Tag: movies

Classic Films · Musicals

Carmen Jones

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Carmen Jones, 1954

Sometimes, a movie couple is so electric, you don’t even need to hear what they’re saying in order to feel the chemistry. It happened for me this week with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte in the Otto Preminger film Carmen Jones (Disc/Download), and although I admit to being left cold by the music and thin plot, these two actors started a five-alarm fire on that CinemaScope screen.

I’ve long been a fan of Harry Belafonte’s “Calypso” album, so don’t get me started about what a disappointment it was that his Carmen Jones singing voice was dubbed. In an alternate universe, he and Dorothy Dandridge put out a normal, non-operatic soundtrack album that matched the tone and setting of the film, and that soundtrack would have been a hit. Perhaps I need to put this movie on, turn the sound off, and crank up “Calypso” on the Hi-Fi? It certainly wouldn’t interfere with my love of the DeLuxe color costumes, or the sexy way Dandridge “untwists” Belafonte’s belt, or the way these two make even the worst flophouses look like romantic love shacks. She may not want to see this ex-fly boy cooped up, but I don’t mind it if he’s cooped up with her.

The thing I enjoy most about this movie is that it takes the French opera Carmen and plops it into the American South circa WWII. Not only is it great to see so much Black representation onscreen, but it also highlights women’s contributions to the war effort. Carmen works at a North Carolina parachute factory, so let’s toast her and Joe with this Caribbean Parachute cocktail.

Caribbean Parachute

1 1/2 oz light rum

1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro

3/4 oz lime juice

1/2 oz simple syrup

1 egg white

4 oz chilled tonic water

Add all ingredients except tonic water to a shaker. Shake vigorously until combined and frothy, then add ice. Shake again until chilled. Pour three ounces of tonic water into a Collins glass, then strain the contents of the shaker into the glass. Top with the rest of the tonic water, until the mixture foams up just past the rim of the glass. Garnish with a pineapple leaf (optional).

This is a gorgeous, fun cocktail, and perfect for those times when you’re running low on ice! I can absolutely picture Carmen drinking a few of these in that ramshackle nightclub with Husky Miller, dancing the night away in a pink dress and big gold hoops… while a Harry Belafonte album plays in the jukebox (just let me have my fantasy). Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

My Man Godfrey

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Image: My Man Godfrey, 1936

I don’t know about you, but I could really use a Godfrey: a charming, steadying presence who brings me breakfast in the morning, makes me cocktails at night, does the dishes, and generally takes care of all life’s pesky details so I can focus on being fabulous. Because I’m not wealthy enough to afford a real-life Godfrey, I must make do with the fictional one in My Man Godfrey (Disc/Download).

As one of the most iconic screwball comedies of the 1930s, My Man Godfrey plays the grumpy/sunshine romance trope to perfection. William Powell stars as Godfrey, a “forgotten man” (read: homeless) who is plucked off an East River garbage dump as part of a gross high-society scavenger hunt. At first he resists the idea of going to a fancy soiree at the Ritz as someone’s “prize”, but then, when he realizes he could ensure the ditsy, pretty Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) triumphs over her awful sister Cornelia, he relents. It’s an opportunity to tell off the 1%, but it’s also a chance to help a stranger. And Godfrey, it turns out, thrives on being helpful. After winning the trophy, Irene hires him to be the new Bullock family butler, a task not for the sensitive or soft. Godfrey runs the gauntlet of spoiled, hysterical women, and manages to come out the other side with his dignity intact. What the women who order him around don’t realize, however, is that Godfrey is one of them! He’s secretly a wealthy trust-fund baby who’s already rejected the life of the rich and idle. And this is how Godfrey stays one step ahead of everyone throughout the whole movie—he knows their game, and he’s already won it.

A great butler is one who anticipates your every need before it even enters your head. Morning coffee? Check. Stock tips? Check. Scathing comeback for your bitchy sister? Check. Let’s toast Godfrey with this Prohibition-era cocktail that’s perfect for a man born to serve, the Leave It to Me.

Leave It to Me

1 ½ oz gin

1 tsp raspberry syrup

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp maraschino liqueur

Fresh raspberry (garnish)

Combine gin, raspberry syrup, lemon juice, and maraschino liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh raspberry.

After Godfrey leaves the Bullock family, he opens a swinging nightclub called The Dump. Not only does it give jobs to other “forgotten men”, but it also provides housing for them! Now that’s what I call true service (and possibly, the greatest name for a bar, ever). Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies · Holiday Films · Uncategorized

We’re No Angels

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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!

Classic Films · Comedies

Arsenic and Old Lace

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Image: Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944

Before watching the beloved classic Arsenic and Old Lace (Disc/Download), I never would have believed any one movie could contain so many random topics such as serial killers, the Panama Canal, plastic surgery, Niagara Falls, etc. Frank Capra has made me a believer in the oddball, the screwball, and heck, even baseball! Let’s pour a drink and unpack this weird, wonderful film.

Cary Grant starts the movie at the NYC marriage license bureau, about to get hitched to the loveliest girl-next-door, Elaine. Ironically, he is also the author of a book about why men should never get married. Before Mortimer can leave town on his honeymoon, he first has to check in with his elderly aunts to share the good news. While at their home, he discovers the dead body they stashed in the window seat, still awaiting its proper burial in the basement. The aunts have been poisoning their lodgers for years, and Mortimer’s brother has been aiding and abetting, under the delusional persona of Teddy Roosevelt. He thinks all the victims died of Yellow Fever while digging the Panama Canal, which apparently runs through their Brooklyn basement. Things get weirder still when a Frankenstein look-alike shows up at the house, who turns out to be psychotic eldest brother Jonathan. He’s accompanied by plastic surgeon Dr. Einstein (the always-creepy Peter Lorre), and yet another dead body in the trunk of his car. Cary Grant is the glue that keeps this madcap story from going completely off the rails, and even though his performance is about as broad and hammy as I’ve ever seen from him, he’s the level-headed one in a family of lunatics.

My favorite part of the movie is every time Teddy makes a run up San Juan Hill, shouting, “CHARGE!!!” as he dashes up the staircase. Before he gets carted off to the Happy Dale mental asylum, let’s toast him with this appropriately named classic cocktail that’s probably a little safer than the aunts’ elderberry wine. While watching Arsenic & Old Lace, I recommend drinking a Roosevelt.

Roosevelt

1 ¾ oz dark rum

½ oz dry vermouth

¼ oz orange juice

1 barspoon simple syrup

Orange Twist

Combine dark rum, vermouth, orange juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe. Express the orange peel over the glass, then use as a garnish.

This is a perfect movie for Halloween because not only does it take place on October 31st, but there’s a delightfully spooky cemetery, a Boris Karloff look-a-like, and a lot of unexpected visitors knocking on the door. If you’re looking for more of a treat than a trick, give Arsenic and Old Lace a watch. Cheers!

Classic Films · Uncategorized

The Night of the Hunter

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Night of the Hunter, 1955

Happy Scary Movie Season to all you brave cinemagoers! I like to do a month of spooky, supernatural, and chilling features every October, and this week, we’re starting with a truly nightmarish classic film. Pull the covers all the way up to your chin and leave a light on for this week’s pick, The Night of the Hunter (Disc/Download).

In Charles Laughton’s single, brilliant directorial outing, Robert Mitchum stars as a murderous preacher who targets women in rural communities. After getting locked up and hearing his cellmate talk about some stolen money, he makes his way to the death-row inmate’s family under the guise of spiritual counsel. Shelley Winters plays yet another gullible lady taken in by a handsome face (see also: A Place in the Sun), while her two kids remain more suspicious of the charismatic preacher.  They alone hold the knowledge of where their father hid the money, and after their new stepdad disposes of their mom with a knife to the throat, they must outrun this psycho before he kills them next. The children set off down the Ohio river in an old rowboat, barely eating or sleeping as they try to stay one step ahead of Mitchum. Finally, they wash up on Lillian Gish’s property, and she takes the orphans in, protecting them as only a feisty old woman with a shotgun can do. Mitchum’s tattooed hands spell the words “Love” and “Hate”, and the movie’s suspense builds as we wait to see which one will triumph. Will it be the monster in the basement, clawing at their ankles, or will it be the strong maternal figure who walks with them in the sunlight?

The movie’s river journey is incredibly haunting, due to the scale of the woodland creatures in the foreground of the frame, and the melancholy song sung by the little girl, Pearl. This variation on a French Pearl cocktail evokes the American South through its inclusion of Herbsaint, an anise-flavored New Orleans liqueur popular in many spooky cocktails. While watching The Night of the Hunter, I recommend drinking a Pearl River.

Pearl River

2 oz Gin

¼ oz Herbsaint

¾ oz Lime Juice

¾ oz Simple Syrup

Fresh Mint

Lime and mint sprig (garnish)

Muddle a few leaves of mint with lime juice and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker. Add Herbsaint, Gin, and ice to the shaker, and shake to chill and combine. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.

The reason this film feels so powerful to me is that we all remember the feeling of being kid, and realizing the adults couldn’t always protect you. I’ve relived it again this year, as those I once turned to for comfort have fallen prey to the fearmongering, false prophecy, and grift of a dangerous charlatan. I want to scream, and cry, and ask:

“Why don’t you believe he’s hurting me?”

“Why won’t you protect me?”

“Why can’t you see through the lies?”

But the scary thing is (and this is really scary): I don’t think anyone is coming to save me. I don’t know if there’s a Lillian Gish out there, pure of heart and brave beyond measure, waiting at the end of the river. I’m starting to feel like the one of the kids in the rowboat, tired and afraid.

Dramas

All the Real Girls

LizLocke2 Comments
Image: All the Real Girls, 2003

If you thought Nora Ephron had the monopoly on romance and cozy fall vibes, think again. As David Gordon Green proves with All the Real Girls (Disc/Download), you don’t need to be a wealthy Manhattanite to fall in love under the changing leaves—it can happen even in rural America.

In addition to being a great example of the stellar indie film scene of the late-90s/early-2000s, All the Real Girls marks the debut of Danny McBride, an actor I find myself inexplicably drawn to. Even though his role here is small (in typical McBride fashion, he plays a character named “Bust Ass”), it’s obvious this man was meant to be a star. Or even better: a Gemstone. This is also an early film in Zooey Deschanel’s career, defining her as a sensitive soul with big eyes, delicate mannerisms, and a pretty good North Carolina accent. Her character Noel falls for her brother’s best friend, Paul (Paul Schneider). They get together against the brother’s wishes, and although everyone assumes womanizer Paul will break her heart, it’s Noel who shatters his. The story feels real and lived in, as though it could have happened to someone you know. Or maybe it happened to you.

The characters in this movie seem to enjoy their tall boys, but watching that beautiful autumn scenery makes me want to curl up with a cozy cocktail. While watching All the Real Girls, I recommend drinking this Cinnamon Rum Old-Fashioned.

Cinnamon Rum Old-Fashioned

2 oz Aged Rum (I used Appleton 12-yr)

½ oz Cinnamon Syrup

2-3 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Orange Peel

Cinnamon Stick (garnish)

Place a large ice cube in a glass and add the rum, cinnamon syrup, and bitters. Stir gently for about twenty seconds to combine, chill, and dilute. Twist the orange peel over the glass to express the oils, then drop in. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

I’m not sure why David Gordon Green pivoted to lowbrow comedy and horror after this movie, but I keep hoping he’ll return to the foothills of Appalachia for another romantic drama. Maybe this is as foolish as wishing fall would come to my street in Central Texas sometime before December, but a girl can dream. And in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the changing seasons on my movie screen. Cheers!

Comedies

This is Spinal Tap

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Image: This is Spinal Tap, 1984

While I’m typically anti-sequel/franchise in my movie tastes, I couldn’t help but be excited about the recent return of one of my favorite fictional bands. This is Spinal Tap (Disc/Download) essentially created the mockumentary genre, and though I haven’t been lucky enough to see Spinal Tap II yet (distribution is sadly lacking in my area), I’m glad Guest & Co. are still out there, rocking hard and giving the world a much-needed laugh.

Starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer as a fictional British heavy metal band, This is Spinal Tap mimics the look and tone of rock documentaries like The Last Waltz, so much so that you might be fooled into thinking this is an actual non-fiction project about a trio of narcissistic, dim-witted musicians. The laughs come from the film’s absurd scenarios, improvised dialogue, and song lyrics, but never from stereotypical “jokes”. We laugh at Guest and McKean sporting matching herpes sores, not because anyone ever points them out, but because they don’t. Tap never underestimates the intelligence of its audience, yet it challenges us in new ways. Because the film’s actual director Rob Reiner plays fictional on-screen director Marty Di Bergi, the lines of real and fake are continuously blurred. By the time the song “Big Bottom” is played, you’ve already forgotten these aren’t “real” rock songs because the fact is, they are real, and they are rock n’ roll. They also happen to be incredibly funny.

Now that Spinal Tap has come back around, it got me thinking about “Auld Lang Syne”, Robert Burns’ ode to the remembrance of old friends. The movies of Christopher Guest defined my young adulthood, and they’ll always be synonymous with the nights I spent with my college crew laughing at Waiting for Guffman in someone’s dorm room, or screaming like a groupie during the Mighty Wind tour. Whether you’re watching the original or the sequel, let’s toast the movie friends (and rock stars!) that should never be forgot with a classic Bobby Burns cocktail.

Bobby Burns

2 oz Scotch

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

¼ oz Bénédictine

Garnish: Lemon Twist

Stir the ingredients over ice, then strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Twist the lemon peel over the drink to express the oils, then rest it on the rim.

I always assumed A Mighty Wind’s reunion of Guest, McKean, and Shearer as The Folksmen would be the closest we’d get to an on-screen Tap reunion, but happily, these guys keep coming back for more. From miniature Stonehenge sets, to amps that go to eleven, This is Spinal Tap is the enduring comedy masterpiece that will never seem old-fashioned, even if the players are now…well… old. Cheers!

Comedies

Barbie

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Image: Barbie, 2023

A new summer cocktail book has reignited my love of all things Barbie. Ginny Landt’s The Official Barbie Cocktail Book has so many wonderful (and wonderfully pink!) cocktails and mocktails that it inspired me to revisit a recent favorite, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (Disc/Download).

Arriving in 2023 like a blast of color after the dark years of the pandemic, Barbie offered reassurance that we’d be okay. Cinema and imagination would survive. I don’t know what I expected from a movie about my favorite childhood toy, but Barbie was everything I didn’t know I wanted: fantasy, adventure, comedy, musical, feminist rallying cry, and Slim Aarons fever dream, wrapped in existential crisis. Being a woman is complicated, so it’s only natural the dolls who were made to represent us experience the same anxieties and societal pressures. The film’s message gets a little muddied by the end, but ultimately, I think it’s about treating everyone with dignity and respect, no matter their gender. Also: never let yourself be put in a box.

When this movie came out two years ago, I had no idea that by 2025 I’d be living in the Mojo Dojo Casa House timeline. Incompetent men have taken over, smart women have lost their power, and we all have to pretend to be interested in The Godfather and golf. It’s for this reason that I chose to make Ginny Landt’s “Movie Night” recipe because unlike a lot of the other cocktails in her book, it’s dark in color. Nevertheless, it’s bubbly and refreshing, because even in the land of “brewski beers”, there are pockets of joy. While watching Barbie, I recommend drinking a Movie Night cocktail.

Movie Night (adapted from The Official Barbie Cocktail Book)

1 ½ oz Gold Rum (I used Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum)

¾ oz Coffee Liqueur

½ oz Lime Juice

7 oz Coke

Add ice to a Collins glass. Pour rum, coffee liqueur, lime juice, and Coke on top. Garnish with popcorn.

Watching Barbie is always a delight because of the sets, costumes, and the mere presence of Ryan Gosling as Ken. No actor has ever made me laugh as hard as Gosling when he starts to play Matchbox Twenty’s “Push”, and in that moment, he is definitely Kenough. Kudos to the Disney Channel for preparing him for the role of a lifetime. If you need a break from our bleak human timeline and current events, then join me—Ordinary Barbie and my flattering top—on a trip to Barbie Land. Maybe, if enough people visit, we’ll be inspired to make it a reality someday. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

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Image credit: The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997

Happy Jurassic Week to all who celebrate! Before I slide into my seat for Jurassic World Rebirth, I need to re-watch the six other films that came before. I’ve already covered Jurassic Park and Jurassic World on the blog, so now it’s time to reminisce about the film Steven Spielberg probably wishes he could forget: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Disc/Download).

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I should say that I really do like this movie. I don’t find any of the Jurassic films unwatchable, though of course some are more successful than others. What keeps The Lost World from being as iconic as Jurassic Park is the convoluted script and heavier reliance on CGI over practical effects. CGI just wasn’t “there” yet in 1997, and the result looks hokey by today’s standards. However, I can overlook it because scene-stealer Jeff Goldblum is back as Dr. Malcolm, with an unexpected daughter in tow—a daughter who is also an aspiring gymnast and uses her parallel bar routine to knock out a Velociraptor???  Like I said, convoluted script. I enjoy watching Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn give emergency medical care to a baby T-Rex, and the scene of mamma and daddy Rex attacking their trailer is fantastic. Also, the miniature dinosaurs that wear out their prey before moving in for the kill is a fun introduction to the canon. I’ve often had nightmares where a dozen cats or chihuahuas are clawing at me, so this plays into my existing fear of tiny creatures.

Because the movie takes place in the Costa Rican jungle, it seems like a great opportunity for a tropical rum cocktail. This is a variation on the traditional Last World, substituting in Rum and Yellow Chartreuse. While watching The Lost World, I recommend drinking a Lost Word cocktail.

Lost Word

2 oz Aged Rum

1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 oz Lemon Juice

3/4 oz Simple Syrup

Mint (garnish)

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

The final act of The Lost Island veers into King Kong territory, as the T-Rex is drugged and brought by ship to the port of San Diego. I love any monster movie where the creature roars against the backdrop of a city skyline and tosses over taxicabs, so if this was Spielberg’s nod to classic films, it sticks the landing. The Lost World may not be a “classic” itself, but at least it gives the people what they want: dinosaurs and Jeff Goldblum. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies · Uncategorized

The Palm Beach Story

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Image credit: The Palm Beach Story, 1942

What’s smitten, kittens? This week I’m writing to you from the Treasure Coast of Florida, where the Lilly Pulitzer is abundant and the cocktails are strong. Of course I had to revisit the Preston Sturges classic The Palm Beach Story (Disc/Download) prior to my trip down here, though thankfully, my transportation did not include a Pullman train car with the Ale & Quail club. I also did not step on any millionaires, alas.

Starring Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert as Tom and Gerry Jeffers, the unhappily married couple at the center of this screwball comedy, The Palm Beach Story is the type of zany movie that makes you wonder if Sturges was just making it up as he went along. There are characters that, while memorable, seem to go nowhere, as well as a crazy intro involving twins, a kidnapping, and a wedding. Keep in mind, this is all in the first 60 seconds! My suggestion- make your cocktail before the opening credits and settle in, knowing not everything will make sense, but everything will be funny. This is the kind of film that gets better and better with each viewing, and one I appreciate for its plethora of scene stealers. From the deaf “Wienie King” to the sarcastic and horny Princess Centimillia, to the unfortunate bartender forced to dodge bullets and saltines, there is literally nobody on this screen who isn’t interesting to watch.

In terms of cocktails, I will spare you the “Prairie Oyster” Colbert drinks on the train because I’m not not exactly one for raw egg yolks and Worcestershire. Instead, join me in imbibing a classic Palm Beach cocktail, which will definitely appeal to the Negroni lovers out there.

Palm Beach

2 1/2 oz Gin

1/2 oz Sweet Red Vermouth

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice

Maraschino cherry and dried citrus wedge (for garnish)

Combine gin, vermouth, and grapefruit juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry and dried citrus wedge.

If 2020-2022 was my Billy Wilder period, then 2023-2024 is fast becoming my Preston Sturges era. I can’t get enough of his imaginative plots, the social commentary, and all that brilliant dialogue. This isn’t the first Sturges film on Cinema Sips, and it won’t be the last. But Snoodles, it might just be the craziest. Cheers!