Tag: movie cocktails

Comedies

Singles

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Image credit: Singles, 1992
Image credit: Singles, 1992

Talk about a 90’s time capsule. Watching Singles (DVD/Download) is like curling up in a flannel shirt, putting on a Pearl Jam CD and sipping a tall Costa-Rican blend coffee from Starbucks. You can literally feel the grunge rock pulsating from the screen. Singles set the stage for other, perhaps better, movies and TV shows about a group of friends in their 20’s talking about relationships (ie. Reality Bites and Friends), but this film has something nothing else does. That’s right, I’m talking about young Eddie Vedder.

Singles follows the lives of several young attractive people all living in the same apartment complex in Seattle. They talk about dating, breast implants, calling vs. not calling, exes, music, etc. Basically, Melrose Place with an actually decent script. And, Matt Dillon has…. maybe the worst movie wardrobe I’ve ever seen.

I’m extremely tempted to make a Matt Dillon to go with this movie*, but I’m not that mean (though it would be pretty grunge). No, this week I’m paying tribute to that great Seattle export, coffee. Specifically, coffee shops where you can sit and talk for hours, or work on your laptop, and act like you’re doing something meaningful with your life. Seattle-born Starbucks has given rise to a whole slew of coffee-related beverages that, let’s face it, have very little to do with coffee. Pumpkin-caramel-soy-latte anyone? This week, while watching Singles, I recommend drinking a Caramel Macchiato Martini.

Caramel Macchiato Martini

1.5 oz Patron XO Café

1 oz butterscotch schnapps

1 oz white crème de cacao

2 oz half and half

Cinnamon Sugar

Rim a martini glass with cinnamon sugar and set aside. Mix Patron XO, schnapps, crème de cacao, and half & half in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into prepared glass. Put on some Soundgarden and contemplate wearing that pork pie hat in the back of your closet.

Caramel macchiato martini

What excites me to no end is the fact that director Cameron Crowe used young grunge newbies Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell as musicians/actors in the movie. I’ve always had a bit of a crush on both of them, and my GOD Eddie Vedder looks so young. Also, kudos for the jokes about video dating – I love that this was once a thing, and I love that we can now watch these gems whenever we want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bomkgXeDkE . Thanks YouTube! And Cheers!

*for those not in the know, a Matt Dillon is the drink that bartenders offer you when you’re out of money. They take a well-used spill mat, fold it, and pour the contents into a shot glass. Bottoms up.

Dramas

American Psycho

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Image credit: American Psycho, 2000
Image credit: American Psycho, 2000

Technically Literary Adaptation Month was supposed to end in September… but I couldn’t resist one more! American Psycho isn’t exactly a book you’ll find on your high school reading list, anyway (though it should be!). Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho (DVD/Download) is a horrifying, marvelous, and sharp tale about 1980’s consumer culture. With pop references on everything from Huey Lewis and the News to “Sussudio”, this film makes me laugh while simultaneously making me scared to ever walk down a dark street alone.

Lead character Patrick Bateman is played superbly by Christian Bale, who fought hard for this role. I fully admit that part of the appeal to this movie is his amazing physique, but past that, Bale does a great job of portraying the character’s cold-hearted disassociation, and later, panic over what he’s become. Director Mary Harron totally captures the New York 80’s era of excess, full of pin-striped suits, moussed hair, cocaine, and lunches at Café Des Artistes. I love that I can be laughing at Patrick Bateman’s obsession with “Hip to be Square” one minute, then cringing as he brings an axe down on Jared Leto’s head the next moment. What’s fascinating is that there are seemingly no consequences for crimes of the wealthy. Bateman can confess a love for murders and executions, and what people hear is his affinity for mergers and acquisitions. Brilliant.

Of course, one doesn’t become a serial killer without leaving little clues here and there. In addition to his disturbing notebook, Bateman keeps a closet full of corpses and has to explain away his bloody sheets to a skeptical dry cleaner. Sure, it’s cran-apple juice. Riiight…… While watching American Psycho, I recommend drinking a Psychokiller.

Psychokiller

2oz Deep Eddy Cranberry Vodka

.75 oz Calvados Apple Brandy

.5 oz Lime Juice

.5 oz simple syrup

1 oz hard cider

Fresh apple slice

Combine vodka, Calvados, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker filled with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass.  Top with hard cider, and garnish with an apple slice.

psychokiller

Like Bateman, I too have an irrational fear of dining out without a reservation, and a love for fancy bath products. And yeah, I’m not crazy about cats either. But at least I don’t obsess over the quality of my business card. Yet. Cheers!

Classic Films · Dramas

Lolita

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Image credit: Lolita 1997 (left), Lolita 1962 (right)
Image credit: Lolita 1997 (left), Lolita 1962 (right)

Although it probably won’t ever make the required reading lists of any high school, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is one of the best books ever written. There, I said it. It was my favorite book as an adolescent, still my favorite in my 20’s, and even upon a recent re-reading, it remains a superb example of English prose. The sexual deviancy of the narrator (a man who preys upon teenage girls) would probably turn many people off, but they’d be missing the gorgeous linguistic skills of the author. “She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.” Sentences like this are what have kept me championing this book for decades, and what keep me going as a writer. I’ll never be Nabokov, but one should always have a distant level of genius to aspire toward.

This book is so great in fact, that it took two film adaptations to really tell the story. Most people know of Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 Lolita (DVD/Download) with James Mason as the sophisticated, depraved Humbert Humbert, and I’m certainly a fan. I think it’s beautifully shot, with symbolic close-ups standing in for more gruesome scenes (I’m thinking particularly of the final showdown with Quilty) but it isn’t exactly an accurate adaptation of the book. It’s playful and light, almost a comedy. It captures the spirit of America that I think Nabokov was striving for, but it leaves out most of the emotion and depravity of the book. In contrast, Adrian Lyne’s 1997 version of Lolita (DVD/Download), was a very accurate adaptation plot-wise, nearly to the point of being too much to handle. I’m thinking again of the final showdown with Quilty, which in this version becomes a bloody, gory, gruesome mess- think Tarantino without the humor. However, Jeremy Irons is AMAZING as Humbert. Unfortunately I don’t think either Sue Lyons or Dominique Swain were altogether fantastic as Lolita, but both versions have wonderful Quilty’s, played by Peter Sellers and Frank Langella, respectively.

Whichever version of Lolita you prefer (and I really do suggest watching them both), I recommend harkening back to the novel for cocktail inspiration.  Humbert mentions his preferred drink, the Pin (pineapple juice and gin), so I’ll be enjoying that combination, with an added flirtation of champagne. While watching Lolita, I recommend drinking a Nymphette.

Nymphette

1 oz Gin

2 oz Pineapple Juice

1 oz Champagne

Lemon sugar for rimming

Rim a coupe glass with lemon sugar.  Combine Gin and Pineapple Juice over ice in a shaker.  Shake until chilled, then strain into prepared glass.  Top with Champagne.

Nymphette

You may notice in the above photo that I’ve got a copy of the Lolita audio book as read by Jeremy Irons.  If you’ve never heard it, go find it today (don’t worry if you already threw out your Walkman- it’s available on Audible or CD too).  That velvet voice is a perfect complement to Nabokov’s words, and I find myself getting lost in the beautifully crafted sentences. As poor, tortured Humbert Humbert admits, “You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.” Cheers!

Dramas

Great Expectations

LizLocke2 Comments
great expecatations dinsmore
Image credit: Great Expectations, 1998

I’ve thus far featured a couple of films during Literary Adaptation Month that have stayed pretty close to the source material.  This week however, I’ll be watching an adaptation that uses the original book as inspiration, but then veers wildly, excitingly off course.  A long-time favorite film of mine is Alfonso Cuarón’s 1998 version of Great Expectations (DVD/Download). Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, this film captures the classic Dickensian struggles of wealth vs. poverty and good vs. evil, while updating it for the modern era.

In the Cuarón version of Great Expectations, Pip is renamed Finn, and played by Ethan Hawke. A very bored Gwyneth Paltrow plays Estella, the focus of his unrequited love. Robert DeNiro’s portrayal of convict Lustig (Magwitch) is still a career highlight to me, and Anne Bancroft shines as Ms. Dinsmoor (aka Miss Havisham). I absolutely want to be Ms. Dinsmoor when I get old, sitting in a Florida mansion, drinking martinis, wearing crazy wigs and listening to Bossa Nova records. Strike that- can I just start that life now?? In this version, Finn becomes an artist (side note: I’m madly in love with the Francesco Clemente paintings and drawings done for the film), and Lustig’s secret patronage lures him to New York, and Estella. Great Expectations relies on visuals a great deal, and it’s this beauty (and the lovely words written by David Mamet in the voiceover narrations) that keep me coming back time and again.

A common visual motif in several of Alfonso Cuarón’s films is the color green. It’s been characterized as the color of hope, and in this film that could not be more true. Finn is always hopeful, even when he shouldn’t be. Cuarón seamlessly weaves the color into nearly every scene, through the lush tropical backdrops, Finn’s paintings, the costumes, and most notably in Gwyneth Paltrow’s TO DIE FOR Donna Karan dress. It’s so fabulous, I just have to share:

Great Expecations donna karan

For my drink this week, I’m picking up on that green motif and mixing up a martini that Ms. Dinsmore would surely be sipping in her gilded bedroom. While watching Great Expectations, I recommend drinking a Paradiso Perduto.

Paradiso Perduto

1 oz Midori

1 oz vodka

1 oz lemon juice

¼ oz simple syrup

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass. 

Paradiso Perduto

I’m not usually one for radioactive-looking cocktails, but this one is actually quite tasty.  And with such a visually-focused film, why not match it?  There have been other Great Expectations adaptations, and I expect there will be several more in the future, but this one will always be special to me.  Modern art, martinis, and Donna Karan-  what’s not to love?  Chicka-boom!

Dramas

Sense and Sensibility

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Image credit: Sense and Sensibility, 1995
Image credit: Sense and Sensibility, 1995

Before there were films, there were books. And in fact, before there were good films, good books usually proceeded them. Throughout the month of September, I’ll be paying tribute to my favorite literary adaptations in cinema. I know my readers must think I spend most of my time watching movies and drinking cocktails, and while those activities are certainly a part of my weekly routine, most of my spare time is actually spent reading. Because I consider myself first and foremost a lover of books, it pains me to see filmmakers get a literary adaptation wrong (I’m looking at you Simon Birch!). Conversely, when they get it right, it can be pretty magical (hip hip hooray The Door in the Floor!). Although there have been a lot of contemporary adaptations lately, I’m adhering to the classics this month. School just started again, so if you’re stuck explaining Jane Austen or Charles Dickens to your middle or high-school age child, don’t worry- Cinema Sips to the rescue!

This week I’ll be watching my favorite Jane Austen adaptation, Sense and Sensibility (DVD/Download). I am a functioning, breathing female, so yes, I love all things Austen. I even love all things about loving all things Austen (ie. the wonderfully charming film Austenland). By far I think Sense & Sensibility does the best job of depicting a classic Austen tale featuring two unlucky-in-love sisters- one pragmatic, the other a dreamer. Emma Thompson’s screenplay perfectly captures the rich language of Austen’s novel, while making it understandable to modern audiences. The cast is superb, featuring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Laurie, along with the usual cavalcade of minor British character actors who seem to be in every film coming out of the UK. It was an unusual choice to hire Ang Lee as the director, but he fills the movie with so many simple, quiet moments and beautiful costumes and scenery that one feels almost transported to Austen’s world.

Because the Dashwood sisters are forced into simple country living upon the death of their father, I decided to choose a British cocktail that evokes summertime country flavors. I can almost picture one of the Dashwood sisters getting her dress caught in a bramble bush, relying on Willoughby or Edward to come rescue her. While watching Sense and Sensibility, I recommend drinking a Gin Bramble.

Gin Bramble

2 oz Gin

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz simple syrup

Drizzle of Blackberry Liqueur (crème de Mure)

Fresh Blackberries

Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker, shake until well mixed, then pour into a tumbler or mason jar filled with crushed ice. Drizzle blackberry liqueur over the top, and garnish with a fresh blackberry.

Gin Bramble

My favorite part in Sense and Sensibility is when Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) sees Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winslet) for the first time as she’s singing a song at the piano. He enters the room, and you can just see the waves of attraction and obsession wash over him. It’s moments like this that make the film a wonderful complement to the words on the page, and a rare case of a screen reality being even better than my imagination. Cheers!

Comedies

Sabrina (in defense of the remake)

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Image credit: Sabrina, 1995
Image credit: Sabrina, 1995

Confronted with the summer box office marquee recently, I had to take a pause and just shudder. It seemed like everything was a remake or a sequel. Or a remake. Or a sequel. Does nobody in Hollywood have an original idea anymore? Sure, I enjoyed Jurassic World as much as the next person, in an “oh my God this is so bad that it may be the best comedy I’ve seen in years” kind of way, but still I yearn for more films like Love & Mercy, or Tangerine . I know, I know, studios save all the good movies for the fall or Dec. 25th, but when it’s 105 outside and I want to sit in an air conditioned movie theater, I’d rather not have to suffer through yet another tired superhero flick. In thinking about all these reboots currently in the works, I started wondering if I have ever seen a remake of a film that I actually liked. The list is short, but at the top I would have to put Sydney Pollack’s 1995 version of Sabrina (DVD/Download). I’d even go as far as to say I like it better than the original Billy Wilder version. Before you shriek and clutch your pearls, let me explain.

The romantic plot of Sabrina is truly timeless. Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur to a wealthy family on Long Island, is the quintessential ugly duckling. She pines for the playboy son of her father’s employer, and stares longingly at a world where she’ll never belong. Eventually she grows up, moves to Paris, becomes stylish and sophisticated, then moves back home. The playboy son who barely knew her name takes notice, but she also catches the eye of his serious and surly older brother. Both films feature sparkling wit, lovely costumes (though my vote goes to the 1954 version in that regard), and a good dose of romance. Where the 1995 version wins out for me is in the casting. As much as I adore Audrey Hepburn, and admit that she is a better Sabrina than Julia Ormond, I think the ensemble as a whole is just better in the remake. Harrison Ford takes over for Humphrey Bogart (who at 55 was WAY too old to be romancing 25-year old Audrey Hepburn), and Greg Kinnear plays William Holden’s role. Ford and Kinnear are simply better suited to these characters than their original counterparts, and I genuinely get why Sabrina would have a tough choice to make. Charming, funny Greg Kinnear or serious, sexy Harrison Ford? Can I pretty please be Sabrina for just one day?

In both films, champagne is drunk freely at the lavish Larrabee family parties. So of course, for this sparkling, smart film , I’ll be drinking a champagne cocktail, with a french aperitif twist.  With whichever Sabrina you consider your favorite, I recommend trying a Le Sauveur.

Le Sauveur

.25 oz Absinthe

2.5 oz Cognac

.5 oz Cointreau

.5 oz Suze

.5 oz champagne

Lemon twist

Rinse a champagne flute with absinthe, fill with ice, and set aside.  Fill another glass with ice, add cognac, Cointreau, and Suze.  Stir until chilled.  Empty the champagne flute of ice and remaining absinthe, and strain cognac mixture into the glass.  Top with champagne, and a lemon twist.

Le Saveur

A lot of people may disagree with my opinions on the original Sabrina (and feel free to sound off in the comments below), but however loyal you are to the classic, you’ve got to admit that Sydney Pollack’s film stands on its own. It feels fresh, funny, and charming, and there’s not a superhero or CGI effect in sight- I give it bonus points just for that. Cheers!

Comedies

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead

LizLocke3 Comments
Image Credit: Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, 1991
Image Credit: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, 1991

Now that Foreign Cinema month is over, I feel the need to cleanse the palate with a 90’s teen cult classic. Nothing subtitled or black-and-white here, folks. Just some good old-fashioned Working Girl-meets-Risky Business hijinks. This week, I’ll be watching Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (DVD), and basking in early-90’s nostalgia. Chunky jewelry, shoulder pads, Married With Children-era Christina Applegate- what more does one need?

Because of the ridiculous title, many people would probably write this off as forgettable Hollywood fluff. Oh how wrong they would be. Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead features early performances by soon-to-be famous actors like David Duchovny, Josh Charles, and the aforementioned Ms. Applegate. In fact, it’s worth watching just to see David Duchovny’s slick ponytail. I love that the absence of adult supervision actually forces the teenagers in this film to grow up, instead of just throwing a raging party and rolling credits.  As a young girl seeing this for the first time, Sue Ellen “Swell” Crandell’s foray into the corporate fashion industry was actually kind of inspiring to me. Petty cash, confusing fax machines, QED reports- it all sounded so exciting! (side note: I still have no idea how to use my office fax machine). Joanna Cassidy’s character Rose was always my dream boss- supportive, trusting, and just crazy enough to eat M&M’s off the floor.

Another aspect of the corporate world that I always found intriguing was the concept of a long lunch with cocktails and cigarettes. Like, in the actual restaurant. People were crazy back then! I’ll never forget the horrified look of the waiter as Sue Ellen orders a martini that is both sweet and dry (“just a little bit of both”). I didn’t know what it meant as a child, but I learned to never order a martini like that when I grew up. I do find it funny that her sleazy co-worker Gus orders a white wine spritzer. Perhaps he’s tapping into his feminine side? Regardless, I happen to love that drink, so while watching Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, I recommend drinking a White Wine Spritzer.

White Wine Spritzer

3 parts Sauvignon Blanc

1 part club soda

Lime wedge

Pour wine into an ice filled wine glass. Top with club soda, and garnish with a lime wedge.

White Wine Spritzer

This movie still has quite the following, as evidenced by a recent screening I attended at the Alamo Drafthouse. We were all there to revel in our love of this weird little slice of 90’s cinema, and marvel at how Kenny “Dishes Are Done Man” Crandell (actor Keith Coogan, in attendance) had aged. One great piece of trivia from his Q&A session was that his horrible haircut was actually a wig. I’m not sure I can say the same for David Duchovny. That ponytail looked too real. Cheers!

Classic Films · Foreign

I Am Cuba

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba), 1964
Image credit: I Am Cuba (Soy Cuba), 1964

To close out Foreign Cinema Month on Cinema Sips, I’m featuring a film that is maybe the epitome of esoteric international art-house fare. Black-and-White photography? Check. No discernable plot? Check. Long stretches of time with no dialogue and beautiful tracking shots? Check. Gorgeous peasants who look like they stepped off the pages of an old Life magazine? Check!

I Am Cuba (DVD) is a Cuban/Soviet collaboration directed by Mikhail Kalatozov depicting the persecution and eventual rebellion of the communist Cuban party. I know- a laugh a minute, right? What draws me in to this film right away is the exquisite cinematography, which begins on a jungle cruise and continues onto a rooftop pool with the Havana La Dolce Vita crowd. Later, we’re transported to a smoky nightclub where a mournful singer croons `Loco Amor’, and depressed prostitutes nurse cocktails at the bar. The whole movie feels like a dream, or perhaps a nightmare that haunts you long after it’s over. My Laserdisc (yes, it is the dream of the 90’s at my house) of the film is subtitled in English, I think the characters are speaking Spanish, and there’s also Russian dubbing thrown in for fun. The American characters are either dubbed badly by someone with a Russian accent, or the Russian (or Cuban?) actors couldn’t quite grasp English before making this- I can’t tell which. Talk about foreign cinema!

I’ve featured variations on the Mojito several times on Cinema Sips, but with such an authentic Cuban movie, I think it’s time to make the real thing. I’ve been saving the mojito for either I Am Cuba or Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and Kalatozov beat Swayze by a nose. According to the bartender at San Antonio’s Hotel Havana, the key to an excellent mojito is to roll the mint leaves against the palm of your hand to release the oils. I’m not sure if it’s true, but I had fun testing the theory. While watching I Am Cuba, I recommend drinking a Mojito.

Mojito

1 ½ oz White Rum

6 leaves of Mint

1 oz fresh lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

Soda Water

Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a glass with sugar and lime juice. Add the rum, ice, and top with soda water. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

mojito

I have had such a great time re-discovering international cinema this month. Watching any of these films always gives me a bit of wanderlust. There were a few that didn’t make the cut that I’d still like to mention- I’m So Excited (or really anything by Pedro Almodóvar), Y Tu Mamá También, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Blue is the Warmest Color, Jules et Jim, and The Blue Angel.  I urge you readers to check out one or two of the movies I’ve featured, and let me know if you have any other favorites. There really is a whole world of cinema out there waiting to be explored. Cheers!

Foreign

Amélie

LizLocke1 Comment
Image Credit: Amélie, 2001
Image Credit: Amélie, 2001

Cinema Sips is traveling to Paris this week, for a romp around the Montmartre district. French cinema has a long and storied history, beginning with the films of the Lumière Bros., George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon, and continuing on with those sexy intellectual films of The New Wave. However, in my lifetime, the one film that has made me truly excited about French cinema is the adorable, whimsical Amélie (DVD/Download). Like an Anthropologie catalog mixed with a dash of Audrey Hepburn and a pinch of Wes Anderson on crystal meth, Amélie depicts Parisians as wonderful, cynical, stylish, romantic creatures. Additionally, it highlights fabulous French haircuts that as an average American I will never be able to pull off (despite a misguided attempt in 2002).

Amélie is about a kind-hearted, but lonely young woman played by Audrey Tautou (obviously channeling another famous Audrey) who decides to devote her life to helping the people around her. Playing match-maker, comedienne, seeing-eye waif, and companion to a brittle-boned painter, she flits in and out of the lives of her Montmartre compatriots like a French Tinkerbell. She lives in a world of imagination, eventually realizing that her fear and insecurities have prevented her from finding her own true love and happiness. Amélie is romantic, funny, sentimental, and crowd-pleasing (so… not your typical French film). But it also celebrates the minutia of everyday life, and the interconnectedness of human existence.

In celebration of all things French, and my favorite Amélie character, I’ll be mixing a Kir.  A simple cocktail,  Amélie serves it with a smile to the tragic Hipolito, who has embraced his destiny as a failed writer.  If the future that awaits me as an unpublished author involves a cute waitress bringing me cocktails in a charming Parisian cafe, consider me lucky.  While watching Amélie, I recommend drinking a Kir.

Kir

1 1/2 oz Dry White Wine

1/4 oz Crème de Cassis

Pour white wine into a glass, then top with Crème de Cassis.

Kir 

There was a bit of Amélie overload 10 years ago (what girl didn’t have the movie poster on her college dorm room wall?), but now that I’ve spent time away, I can appreciate what I loved about this film in the first place. Yes Amélie finds romance and quite possibly her soulmate, but more importantly she finds friendship and connection with the people who orbit her world. She’s a reminder that even the smallest act can brighten someone’s day, or change the course of destiny forever. Also, she’s a reminder that I should never try short bangs again. Cheers!