This week on Alcohollywood, recurring guest Derek joins us as we check out one of the more unconventional listener requests we’ve been given – 2009’s Japanese dramedy Fish Story! The tale of an obscure punk song that ends up saving the world from a deadly comet, Fish Story is an anthology film featuring vignettes from 1975 all the way to the apocalyptic world of 2012, showing the different ways in which the song (and the story that inspired it) dramatically affects people’s lives. It’s quirky and offbeat, to be sure, but the film is earnest and unpredictable enough to be surprisingly charming. If you can find it, you really should check it out – along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Jared and Clint recently recorded a guest spot on Geekspotting (our guests from the Time Bandits episode), which you can find here!
Also, Clint will be at C2E2 moderating the Let’s Play Panel Sunday, April 27th at 10:45am at McCormick Place, featuring frequent guest Grant of Chip and Ironicus, so be sure to check us out in room S401ab!
This week on Alcohollywood, Clayton Faits of Our Fair City and Chicago actor Andrew Saenz joins us to take a look at the Robin Williams science fiction vehicle Bicentennial Man! Adapted from the short story and novel by author Isaac Asimov, the film follows two hundred years of a robot butler (Williams) who strives to be human. This includes falling in love with the granddaughter of his original charge (Embeth Davidtz). Directed by Chris Columbus, the film is a bit of a sentimental slog of weepy scenes about life and love. That being said, it gives us a lot to talk about. Kick back and give us a listen with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
This week on Alcohollywood, we saddle up with Our Fair City writer (and friend of the show) David Rheinstrom to take a look at Silverado, the 1985 ensemble Western written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan! The film stars Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner as a ragtag band of gunslingers who help each other deal with their personal demons and long-standing rivals, including Brian Dennehy as a corrupt sheriff and Jeff Fahey as an unhinged outlaw. Silverado has a great, fun energy to it while also deftly juggling a complex plot and a large cast of characters. We've also got a custom cocktail and drinking rules to help you beat the heat of the Old West!
In the wake of a horrifying kidnapping, Clint must go Jared-less for this week’s episode of Alcohollywood! Joined by grizzled detective (and previous guest) Max and special guest, comedian Kris Flanagan, the trio attempt to keep Jared alive by enduring and drinking to The Watcher, the 2000 serial killer thriller starring James Spader and Keanu Reeves (who was under duress for the making of the film, his signature literally having been forged on a contract)!
This film, in which grizzled ex-cop Spader is chased in Chicago by a serial killer he unsuccessfully chased in his old job, feels like the try-hard little brother of Se7en, with none of the screenwriting savvy or directorial style to make it really work. Director Joe Charbanic (who clearly only directed shitty MTV music videos before this) employs every horrible directorial choice you could imagine, from stuttering frames over half the movie to strange flashes of white and film negative, leading to one of the ugliest movies we’ve seen on the show. However, we’ve got some liquid encouragement to help you through this fascinating failure with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
We’ve also got some great Alcohollywoood fanart for this film, courtesy of fan (and mailbag submitter for this film) Louisa Giffard – click the link to see it!