CineDrunk Episode 9: Prestige Season Begins

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Courtesy Penderyn Distillery

With prestige movie season in full swing, we thought it time to debrief on what Fall Season Part 1 had to offer. Join us as we get into the Welsh spirit with a drink called the Red Dragon (recipe below) and discuss the following films:

  • The Skeleton Twins
  • Pride
  • Whiplash
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Fury
  • Nightcrawler


What are your fall favorites thus far? Do you agree with our analysis? Let us know in the comments, and check out our newly updated Oscar Predictions!

Red Dragon
(adapted from a recipe by Penderyn Distillery)
makes two cocktails

3 oz gin
3 oz Cointreau
2 oz blood orange juice
2 oz lemon juice
1 shot grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice. Pour over ice. Feel yourself flush with Welsh pride.
 

CineDrunk Episode 8: Horror Movie Showdown

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Not-So-Bloody Orange Cocktail

It may not be March but we're entrenched in our own brand of madness here at CineMunch. That's right, it's time for another movie bracket blowout. This time we sent to battle the greatest horror movies of all time (as judged by three 20-somethings and two 4-month-old felines).

Of course a battle of the spooks requires spooky drinks:

Bloody Orange Cocktail
(Adapted from Sam Henderson of Today's Nest, as posted on HGTV.com)
Yield: 4 servings

4 oz vodka
2 oz orange bitters
8 oz Orange Crush
2 cups fresh raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
Orange wedges for garnish

1. Puree 2 cups of fresh raspberries in a food processor. Press the puree through a fine mesh strainer. Discard seeds and any remaining pulp.

2. Place the puree in a small saucepan with sugar. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until thick and dark (about 10 minutes) and let cool.

3. Add vodka and bitters to a shaker with ice, and shake until very cold (about 20 seconds). Add Orange Crush and stir. Pour into iced glasses.

4. Artfully drizzle the raspberry syrup atop each drink and garnish with an orange wedge.


Liquefied Ghost (aka Hellacious Ghost)
(Adapted from Janelle Maiocco of TalkOfTomatoes.com, as posted at the Cooking Channel)
Yield: 4 servings

8 oz vodka
4 oz vanilla simple syrup
4 oz half and half
8 oz cream soda

1. Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, then serve in chilled martini glasses.


After you mix your drinks, check out the Round One match-ups below, and listen to the full podcast to find out which was crowned greatest horror movie of all time!

ROUND ONE (Winners in bold)

#1: Psycho (1960) vs. #32: The Conjuring (2013)

#16: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) vs. #17: April Fool's Day (1986)

#9: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) vs. #24: The Others (2001)

#8: Halloween (1978) vs. #25: The Ring (2002)

#4: The Exorcist (1973) vs. #29: Drag Me to Hell (2009)

#13: Poltergeist (1982) vs. #20: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

#12: The Shining (1980) vs. #21: Urban Legend (1998)

#5: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) vs. #28: Saw (2004)

#2: The Birds (1963) vs. #31: Insidious (2011)

#15: Children of the Corn (1984) vs. #18: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

#10: Alien (1979) vs. #23: The Sixth Sense (1999)

#7: Carrie (1976) vs. #26: 28 Days Later... (2003)

#3: Rosemary's Baby (1968) vs. #30: Paranormal Activity (2009)

#14: Sleepaway Camp (1983) vs. #19: Scream (1996)

#11: Friday the 13th (1980) vs. #22: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

#6: The Omen (1976) vs. #27: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Also listen and subscribe via iTunes.

CineDrunk Episode 7: 'Gone Girl'

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New podcast on one of the first Oscar hopefuls of the season! Note: spoilers abound.

And what better drink than absinthe to accompany our discussion of David Fincher's latest mindf**k of a film? We went for the classic preparation:

2 oz absinthe
3 oz cold water
1 sugar cube

Pour absinthe in glass. Place absinthe spoon (provided with the bottle we purchased) on glass, and top with sugar cube. Pour cold water directly over the cube. Stir the remaining, undissolved sugar into the mixture. Absinthe will be bright green but opaque, meaning the "green fairy has been unleashed." That girl is gone.

Now, unleashing the green fairy may be a daily occurrence at the CineMunch household, but drinking absinthe is not. We found out later that absinthe connoisseurs consider Absente to be little more than swill--with one online commenter describing it as "Disney does Absinthe"--but a budget is what a budget is. Plus, the two-faced self portrait on the box is apropos, no?

Happy listening!

Fall Movie Preview: Our Most Anticipated Films

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Fall Movie Preview: Our Most Anticipated Films

Now that we've returned from a little post-Labor Day getaway, it's time to accept that facts are facts. It's fall, y'all, and summer's not coming back.

While we may miss the sunny weather, carefree spirit, and hot garbage smells of the past few months, we're entering an even more exciting time for cinephiles: prestige film season! It's a problem that seems to get worse every year: studios release their awards ponies later and later in the year, until the last trimester is so full of must-sees that no one has time to see or make sense of them all. And when it comes time for awards voters to vote? It's that much harder to remember anything before early September. Final trimester films get the votes, and the cycle continues.

Despite our qualms about studios' release date shenanigans, a bevy of (mostly) quality movies is a bevy of (mostly) quality movies. AND WE SHALL SEE THEM ALL.

After the jump, check out our most-anticipated films for the remainder of 2014, and let us know what films are on your list!

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CineDrunk Episode 6: Summer Movies Recap 2014 Part 2

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In our previous summer recap we chatted about the films Hollywood offered up in May and June. In Part 2 we wrap up the summer movie season by discussing the titles we saw in July and August, and each of us crowns a favorite.

Films covered this go-round included:

  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
  • Lucy
  • Boyhood
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • The Giver
  • Love Is Strange

The end-of-summer doldrums brought along with it some empty wallets, so we stuck with beer and hard cider as our drinks of choice.

Cheers!

The Best Labor Day Gift We Could Ask For: Party Down on Hulu

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Happy holiday weekend, everyone! We're taking a bit of a break for the next few days, and we hope you are too. In case you're looking for something to pass the time, Adam Scott has you covered.
 


That's right. Both seasons of Party Down are available starting today on Hulu Plus. It's a CineMunch favorite (obvs). Nothing like getting your catering on with Jane Lynch, Lizzy Caplan, Megan Mullally, Ken Marino, et al.

Great Food Moments in Film: 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence'

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Great Food Moments in Film: 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence'

I remember little fanfare when A.I. Artificial Intelligence hit theaters in June of 2001. It didn't quite enter the radar of my rural community, and received somewhat mixed reviews from critics and audiences.

I'm not even sure when or how I got around to seeing it, but I do remember what I felt during my first viewing, and every viewing since. The heartbreak of unrequited love, the pain of abandonment, the confusion of being alive in the world. Kubrick's vision, Spielberg's direction, Haley Joel Osment's subtle yet stirring performance... It all worked, and I now consider it one of the most underrated movies of the past two decades. (Where is it on the AFI nominations list? Nowhere.)

It's also a movie full of great food moments.

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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: 'Gone With the Wind' Part 2

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Hit Me With Your Best Shot: 'Gone With the Wind' Part 2

This is our fourth entry in The Film Experience's long-running series Hit Me With Your Best Shot, in which the film blog masses choose their favorite shot from selected movies. 

With Part 1 of Gone With the Wind under our belts, it's time to talk Best Shot from the two-hour long second act.

Part 2 finds the Old South in ruins and the Yankees in control, but with Scarlett's help (and delusions), the action turns from a destitute plantation to an entrepreneurial enterprise to an all-out fantasy world (a la The Queen of Versailles) fortified with Rhett Butler's millions.

But mixed among these dramatic developments is some subtler imagery.

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2014 Emmy Awards Predictions

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2014 Emmy Awards Predictions

Television's best will be celebrated tonight at the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (8pm ET on NBC). Below you'll find my predictions (in the probable order they'll be announced). The Emmys can either award the same performers and shows relentlessly for years on end or it can be notoriously difficult to predict just what they might like in any given year, so take these with a grain of salt (or several grains of salt surrounding a margarita glass filled with tequila). 

CineMunch will be live-tweeting our thoughts throughout the evening, so don't forget to follow along with us on Twitter @CineMunch.

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