Tag: Gus Van Sant

Dramas

Milk

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Milk, 2008

Since my summer vacation includes a stop in San Francisco during Pride Month, now seems like a great time to watch one of my favorite biopics, Milk (Disc/Download). Gus Van Sant’s film about trailblazing politician Harvey Milk is essential viewing for anyone who wants to learn more about the gay rights movement, and it’s also a perfect reminder of why the fight continues today.

In our current world, a politician like Harvey Milk seems almost unfathomable. He fought against bigots like Anita Bryant and John Briggs not with hateful rhetoric or kowtowing to the middle, but by taking the radical stance that queer people must come out of the closet and face their oppressors head-on. He reasoned that if more people knew how many of their friends, co-workers, family members, and community members were gay, they would realize the fight is personal. They would understand that gay rights is human rights because these are human beings they already know and love. It was a winning strategy that got an archaic bill targeting gay and lesbian educators defeated, and it raised Harvey’s name recognition throughout the country. Finally, this marginalized community felt like they had a protector in government. But of course, this being America, hope was defeated by gun violence and an entitled, petulant man with a terrible haircut. Some things never change.

As much as I want to make a “Burn in Hell, Anita Bryant” orange juice cocktail, I’m choosing to celebrate the hero instead of the villain. This drink is sweet and smooth, just like Harvey himself. While watching Milk, I recommend trying this Harvey Milk Punch.

Harvey Milk Punch

2 oz bourbon

3 oz whole milk

½ oz crème de cacao

½ oz maraschino liqueur

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Grated nutmeg (garnish)

Shake all liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

Milk unfortunately features some truly trash men among its cast, but I’m willing to look past their well-publicized misdeeds in order to focus on the characters they portray. There have certainly been great strides made in LGBTQ+ rights since Harvey inspired a city and a nation, but sadly, America is in a period of backsliding. I hope the pendulum swings the other way soon, just as I hope we have great leaders who will inspire us with messages of love, not hate. I’m ready to be recruited. Cheers!

Comedies

To Die For

LizLockeLeave a comment

To Die For
Image credit: To Die For, 1995.

This story is the type of salacious true-crime stuff I live for. Local weather girl hires her sixteen-year-old lover to kill her husband so she can pursue a career in television? It’s a dark, twisted soap opera, and I am HERE FOR IT. To Die For (Disc/Download) is a great example of a ‘90s indie film with a pedigreed cast, many of whom would go on to win multiple Oscars and accolades in the coming decades. But let’s be clear—it’s still a soap opera.

To Die For came back on my radar after the recent death of screenwriter Buck Henry. He wrote one of my all-time favorite scripts, The Graduate, but this later film is equally brilliant. It was a mockumentary before every TV sitcom adopted the format, and through these faux interviews we see a Hard Copy-style tale of a power-hungry woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her dreams. Is it weird that I feel a strong kinship with Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone? I too am a fan of the alliterated name, and I’ve chosen a career that’s next to impossible to break into. I haven’t gone to the lengths of prostituting myself, but anyone who’s ever done a Twitter Pitch event for writers knows it’s not all that different. You feel pretty cheap and debased by the end. I wouldn’t murder for my art, but I would rock a Donna Karan knock-off suit and French twist at my next writer’s conference.

The thing that really sells me on this movie is the torrid affair Nicole Kidman has with the much younger Joaquin Phoenix. And we’re talking yooooooung Joaquin, with a mullet and sad little stutter. It’s an icky relationship for sure, but I can’t help but feel for this horny kid who just wants attention from a beautiful woman. And Nicole is stuck in a lame marriage to Matt Dillon—need I say more? While watching To Die For, I recommend drinking this Forbidden Fruit cocktail:

Forbidden Fruit

1 ½ oz Frankly® Apple/Ginger vodka

½ oz Hofland Meesterbitter liqueur

½ oz Lemon Juice

4 oz Ginger Beer

Apple garnish

Combine vodka, liqueur, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into an ice-filled glass. Top with ginger beer, and stir gently to combine. Garnish with an apple slice.

Forbidden Fruit

Finally, I’d like to give props to adorable Pomeranian Walter (after Walter Cronkite), who is the unsung hero of To Die For. I genuinely feel his distaste for his mom’s actions, but also his narcissistic need to look cute in his little outfits. Out of anyone in this film, Walter is the only character deserving of a happy ending. Cheers!