Friday, October 11, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - Biopix

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  This week, we have wine pairings for three films which the Dewey Decimal System would categorize under 921. 

Inquiring minds want to know. That's why we people-watch. Why else would we care about what other people are doing, except to satisfy our own curiosity? When I see a bottle of wine in someone's shopping cart, I'm curious about it. I crane my neck to see what wine this person is buying. I spin a tale in my mind about why that person chose that wine. Sometimes I'll even ask, which usually gets a mind-your-own-business stare directed at me. Biographies satisfy our craving to look inside the lives of famous people. They also give us an opportunity to have a glass of wine, which is always appreciated. 

From 1994, Ed Wood takes a lighthearted look at the filmmaker who gave us Glen or Glenda and Plan 9 from Outer Space. What a cast! Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Marie and Patricia Arquette, to name more than a few, all tug on the heartstrings with comedic chops. 

Director Tim Burton says he made the movie because he's an Ed Wood fan. That's why there is so little snark in it. It was made from love. Wood might be known as the King of the B-movie, if not for his films ranking several notches below B.

It's the one-word quotes from Ed Wood that resonate with me. Murray's laconic "Sure," in response to whether he had accepted Jesus as his savior. And I love Depp's answer to his crew when they ask him what to do as they see the cops coming toward their unpermitted street filming: "Run!"

Forget Bela Lugosi's "No. I never drink… wine" comment. We have two wine pairings for Ed Wood. The film's star, Johnny Depp, reportedly doesn't drink any more. Try to resist the cheap "but he doesn't drink any less" gag. When he did drink, though, you see where all that pirate money went. He had a taste for Bordeaux, namely Château Cheval Blanc and Petrus. If you don't happen to have a few grand lying about for those sorts of purchases, we'll scale it back some. Le Petit Cheval is Cheval Blanc's second label wine. It goes for right around $200, so drink up. 

1964's Becket is more a British historical drama than a biopic. And we all know what a basket of laughs those British historical dramas can be. Just kidding. I'll watch anything starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton and John Gielgud. Just have them read the phone book and argue over it.

I'm a little light on my British history, but Thomas Becket was a pal of King Henry II. They probably drank mead together, but they drank something, that's for sure. Henry relied upon Becket to run his court, get him women, be Lord Chancellor, get him women, go hunting with him, get him women. 

The high and mighty behind the king took a genuine dislike to Becket, what with him just being a Saxon and all. The king, a bit drunk at the time, wondered aloud if he'd be better off with his friend-turned-enemy dead. The high and mighty do the honors at Canterbury Cathedral. It's one of the Canterbury Tales. You could look it up.

Hundreds of years later, in the 16th century, an "a" got slipped into his name, making it Thomas a'Becket. Somehow, that was supposed to make him more palatable to Protestants. I don't know how that works. It must have been in the British history book I never read. Anyway, I only bring it up because…

The wine pairing comes from a'Beckett's Vineyard. Seems there's an extra "t" in there, too. Ah, nevermind. The Langham family makes a nice his-and-hers English sparkling wine duo, a brut and a rosé from the soil of Wiltshire. Cheers. 

Isadora is the 1968 biopic of dancer Isadora Duncan. She gained worldwide fame as a dancer, someone who created beauty yet suffered unimaginable pain during her life and died tragically at only 50 years old.

We all know what happens to free-spirited artists who seem to have things going along too nicely. That's right, torture. This film covers Duncan's too-short life in all the detail that fits in nearly three hours. Over the years the running time has been altered several times. So you may miss a few highlights. Save your tears for the right times. And do not cut any of Vanessa Redgrave's lines!

Duncan lost her two children when the car they were in drove into the Seine river. An automobile figures prominently in her own death, too. She took a ride in someone's Bugatti convertible in Nice. Her long scarf - flapping in the breeze behind her - got tangled in the car's wheel and strangled her. I must admit, that is a bit more tortured than I want my own demise to play out.

The Wine Collective, out of Baltimore, has a rosé named after Duncan. Isadora is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Manseng and Merlot grapes that were grown in Virginia. Having had good experiences with Virginia wines, I can venture that sipping this one will be nothing close to torture.


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