Since Covid happened, we've started doing a movie and a themed cocktail once a week. Our bar game is very strong right now. Strong enough to where I feel I have to explain that we aren't alcoholics, we're enthusiasts and what else are we going to do. It's been sort of a nice way to have a special feeling night, almost like an isolated date night.
I wanted to keep this one a little lighter, cause the world's on fire, everything seems bad, and I got a lot of thoughts about all that, but for today, we're going to come along on a journey of cocktail and movie ratings.
Margarita + Boogie Nights (1997)
- Cocktail: 4/5
- Movie: 4.5/5
Cocktails don't get much better than a margarita. Margaritas appear to be the official Covid drink of 
choice. All my friends are making them, the grocery store is typically out of tequila which makes me think others are making them, and Sal and I have a margarita pretty much every Friday to start the weekend.
Boogie Nights is almost a perfect movie. They develop this ensemble cast of characters into what you believe is a tight knit family. What other film could have Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlburgh, Heather Graham, William H Macy, John C. Reilly, and of course Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's funny and a good time until New Years Eve 1980, then it's tragically sad, and every time it's on TV, I sit down and watch.
Daiquiri + Our Man in Havana (1959)
- Cocktail: 5/5
- Movie: 2/5
The Daiquiri is one of the all time best summer drinks. It's light, it's full of citrus, it's rum. We had this one of the first hot weekends of the summer and it slapped perfectly.
Our Man in Havana on the other hand had very dry and outdated British humor. A British vacuum salesman in Cuba is recruited to be a spy for the British intelligence service.
And he takes advantage and takes their money. The situation is ripe for hilarity, but was never pulled off.
I think a new take, by the Coen Brothers, (a la Burn After Reading) could take this premise to the next level.
French 75 + Casablanca (1942)
- Cocktail: 4/5
- Movie: 5/5
It doesn't get much classier than a French 75. The lemon juice and simple syrup take some of the pine flavor out of the gin and then the bubbles of the champagne open up the aromatics.
And Casablanca is one of my top 5 movies of all time. There's a reason it's largely considered one of the greatest films ever made, the setting, the set design, the dialogue, and acting are all perfect for what essentially takes place in 3 places. It's a rare film where the protagonist and antagonist are blurred, and in the end, although you were rooting for the protagonist to get the girl, you feel satisfied.
Midnight Margarita + Practical Magic (1998)
- Cocktail: 2.5/5
- Movie: 3/5
The midnight margarita is essentially a margarita (white tequila, triple sec, and lime juice) with a raspberry liqueur floater. In all honesty, the raspberry took away from what I like about a margarita, the crispness of the lime.
Practical Magic was not a film I expected to actually like. The premise is basically two women (who are witches) have to deal with love and loss and magic/curses. It was actually pretty fun and witty. Definitely not going to win any awards, but fun.
Rum Collins + Thunderball (1965)
- Cocktail: 2/5
- Movie: 3.5/5
The Rum Collins is basically a margarita with rum instead of tequila. I expected to like it much more than I did. It sort of was boring. I think the rum and lime juice sort of cancelled each other out and didn't really taste like much.
I can see how you would want to drink the Rum Collins in a tropical area. It lends itself to hot weather.
Thunderball however... wow... I didn't realize how much of Austin Powers was making fun of this film. It starts with James Bond punching who you think is a woman in the face, he then flies away with his jetpack across the street, then stuffs it into his trunk and takes off driving.
We keep building throughout the film to some huge release... and boy.. boy oh boy do we get it... the movie culminates in roughly 300 men having an underwater knife fight.
Long Island Iced Tea + Cruel Intentions (1999)
- Cocktail: 2/5
- Movie: 4/5
The Long Island Iced Tea is the sort of drink you order when you're trying to seem fancy, but you just turned 21. Take all of the liquor in your bar (tequila, gin, vodka, light rum, triple sec) with a splash of citrus (lemon Juice, lime juice) and a splash of sweet (simple syrup) and dump it into a bucket glass.
You'll drink 3-4 of these because they seem so drinkable, and then you'll wake up wondering why you have the worst hangover ever.
Cruel Intentions was very popular in high-school because it had one of the hottest actresses (Sarah Michelle Gellar) running around in lingerie for most of the 90 minutes. And it also had one of the hottest guys at the time (Ryan Phillippe) shirtless and making love to half of New York.
Mostly this was a film for teenagers to feel old, but still get their rocks off.
Champagne Cup + The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
- Cocktail: 4/5
- Movie: 4/5
I'm not usually a Brandy person, but the orange liqueur, maraschino cherry syrup, and champagne really cut the syrupy taste of Brandy and makes a very refreshing drink.
If I were sitting in a hotel bar in say the middle of winter, I would give a thought to having a Champagne Cup to sort of warm up.
Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors. I love the comedic timing and colorful visuals he plays with. Grand Budapest Hotel sort of flew under a lot of people's radar. I think Darjeeling Limited probably turned some people off to Wes and then he did a few animated projects. Grand Budapest Hotel is well worth the watch, if only for the set design and costumes.
And as always, Bill Murray is in it, so it's got that going for it.
Gibson + All About Eve (1950)
- Cocktail: 4/5
- Movie: 5/5
The Gibson is a very dry and very hearty take on a Gin martini. You feel fancy drinking it. Like you're at some Hollywood part in the 1960s.
Which is essentially what All About Eve is about. The cut throat world of Hollywood in the 60s where there can only be one or two leading ladies at a time.
All About Eve broke the record for Academy Award nominations with 14 (won 6) and it widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
Turquoise Blue + Cocktail (1988)
- Cocktail: 2/5
- Movie: 3/5
The Turquoise Blue will give you a cavity. This thing is so sweet it immediately gave me heartburn. It's
not something I would ever drink, but the 80s was all about those sweet cocktails... maybe it had something to do with all the cigarette smoking and cocaine?
Anyway, I would not order this at a bar. It tasted like a relic. How everything in the 60s had gelatin in it, every drink in the 80s had to be neon colored.
Cocktail surprised me... because I always thought it was this movie about how cool it would be to sling drinks in the 1980s Wall Street sort of way. But it really is secretly the history of TGI Fridays. No really, this is about the origin of TGI Fridays.
Singapore Slings + Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)
- Cocktail: 4/5
- Movie: 4/5
The Singapore Sling requires a lot of ingredients... but it's good. I can see why it costs $13 at a bar. Like the Long Island Iced Tea, it drinks too easily for how much booze it has in it, but unlike the Long Island Iced Tea, it tastes delicious.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is still a fun movie. Sort of light-hearted. It's just about these drug addled losers, that don't ever face consequences for the crazy stuff they do. They don't really hurt anyone else (other than the PTSD of dealing with them)
