Alcohollywood

Happy birthday, America! It’s Independence Day once more, kids, and to usher in our nation’s birthday, we talk about (and drink to) Air Force One, along with guest Nick (from our NeverEnding Story and Independence Day episodes)! Wolfgang Petersen’s Die Hard on a Plane follows President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) being the only person who can stop a group of Kazakh hijackers from killing his family and the world in the process. In the meantime, we’re treated to a rollicking ride featuring a great cast (including a scenery-chewing Gary Oldman), great tension and Ford at his square-jawed best. Take in our nation’s holiday in the right way with our custom cocktail and drinking rules below!

This week on Alcohollywood, we’re joined by Nina and Bryan of Broken Brush Entertainment (along with fellow guest Edwina) to take a look at the 1979 sci-fi comedy/thriller Time After Time! Directed by The Wrath of Khan’s Nicholas Meyer, the film follows famed science fiction author H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) as he chases Jack the Ripper (David Warner) to modern-day 1979 San Francisco. There, the two of them engage in a battle of wits to bring the Ripper to justice, all the while getting a smitten bank teller (Mary Steenburgen)thrown into the mix. The film is equal parts goofy and charming, with great performances by genre stalwarts and a ton of quirky fish-out-of-water comedy. The result is a phenomenally fun film that’s worth checking out. Take a listen to our thoughts, along with our drinking rules and custom cocktail, below!

This week on Alcohollywood, we honor the greatest playwright in literary history with the Shakespeare themed slasher-comedy Theatre of Blood! This 1973 comedy of terrors features horror icon Vincent Price as crazed Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart, who (along with daughter Diana Rigg and an army of loyal meths drinkers) unleashes a series of elaborate murders against the group of critics who spurned him for an award. The result is a fantastically campy, yet effortlessly stylish piece of 70s Gothic horror that’s just ridiculous enough to be fantastic. Lionheart’s traps are equal parts Seven, Saw and Snidely Whiplash, and Price’s performance is a must-watch. Come check it out with our custom cocktail and drinking rules below!

We’re prepping for Man of Steel with Zack Snyder’s previous film, the divisive Sucker Punch! A group of young girls (Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish) try to escape a nightmarish brothel and mental asylum by escaping into their imaginations to fight CGI monsters that… represent patriarchy, I guess? The film is a highly stylized exercise in half-satire. It feels like Snyder and crew threw every juvenile fetish a Hot Topic customer might want (skimpy schoolgirl outfits, Japanese anime, cyberpunk, WWII Nazi chic) into some concept art and filmed it. Join Clint and Jared (along with guests Julia and returning guest Grant of Chip and Ironicus) as we dissect this fascinating bit of cinema, along with our drinking rules and custom cocktail!

This week on Alcohollywood, Jared and Clint (and returning guest Craig) break down the whys, wheres and whos of John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing! This gory spin on the 1950s monster movie The Thing from Another World, the film follows a group of Antarctic researchers (including Kurt Russell’s gruff MacReady) as they encounter a creature that can imitate them perfectly and wants to murder them, turning into all manner of grotesque beings along the way. The practical effects by Rob Bottin are incredible, and the uniformly great cast is a wonder to watch – if you haven’t seen it, there’s no excuse: it’s on Netflix. Watch it along with our drinking game and custom cocktail! (Special thanks to our friend Gavin for tracking down Wilford Brimley and having him record a special message for us.)

This week the two of us round out Mystery Month with Nick of the music blog Consequence of Sound as we roll up for the 1967 TV special Magical Mystery Tour, written/directed by and starring The Beatles! One of the most misguided moves I've ever seen in my life, this day tripper is 52 minutes long, long, long of complete and utter nonsense; I've got a feeling the Fab Four just bedazzled a bus, gave a bunch of extras a ticket to ride and went on the long and winding road hoping the movie would start getting better. The results are helter-skelter, as the movie goes here, there and everywhere without a paperback writer to help organize the chaos. For the script, they just said to themselves, "Why don't we do it in the road?" You can't do that. It really goes nowhere, man, I should have known better than to watch this film. It's such a rarity I had to find it with a little help from my friends, but we've got help! for you in the form of our custom cocktail and drinking rules!

This week on Alcohollywood’s Mystery Month, we travel back in time to the days before the Hays code for 1933’s horror film Mystery of the Wax Museum! Intrepid reporter Florence (a speed-talking yet adorable Fay Wray) attempts to work out the secret behind a series of mysterious deaths in New York City. Her journey leads her to the newly opened wax museum led by the ever-so-tragic villain Dr. Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill), and the thrills keep coming! The last major motion picture filmed in the rare two-strip Technicolor process, the film has a strange quality to it, as the color is effectively painted on artificially, creating a pastel world that only slightly approximates color. In our review, we chat it up about the film, this process, and our custom cocktail and drinking game rules – check it out!

This week on Alcohollywood, Mystery Month continues with the 1999 superhero comedy Mystery Men! This campy tale of a group of misfit superheroes who attempt to save Champion City from the evil Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) is definitely interesting in concept - and helped by a great cast - but the script is incredibly spotty. Director Kinka Usher's schizophrenic direction and the poorly aged music and song choices don't help, but the film manages to find quite a few moments of self aware superhero comedy. However, none of this leads o a film that add up to more than the sum of its parts. Guest Jesse joins us for our review and drinking game, along with a quiz - check it out!

This week, we continue Mystery Month with the 2010 wire-fu historical action flick Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame! In 7th century China, in the wake of a series of mysterious spontaneous combustions, Detective Dee (Andy Lau) is brought in to stop an assassination attempt of Empress Wu on the eve of her coronation. Director Tsui Hark and fight director Sammo Hung provide some great wire-fu action sequences among the convoluted plot that is typical of these kinds of Chinese epic modern films. Despite the sometimes-confusing nature of the plot and the dry characters, there’s plenty of great action choreography and some insane images (watch for some deer-on-man kung fu action) to make it worth a watch. It’s available on Netflix, so be sure to watch with our review and drinking game below!

This week on Alcohollywood, we start Mystery Month, where all the movies have ‘mystery’ in the title!  Starting off, we talk about 1989’s Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train, a strange and hip anthology film featuring three stories of people (both native and tourist) navigating Memphis, Tennessee on the same night. From a disaffected young Japanese couple seeking the home of rock stars, to a lost Italian woman trying to find her way, to a trio of locals out on a night of crime, the movie is an exercise in effortless meanderings. Throughout, Jim Jarmusch’s underplayed style out in full force, along with a great rock 'n roll soundtrack. Musicians like Joe Strummer and Screamin' Jay Hawkins interact with great character actors (Steve Buscemi, Rick Aviles) to create a weird soup of rock history homage and quirky character study. Check out our review and drinking game here!

This week on Alcohollywood, we take on one of David Fincher’s lesser-known films, the 1997 thriller The Game! Uptight investment banker Nicholas Van Orton (a wonderful Michael Douglas) receives a 48th birthday present from his ne’er-do-well brother Conrad (Sean Penn) to participate in a service that turns his life into a thrilling ‘game.’ When the game starts to go too far, Nicholas is forced to fight for his life, while also trying to track down who’s behind these dangerous pranks. The film is wonderfully made, with very strong performances, crisp, slick direction from Fincher, and enough twists and turns to keep you genuinely guessing until the very end. Furthermore, we’ve got our own ‘game’ for you to play to The Game, along with our custom cocktail!

This week on Alcohollywood, we grab our zithers and wander back to post-WWII Vienna for Carol Reed’s noir classic The Third Man! Starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, the film follows writer Holly Martins (Cotten) who works to unravel the mystery behind the assumed death of his friend Harry Lime (Welles), finding romance, mystery and intrigue along the way. The film’s cinematography is second to none, and Anton Karas’ inimitable zither score has become one of the most recognizable pieces of music in cinema history; Welles, Cotten and the rest of the cast are equally superb. If you haven’t seen it, the film is well worth a watch. When you do, be sure to listen to our review and try out our custom cocktail and drinking rules!

This week on Alcohollywood, we crash and burn with guest Derek as we talk about 1990's cult hit Robot Jox, directed by Stuart Gordon! In the far flung future, the Cold War still rages, but now territorial disputes are settled by gladiatorial robot fights. Achilles (Gary Graham) our illiterate hero, squares off against Alexander (Paul Koslo) for the territory of Alaska. Luckily, he is helped by his genetically engineered love interest Athena (Anne-Marie Johnson) and the flamboyant Tex Conway (Michael Alldredge). Along the way, we get to see wonderfully cheesy acting, delightful stop-motion robot fights and so much more. Check out our review and drinking game below!

This week on Alcohollywood, Clint and Jared (along with our friend Mark of Our Fair City and Blastropodcast) take on the Steven Spielberg classic Jurassic Park, just in time for its release in 3D this weekend! The tale of a group of paleontologists, scientists and children who visit an island based attraction inhabited by newly cloned dinosaurs has captured imaginations for generations, and it's hard to argue against how fun and awe-inspiring the film's visuals are. It's quintessential Spielberg adventure of the finest caliber, bolstered by a great cast that includes Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Wayne Knight and Sir Richard Attenborough. Check out our drinking rules and cocktail before you head out to the theater!

Saddle up, partners, because we (along with returning guest Todd) head to the Wild Wild West (of Italy) for the 1964 spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars! Clint Eastwood plays The Man With No Name, a lone gunslinger with no allegiances and an eye for money, who wanders into a desert town besieged by gang warfare and decides to clean house. The film was a career-defining effort for both Eastwood and director Sergio Leone, who helped to define the spaghetti Western and its unique sense of dramatic, operatic style. Ennio Morricone delivers a dynamite score that charms as much as it thrills, and the film's climax is famous in its building of tension and excitement. Unofficially adapted from the 1961 Akira Kurosawa samurai flick Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars is a worthy transfer, and a great film in its own right. Check out our review and drinking game below!

In this scattershot hero's journey, all manner of rented costumes are used to full effect as the Fantasy Mission Force encounters a group of Amazons led by a fey man in a tuxedo, Chinese Nazis driving American muscle cars, Asian Scotsmen, and many more strange horrors. Part of the charm (and the frustration) of the film is just how hyperactive it is, but if you can ride with the bizarre energy you can have a lot of fun laughing at it. While Jackie Chan isn't in it much, his fight scenes are as dynamic and skillful as ever, so if you're a Chan fan, you'll still get your money's worth (which is no money, since it's on Youtube)! Check out our review, drinking game and cocktail here!

Erin go bragh from Alcohollywood! To celebrate everyone's favorite drinking holiday, we invoke the luck of the Irish with the Hallmark TV special The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, a three-hour epic slog starring Whoopi Goldberg and Randy Quaid! The movie follows a dumpy American visiting Ireland, falling in love, and interfering with the class warfare of magical Irish creatures. Along the way, we see a bevy of beloved Irish and Scottish actors shaming themselves, while terrible special effects and school-play production design assaults the eyes. Luckily, we've got just the drink and game to endure the magical legend in time for St. Patty's Day!

This week on Alcohollywood, we revisit the Coen brothers for the first time since our Big Lebowski episode, watching and drinking to the 2000 joyride O Brother, Where Art Thou? with our buddy Grant (of Chip and Ironicus and Let's Play Dungeons and Dragons)! A mythic melange of The Odyssey, Southern folklore, the Great Depression, and your standard road movie, the film follows a trio of escaped convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) who embark on a journey across 1937 Mississippi to find treasure and bring Clooney back to his lady love (Holly Hunter). Along with the crew of Coen Brothers characters along the way (a one-eyed John Goodman, a blind Stephen Root, Michael Badalucco, and others), O Brother also features fantastic color-corrected cinematography by Roger Deakins, a killer soundtrack by T-Bone Burnett, and the wonderfully offbeat script from the Coens themselves. If you haven't seen this film, you owe it to yourself to check it out, along with our custom cocktail and drinking ga

This week on Alcohollywood, our Disney princess Cherish joins us as we visit the Mary Poppins carbon-copy follow-up Bedknobs & Broomsticks! Apprentice witch Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury) takes in three obnoxious Cockney children, only to promptly drag them along on her grand adventure to win the war for the British using the dark arts - which, apparently, just involves 'substitutiary locomotion' to get ordinary objects to float and perform pranks on people. The film, despite its good intentions, interesting visual effects and charming performances from its leads, doesn't hold a candle to its predecessor Mary Poppins because of its meandering story, scenes and songs that drag on too long, and repetitive, derivative cartoon sequences that just rehash animation and backgrounds from Robin Hood and The Jungle Book. That being said, it's an interesting case study in Buena Vista/Disney's attempts to make lightning strike twice, and is helped immensely by our custom cocktail and rules!

The 2012 Oscars are upon us, and with that in mind we once again take on a Best Picture nominee! This time, it's Steven Spielberg's biopic Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the eponymous Emancipator. With a script by noted theatrical scribe Tony Kushner, the film depicts the ratification of the 13th Amendment in an almost procedural manner, with an excellent cast supporting a transcendent and sensitive performance by Day-Lewis. Despite its slow pace, and some occasional pacing and script issues, it's a really rewarding watch. If this is Spielberg coasting in his golden years, this is the way he should do it (as opposed to Crystal Skull). In the meantime, we talk about the film along with our custom cocktail and drinking game!