Movie Tagline: Love is desolate. Romance is temporary. Sex is forever.
Catherine Breillat is probably the most controversial female filmmaker ever. Actually, no, Catherine Breillat is definitely the most controversial female filmmaker ever. Her 1976 film debut, A Real Young Girl (Une Vraie Jeune Fille), was banned from theaters until the year 2000 because it depicts the sexual awakening of a 14-year-old girl in graphic detail. This frank treatment of sexual themes permeates her entire filmography, as does a focus on gender politics, intimacy, violence, and sibling rivalry. It would be impossible to select her most controversial movie, as they all offend people in one way or another. Fat Girl (À ma sœur!) has an extended scene where a man coerces a teen into anal sex. Anatomy of Hell (Anatomie de l’enfer) shows a man drink tea made from a used tampon. The list goes on and on. But we've decided to focus on a different Breillat effort, 1999's Romance (Romance X). Romance is about a young woman, Marie, and her search for intimacy. Her boyfriend refuses to have sex with her, which leads her down a path that includes random sexual encounters, a series of relationships, and a sadomasochistic engagement with a much older man. She eventually gets her boyfriend to have sex with her, whereupon she gets pregnant. But this doesn't repair the rift between the couple, and she eventually leaves him in spectacular fashion. Romance is an odyssey of sexual awakening, which makes it sound like it belongs on a premium cable channel's late-night lineup (we're looking at you, Cinemax). But it is told firmly from the point of view of the female protagonist. This movie is in no way filtered through the male gaze. It is very true to its feminine sensibilities. And that's not to say it's "girlie". This is a very adult movie, in case you couldn't tell by now. But Breillat is not interested in a masculine point of view. Cinema (and, indeed, the world at large) doesn't need any more insight into that. In her own words: "There is no masculine psychology in my cinema. There is only the resentments and desires of women. A man should not attempt to recognize himself in my male characters. On the other hand, he can find [in the films] a better understanding of women. And knowledge of the other is the highest goal."
Breillat's movies are graphic in their depictions of sex and, to a lesser extent (though she may argue they go hand in hand), violence. But she is not a pornographer, as many have tried to label her. She uses frankness, sometimes to an almost clinical degree, to explore women and their understanding of their own sexuality. She shows us how women are made (by men, usually, but not exclusively) to do things they don't want to do. How they are made to hate their bodies for not being perfect. How they are afraid to voice their displeasure with something for fear of being labeled a difficult woman. A shrew. A bitch. They are marginalized and abused, but if they try to take back control over their bodies they run the risk of being labeled as loose. A tramp. A whore. Breillat tackles these topics head-on, and she is not afraid to rattle a few cages in getting her message across. Her films are bold and distinctive. Once you are familiar with her work, you can tell right away when you are watching a Catherine Breillat movie, which goes to show that she is a true auteur.
To be honest, it can easily be seen as an insult to pair this dense study of feminine sexuality with a beer called "MILF". But the reality is that Mother's Brewing has created a supremely dense, complicated beer that has all the nuance of a Catherine Breillat movie and still manages to be emotionally explosive (also like a Catherine Breillat movie). Lots of care and thought was put into this beer. Brewed with cocoa nibs and raisins before being aged in rum, sherry, bourbon, brandy and whiskey barrels, this massive beer takes on the flavors from the spirit and wood of each and every barrel. The smell of this dark beauty is fruity, spicy, boozy; amazingly complex. The taste is even more complicated, with flavors melding from one to the next with wild abandon. Every drink of this beer is different. Every time it touches your tongue you pick up something else. In lesser hands, this beer could have been a mess; a hodgepodge of disparate flavors competing for dominance. But it isn't. Every aspect works in harmony to create something truly unique. So, with this in mind, hopefully we can be forgiven for the seemingly insensitive nature of this pairing. Just like Breillat's films being called pornographic by people who can't handle their graphic nature, MILF might be too extreme for some people's tastes, but that doesn't make it any less of a towering artistic achievement.
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Movie Tagline: From the Dark Side to Our Side
Grigori Rasputin was an influential figure in Russia in the early 1900s. How much influence he exerted over Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, is uncertain, but the upper class in Russia at the time were not keen on a peasant being so close to the imperial family (he was much loved by Empress Alexandra as well). Rasputin was supposedly poisoned, shot in the head, bludgeoned, shot three more times, castrated, and then drowned in a river. This was after being stabbed in the stomach two years previous. The details of his murder have been exaggerated, but only slightly (he was not castrated, and he was dead before being thrown in the river). But his brutal death has only helped to cement his status as a crazy, mystical, villainous badass. That reputation has led to Rasputin being portrayed as the antagonist in a number of movies, ranging from the animated Anastasia movie from 1997 to the film we are looking at here, Hellboy. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring America's Caveman, Ron Perlman, Hellboy tells the story of a demon who is raised to be a defender of Good. Working as part of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy and his companions do battle not only with Rasputin, but also a mechanized Nazi assassin named Kroenen, a reincarnating hellhound named Sammael, and a giant, tentacled behemoth that threatens to destroy the world. It is a dark movie, but it is also full of snappy dialogue, fun action setpieces, dark comedy, and a surprising amount of heart. Speaking of heart, I absolutely love Old Rasputin. It is one of the best all-around Russian Imperial Stouts out there. Even if you aren't going to drink it while watching Hellboy, it's worth checking out for the sheer deliciousness of it. It is rich and luscious, big and bold, complex and decadent. If you are a stout drinker, you probably already know about this one. If you're not, Old Rasputin might make you change your mind about that. Like with Rasputin himself, there's something mystical in the murky depths of this oily brew. And, like our pal Hellboy, it's not evil, it just looks like it might be.
Movie Tagline: A New-England Folktale
Mephistopheles, named after a demon from German folklore, is an Imperial Stout from Avery's The Demons of Ale series. According to their website, "Mephistopheles is the crafty shapeshifter, the second fallen angel; he who does not love light. Herein he patiently lies, waiting and willing to do your bidding, but for a price. Enter into his darkness, a tangled and intricate labyrinth of bittersweet rapture." That is a solid description of Mephistopheles, but it is also a decent enough description of The Witch. The directorial debut of Robert Eggers, The Witch tells the story of an exiled family of Puritans in 1630s New England. They are isolated at the edge of a foreboding, impassable wilderness. Their day-to-day is full of hard work that yields little benefit, and soon things go from bad to worse. With winter approaching, their crops wither and their animal traps remain empty. Throw in the unspeakable evil that hovers all around them and the family soon starts to unravel. Lies are told, trust is questioned, and loved ones are lost. For Thomasin, the family's eldest daughter, all of this could lead to her being sent away to live with another family. And that's really the best case scenario for her. We, the viewers, see the events of the movie largely through her young eyes, and it is difficult to watch as her family slowly turns on her. Even harder to watch are the short bursts of horror that punctuate scenes of building dread. This is the kind of movie that will have you squirming in your seat as you watch it through your fingers. One way to make the terror on your screen easier to handle is to get good and buzzed while you watch it. Thankfully, Mephistopheles is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16% ABV (it varies from year to year). Even sold as a 12oz single, that's plenty for one person. It pours like motor oil and smells like roasted coffee and molasses with a potent boozy aroma that comes through in the taste. Indeed, this is a demon of a beer. It is sweet, but never cloyingly so. It is bold and boozy, intense and aggressive, but also balanced and delicious. Its nature is to seduce and eventually overcome you, making it the perfect beer to drink while watching the provocatively evil The Witch.
Movie Tagline: Nothing human loves forever
The Hunger is the debut feature of Tony Scott, brother of Ridley and noted style-over-substance director of such visually assaulting movies as Man on Fire, Domino, and Deja Vu. These are frantic movies, jittery to the point of leaving their viewers numb, with unnecessary color filters galore. But Tony Scott has kicked out some highly entertaining (if fairly mindless) movies, too. Movies like Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State; they aren't movies that revolutionized cinema, but they all have a certain charm. Somewhere in between lies The Hunger, a super-stylized vampire tale featuring the enigmatic David Bowie, the gloomy sound of English post-punk band Bauhaus, and a steamy, infamous sex scene between Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve. While Scott's penchant for over-stylization is present here, it hasn't yet reached the fever pitch that plagues his later work. Instead of color filters and quick cuts, The Hunger is full of smoke and soft focus, with waving, lacy curtains everywhere. This lends the film a dreamlike quality that suits the story well. It seems to have more subtext than your average Tony Scott movie, but that could just be due to the inherent subtext of vampire stories in general. It is also a sad meditation on everlasting life, with crushing loneliness overtaking any benefits that such a lengthy existence might offer. Deneuve's vampire mistress may be elegant and sensual on the outside, but inside she is full of consternation and a sorrow whose depth can never be fully comprehended by mere human beings. Another dark and luscious beast, Left Hand's Wake Up Dead Nitro Russian Imperial Stout is every bit as sexy as Catherine Deneuve. Part of Left Hand's Nitro Series of beers, Wake Up Dead pours a creamy pitch black. The aroma is strong and earthy, with a fantastic roasted malt smell that entices you to take a drink. The luxuriously silky mouthfeel opens up flavors of creamed coffee, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla; it's like mainlining the secret truth of the universe. This beer satisfies you in much the same way blood satisfies a vampire. It reinvigorates, rejuvenates, and revitalizes you. But it is also a sneaky 10.2% ABV, so there's still some danger inherent in drinking it. If you're not careful, you might wake up dead, like the victim of a sexy Egyptian vampire.
Movie Tagline: You have to believe it to see it
The Man Who Fell to Earth has Bowie playing an alien from a drought-stricken planet who journeys to Earth in search of water. He plans to get together enough wealth to build a spaceship that can transport the water back to his home planet, an arid, desolate place whose inhabitants have to wear plastic suits to conserve their precious bodily fluids. Bowie is able to amass a fortune by patenting various alien technologies and selling them via his World Enterprises Corporation. But his plan hits a few bumps along the way. He meets a woman named Mary Lou, and she introduces him to (among other things) television and gin. He gets way too into both, which threatens to derail his mission. Then the CIA gets involved, and things go downhill even faster from there on out. The movie is science fiction, to be sure, but it's such lo-fi sci-fi that some people might not be able to get into it. It is slow and meditative, with more focus on character than spectacle. It's one of those movies that could only have come out of the 70s (like Foxy Brown or lawn darts). But it is worth watching for Bowie's performance alone. He is so otherworldly in nature that he doesn't really have to do much to make you believe he is from another planet. That was kind of his thing for years. But he brings some real pathos to his character, especially when things start to unravel. It is a role tailor-made for him that no one else could have done. There's really only one beer to pair with The Man Who Fell to Earth, and that's Ninkasi Brewing Company's Ground Control, the only beer whose ingredients have been to space. This is The Beer That Fell to Earth. Bonus points because Ground Control can also be interpreted as a Space Oddity reference. It is an imperial stout brewed with hazelnuts, star anise, cocoa nibs, and, of course, ale yeast sent into space. While sending yeast to space does nothing to the composition of the beer, and can be seen as nothing more than an expensive gimmick, it's the idea behind the gimmick that is intriguing. It is more about pushing boundaries, about seeing how far you can take things in regards to brewing, that is compelling about Ground Control. The more weirdness brewers inject into their craft, the more we, the beer-lover, will get out of it. Who knows what strange alchemy will be born of this venture. We may one day have yeast that is cultivated on the moon. Moon beer! Whatever, I just love that there are brewers out there who are willing to do strange things to their beer in the hopes of creating something mythical. Some new thing that will change the game forever. It's the David Bowie approach to brewing beer, and I love it. |
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