XXII. The City of Lost Children

La Cité des enfants perdus
1995
Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet

“The most astounding visuals of 1995, 1996 and maybe 1982. I loved it!”
(Terry Gilliam)

Caro and Jeunet are the incredibly talented, twisted duo behind 1991’s Delicatessen, and this film is likewise set in some retro-futuristic universe: its characters garbed in ’40s frocks and smocks; its gizmos a combination of Jules Verne and Rube Goldberg; its evil army of cyclops equipped with sophisticated lenses that allow them to see in the dark. And boy it is dark: The city of the title is a gloomy harbor burg, where vermin scurry down dank cobblestone alleys, foghorns belch into the night and children suddenly, mysteriously disappear.
(Steven Rea, Inquirer Movie Critic)

Cocktail Record Lost

Please let us know in the comments if you have have any memory of this event and associated cocktail!

XV. The African Queen

1951
By John Huston

Drawing on a C. S. Forester, starring Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut, the grease-stained, unshaven captain of the African Queen, a small steam launch plying the river trade of German East Africa in 1914. Katherine Hepburn, her hair tied back and her neck held straight in a high Victorian collar, would be Rose Sayer, the spinster sister of a pompous English missionary (Robert Morley) doing his best to bring the blessings of Methodism to a small village. When German troops destroy the village and drive her brother into fatal shock, the fastidious Rose has no choice but to throw in with the gin-soaked Charlie, joining him on the sputtering boat to make their way downriver to Lake Tanganyika, where a German gunship awaits them.

Film was awarded by Oscar & Academy Award.

Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn aboard the African Queen. Photo courtesy of United Artists.

Cocktail Record Lost

Please let us know in the comments if you have have any memory of this event and associated cocktail!

XI. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

2004
Wes Anderson

Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) and his crew, Team Zissou, set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou’s partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline copilot (Owen Wilson), a pregnant journalist (Cate Blanchett), and Zissou’s estranged wife (Anjelica Huston). Wes Anderson has assembled an all-star cast that also includes Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Seu Jorge, and Bud Cort for this wildly original adventure-comedy.

(Criterion Collection synopsis)

Cocktail – The Rum Cannoball

At the monsoon-destroyed ruins of Hotel Citroan on the island of Little Ping, Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) notes:

“What a shame. They had a bartender here, Kino, made the best Rum Cannonball I’ve ever tasted.”

The question comes to mind: Is this a real drink, or something invented by Wes Anderson? From internet discussions and references, it’s hard to tell if this drink actually existed before the movie. Based on an average of posted recipes, the folloving Rum Cannonball was made (actual photo).

1 part white rum

1 part gin

1 part orange juice

1 part pineapple juice

1 part lemon-lime soda

1 part strawberry soda

Serve over ice with a key lime, pineapple, or tropical orchid garnish.

From Blogadilla

IX. L’Atalante

1934

Directed by Jean Vigo

… In Jean Vigo’s hands, an unassuming tale of conjugal love becomes an achingly romantic reverie of desire and hope. Jean (Jean Dasté), a barge captain, marries Juliette (Dita Parlo), an innocent country girl, and the two climb aboard Jean’s boat, the L’Atalante—otherwise populated by an earthy first mate (Michel Simon) and a multitude of mangy cats—and embark on their new life together. Both a surprisingly erotic idyll and a clear-eyed meditation on love, L’Atalante, Vigo’s only feature-length work, is a film like no other. …
(The Criterion Collection Synopsis)

After “Le Quai Des Brumes”(3rd Film Boudoir), this is a second film of Poetic Realism style we will watch aboard Eleonore. There might again be no happy ending, I’m afraid, but L’Atalante is claimed to be the “greatest film of all times”by many critics and we shall not miss out on it.

Rose Cocktail

rose cocktail

Johnny Mitta, Chatham Hotel, Paris, 1920s

The Rose Cocktail

2 ounces Noilly Prat dry vermouth.

1 ounce kirschwasser.

1 teaspoon raspberry syrup (or red currant syrup if you can find it).

Combine with cracked ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Stir for no less than 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass.

No garnish specified, although I’d use a washed organic rose petal.

From LOOKA

 

V. Anne of The Indies

1951
Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Sweet – so sweet that syrup is almost dripping of the screen – adaptation of rather harsh and fascinating real story.
But maybe because the film is from the 50′ and the main heroine is beautiful and has stylish hair and perfectly applied lipstick even through fierce pirate battles and after killing a few man , her eyes fill with tears only because the French traitor Pierre La Rochelle broken her heart, it was still pleasure to watch!

The real story though, is much , much more tough and extraordinarily : 18th century , golden age of piracy , Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two fiery pirate woman who’s paths coincidentally crossed and their life stayed connected since then on. The only woman who were charged by death for piracy. Feared warriors and yes there were romances, and illegal marriages and illegitimate children…but these are real lifes…
 Image from “General History of the Pyrates” written by Captain Charles Johnson in 1724.

Captains Grog

* Captain Morgan Rum
* Brown Cane Sugar
* Lemon Juice
* Hot Water

(amounts unclear..depends on each pirat’s preference 😉