Movie Tagline: In the future, cities will become deserts, roads will become battlefields, and the hope of mankind will appear as a stranger
It's not like San Diego bears any resemblance to the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland depicted in The Road Warrior (not yet anyway), but the city's Green Flash Brewing Company does make a great companion beer to the 1981 sequel. Road Warrior, the beer, is said to be named for the Green Flash sales team who gets the word out on their offerings. But it is way more fun to think of it as a tribute to Max Rockatansky, the burnt out shell of a man who helps a little community of weirdos defend their stockpile of gasoline from a band of marauders led by hockey-mask-wearing Lord Humungus, also known as the Warrior of the Wasteland and the Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah. The movie itself is light on dialogue and heavy on action. Mel Gibson only has 16 lines in the whole film, two of them being, "I only came for the gasoline." And he's Max, the titular character! The final chase, which takes up close to 20% of the movie's runtime, rivals anything you would see today in terms of creative scene construction and visceral excitement. When you factor in the meager budget of The Road Warrior (even if it was the most expensive Australian movie production ever at the time), this is even more impressive. Speaking of impressive, the costume department in this movie must have had a blast creating these costumes. Part sporting goods surplus store, part S&M sex dungeon, these marauders certainly have a style all their own. A style whose influence can still be seen today. And it's no secret why: these guys look awesome! Vernon Wells, who plays Wez (the big guy with the red mohawk), also plays bad guy Bennett in Commando. Apparently he only plays characters that have a thing for bondage gear. More proof that The Road Warrior has everything you want in an action movie. Similarly, Road Warrior Imperial Rye IPA has everything you want in an Imperial IPA. It has a respectable ABV (9%). It has an enticing copper color. It is spicy and hoppy, both in smell and taste, with a rich bitter aftertaste that lingers pleasantly on the tongue. There's not much else that needs to be said about it. Jump in your black Interceptor and go get you some. On a related note, if you are looking for something to pair with Mad Max: Fury Road, your best bet is to drink straight Everclear while huffing chrome paint. Just put it in your face and ride to Valhalla.
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Movie Tagline: Two bodies. Two minds. One soul. Separation can be a terrifying thing.
Dead Ringers is a classic David Cronenberg movie. His 80s movies, in chronological order, are Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, and Dead Ringers. That's a killer decade of movies, and Dead Ringers is the icing on the oozing, pulsating, quivering cake. Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists in Dead Ringers. Elliot is the dominant one who is more confident and successful with women. When he tires of a woman, he passes her (without her knowledge) to Beverly, the weaker, more passive brother. This system of theirs works for most of their lives. They are both happy, successful (if not totally codependent) people. But when a new woman comes into their lives, she throws off the balance of the twins' relationship by falling for Beverly, not Elliot, first. Identity crises follow, as well as some of that good old Cronenberg body horror we all know and love. It is not easy pairing beers with body horror movies. Some people may not want to drink anything while watching a movie featuring "mutant women" with abnormal genitalia and the bizarre gynecological instruments needed to deal with such abnormalities. But when you have twin gynecologists, and there's a beer collaboration in existence from Evil Twin and Beavertown, you have to bring them together. For the greater good. XXX Imperial Mild may not be easy to find. Sometimes we are compelled to recommend beers that are more limited. It is a kind of Mild Ale, so it is more of a Beverly beer than an Elliot beer. But it is also strong (9.5% ABV), so it's similar to Elliot as well. Elliot is definitely the mayor of Beavertown, both professionally and socially. But we can't be certain which brother is the Evil Twin. There's always an evil twin. Just, you know, food for thought.
Movie Tagline: Everyone's got a secret
Did you ever wonder how Jennifer Lawrence landed the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games? It wasn't for her star turn on The Bill Engvall Show, I can guarantee you that. Odds are the producers of that Young Adult juggernaut with its bullshit four-movie trilogy saw young Jen playing Ree in Winter's Bone and thought, "This is the girl." Seventeen-year-old Ree is dogged in her search for her meth-cooking father. She remains steadfast in dangerous situations that would make most adults quiver in fear. And it's not that she's unafraid; she just knows that she has to press on no matter what. If she can't find her father and get him to show up for his court date, her entire family is doomed. But Jennifer Lawrence, while awesome in this and everything else, is not the inspiration for this pairing. No, that distinction belongs to Teardrop, played by the inimitable John Hawkes. He is truly the backwoods bastard of Winter's Bone. Which is funny, because my first introduction to him was as meek, polite Sol Starr on HBO's Deadwood, a show on which everyone is a bastard but him. But that is why Hawkes is so fantastic. He can be small and quiet or big and scary. He can be the sweetest guy in the world or a manipulative cult leader who preys on young girls. He can be the straight man or a jokester. In Winter's Bone, Teardrop is perhaps the most dangerous thing in a world that is nothing but danger to young Ree, and he is her uncle to boot. But, as we come to learn, Teardrop is not a one-note villain but a complicated individual with a skewed moral code. Nothing is as simple as it seems in this world of meth-cookers, crooked cops, and the families caught up in the middle. Yes, the world of Winter's Bone is stark and unforgiving, but thankfully the Founders Backwoods Bastard is just the opposite. A bourbon barrel aged version of their already-delicious Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, Backwoods Bastard is the perfect companion to a bonfire on a brisk autumn evening, or as a way to warm up after a long day of toiling outside. Warm and inviting, it smells of smoky Scotch, oaky bourbon barrels, and earthy spice. As you sip, it opens up to reveal vanilla, toasted malts, caramel, and even some dark fruit flavors. This highly sought after beer is one that easily lives up to the hype surrounding it and, in many ways, exceeds expectations. This one may be a bastard, but it's one that I would invite to my family reunion any day.
Movie Tagline: Before the Silence, there was the Dragon
Red Dragon is the second adaptation of the 1981 Thomas Harris novel of the same name (the first being the superior Michael Mann film Manhunter from 1986). The novel introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter, who proved to be such an iconic character that there have been four onscreen portrayals of him to date. As long as there are people who don't mind diminishing returns, there will always be a Hannibal Lecter movie on the horizon. And Brett Ratner will always be willing to direct it. Which is why this movie pairs so well with Shock Top Belgian White. You see, both Red Dragon and Shock Top Belgian White are hackneyed knockoffs of (mildly) superior products. They are both derivative and unnecessary. Brett Ratner is to Michael Bay what Shock Top is to Blue Moon, and Michael Bay is to coherent, cohesive filmmaking what Blue Moon is to a proper Belgian Wit. So these two are derivatives of something that is already banal and insulting. They are a secondary distillation, ensuring that any quirks or originality are weeded out and destroyed. They are products that have been manufactured to be inferior. Red Dragon is a farce, with Anthony Hopkins' once terrifying Hannibal Lecter reduced to a cartoon as he tries (with far less screen time) to chew more scenery than Ralph Fiennes' Francis Dolarhyde. With a slight scar instead of a disfiguring harelip and no speech impediment to speak of, the Dolarhyde of Red Dragon has his motivation removed. He is insane just because. Kind of like how Shock Top makes beers called Honey Bourbon Cask Wheat, Shockolate Wheat, Twisted Pretzel Wheat, Spiced Banana Wheat, and Strawbanero Wheat. Just because. Really, though, neither the movie nor the beer are terrible. The movie has some great actors in it, and some of them even manage to eke out a good performance. Philip Seymour Hoffman is especially good (duh). But it's not very scary or disturbing. It's also not very compelling. Anthony Hopkins turns in a winking, sarcastic performance. Edward Norton is on cruise control. I had forgotten that Harvey Keitel was even in this movie. The whole affair ends up being all kinds of bland. Like a Shock Top. But, hey, once you make it through Red Dragon, you can move right on to The Silence of the Lambs and remind yourself what a good psychological thriller is supposed to look like.
Movie Tagline: Shoot first. Sightsee later.
The beer of choice for this pairing is a quadrupel from Brouwerij De Halve Maan in Bruges. A quadrupel, or quad, is a Belgian style ale with a deep, dark color and a rich malty palate. They are particularly strong beers; this one comes in at 11% ABV. It is a complex beer. It smells of candied fruits and toasted caramel, and tastes malty and robust. There is a lot going on with this beer, just as there is a lot going on in Martin McDonagh's directorial debut, In Bruges. The movie can be summed up rather easily. From IMDb: "Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, that last place in the world Ray wants to be." That all seems pretty straightforward. But the beauty of In Bruges lies in the nuanced performances of its three main actors and in how the story manages to be heartbreakingly sad, riotously funny, and genuinely moving throughout. And it does all this without feeling like disparate scenes pieced together. The movie melds all these tonal elements together into one cohesive and compelling story. A story with the breathtaking city of Bruges as its backdrop. So, it is not just the city of Bruges that links these two things together. They share a complexity and a craftsmanship that are both refreshingly unexpected and thoroughly welcomed. All in all, this beer and movie pairing works so well because you will be surprised and delighted by each of them in turn, over and over again. |
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