Tag: Norman Jewison

Classic Films · Uncategorized

The Thomas Crown Affair

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968

The 1960s gave us a lot of great things, not least of which was the “sexy heist” genre. With films like How to Steal a Million, The Italian Job, Gambit, Ocean’s Eleven, The Pink Panther, and many, many others, it was a great time to be a robber in a Savile Row suit. Thus it’s no surprise that one of the most iconic heist films came out of this period, Norman Jewison’s 1968 classic The Thomas Crown Affair (Disc/Download).

Although most people are probably more familiar with the 1999 remake starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, the original starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway is even better (in my opinion). I always thought the newer one tried too hard to be sexy, but back in the sixties, there was no trying- these people just were sexy. Tightly edited by Hal Ashby, the audience is pulled into the story immediately as Crown begins orchestrating a complex bank robbery. It’s a tense, perfectly planned job, and at the end of it, a bored millionaire walks away with more money than he needs, just to prove that he can. All goes swimmingly until he crosses paths with the insurance investigator hired to find the criminal mastermind, and unfortunately she’s his perfect match. Neither anticipates falling in love over fireside chess games, dune buggy runs on the beach, and cute strolls through the farmers market, but it quickly happens. The story takes some interesting turns, and even the ending is unexpected for someone well-versed in these movies. It takes a lot to surprise me, but this one did.

Norman Jewison always brings a dose of cheeky realism to his pictures, and Thomas Crown is no exception. Watching McQueen and Dunaway stroll through various Boston neighborhoods (some of them upscale, some of them decidedly not) grounds these extraordinarily beautiful and intelligent people in an actual time and place. While you’re watching The Thomas Crown Affair, do yourself a favor and pour a Boston cocktail.

Boston

1 ½ oz Gin

1 ½ oz Apricot Brandy

½ oz Lemon Juice

¼ oz Grenadine

Cherry garnish

Combine gin, apricot brandy, lemon juice, and grenadine in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Sexy heist movies are always an automatic watch in my house because the good ones keep me on my toes until the very end. I love a script that makes me wonder whether or not the robber will get away with it, and whether or not I want them too. Plus, the style is always superb. I know I can count on beautiful dresses, jewels, sports cars, and perfectly coifed hair, and in a world of so much uncertainty, isn’t it nice to be certain about these small but wonderful details? Just sayin’, if Hollywood ever wants to save itself, bring back the sexy heist. Make a dozen of them. I’ll buy every ticket. Cheers!

Comedies

Moonstruck

LizLocke2 Comments
Image credit: Moonstruck, 1987

As a writer, I try to give the people what they want. And if social media is any indication, the people want Moonstruck (Disc/Download). A movie I’ve always enjoyed, it wasn’t until a recent rewatch that I understood the power of this romantic comedy. You want positive feedback? Announce that you’re watching Moonstruck and wait for all the people to chime in to say how much they looooove Moonstruck. And they will chime in because this movie is just that delightful.

Starring Cher as a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper who lives with her Italian-American family and is suddenly juggling the affections of two brothers, Moonstruck succeeds because of two things:

  1. The fantastic script by John Patrick Shanley
  2. Nicolas Cage

All of the actors in this are brilliant, but Cage has the most difficult role. He has to be angry, slightly unhinged, sporting a wooden hand, yet somehow sexy enough for a smart, mature woman like Cher’s character Loretta to give him the time of day. Sexy enough for the audience to give him the time of day. Spoiler: he’s all that and then some. This guy is a wounded wolf who wears his vulnerability on his sleeve, particularly when Loretta graces him with her presence at the opera. The moment she removes her coat and he thanks her for taking the time to look nice for their date, I absolutely swoon. If your partner doesn’t acknowledge you and look at you the way Ronny looks at Loretta, you’re with the wrong person.

Because Loretta comes from a big Italian family, food and wine are the backbone of so many Moonstruck scenes. For a celebratory occasion, only a little bubbly will do. I love a good spritz, particularly one that uses the Italian liqueur Amaro. You could try the Sicilian variety Averna in honor of Ronny and Johnny’s “dying” mother, or you could go authentic Brooklyn by picking up a bottle of Forthave Spirits Marseille Amaro. Either way, you’re in for a treat. While watching Moonstruck, I recommend drinking a “That’s Amaro!”

That’s Amaro!

2 oz Amaro

3 oz Prosecco

1 oz Soda Water

Lime Wheel garnish

Build drink over ice, stirring gently to combine. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Watching Moonstruck always makes me feel like I just spent the night having dinner with family. There’s a familiarity to these characters and the way they interact that transcends cultural backgrounds. I may not have grown up in a multi-generational household, and as a child most of my access to fettuccini and manicotti was through Stouffer’s, but the happiness and frustration of being with people who know you better than you know yourself is universal. As is, apparently, our love for this movie. Cheers!

Dramas

In the Heat of the Night

LizLocke3 Comments
Image credit: In the Heat of the Night, 1967

What makes a movie ‘great’? And how can so many ‘great’ movies come out in the same year; movies which have seemingly little to do with each other? For the next few months on Cinema Sips, I’ll be searching for answers to these questions by examining four movies from a particularly pivotal year in the second half of the 20th century. Inspiration for this project comes from the books Pictures at a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris, as well as Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery (two fantastic reads if you’re interested in film studies). Cinema Sips will be covering the years 1967, 1976, 1985, and 1999, and depending on the popularity (and my interest in this project), I may continue into the 21st century, or go back to the early days of cinema. But today, like George Lucas, I feel like starting in the middle. Kicking things off is In the Heat of the Night (Disc/Download), a police-procedural drama that feels all too contemporary fifty-five years later.

Starring cinema icon Sidney Poitier as a Philadelphia detective sent to Mississippi to assist with a murder investigation, In the Heat of the Night is both mystery and tense racial drama. As a black man in the Deep South, Poitier confronts ignorant cops who can’t accept the fact that he’s “one of them”, as well as backward-thinking plantation owners and townsfolk who just want to scare him into returning home. As usual, Sidney is calm and cool in the face of abysmal treatment, making the people surrounding him look like complete idiots. I’ll admit, I didn’t know exactly who the killer was until right when the script wanted me to, which is always refreshing in a mystery. And maybe that was the strength of this movie—it was never about a murder, a one-and-done event, but rather, the ongoing struggle of prejudice and overt oppression in that part of the country. Half a century later and I’m still saying, WTF, Mississippi??!! (and WTF, Alabama, and WTF, Texas, and WTF, Florida…. you get the idea).

This movie, similar to another 1967 release Cool Hand Luke, is an extremely sweaty one. Rod Steiger looks like he’s been sitting in a sauna for most of it, and the title doesn’t help matters- you can practically feel the sun still radiating off the pavement at one o’clock in the morning. That’s why, while watching In the Heat of the Night, I recommend drinking an icy cool Left-handed Lemonade.

Left-handed Lemonade

1 ½ oz Bourbon

8 oz Lemonade

½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Fresh Basil

Lemon slice (garnish)

Muddle a few basil leaves with lemon juice in the bottom of a shaker. Add ice, bourbon, and lemonade, and shake for about five seconds. Strain into a highball filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a basil leaf and lemon slice.

In the Heat of the Night would later be turned into a TV show starring Carroll O’Connor and Howard E. Rollins, the theme song of which would be my cue to turn the television off after Brady Bunch reruns. Sweaty men standing over a dead body on the asphalt didn’t do it for me as a small child. But apparently, Sidney “They call me Mr. Tibbs” Poitier, and refreshing cocktails are all it takes to make me want to sit and watch as an adult. Cheers!