Revisiting A Great Sushi Beer

I've done a little more exploration into a Japanese beer that's available at my local sushi place, Kawaba Sunrise Ale.  It's made in a brewery in Kawaba, which is nestled in the mountains northwest of Tokyo on Japan's main island.  The label shows an origin of 'Denen Plaza Kawaba,' but that appears to be a roadside rest area, albeit an extremely nice one with shopping available.  I presume the brewery is somewhere on the grounds in the village.  The beer is malty, low-alcohol (5%) and leaves behind a pleasant bitter note that really hits the spot with seafood.  

My much better half and I were having sushi the other night.  I love sushi, but the beverage options always leave me cold.  I like wine, but the choices never seem good at a sushi place, at least not the ones we frequent.  Beer always seems to be Asahi or Sapporo, neither a fave.  Our sushi place offers an extensive selection of sake, but I've never delved into that ocean enough to know where I'm swimming.

This night, I noticed a Japanese craft beer, Kawaba Sunrise Ale.  Billed as a red ale, I figured it had to be pretty close to my wheelhouse.  It was good, beery and ale-y enough to make both of us happy.  But that's a fairly weak description, especially for a guy who can go on and on about wine.  Why does beer stump me?

I clicked my way over to Beer Advocate, as I do when I want to know what real beer geeks think about a brew.  The Kabawa had - in one user's opinion - "some caramel malt sweetness and toasted grain… a lightly sweet, even creamy coating of caramel… an increased brown bread quality… some light hops spice… a dry tea leaf feel."  And he didn't think it was all that complex.

Maybe I'll just stick with "gimme an IPA."  That's what I really want when I want a beer.

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Japanese Beer For Sushi That Tastes Great On Its Own

My much better half and I were having sushi the other night.  I love sushi, but the beverage options always leave me cold.  I like wine, but the choices never seem good at a sushi place, at least not the ones we frequent.  Beer always seems to be Asahi or Sapporo, neither a fave.  Our sushi place offers an extensive selection of sake, but I've never delved into that ocean enough to know where I'm swimming.

This night, I noticed a Japanese craft beer, Kawaba Sunrise Ale.  Billed as an unfiltered amber ale, I figured it had to be pretty close to my wheelhouse.  It was good, beery and ale-y enough to make both of us happy.  But that's a fairly weak description, especially for a guy who can go on and on about wine.  Why does beer stump me?

I clicked my way over to Beer Advocate, as I do when I want to know what real beer geeks think about a brew.  The Kabawa had - in one user's opinion - "some caramel malt sweetness and toasted grain… a lightly sweet, even creamy coating of caramel… an increased brown bread quality… some light hops spice… a dry tea leaf feel."  And he didn't think it was all that complex.

Maybe I'll just stick with "gimme an IPA."  That's what I really want when I want a beer.


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Blood Of The Vines - Koo Koo Kaiju

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  They are the walrus. 

This week's wine-and-movie pairings focus our pandemic-weary lens on Japanese kaiju films.  Kaiju is a Japanese word meaning "strange beast."  It does not refer to Two Hands Wine and their Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon.  The word describes the genre of monster films which started in the mid-1950s with Godzilla, as well as the creatures themselves.  Godzilla was born from the nuclear fears of the day, only a decade after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Over the years, numerous kaiju films have depicted the horrors of the nuclear age as monsters either born or unleashed by radiation.

Half Human hails from 1955, although it didn't wash up on American shores until a few years later.  Its Japanese title translates aptly to "Beast-Man Snow-Man."  The story concerns a ski trip gone wrong, thanks to Mr. Half Human himself.  He turns out to be a nice guy after all, but don’t think that stops the search party from chasing him to his death.

This is an opportune moment to think about opening a case of Mistaken Identity Vineyards wines, or at least a bottle.  The vineyard and winery are on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.  A good stone's throw from the U.S. of A., the locale is separated from Washington state by only an imaginary line in the sea.  Their Abbondante Bianco is a good fit here, since kaiju monsters are generally abbondante themselves - on the large side.

You may also want to consider a sake for Half Human, since sake is often incorrectly called rice wine, when it is actually beer made from rice.  There's a very good Japanese craft beer - Kawaba Sunrise Ale - but its alcohol content is a little lean for a monster movie.

The 1966 epic, Gammera the Invincible, is a re-edited version of a film released in Japan a year earlier.  Apparently the audiences clamored for "more kaiju!"  The Gamera franchise never really caught on in the states - this was the first in the series and the only one released in America.  Perhaps it was the additional "m" added to the monster's name that turned away the crowds.  Or, perhaps I'm over-analyzing it. 

Gamera - er, Gammera - looks like a giant fire-snorting prehistoric turtle, and he can bust up an unsuspecting Japanese city just like Godzilla.  He also has a nifty getaway where he turns into a sort of flying saucer.  There must have been a lot of sake poured during the making of this film.  Gamera is ultimately dispatched to Mars by the scientific community’s Z Plan.  I guess Z Plan was Japan's version of Plan 9. 

You are going to need alcohol for Gammera the Invincible.  There is a home brewer in Florida who makes a double chocolate stout named after Gamera, but his quantities are limited, I'm sure.  However, in Inglewood, California, Tortugo Brewing Company uses a Gameraesque creature in their logo.  They even made a hazy double IPA called Gamera.  I think we have a winner.

Oh no, there goes Tokyo.  Godzilla is the king of kaiju, the beast who inspired the genre.  Blue Oyster Cult paid homage to the biggest G of them all in 1977, with lyrics outlining the monster's rampage, the downed power lines, the shocked commuters, the absolute destruction.  Godzilla wraps up by repeating that "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man."  And that, my wine and movie friends, is what kaiju is all about.

In the 1964 classic, Mothra vs Godzilla, the monster is pitted against the insect god.  Mothra gives it a good go while protecting an egg, but cannot overcome the beast's breath.  Have a Mentos, buddy.  Fortunately, two giant larvae burst from the egg as in tag-team wrestling and take charge of driving Godzilla back into the sea.

You'd think it would be easy to find a wine with a pic of Godzilla on the label.  Napa Valley's Adler Fels Winery found out the hard way how many lawyers are working to protect the Godzilla brand.  Nearly two decades ago they had to pour out their Cabzilla over copyright infringement.  Wine writers sometimes refer to high-alcohol wines as Godzillas, so you might try pairing a 15% Zinfandel or a bottle of Port with this movie.  Australian brewer Kaiju Beer reportedly has not yet run into trouble with any attorneys protecting the genre, but look out, Tortugo.


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Blood Of The Vines - More Monsters

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌  ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌  Remnants of Halloween candy wrappers still litter the floor and the jack-o-lantern on the porch has not yet been completely consumed by the squirrels, so we’re still in the mood for a few more monster movies.  There will be pairing opportunities, of course.

Frankenstein Conquers the World is a 1965 kaiju film, the Japanese genre of films featuring giant monsters.  The genre has given us wonders like Godzilla and Mothra, but this one gets a little weird.

So the story goes, the heart of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster was taken to Hiroshima in WWII by the Nazis, see, right about the time the atomic bombs fell.  The heart was blasted by radiation, see, and a new version of The Monster was created.  He is now called Frankenstein.  He acts as a traveling wrecking crew, but he’s really just out looking for something to eat.  Hangry, I guess.

Meanwhile, back at the earthquake, another monster is spotted emerging from a split in the ground.  He is called Baragon.  As if you couldn’t see it coming, the two monsters square off in a climactic battle royale to end the picture.  Fade to black, roll credits.  Some Japanese pop culture just seems weird to me - Hello Kitty, I’m looking at you - but kaiju movies have never failed to entertain.

There is a Kaiju! Beer, from Australia, which represents their monsters more along the lines of psychedelic eyeball Minions than Godzillas.  Their creations don’t rise from nuclear waste, but they have been known to take the use of hops to the extreme.  My kind of giant monster.  If you are really taken with the eyeball theme, try Eyeball Monster Sake, if the shirimes haven’t bought out the store.

In 1981, The Evil Dead took the old cabin-in-the-woods routine and made it the setting for one of the most prolific horror franchises ever.  Creator Sam Raimi no doubt believed in this movie, but he could not have imagined just how successful it would be.  The Evil Dead spawned several sequels, a television series, a video game and an off-Broadway musical.  Gore was the central theme in all its various permutations.  

Another beer?  Have an Evil Dead Red from San Diego’s Alesmith Brewing Company.  They promise the amber beer will make you scream - with delight.

One of those sequels we mentioned was cleverly titled Evil Dead 2.  It came out in 1987, but we have to wonder why it took six years to hit that cash register button.  The gore is still there, but a bit of comic relief was mixed in and it stayed in the recipe.  Who doesn’t love their blood-soaked horror served up with some laughs?

You’ll want this wine for Evil Dead 2 - or any of the original film’s offspring.  Hob Nob Wicked Red has a wonderful skull on the label.  The French Pays d’Oc wine may not be a 100-pointer, and it may not be truly evil, but at least it’s cheap.

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Blood Of The Vines - Sam's The Man

 

Pairing wine with movies!  See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell.  I awoke to news that some 70 million bottles of Italian wine are being turned into hand sanitizer.  This pandemic, before it's all over, may reduce me to pairing alcohol gel with movies.

 

This week’s offerings are three films by Samuel Fuller, with whom I share a last name.  There is no DNA trace here - about which I am aware - so I have no stories about ol' uncle Sammy misbehaving after downing too much Beaujolais Nouveau at Thanksgiving dinners.  We do, however, have a celluloid history of his penchant for making movies on topics many other filmmakers wouldn't touch.

In the 1959 noir classic The Crimson Kimono, Fuller takes on the relationship between race and romance.  Two L.A. cops both fall for the same girl in Little Tokyo, and she chooses the one who happens to be of Japanese descent.  That was Fuller's hallmark, the choice of material that made mainstream Hollywood - and mainstream America - uncomfortable.

The film's one-sheet leans into the titillation factor - "a beautiful American girl in the arms of a Japanese boy" - and wonders what his "strange appeal" is for American women.  The movie can only be seen in an anachronistic light now, possibly partly because of its impact.  The two cops are friends - roommates, even - but friction develops between them when the white cop doesn't like the idea of the girl going for the Asian guy.

Now, a wine pairing for The Crimson Kimono.  It's a shame that Open Kimono wines - a Washington Riesling and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc - appear to be unavailable now.  You can try a sake - basically Japanese rice wine, but it's brewed - or something with more of a Los Angeles connection.  For years, the Wilson building on Wilshire at La Brea had a huge ad sign on its roof for Asahi beer.  It is a very film-friendly brew.

1952's Park Row has been mentioned as a low-budget Citizen Kane due to its newspaper-based storyline.  While its scale wasn't as grand as that of the Welles classic, it was about two competing newspapers, and it was in black and white.

The volume of booze which could be put away by those known back in the day as "newspapermen" is the stuff of legends.  I knew of an ink-slinger who used to get his liquor store bill at the newspaper office each month.  On the envelope, the merchant had written, "Pay me, mother****er" for all to see.  Rather than shaming him, it was a sort of badge of courage for the colorful writer, whose reputation was built on such instances.

Those bills were no doubt for hard liquor, so any readily available bourbon would go nicely with a movie about the newspaper business.  There is also a British company which packages in a gift box a vintage Bordeaux alongside an old newspaper.  I'm not kidding about that.  However, if you're looking to make headlines, there's Headline Wines.  The line is aimed at a younger age group - the kind who may not have ever actually read a newspaper, but know that wine comes in cans and boxes now.

1959's Verboten! is in Fuller's wheelhouse.  It's a war movie, dubya dubya two.  It's about as subtle as a fist in the face, and that is for the best when telling a story of Nazi Germany.  The title came from the pages of the U.S. Army code of conduct, which forbade the fraternization of U.S. soldiers and German women.  The story revolves around a love triangle involving a G.I., a German woman and a former German soldier who didn't quite get the memo that the war was over.

"Verboten" means "forbidden" in German.  In Spanish it’s "prohibito," "interdit" in French and "zakazana" in Polish.  Someone, somewhere, probably translates the title as "oh no you don’t, not with her."  Paul Anka croons the theme song from the movie: "Verboten, verboten, our love is verboten…"  I don’t recall hearing that on American Bandstand.

Colorado's Verboten Brewing takes its name from the "forbidden" ingredients rejected by the German Purity Law for beer.  As for a wine pairing, make it a Riesling, the German export that Angela Merkel is heavily involved in pushing right now.  Doctor Heidemanns "Blitz" Riesling translates as "lightning," by the way.

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Blood Of The Vines - Still More Movies You Never Heard Of

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 dig around in the depths of our streaming platforms to find some forgotten films. We likely won't have to dig too deep to find wine pairings for the movies.

Here is another round of movies you probably don't know about, selected by the TFH gurus specifically for their insider cachet. Wine people also have a deep love for stuff which they feel only they know about. It's why you see so many nerds standing around the intersection of film and wine. 

Giants and Toys is a 1958 Japanese satire on corporate greed. The battle between competing candy conglomerates centers on a young lady who is chosen to be the face of one of these companies. Think "Gerber baby, older with a less winning smile."

She also gets to don a space suit and play around with a ray gun. I suppose she is armed in case of a surprise Godzilla attack, although Megalon and Mothra could be lurking in the shadows, too. Turns out the gig is not for her because, ya know, what she really wants to do is direct. 

While searching for a wine pairing for Giants and Toys I came across a giant wine glass offered on eBay, which is really a wine bottle with a glass affixed to its neck. Any number of cheap wines are likely available at Giant Foods, although you're probably better off with their beer selection. But, let's get serious. 

Here is a Japanese wine, made from a Japanese grape. Well, Koshu is actually a cross of Vitis vinifera and several East Asian varieties, but it is grown in Japan. Ajimu Budoushu Koubou Koshu is a white wine offering lemon, lime and almond notes. It should pair well with certain candies, too.

In 2018's Standoff at Sparrow Creek, members of a small vigilante group are holed up overnight in a warehouse while they try to figure out which one of them shot up a police funeral. The group is described as a militia, but for Second Amendment fans, let's be real. You and five of your well-armed friends do not constitute a militia. 

Standoff is a well respected film, a taut and suspenseful thriller, according to some critics. There is a big twist at the end and a lot of shooting leading up to it. Maybe the guy who was in charge of buying the body armor got mixed up and contacted Under Armor by mistake. There should be a refund due to those who remain alive. 

I could not find a winery named Sparrow Creek, but I found some wines bearing that moniker. It's an old trick in California bulk wine to devise a name for the label through a formula. You choose an animal, then a geographical feature, and put them together. Sparrow Creek Merlot is a natural from this type of branding. How many wines have you seen on supermarket shelves bearing names like Rabbit River, Moose Mountain or Hare Hollow? That formula is the reason why. 

When you want to show off your knowledge of unknown movies, citing a couple of foreign films is always a good idea. The Last Judgment was made in Italy in 1961. It starts with a voice coming from the heavens, announcing that the day of judgment has arrived and will happen at 6:00 that evening. That leaves a matter of hours in which you can repent, or not, or get in a few last good times before it's all over. The film examines how several locals handle the news that it's the end of the world as we know it. 

The movie has an all-star cast of international proportions. Jack Palance and Ernest Borgnine represent the U.S. and give us a great reason to watch. From Greece, France and Italy come Melina Mercouri, Fernandel, Anouk Aimée and Lino Ventura.

Just for fun, let's pair The Last Judgment with bottles from the wineries that rocked the world in the Judgment of Paris, the 1976 wine competition. The highest scoring red and white wines at the event were from Stag's Leap and Chateau Montelena, which beat out an array of highly-touted French wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy. 

The 2021 Stag's Leap Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon tastes just as good as it did 50 vintages ago and sells for $70. Chateau Montelena's 2021 Napa Valley Chardonnay costs $75 these days. It's the modern vintage of the wine which was featured in the movie, Bottle Shock.

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Blood Of The Vines: From Russia With Love

Wine Goes To The Movies 

With Now And Zin and Trailers From Hell

British secret agent James Bond gave the world its most famous drink order: “A martini - shaken, not stirred.”  Even if you don’t like martinis, it sounds great in Sean Connery’s dulcet tones.  If Bond had been a Russian, he might have asked for “Wodka - leave the bottle.”  But then he would have been working the wrong side of the Cold War street, would have worn a fur hat - and we would have rooted against him.

An American James Bond may have ordered a martini as well, but probably would have asked for it “dirty.”

James Bond hailing from Spain or Italy would certainly have gone for bubbles, but the order might have been badly dubbed.  Cava, por favor.  Prosecco, si prega di.

A French spy?  Champagne, of course.  He's licensed to chill.  Bollinger has been 007's bubble of choice for years, but Dom Perignon was the thing early in the franchise.  1953, s'il vous plait. He finds the '55 Dom useful in hand-to-hand combat - in Dr. No, Bond is ready to clobber the bad doctor with that vintage until a moment of civility overtakes him.

If Bond had been Canadian, he may have tried to pry state secrets from the enemy with a friendly game of Beer Hunter.  Remember James, only one can of the sixer gets shaken.

Germany's answer to the secret agent would no doubt have ordered Riesling - with the help of M's Riesling label decoder ring.

A Japanese Bond would have... been Charlie Chan.  Waiter, sake for number one son.

It doesn't really matter what the drink is, though, as long as 007 can share it with a Bond Girl.  Daniela Bianchi, in "From Russia With Love," fits the role just fine.

TFH guru Brian Trenchard-Smith points out in his commentary that “From Russia With Love” was not only one of John F. Kennedy’s favorite books, it was the last movie he ever saw.  Kennedy screened the James Bond followup to “Dr. No” the night before he left for Dallas.

For this Bond film, we will go for a Cold War favorite - well, a cellar-temperature war favorite.  Russian wine is not easy to come by, but it’s out there.

Grapes have been cultivated for centuries in Russia, but the advent of the modern era of Russian wine was a 19th century Crimean sparkling wine factory.  Much like the US had its Prohibition to stop the growth of a burgeoning wine industry, so Russia had the revolution of 1917.  That’s when the French left the country and took their winemaking know-how with them.  Russia now has only half the vineyard land it had during the 1980s, largely because of former Soviet head-of-state Mikhail Gorbachev’s campaign to stamp out alcoholism.  One might argue that vodka is more to blame for the country's alcoholism problem, and their current leader agrees.

Abrau-Durso is Russia's oldest Champagne house - why do they call it Champagne? - and the Rusky sparkler can be found online for anywhere from $10 to $50 a bottle.  Shaken, Mr. bond?  "Nyet."

Blood Of The Vines: More Movies You Never Heard Of

Trailers From Hell is featuring more movies you never heard of this week, so my wine selections should be easy pairings - more wines you never heard of.  Wine aficionados and movie buffs say those are the best ones, anyway.  Everybody likes to think they are a cult of one.  In my younger days, music at my place was like "stump the band."  If you had ever heard it anywhere else, it wouldn't find my turntable.  My fondness for Bruce Springsteen's music knew no limits in those years, but diminished with each of my friends who signed on as believers.  Oh, I still liked him as a superstar, it just wasn't the same with everyone else on board. 

Admiral is a 2014 South Korean film, one of the many which did not receive an Academy Award for Best Picture.  The South Korean director who did win mentioned that he would proceed to drink until dawn.  That is something, I am told, directors are sometimes given to do - whether they win an Oscar or not.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin has just 13 battleships against a 300-ship Japanese fleet in the Battle of Myeongryang.  So this is a movie you've never heard of, as well as a movie the details of which you cannot pronounce.  Perhaps it pairs with a Scotch whisky, most of which no one can pronounce, either, like Bunnahabhain.  Or an ornery beer, like Westvleteren 12.  Let's get sweet with a German Riesling classified as Trockenbeerenauslese. 

From 2004, 800 Bullets is a Spanish film by director Álex de la Iglesias.  He is listed further down in the Iglesias Google search than Enrique, Julio and Gabriel combined.  Much further.  A film which is a tip of the Pale Rider hat to Spaghetti westerns should be an easy Italian choice, but hold on, amico.  Those films were shot in Almería, Spain, as was 800 Bullets, just across the Alboran Sea from Morocco.  A wine from the southern reaches of the Iberian peninsula? Sherry, perhaps!  Not unless granny was a stunt double.  Those daredevils deserve a strong, spicy, peppery red wine that lives it up and ages fast.  Break out a cheap Garnacha from anywhere in Spain.  Screwcap!  Action!

Documentaries often appear on lists of movies you haven't seen, and that goes double for non-narrative documentaries like 1992's Baraka.  Maybe you also didn't see the 2012 sequel, Samsara.  Filmed in 23 different countries, Baraka shows image after image after striking image, without many words.  As a wine writer, I am always looking for words to describe what I taste.  Pictures are for marketers, so they can grab your attention on a crowded wine store shelf with kittens and kangaroos and such. 

If you are adventurous enough to watch Baraka, you are probably adventurous enough to seek out the namesake Croatian wine, produced across the Adriatic Sea from Italy.  The Baraka Prisbus Riserva is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend that's been in the cellar for three years and sports a very conservative label, sans critters.

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Blood Of The Vines - Getting Small

Pairing‌‌ ‌‌wine‌‌ ‌‌with‌‌ ‌‌movies!‌‌  ‌‌See‌‌ ‌‌the‌‌ ‌‌trailers‌‌ ‌‌and‌‌ ‌‌hear‌‌ ‌‌the‌‌ ‌‌fascinating‌‌ ‌‌commentary‌‌ ‌‌for‌‌ ‌‌these‌‌ ‌‌‌ movies‌,‌ ‌‌and‌‌ ‌‌many‌‌ ‌‌more‌,‌ ‌‌at‌‌ ‌‌Trailers‌‌ ‌‌From‌‌ ‌‌Hell.‌‌ This week's triple play of classic films are about getting small.  Steve Martin had the smallness concept in his stand-up act way back when - "Let’s get small…" - but the examples of "small getting" in these films were not for recreational purposes.

The 1966 fantasy, Fantastic Voyage, features a team of miniaturized specialists who are injected into a scientist to clear up a blood clot in his brain.  They race against the clock, as the "getting small" effect lasts only a short time.   Along with Stephen Boyd, Edmund O'Brien, Donald Pleasence and  Arthur Kennedy, Raquel Welch is a co-star.  The miniature Raquel, by the way, looks as good as life-size.  There is a Cold War slant to this mid-60s offering, with Rooskie commies serving as the bad guys.

Let's do a cocktail for Fantastic Voyage, one that stole the name from the movie.  The Fantastic Voyage cocktail is one of those recipes that infuriates me, because I don't keep Japanese whisky, Vanille de Madagascar or lightning bolt shaped orange peel around the house.  I'm lucky to have the Riesling and the club soda on hand.  Home mixologists, enjoy.

1987’s Innerspace drew its inspiration from Fantastic Voyage.  The story follows another miniaturization experiment gone wrong.  The film was directed by TFH head guru Joe Dante, so I suppose I had better write some nice things about Innerspace or suffer retribution from the boss!  Only kidding.  Joe rarely beats the staff, and even then only until morale improves.

Here's a surprise - Innerspace beer.  It comes from Huntsville, Alabama and promises suds for the final frontier.  They seem focused on outer space, but their menu looks tasty.  

The Incredible Shrinking Man brightened up 1957.  The story has a guy - exposed to a misty fog - getting smaller and smaller until you need an electron microscope to see him.  The special effects guys worked overtime on this one.  Loyalists will praise the shrunken man's confrontation with a house cat and his battle with a spider - both much larger than him.

Incredibly - pardon the pun - Mr. Shrinking Man would not get a girlfriend until decades later, when The Incredible Shrinking Woman would try playing the small scenario for laughs.

Joie de Vivre Wines has a Shrunken Head Red, which may or may not answer your questions of how that head was shrunk.  I'm betting it didn't float in on a fog.

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