Tag: movie musical

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!

Children's · Classic Films

Doctor Dolittle

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Doctor Doolittle, 1967

Having previously imbibed through the other four Academy Award-nominated films of 1967 (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, and Bonnie and Clyde, respectively), I decided I may as well complete the ballot with one of the most maligned movies of all time, Doctor Dolittle (Disc/Download). I know what you’re thinking: one of these is not like the others. And gosh, isn’t that the understatement of the year!

 For all the criticism it receives, let me come right out and say that I don’t think Doctor Dolittle is nearly as bad as people say. Yes, it’s long. Yes, the songs are weird (and not even in a good way). Yes, the special effects are a little cheesy. But for all those faults, there’s nevertheless a fun, deadpan humor to the whole thing, particularly in the way Dolittle banters with his animal friends. Just the idea that a duck would have a “missus” he has to get home to, or that a Great Pink Sea Snail has a cousin in Scotland he’s been meaning to visit (Nessy, in case you were wondering), genuinely makes me chuckle. I can probably go the rest of my life without hearing the vegetarian song, or see Rex Harrison sing-speak an uncomfortable love ballad to a seal dressed in Victorian garb, but I am here for the quaint English homes, the beautiful beaches of Sea Star Island, and the teased crown of Samantha Eggar’s hair. You can take the girl out of the sixties, but you can’t take the hairspray out of Hollywood.

At 2 ½ hrs, you’ll probably need several cocktails to get through this movie. Let’s take inspiration from the living quarters of a snail shell with this perfectly pink drink- the Snail Mail.

Snail Mail

2 oz Malfy Rosa grapefruit gin

¼ oz Aperol

¼ oz Grenadine

½ oz Lime Juice

½ oz Simple Syrup

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

When you compare Doctor Dolittle to live-action Disney films of the era, it comes up short. Without the catchy songs of the Sherman Brothers and the uncannily great casting Walt’s team seemed to deliver, we’re missing a lot of the magic that made films like Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks so good. But I’ll tell you what—I’ll still take Dolittle and his two-headed llama over films like Camelot or The Music Man any day of the week. If this was the end of the big-budget studio musical, at least we went out on the strangest note possible. Cheers!

Musicals

Mamma Mia!

LizLockeLeave a comment

mamma mia
Image credit: Mamma Mia!, 2008

Before we go again, shouldn’t we take the chance to recall our last summer? That one where Mamma Mia! (DVD/Download) shattered box office expectations to become a colossal hit and had much of the female population saying “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” and eating Greek yogurt? Send an SOS- it’s time to listen to Pierce Brosnan “sing” once more.

I’ll admit- I genuinely enjoy this movie. Despite the cheesiness, despite the lackluster musical abilities of the majority of the cast, despite the enviable tans I know I’ll never personally achieve…. it gets to me. The pain of lost love, the suspense of a paternity reveal, and the tumultuous bond between mother and daughter are like the storylines from a soap opera. And we all know how much I like those.  Plus, there’s ABBA music, beautiful scenery, and shirtless bartenders.  Really, this film just screams Liz Locke.

While most eyes are focused on Meryl Streep, her lovers, and the VERY tan Amanda Seyfried, I’m more interested in the drunk old ladies played by Julie Walters and Christine Baranski. They’re like a kinder version of AbFab’s Patsy and Edina. Always with the fruity pink drinks, these two. While watching Mamma Mia!, get your Greek on and enjoy this Honey, Honey cocktail.

Honey, Honey

1 small wedge pink grapefruit, peel removed

3-4 Fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish

2 tsp. Greek honey

2 oz Ouzo

3 oz Pink Grapefruit juice

1 oz Campari

Topo Chico sparkling water

In a highball glass, muddle the fresh grapefruit, mint leaves, and honey together. Fill with ice, add Ouzo, grapefruit juice, and Campari. Top with sparkling water, and garnish with another slice of fresh grapefruit and mint.

honey honey

Whether you’re watching the original or the new sequel Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again (I’m still LOL’ing over that title), be sure and have a cocktail on hand. You don’t want to let the opportunity for a drunk sing-a-long to “Dancing Queen” slip through your fingers. Cheers!