own with this Fireball Old Fashioned.

Fireball Old Fashioned

1 part Fireball Whisky

1 part Bourbon

2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

½ tsp Sugar

Orange twist

Muddle sugar with bitters in the bottom of a glass. Add ice, bourbon, and Fireball, and stir to combine. Twist the orange peel over the glass, then drop in.

This movie definitely has some soap opera elements to it, which is probably why I like it so much. Yes, there are the typical scary government guys chasing Bridges to a crater in Arizona, and the standard bumbling scientist who realizes it’s better to let the interplanetary traveler go home than see him get hurt on Earth, but there’s also a terrific pie scene and a secret alien baby that may or may not turn up in a sequel. It’s been forty years, and I am ready for that sequel. Cheers!

*Note to Netflix/Hulu/Amazon, et al.: I do not want to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It’s never going to happen, stop trying to make it happen.

Dramas

Love & Basketball

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Love & Basketball, 2000

When I watch a movie with ‘love’ in the title, I always hope it’s going to trigger the same kind of feeling I get from reading romance novels. When a story works, every part of me is rooting for these characters I know intimately, even though we only just met. I think about them the next day, and I wonder if they’re still off living their happily-ever-after’s. Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (Disc/Download) has all the hallmarks of my favorite sports romance novels, but it’s a story that truly comes alive on the screen. If you’re looking for a great Valentine’s Day pick, make some time for Monica and Quincy this year.

Starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps as neighbors, friends, lovers, exes, and potentially lovers again, Love & Basketball gets its title from the movie’s signature quote, “All’s fair in love and basketball.” Both characters dream of becoming star athletes, but along the way their slow-burn romance starts to heat up. The audience knows they’re better when they’re together (on the court and off), but of course there would be no movie if the characters knew it too. We follow them from childhood into adulthood, and it’s a romantic journey that feels honest. Neither of these characters is perfect on their own, but the great thing about romance is that it has the power to turn people into the best versions of themselves. Monica and Quincy challenge each other, and that’s why you know they’re meant to be together. They are soulmates who can survive anything—injury, infidelity, distance… even cringe-worthy nineties fashions.

Post-college, Monica lands a spot on an international women’s basketball team based in Barcelona. While Quincy is never far from her thoughts, I imagine she was able to enjoy some of the perks of her foreign city, namely sangria! I’ve never done a rosé sangria on the blog before, so now seems like a great time. While watching Love & Basketball, I recommend drinking a Sparkling Rosé Sangria.

Sparkling Rosé Sangria

½ bottle dry Rosé Wine

½ bottle dry Sparkling Rosé Wine

1 ½ oz Brandy

½ oz Cointreau

Fresh Raspberries

4-5 slices Blood Orange

4-5 slices Cara Cara Orange

Combine Rosé, Brandy, Cointreau, raspberries, and orange slices in a small pitcher. Chill for two hours in the refrigerator. Top with Sparkling Rosé, then pour into ice-filled glasses.

If you enjoy Love & Basketball as much as I do, then I’d highly recommend the Hoops book series by Kennedy Ryan. It’s sad to me that more love stories like this never make it onto the big screen, so I’m even more grateful this one did. And thanks to the tireless preservation and curation work of The Criterion, we can keep watching Monica and Quincy find their way back to each other again and again. Cheers!

Comedies

Six Days, Seven Nights

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Six Days, Seven Nights, 1998

By the time this post goes live, I will (hopefully) be sitting on Waikiki Beach with a Mai Tai in my hand. Sadly, I can’t take all my readers with me, but I can tell you which tropical adventure romance you should watch with a tiki cocktail. Six Days, Seven Nights (Disc/Download) is certainly a product of the 1990s, but even twenty-five years on, it’s still a fun little cinema vacation.

Starring Anne Heche as a busy magazine editor whose boyfriend (David Schwimmer, still playing Ross Geller) surprises her with a Polynesian island vacation, and Harrison Ford as the sexy curmudgeon pilot who flies her into a lightning storm, Six Days, Seven Nights is your basic rom-com with nipples. Lots of nipples. All I can say is, poor Anne must have been very cold on this shoot, and/or the costume designer must have had an aversion to bras. I’d kind of forgotten that the nineties were full of thin spaghetti-strap nightgowns masquerading as dresses, but this movie brings it all back. Harrison Ford did his best to warm her up after they crashed on a deserted island, barbecuing peacocks and doing an extremely obvious From Here to Eternity kiss along the shoreline, but even in sweltering jungle heat, the high beams were on.

Eventually, all good island romances must face a great challenge, and this one comes at the hands of Danny Trejo and his band of murderous pirates. Anne and Harrison didn’t have a way to radio for help, and her flip phone was useless, but we can pretend they sent out a distress signal with this Morse Code-inspired tiki cocktail, 3 Dots and a Dash.

3 Dots and a Dash

1 ½ oz Rhum Agricole

½ oz Aged Rum

¼ oz Velvet Falernum

¼ oz Allspice Dram

½ oz Honey Syrup

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Orange Juice

1 dash Angostura Bitters

Maraschino cherries and pineapple leaf (garnish)

Add first eight ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake with crushed ice. Pour entire contents into a tiki mug or glass, and top with more crushed ice. Garnish with a three maraschino cherries and a pineapple leaf.

Although this code actually means V for Victory, I think it still applies here. After all, our heroic pilot and equally capable Dazzle magazine editor were victorious over the pirates, and the dull relationships they left back home. That certainly calls for a toast, preferably one with a little umbrella. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Classic Films

The Sting

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Sting, 1973

It’s rare for me to think of a movie as 100% perfect. Most of the time (especially in our current era of 2hr+ movies), I’m considering which scenes needed to be cut, which actor was miscast, and at what point the story started to drag. So when I say that The Sting (Disc/Download) is a 100% perfect movie, know that this is a statement I don’t make lightly. From beginning to end, from the biggest star to the tiniest detail, there is nothing I would change about this classic caper film.

Starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman as con men attempting to fleece Irish gangster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), George Roy Hill’s film truly immerses the viewer in Depression-era Chicago. From the title cards, to the music, to the costumes, to the cars, not a single element was overlooked in this production. Add to that a script that’s as clever and slick as an Ocean’s movie, full of twists and turns that never underestimates the intelligence of the audience but still keeps us guessing, and you’ve got a film I can’t look away from. Plus, did I mention the two most attractive men in Hollywood, not just in the 1970s, but maybe, possibly ever, are in the leading roles? Robert Redford was born to play a smart guy in a tux, and Paul Newman was born to play a winking alcoholic, and this is the movie where they both get to shine. Not since Dudley Moore slurred from a limousine have I seen such impeccable drunk acting.

Like the Ocean’s movies, the con job in The Sting is also a revenge job. This time our villain is a vicious Irish mob boss who likes to cheat at cards and doesn’t forgive easily. These guys need to take him for all he’s worth, but never let him know he’s been taken. So sit back and watch the elaborate machinations take shape while you sip on an Irish Stinger.

Irish Stinger

2 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur

2 oz White Creme de Menthe

Combine Irish Cream with Creme de Menthe in a shaker without ice. Shake until combined, then strain into a glass filled with a large ice cube.

A drink that tastes like an Andes Mint, this is a perfect after-dinner beverage for this undeniably perfect film. But a word of warning: once you see it, you’ll immediately want to watch it again. I could say the same about this drink, too. Truly, a match made in movie-cocktail heaven. Cheers!

Comedies

Moonstruck

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Moonstruck, 1987

As a writer, I try to give the people what they want. And if social media is any indication, the people want Moonstruck (Disc/Download). A movie I’ve always enjoyed, it wasn’t until a recent rewatch that I understood the power of this romantic comedy. You want positive feedback? Announce that you’re watching Moonstruck and wait for all the people to chime in to say how much they looooove Moonstruck. And they will chime in because this movie is just that delightful.

Starring Cher as a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper who lives with her Italian-American family and is suddenly juggling the affections of two brothers, Moonstruck succeeds because of two things:

  1. The fantastic script by John Patrick Shanley
  2. Nicolas Cage

All of the actors in this are brilliant, but Cage has the most difficult role. He has to be angry, slightly unhinged, sporting a wooden hand, yet somehow sexy enough for a smart, mature woman like Cher’s character Loretta to give him the time of day. Sexy enough for the audience to give him the time of day. Spoiler: he’s all that and then some. This guy is a wounded wolf who wears his vulnerability on his sleeve, particularly when Loretta graces him with her presence at the opera. The moment she removes her coat and he thanks her for taking the time to look nice for their date, I absolutely swoon. If your partner doesn’t acknowledge you and look at you the way Ronny looks at Loretta, you’re with the wrong person.

Because Loretta comes from a big Italian family, food and wine are the backbone of so many Moonstruck scenes. For a celebratory occasion, only a little bubbly will do. I love a good spritz, particularly one that uses the Italian liqueur Amaro. You could try the Sicilian variety Averna in honor of Ronny and Johnny’s “dying” mother, or you could go authentic Brooklyn by picking up a bottle of Forthave Spirits Marseille Amaro. Either way, you’re in for a treat. While watching Moonstruck, I recommend drinking a “That’s Amaro!”

That’s Amaro!

2 oz Amaro

3 oz Prosecco

1 oz Soda Water

Lime Wheel garnish

Build drink over ice, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Watching Moonstruck always makes me feel like I just spent the night having dinner with family. There’s a familiarity to these characters and the way they interact that transcends cultural backgrounds. I may not have grown up in a multi-generational household, and as a child most of my access to fettuccini and manicotti was through Stouffer’s, but the happiness and frustration of being with people who know you better than you know yourself is universal. As is, apparently, our love for this movie. Cheers!

Dramas

The Phantom Thread

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Phantom Thread, 2017

“A house that doesn’t change is a dead house.” What a quote to send us into the new year! Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Phantom Thread (Disc/Download) has a lot to say on the subject of death, but it has just as much to say about life. About finding the muse that makes you move forward. In Reynolds Woodcock’s case, it was a person and an unending yearning for perfection. In my case, it might just be this movie.

The Phantom Thread is one of those films that feels fresh and new each time you watch it. Like an evening gown from the House of Woodcock, there are so many layers that it’s impossible to see them all at once. Initially, the viewer is dazzled by the costumes and sweeping score by Jonny Greenwood, which sounds like something out of a Hitchcock film. Maybe you’re also a little turned on by Daniel Day-Lewis ordering breakfast (I know I was!). But then on the next viewing, you start to notice the subtleties in the performances. How one look or turn of phrase can convey so many emotions. Maybe you start to see it as a romance between two impossible people who could only ever love each other. But then on the next viewing, you start to see it as a ghost story. There’s a reverence for the dead, and a comfort from thinking that some of them are still sticking around. Eventually the dresses start to play second fiddle to the women in them, which perhaps was always the point of haute couture: to bring out the best in the person wearing it.

The change that hits the House of Woodcock comes in the form of Alma, a lovely but somewhat invisible waitress. Reynolds transforms her into his muse, and under his gaze we see her confidence grow. As his bitchy sister Cyril says with an assessing sniff, Alma smells of rosewater, sandalwood, lemons, and sherry. A couple of those ingredients found their way into my cocktail this week, and it all came together into a hue that matches Alma’s first Woodcock creation! While you’re watching The Phantom Thread, I recommend drinking this Rosewater ’75.

Rosewater ’75

1 1/2 oz Pink Gin

1/2 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Blood Orange Cordial Syrup

3-4 drops Rosewater

Prosecco to top

Combine gin, lemon juice, blood orange syrup, and rosewater in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with Prosecco.

This is a great movie to watch on New Year’s, not just for the lively 1950s NYE party, but because it inspires us to evolve. I honestly don’t know how to categorize it (gothic romance, period melodrama, dark comedy?), but I do know that I’m excited to watch it again. Same time, next year. Cheers!

Holiday Films

The Preacher’s Wife

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Preacher’s Wife, 1996

It takes a special kind of movie star to step into the shoes of Cary Grant, particularly when those shoes are made for a charming angel in The Bishop’s Wife. Happily, Denzel Washington decided to try them on for size, and to me, it’s a perfect fit. Penny Marshall’s The Preacher’s Wife (Disc/Download) is the rare update on a classic that feels every bit as delightful as the original, and for that I’m grateful. If you thought nobody could make a modern movie about faith seem both poignant and funny, Denzel is here to make you a believer.

I wasn’t an enormous Whitney Houston fan before watching the biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, but this 2022 under-appreciated gem has converted me. The sheer number of hits this woman had in her brief lifetime is staggering, and although she didn’t act in many movies, The Preacher’s Wife was tailored to Whitney’s specific talents. Playing a gospel singer in her husband’s church choir, she’s certainly magnetic in the role of Julia, but then she does the torch song “I Believe in You and Me”, and both Dudley the Angel and every single audience member watching this movie falls instantly in love with her. As with the original, the best scenes are the ones with Julia and Dudley, though Courtney B. Vance does a perfectly fine update on the David Niven role of a tortured clergyman. However, the reason I watch this movie isn’t because I want to see if a preacher will find his faith again; I want to see if an angel will give up everything for love. Or if instead, this impossible love will stay impossible.

Because this is an old-fashioned story about faith and love at Christmas, it seems appropriate to watch it with an Old Fashioned! This one uses gingerbread syrup, and it’s so good that I wish Dudley would use his special touch to keep my glass full all season long.  While watching The Preacher’s Wife, I recommend drinking a Gingerbread Old Fashioned.

Gingerbread Old Fashioned

2 oz Bourbon

½ oz Gingerbread Simple Syrup

2-3 dashes orange bitters

Orange twist (garnish)

Cinnamon Stick (garnish)

Prepare glass by filling with one large ice cube or ball. Pour in bourbon, gingerbread syrup, and bitters. Stir to combine and chill. Garnish with an orange twist, and a cinnamon stick (I used Trader Joe’s rock sugar-dipped Cinnamon Swizzle Sticks).

I’d also like to give a shout-out to the film debut of Lionel Richie, who pops up as the owner of “Jazzies”, site of Julia and Dudley’s unofficial date. Julia’s husband gets jealous when they return from the outing (which he practically forced them into), and I want to scream at him, “What did you expect?? It’s Jazzies! And it’s DENZEL! Of course she had a great time!” This Christmas, believe in miracles, believe in Denzel, and above all, believe in the power of an old-fashioned love story. Cheers!  

Classic Films · Holiday Films

Bachelor Mother

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Bachelor Mother, 1939

Anyone who has read my book knows that I harbor deep fantasies of spending New Year’s Eve with David Niven. Always the life of the party, you know you’re in for a good time with this cheeky sophisticate. Lucky for us, if we time it just right, we’re able to ring in the New Year with Niv by watching him in the delightful classic holiday film Bachelor Mother (Disc/Download)!

This is one of those wonderful pictures like The Shop Around the Corner, or Christmas in Connecticut, that’s still able to resonate with modern audiences due to its sparkling script and screwball antics. Ginger Rogers is a terrific comedienne, playing a New York shopgirl who’s just been handed a pink slip for her temporary holiday gig in the toy section of a big department store. Devastated, she’s on her way home when she sees a baby left on the steps of an orphanage. She takes it inside out of the cold, and the employees mistake her for the baby’s mother. Despite her protests, they manage to find out where she works and convince her boss (David Niven) to keep her employed even after the holidays so she can support herself and the baby. Hijinx ensue as she tries again and again to give the baby back, but eventually she’s forced to accept this situation and make the best of it. Meanwhile, Niv (beginning the movie as a rich playboy) starts to develop a fondness for this woman, and their obvious chemistry at a swanky NYE party makes him realize he’s falling for her.

If you’re hoping for some iconic Ginger Rogers moves, then you’re in luck because she puts on quite the show in a dance contest at the Pink Slipper. An ironic name, given that she’s just been handed a pink slip and needs the prize money to make up for that lost paycheck! Since I happen to love pink cocktails and gimlets, let’s combine the two. While watching Bachelor Mother, I recommend drinking a Pink Slipper.

Pink Slipper

2 oz Gin (I used Tanqueray Rangpur Lime)

1 oz Cranberry Juice

1 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Simple Syrup

Fresh cranberries (garnish)

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a glass. Garnish with fresh cranberries.

Clocking in at less than ninety-minutes, this is the perfect movie to watch when you need a little break over the holidays, but don’t have a ton of time. With its tinker toys and screwball comedy, this delightful rom-com will leave you feeling downright giddy. 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!