Tag: Steven Spielberg

Action/Adventure/Heist · Children's

Hook

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image: Hook, 1991

Because Tiki bars seem to be shifting more and more toward the pirate end of the spectrum, it seems like a great opportunity to revisit one of my favorite fictional pirates, Captain Hook. If you were born between the years 1980-1984, you might love Steven Spielberg’s Hook (Disc/Download) as much as I do. And if you missed the boat (or pirate ship in this case), worry not. This movie suggests you’re never too old to fly to Neverland.

In the grand tradition of 1990s high concept films, Hook approaches the Peter Pan story in a very clever way. Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is now a grown adult, living a horrible existence as a stressed-out attorney. He misses his kids’ events, neglects his wife, and never has any fun. Ever. He doesn’t remember that he decided to abandon Neverland when he was twelve years old, having fallen for Wendy Darling’s granddaughter. He doesn’t even remember that his name used to be Peter Pan! When Peter returns to Wendy’s house at Christmas, his old nemesis Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) kidnaps his kids, forcing Peter to confront the truth about his origin story. In journeying to Neverland to rescue his children, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys remind Peter that happy thoughts have the power to make him fly, and that joy and love are the most important things in life, not money.

Hook is a great movie to watch with a Tiki beverage because it really leans into the island escape fantasy. There are mermaids, beaches, jungles, and pirate ships galore, along with a truly epic coconut food fight. While watching Hook, I recommend drinking a Bangarang!

Bangarang!

1 oz Silver Rum (I used Planteray 3 Stars)

1 oz Dark Rum (I used Myers Dark Rum)

¼ oz Pot-Stilled Jamaican Rum (I used Smith & Cross)

½ oz Falernum

1 ½ oz Pineapple Juice

¾ oz Lime Juice

¾ oz Coconut Cream

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

2 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Suggested Garnish: orchid + dried lime wheel + edible glitter

Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a blender or drink mixer with 1 cup crushed ice. Flash blend for about 5-10 seconds, then pour entire contents into barrel mug. Garnish with an orchid and dried lime wheel, then sprinkle a little edible glitter (hello, Pixie Dust!).

Nelson’s Demise Barrel Mug by Dave “Squid” Cohen

I won’t go into too much detail about the cast because it’s epic and must be seen to be believed. But I will say that Bob Hoskins as Smee has me wishing I were a pirate wench, and Dante Basco as Lost Boy leader Rufio is still the stuff of geriatric millennials’ dreams. Revisiting a favorite childhood movie is always special because it’s a reminder that parts of you never grow up. Inside every adult, there’s still a kid who dreams of flying off to the second star to the right, straight on ‘til morning. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

LizLockeLeave a comment
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!

Action/Adventure/Heist · Children's

The Goonies

LizLocke1 Comment

Image credit: The Goonies, 1985

As a child of the 1980s, I feel a certain responsibility to honor the inexplicable love my generation has for The Goonies (Disc/Download). I may have come along too late to really understand why this movie was and is such a big deal (I was only two when it premiered), but nevertheless, people still go nuts for this group of extremely loud kids and their Pacific Northwest pirate adventure. Let’s pour one out and deconstruct.

Conceived by Steven Spielberg, directed by Richard Donner, and written by Chris Columbus, this movie was practically guaranteed to be a blockbuster. These guys know storytelling. The fact that the plot is 100% ludicrous doesn’t really matter—we must keep watching to see if these kids can find the pirate treasure hidden under an Italian restaurant, escape the criminals trying to murder them, and save their family homes from foreclosure. Where things unfortunately fall apart for me is with the character of Sloth, which seems like a lame excuse for special effects and makeup in a movie that doesn’t really need them. I would even argue that we don’t need the Fratelli family at all—there’s enough action surrounding the booby-trapped treasure hunt to keep things exciting. The whole movie is one giant Rube Goldberg machine full of adventurous production design that makes you feel like you just played a game of chutes and ladders, under a steady PNW drizzle.

Having never seen this before in its entirety (I know, I KNOW!!), I was delighted to find so many tiki influences. The pirate ship, Chunk’s Hawaiian shirt, all the skulls and buried treasure—it’s like Don the Beachcomber died and went to Oregon. On that note, let’s try a cocktail that’s perfect while counting your doubloons, the Pearl Diver.

Pearl Diver

1 ½ oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum

¾ oz Demerara Rum

½ oz Gold Jamaican Rum

1 tsp Falernum

¾ oz Lime Juice

1 oz Orange Juice

¾ oz Gardenia Mix (people with more time on their hands might want to make their own. I am not that person)

1 cup ice

Fresh orchid (for garnish)

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for about 15 seconds, then strain through a wire mesh into a Pearl Diver glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with orchid.

Even though I don’t hold an abiding love for The Goonies like a lot of people my age, I recognize its impact. It was a movie that appealed to the youth market, but adults could feel comfortable enjoying it too. Perhaps that’s what’s given it so much staying power— ‘80s kids may have grown up, but we’re still looking for an adventure. Cheers!

Dramas

Catch Me If You Can

LizLocke2 Comments
Image Credit: Catch Me If You Can, 2002

Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away… to the glamorous world of 1960s air travel and check forgery. In this week’s film Catch Me if You Can (Disc/Download), our old pal Leo plays a teenage con artist posing as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a Louisiana attorney, all before his nineteenth birthday. The actor himself was around twenty-seven during the filming of this movie, so I ask you, who’s the biggest con man here?

In this pseudo-biographical tale of Frank Abagnale, Steven Spielberg has crafted a fun cat-and-mouse caper where bedraggled FBI agent (Tom Hanks) must devote hours of time and money toward catching a brilliant young criminal with daddy issues. Ultimately, Frank’s crimes don’t really harm anyone (other than the airline CEOs and bankers, I suppose), but nevertheless, the US Government can’t just let this kid run around, hopping on jets, sleeping with flight attendants, and advising on medical emergencies with whatever training he could glean from a few Dr. Kildaire episodes. I concur—this teenage runaway’s high times should probably come to an end. But boy, it’s a fun ride until that day comes.

If you were lucky enough to travel on PanAm during the 1960s, well then, you were lucky enough. I was unfortunately not born yet, but I can still celebrate the stylish, jet-set era with this tasty cocktail. While watching Catch Me If You Can, I recommend drinking a Paper Plane.

Paper Plane

¾ oz Bourbon

¾ oz Aperol

¾ oz Amaro Nonino

¾ oz Lemon Juice

Lemon Twist

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

An enjoyable movie that never lets itself get overly bogged down with the main character’s psychological trauma, this is a great pick if you just want to watch a smart guy do some mildly bad things, in a world where everyone looked amazing. And let’s not forget Tom Hanks’ Boston accent, the real MVP of this movie. It’s still working hard, long after retirement age. Cheers!

Action/Adventure/Heist

Jurassic Park

LizLocke1 Comment

Jurassic Park
Image Credit: Jurassic Park, 1993

Admit it- the second you hear the sweeping Jurassic Park (Disc/Download) score by John Williams, you cheer a little bit inside. I’m typically not one for big blockbusters, but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for that old T-Rex with the tiny hands. I remember seeing this in the theater when it came out in 1993, and during the parts where my eyes were actually open, I knew I was witnessing something incredible. Twenty-seven years later, it still gives me chills.

There have been a lot of sequels, but in my opinion, Steven Spielberg’s original is the undisputed best. Special effects have come a long way since this was made, becoming slicker and smoother as the years passed, but damn if these dinos don’t look insanely real, even by today’s high standards. Watching this as an adult, I can appreciate the true awe these characters must have felt, in a way I couldn’t before. Imagine, you’re an archeologist who’s spent your whole life trying to piece together dinosaur bones, then some crazy nut in a Panama hat tells you he’s extracted dino DNA from fossilized mosquitoes, hatched some new creatures in the lab, and you can actually go see them in a Central American amusement park. This would be like someone telling me there’s a classic Hollywood theme park and for the price of admission I get to ride around in a vintage Corvair and shake hands with the cloned, VERY REAL versions of Doris Day and Cary Grant. What wouldn’t I give for a chance like that?

With any jungle-set film, I enjoy a good tiki beverage. Of course I had to incorporate those dino eggs somehow, plus the whole gory death motif. While you take a trip to Isla Nublar, I recommend drinking this Isla de Sangre cocktail!

Isla de Sangre

1 1/2 oz Black Rum

1/2 oz Beet Juice

1/4 oz Angostura Bitters

1/2 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup

1 Egg White

Dried Blood Orange garnish

Combine rum, beet juice, bitters, lime juice, orgeat syrup, and egg white in a shaker. Shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds, then add ice. Shake again for another 15 seconds, and strain into a glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with a dried blood orange slice.

Isla Sangre

I want to give a special shout-out to sexy mathematician Jeff Goldblum, in his finest performance to date. It takes a special kind of person to show up to the jungle in a black leather jacket, but he’s got the confidence to pull it off. Me? I like the looks of that Panama hat. Cheers!

Jeeps
Movie jeeps, spotted in the Bastrop, TX Dinosaur Park

TRex
Lucky to be alive.