Everything is awesome this week, as we go down familiar territory with a FULL EPISODE treatment of Fresh Pour favorite The LEGO Movie! Geek Girl Chicago herself joins us to talk about this past spring’s surprisingly-great kid’s flick/Danish brick product placement, in which dopey Emmet (Chris Pratt) is dragged into an improbable and genre-savvy adventure to save the many realms of LEGO from the nefarious schemes of Lord Business (Will Ferrell).
Along the way, we discuss our personal LEGO experiences, the fast and frenetic style of filmmakers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, and whether or not the message of the movie even works. Drink along with our amazing custom cocktail and drinking rules!
This week on Alcohollywood, we get in touch with our primitive side with returning guest Theo as we check out the stark prehistoric film Quest for Fire! A strange blend of speculative historical documentary and hero’s journey, the film follows a small group of Neanderthals (including Silver Bullet’s Everett McGill and Bunraku’s Ron Perlman) who must travel to find a new source for fire after it is lost. Along the way, they encounter apelike homo erectus, advanced homo sapiens (including a mesmerizing Rae Dawn Chong) and prehistoric animals of varying levels of terror. The film itself is a fascinating watch that’s difficult to quantify, but we certainly give it our shot. Also be sure to check out our drinking rules and custom cocktail below!
This week on Alcohollywood, we’ve got a very special guest: Nathan Rabin, former head writer for The Onion AV Club and current contributor to The Dissolve! He joins us to talk about the the samurai western gangster musical film mash-up Bunraku! In a post-apocalyptic world without guns, a drifter (Josh Hartnett) and samurai (Gackt) must team up with a saloon owner (Woody Harrelson) to defeat a mob boss (Ron Perlman) for unknown reasons. What follows is a stylish, but ultimately schizophrenic exercise in style and theatricality for its own sake. Take a listen below, and check out our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
SUPPLEMENTAL READING: Nathan Rabin has written on Bunraku previously for The Dissolve. Plus, he's currently celebrating the one-year anniversary of the release of his latest book, You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me. Pick it up now!
This week on Alcohollywood, we take a break from video games, space cats and gangster lizards to take on something a little more sensitive – the 1979 Peter Sellers film Being There. One of his last roles, Sellers plays an unassuming, exceedingly ‘simple’ gardener named Chance, whose sheltered lifestyle is changed forever when his benefactor dies. Entering the harsh outside world, his tenuous grasp on reality and the nature of things manages to exert incredible influence on the people around him, including the President of the United States (Jack Warden). It’s a difficult (and utterly fascinating) film to describe, but we give it our best shot, along with writers/best buddies David and Clayton of Our Fair City! Also, check out our drinking game and custom cocktail below!