This week on Alcohollywood, we hit the high seas once again for the Robert Altman directed musical flop Popeye: The Movie! This 1980 mess of a film sees Popeye (a mumbling Robin Williams) enter the idyllic world of Sweethaven, only to fall in love with the wide-eyed Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall), adopt the adorable Swee’Pea, and fight off the blustering Bluto (Paul L. Smith).
Altman’s signature cinematography, with its muted backgrounds and emphasis on wide shots, has its similarities to the original Max Fleischer cartoons. Still, it also ends up treating everything with a weird distance. Add to that the limp performance of Harry Nilsson’s songs, and Popeye: The Movie ends up being an alienating, weird experience. Take a listen to our collective frustration, and wash it down with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
LISTEN HERE OR DOWNLOAD:
THIS EPISODE’S DRINK: The One-Eyed Fish-Faced Sissipated Sniffle-Snaffle
1 part pureed blanched spinach
2 parts green apple juice
2 parts pineapple juice
splash lemon
3 parts extra-dry rum (e.g. Brugal)
1 part triple sec
1 part green chartreuse
Combine and stir. Garnish with lemon peel.
DRINKING RULES FOR POPEYE THE MOVIE:
- Every time Popeye intentionally mispronounces a word
- Any time Olive Oyl gives a high-pitched wail
- Whenever Popeye throws a punch
FINISH YOUR DRINK WHEN:
Poopdeck Pappy (Ray Walston) sings, “Sometimes some things happen, I don’t know why anymore.”
Join us next week as we PUT THE COOKIE DOWN! for our Christmas special coverage of the Arnold Schwarzenegger flop Jingle All the Way!
Psst, Altman didn’t direct Catch-22. That was Mike Nichols! Also, this movie gets covered in a book called “Fiasco” about big flops, and I believe this is a runaway production that saw the director just taking way too many drugs. Shocker, I know.
Also watch Brewster McCloud, it’s aces!