Showing posts with label film humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film humor. Show all posts

Monday, November 4, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - The Body Politic

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 a trio of films to remind us that November 5th is Election Day. Vote, please. And enjoy the wine pairings for each movie.

There are some places in the US where a person cannot get a drink on Election Day. Prohibition-era laws are still on the books in Alaska, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico that prevent people from buying alcohol on the same day we vote for president. That's the day we may need it most. The ban resulted from politicians who tried to buy votes with free booze. Today, politicians try to buy votes with promises of tax cuts and big, beautiful walls. And tariffs. Tariffs? You expect to get votes with tariffs? Whatever works. 

The Best Man is a 1964 political film written by Gore Vidal, who also wrote the stage play. It's not about the guy standing next to the groom at a wedding. It's about which man is best suited to be president. It was 1964, so the thought of a woman running for president was only for little girls playing with their D.C. Barbies.

Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson play the candidates here, a principled veteran and a smarmy upstart, both vying for their party's nomination. We don't know which party, because way back then, there actually were principled people on both sides. 

Kevin McCarthy is in the movie, but not as a candidate. However, his real-life cousin Eugene McCarthy would run for president in 1968. Remember that great McCarthy scene at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers? He screams at the camera, "They’re here already! You're next!" Could the pod people have been the beginning of the MAGA movement? Seems a little far-fetched, but then so does the MAGA movement. 

Lodi's Michael David Winery has a Bordeaux-style wine called Politically Correct Red Blend. It's a speak-no-evil concoction that sells for $50. Enjoy it before it gets canceled. 

From 2005, Good Night and Good Luck brought us a reminder of what can happen when unprincipled people gain power. US Senator Joseph McCarthy was a howling lunatic, and I hold papers in my hand which prove it. You know I'm lying because how could I type while holding papers in my hand? He fooled a lot of people with that gambit though. 

Joe McCarthy was no relation, by the way, to Senator Eugene McCarthy, although the two did debate each other on TV in the early 1950s. That must have been confusing for the moderators. "The next question is for Senator McCarthy, er, Mr. McCarthy, er, oh hell, the guy on the left."

George Clooney played CBS News exec Fred Friendly, and David Strathairn's Edward R. Murrow had me believing that the venerable newsman had been resurrected, complete with a pack of Rod Serling smokes. 

Hope Family Wines makes the Troublemaker Red Blend. It takes grapes from the Central Coast, from Paso Robles down into Santa Barbara County. Odd pricing: a bottle is $20, a 3-liter bottle (4 regulars) is $100. I guess the huge bottle is worth something. 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was directed by the great Frank Capra and starred Jimmy Stewart as senatorial neophyte Jefferson Smith. He wants to take a piece of land and do good with it, while an elder statesman wants to make money with it. Let the clashing begin.

Nobody could do an impassioned speech like Stewart. His verbal takedown of the bad pol in the chamber is a classic. You haven't seen such sweating on the Senate floor since Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. 

The movie was criticized at the time by politicians. You had to see that coming. They said the film cast Washington in a bad light. Reading that sentence in today's political climate is cause for guffaws. What kind of light do you have that will make Washington look good? A magic lamp? If you turn it on and a genie pops out, ask it for some principled Republicans and a nice bottle of Chianti. Sim sala bim. 

Master of Wine Tim Atkin writes that when politicizing wine, the big, bold reds are usually favored by conservatives, while more restrained efforts capture the hearts of liberals. I don't know about that, but from France, where they never accepted the idea of Freedom Fries, comes Château Haut-Bages Liberal. It's a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend that sells for around $50, depending on the vintage. Liberal, by the way, is the name of a previous owner of the estate a couple hundred years ago. Just goes to show, if you get your name on a French wine, it stays there. 


Follow Randy Fuller on X


Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - Halloween Haunts

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 scare up wine pairings for three movies that fit right into Halloween week. 

Eye of the Devil is a British horror film from 1966 starring Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Donald Pleasence and Sharon Tate. Wait, did you say Donald Pleasence? Well, that's how we know it's a movie fit for Halloween. Who could forget Dr. Loomis in the Halloween movies? Not to mention, he was Blofeld for Bond's sake! I will always have a special place in my heart for his portrayal of a sniveling POTUS in Escape from New York. I'm sure I'm not alone there. 

The story of Eye of the Devil is a real horror tale for a wine lover. A Bordeaux vintner's grape vines stopped bearing fruit three years ago. *GASP* Not that! Believe it or not, it gets worse. The old chateau is hella creepy, but aren't they all? They're all old, too. Nobody's making any new chateaux. 

When a dead dove falls at your feet as you step out of the car, and the bird gets sacrificed at some sort of altar, logic would intervene and tell you to get the hell out of that creepy, old chateau before you become an appeasement. But is that what happens? Nooooooo, it's not. He thinks he'll beat the odds after a couple dozen estate owners before him have died mysteriously. Ask any gambler: the chateau always wins.

The magazine Wine Enthusiast is enthused this year with haunted wineries. One of them is in Napa Valley. At Trefethen Family Vineyards, a thief was reportedly caught red-handed about a hundred years ago and hung from the rafters. They say his shadow still swings to and fro when the light is just right. Trefethen's Oak Knoll District Red Blend goes for the swingin' price of $85.

The Evil Dead is a 1981 horror film directed by Sam Raimi in his first outing behind the lens.

Five college kids are having a holiday at a cabin in the woods. Uh-oh. A cabin in the woods. That's bad news. How many horror films do you have to see that center on a cabin in the woods before you start looking at better accommodations? "No, let's hide over there, behind the chain saws!"

Anyway, this is the film that put the character of Ash Williams on his way to being a franchise. Five films, a TV series, a video game, and comic books; this movie hit the jackpot. 

The kids find a cassette tape, and when they play it all hell breaks loose. Like, literally. It was a mantra in the '80s: "Always know where that mixtape came from." Inevitably, a bloodbath ensues, most of it caused by Ash. A superhero walks among us. As the last eye has been gouged out and the Tibetan Book of the Dead thrown into the fireplace, all is quiet on the woodsy front. Or is it?

The Beringer estate in Napa Valley says the halls of the Rhine House echo with whispers. Hopefully, none of those whisperers are giving away any trade secrets from the 1880s. If any of those ghostly apparitions are whispering that they are "not drinking any f*cking Merlot," pour them a glass of Beringer's Winery Exclusive Merlot for just $35 a bottle.

In 1977's The Sentinel, we see a woman renting a room in an old house that's been divided into apartments. As it turns out, it's owned by the Catholic Church, and it contains a portal into hell. Is anyone surprised at that?

What have we told you about creepy, old houses? Was the fact that one of the tenants is a blind priest not plain enough for you to see? Look, if you insist on ignoring all the signs that you're in a horror movie, we're just gonna have to let you go.

The portal to hell is a regular Penn Station for demons. They're coming and going, inviting others to join them, seemingly having a grand old time. Grand enough for demons, anyway. "I'll see you in hell" isn't part of an Irish curse for these demons. It's their way of saying "au revoir."

Demolition and reconstruction of the old brownstone isn't enough to take care of that doorway into Hades. The building may be newer, but now the resident on the top floor is a blind nun. To whom, presumably, a nod is as good as a wink.

The Winery at Marjim Manor claims to have five people and a dog haunting their space in upstate New York. No demons reported, but what's that portal there in the cellar room? They have a four-bottle package called Ghost Story Gift Pack for just under $50, if you order before midnight tonight. Operators are standing by. 


Follow Randy Fuller on X


Friday, October 25, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - FEMJEP: Women In Trouble

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 pair wines with three films about women in various kinds of danger. 

In Kinky Friedman's detective novels, he and his posse had a code to use in instances when one of them needed help. MIT stood for Man In Trouble, and it carried the same effect as 911 does today in a text. There is a well-worn film trope to add suspense to a script: put a woman in trouble. Would that be WIT? Well, I guess it would be FEMJEP in this article. Let's roll with that and get to the good stuff.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar is the 1977 film that was based on the real-life murder of a woman. Diane Keaton played the role to the hilt. She was a nice girl in the daytime and a sexual thrill seeker at night. Spoiler alert: her taste in men was her downfall. This character wrote the book on "good girls like bad boys."

Her string of one night stands was adventurous, if maybe ill advised. If you're looking for Mr. Gere, you'll find him as one of her dangerous liaisons. In theaters, you could hardly hear the dialogue over the audience collectively muttering, "Girl, get outta there."

The film was the talk of the town that year, but Keaton did not get an Oscar nomination for her performance. That's because Annie Hall happened. That movie not only brought her a nice piece of hardware, it let her play a character who was a lot less likely to die during sex.

As luck would have it, there is a wine called The Keaton Red Blend. It is a combination of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah sourced in California's North Coast area. It sells for around $20. If you can't find it, keep looking.

When I started researching Private Parts, I thought, "Wait a sec. How much danger was Robin Quivers actually in?" Oh, right. The 1972 Private Parts was less funny and much scarier than the 1997 affair, unless you're not a big Stern fan. In which case it was funnier and not so scary. 

In this horror flick, the character Cheryl runs out on her roommate and goes to a creepy, old hotel full of weirdos and peepholes. Again, we mutter, "Girl, get outta there." But this time, it's not just FEMJEP, it's EVERYBODYJEP. 

I never had a life size, blow-up doll I could dress up in lingerie. It's one of many things for which I am thankful in my life. I never lived in a creepy, old hotel full of weirdos and peepholes. More thankful. Even without those touchstones, I could see the end of this movie coming during the lingerie modeling session. The twist, however, was interesting.

In France's Loire Valley, there is a spooky, old château known as the Château de Brissac. They say the place is haunted by a woman killed there centuries ago by her jealous husband. Haunted it could be, but it doesn't stop them from making wine there. Their Cremant de Loire is a Chenin Blanc sparkler that sells for less than $20. 

Caged Heat is the 1974 women-in-prison epic in which Jonathan Demme popped his directorial cherry. If the mere phrase, "women-in-prison," makes you think of producer Roger Corman, you are correct. You get slightly fewer points if you had to sneak a peek at the tagline: "WHITE HOT DESIRES MELTING COLD PRISON STEEL!" All caps and an exclamation point, please. 

The women who are the titular caged heat are set against a sadistic warden, the part for which Barbara Steele was born to play. Multiple jailbreaks, shock therapy, various forms of assault and plenty of vehicle chases deliver all the action the film's title promises. In some corners, Demme's direction was hailed for stylishly lifting a sleazy exploitation film to the level of a feminist manifesto. Cheers.

The Prisoner Wine Company has red and a white for a prison film, and both are far better than pruno. You've probably had the red blend. It's very popular. The Blindfold Blanc de Noir is a white Pinot Noir. They have the set for about $80.


Follow Randy Fuller on X


Friday, October 18, 2024

Blood Of The Vines - Make It Again, Sam

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 that are into recycling. 

Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within is a 2010 remake of the 2007 original. It's a Brazilian action film, which may explain why you didn't see it. That may explain why you didn't see the original, either. Everybody in Brazil saw both of them. Where were you? At a soccer match?

The script concerns the laughs and loves of the Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. You can call them PMERJ for short, although it could be the worst acronym ever devised. It's easier to acronymize Park Reverse Neutral Drive Low into PRNDL. In the movie, they sidestep this awkwardness by calling the special ops group BOPE. It still sounds dumb, if you ask me. 

The film's story is incredibly dense. I would love to have listened in on the pitch meeting. "Think Serpico meets The Godfather!" "Which Godfather?" "Doesn't matter." I shouldn't poke fun. It was the biggest box office smash ever in Brazil. 

The action is beyond realistic. One scene, filmed in a residential neighborhood, included 80 real cops, two helicopters and a boatload of badass artillery. The neighbors were ducking and covering. It would have been nice had the producers dropped leaflets first. 

Let's have some wine. North Carolina's Duplin Winery has an Armed Forces Wine, as well as a First Responders Wine. They're made from Muscadine grapes, so let the buyer beware. Since the PMERJ dates back to the Portugal days, try a nice Portuguese grape. Miolo makes a Touriga Nacional in Brazil. If my conversion app is correct, it sells for around $15.

Guess what genre 1984's Ninja III: The Domination falls into. That's right, it's a martial arts film. That's not the reason I like it, though. I like it because James Hong appears in it, like he has in *checks notes* a million other movies and television episodes. Hong is the hardest working man in show business. 

Ninja III follows Enter the Ninja and Revenge of the Ninja in the Ninja trilogy. In this one, a dead ninja takes over the body of a good looking, big haired aerobics instructor. It's a 1980s time capsule, is what it is. She should have used a Thigh Master in her aerobics class.

The call goes out for a Japanese exorcist, which is where Hong comes in. He explains that only a ninja can destroy a ninja, so he leaves an invoice for his services and a ninja's phone number and exits, stage left. There's a lot more ninja action, but you probably won't keep watching this long. Nobody does. 

South African producer Testalonga has an odd line of wines under the El Bandito banner which include I Am the Ninja and I Wish I Was a Ninja. They are sparkling wines, one made from Chenin Blanc and the other made from Colombard grapes. The most interesting thing about these wines may be that the label of one features a dog and the other features a guy in a swimming pool. You'd think one of them would have James Hong's picture on it.

We don't have to tell you what came before Exorcist II: The Heretic. The sequel to that iconic horror film has been described in terms that would make a sailor blush. One critic slammed Exorcist II as "a piece of sh*t," "a f*cking disgrace," and "one of the worst movies ever made." And those comments came from the director of the original Exorcist, who said he'd rather watch a traffic accident. John Boorman, the guy who drew the short straw and had to direct II, wanted the film exorcised from his IMDB page. When they made Exorcist III, they pretended that II had never happened.

When it comes to Exorcist II, the sooner we start drinking, the better. Manos Wine has two California Cabs in etched Exorcist bottles, $74 for the pair. Some customers say they have yet to open the bottles and are using them as decor, which may be the best advice we could give you. 


Follow Randy Fuller on X

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.


Follow Randy Fuller on X