This week on Alcohollywood, Blake Goble of Consequence of Sound joins us to pay homage to Prince in the wake of his tragic passing with his flawed-but-singular 1984 opus Purple Rain! Telling the tale of young Prince (played here, oddly, by late-twenties Prince already in his sexual-dandy outfits) and his struggle to get to the top of the Minneapolis music scene, Purple Rain is chock full of Prince’s thumping soundtrack, incredible concert sequences, and…some pretty unfortunate acting and a threadbare narrative connecting everything together. In spite of all that, it remains a wonderful testament to the genius of Prince’s persona – put on your raspberry beret and lace cravat and take a listen, along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
(Thanks to our sponsor Cards Against Humanity as part of the Chicago Podcast Coop!)
This week, playwright Dusty Wilson joins us once again to keep the rain train a’rolling with 80s action-thriller Black Rain, directed by Ridley Scott! One of the most non-Michael Mann encapsulations of 80s gritty cheese, Black Rain follows hard-nosed Dirty Harry type Nick Conklin (Michael Douglas) as he tries to catch a yakuza murderer who slips from his grasp during a prisoner exchange to Osaka, Japan. The movie’s full of astounding cinematography, amusingly reductive depictions of Japanese culture, and a scene where Andy Garcia shows a Japanese detective how to do karaoke right. Check it out along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
(Thanks to our sponsor Cards Against Humanity as part of the Chicago Podcast Coop!)
April Showers continues with our guests Scott and Eric of The Butter Hours! Week 2 of our marathon of films with ‘rain’ in the title moves forward with the 1990s action-thriller Hard Rain, starring Christian Slater as a nosy armored truck driver who defends his cargo in a flooding rural town from a group of masermind criminals led by Morgan Freeman. Filled with inexplicable Christian imagery and sassy trap-setting Betty Whites, this ‘Die Hard during a flood’ film is a singular wonder. Check out our thoughts along with our custom cocktail and drinking game!
(Thanks to our sponsor Emporium Chicago as part of the Chicago Podcast Coop!)
Now that Jared and Clint have escaped from Mars, they’re stuck on an Earth that perpetually rains! While they figure a way out of this conundrum, they’ll review movies with ‘Rain’ in the title all April, starting with 1988’s Best Picture winner Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as a pair of mismatched brothers – one a selfish yuppie, the other an autistic savant – reconnecting amidst all manner of shenanigans. Despite inspiring a number of crass depictions of developmental disorders in Hollywood and pop culture, the movie itself remains a sweet, funny and surprisingly heartfelt movie. Enjoy it along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
(NOTE: Given that autism is a serious issue, and the discourse around it can be complicated, we attempted to discuss it in as sensitive a way as we could – particularly in the context of the film. We’re more than happy to hear feedback if there are terms, preconceptions or attitudes we use that do not reflect that experience accurately, so we can be more mindful in the future.)
(Thanks to our sponsor Iron Galaxy as part of the Chicago Podcast Coop!)