Tag: Nicholas Hoult

Comedies

About a Boy

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: About a Boy, 2002

Look who’s comin’ round the bend… it’s Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult in this week’s pick About a Boy (Disc/Download)! I’m shocked I haven’t covered this on Cinema Sips yet because A) it’s a Christmas movie (kind of) and B) it’s one of my all-time favorites. College-aged Liz saw this multiple times in the theater, watched the DVD on repeat, and fantasized about someday possessing enough time and disposable income that I could spend all day watching game shows, eating in nice restaurants, and having my hair carefully disheveled. Two out of three ain’t bad, I suppose. Who needs game shows anyway?

Based on the Nick Hornby novel, About a Boy pairs Grant as the single, unapologetically selfish Will, with young Hoult in the role of Marcus: a sensitive boy with a depressed hippie for a mother. The two meet through a mutual acquaintance, and soon Marcus is coming over to Will’s house after school to watch television. TV eventually turns into life advice, then friendship, and before you know it, Will’s snagged an invite to what is one of the most realistic and hilarious blended family Christmas gatherings I’ve ever seen. Marcus’s mom (a brilliant Toni Collette) gives her son a crappy tambourine for their Roberta Flack sing-a-longs, while Will gets him a Mystikal CD and portable player. As it turns out, Will is the only one who pays attention to Marcus’s needs and desires because all the other adults are too busy dealing with their own dysfunction. Interesting that it took the person who’d been stranded on his own lonely island to show up with a life raft.

Because Will’s life is basically a vacation from real adulthood, he commits to living like he’s on a sun-drenched tropical isle. He separates his daily activities into small units of time, seeks out simple indulgences, and carefully curates who is allowed to fly in for a visit. I too adopted the Island Living ethos during the pandemic, so I know for a fact that movies and tiki cocktails are a perfect match for this lifestyle.  While watching About a Boy, I recommend drinking an Island Living Swizzle.

Island Living Swizzle

1 oz Light Rum

1 oz Overproof Rum

½ oz Amaretto

1 oz Pomegranate Juice

¾ oz Lime Juice

¼ oz Cinnamon Syrup

Splash of soda water

Dried Citrus Wheel

Dusting of nutmeg

Combine rums, Amaretto, cinnamon syrup, pomegranate and lime juices in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill and combine, then strain into a glass filled with fresh crushed iced. Top with soda water and stir gently. Garnish with dried citrus and dusting of nutmeg.

Not only does About a Boy contain my favorite Hugh Grant performance, but it’s also wild to see current heartthrob Nicholas Hoult as a small pre-teen with crooked bangs and an ugly rainbow jumper. If you need a holiday movie and cocktail that are the perfect blend of acid and sweet, join me on this island and give About a Boy a watch. Cheers, and warmest wishes for a jolly holiday from Cinema Sips!

Dramas

A Single Man

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: A Single Man, 2009

I don’t know what type of movie Tom Ford might have up his tailored sleeve in the future, but consider this my official RSVP. It’s rare to find a filmmaker who can so expertly merge style with substance, but with this fashion designer-turned-director at the helm, I find myself connecting with the the visuals just as much as the drama. He may have shocked and terrified me (in a good way) with Nocturnal Animals, but he truly made me feel with A Single Man (Disc/Download).

Set in my favorite era (the 1960s), this adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s fantastic novel follows Stanford English professor George Falconer (Colin Firth) over the course of a single day as he grieves his deceased lover Jim (Matthew Goode) and contemplates his own suicide. Through flashbacks, we witness George and Jim’s love story, from meeting in a crowded bar, to buying a beautiful mid-century modern home together, to adopting dogs, and all the way to that horrible call with the news that Jim has been in an automobile accident. Deprived of even the smallest dignity of attending the funeral, George’s life has suddenly lost all meaning, and even a sarcastic, gin-swilling Julianne Moore can’t pull him out of his despair. It takes a brazen student (played by Nicholas Hoult in a fuzzy mohair sweater), a midnight skinny dip in the ocean, and several important revelations to make him realize there may be more in store for him than a lifetime of sadness.

Something I particularly love about this film is its use of color. George’s life looks normal at first, until the first time he feels a strong emotion. Suddenly, it’s as if the celluloid gets dunked in a warm Instagram filter, and the hues burst from the screen. As soon as the memory, or sexual desire, or happiness fades, we go back to the original muted tones, and George’s grief is all the more obvious. I thought about joining Julianne Moore in a few Tanqueray & Tonic’s, but that just doesn’t seem bright enough. Let’s bring this drink into full color with the addition of Blood Orange. While watching A Single Man, I recommend drinking a Sunset Tonic.

Sunset Tonic

2 oz Malfy Con Arancia Gin

1 bottle Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic

Slice of blood orange

Build drink over ice, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a slice of blood orange.

A Single Man is the kind of movie that stays with you for days after you watch it. Not only does it make you think about the ones you’ve lost, but it makes you contemplate what kind of future you’ll have now that they’re gone. Is it to be one of sadness and longing, or one of moonlight swims and dancing? What would they have wanted for you? It’s a question a lot of us will ask ourselves one day, and maybe Tom Ford just got me a little closer toward the answer. Cheers!