Happy Oscar season, listeners! This week, Jared’s been “kidnopped” by Keanu Reeves once more, so our special guest Theo from Twin Cinema drops in to help Clint talk Best Picture nominee Birdman, along with returning guest Andrew Saenz! The latest film by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu is a dizzying, one-shot wonder starring Michael Keaton as thinly-veiled Keaton allegory Riggan Thomson, a washed-up superhero actor attempting to gain cred as a serious artist by putting on his own show on Broadway, with all the drama, introspection and telekinesis that typically entails.
It’s a good movie, but it does have its problems, from an uneven script to an exhausting desire to do too much at once. Still, we delve into those issues and more in detail in the episode below, along with our custom cocktail and drinking rules!
(Stay tuned later today or tomorrow for a special Oscar-chat minisode where Clint and Julia go over the nominees!)
ANNOUNCEMENT: Clint will also be joining the boys at MovieBoozer on Oscar night in a live stream discussion of the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, so be sure to head here when the festivities start for a very special summit of drinking/movies-related-website legends!
LISTEN HERE OR DOWNLOAD:
THIS EPISODE’S DRINK: The Unexpected Virtue of Intoxication
Fitting with the movie’s all-in-one-take feel, we chose to distill the essence of a cocktail down into a single shot. Riffing off the classic New York cocktail the Aviation (get it?), this sipping shot combines gin (Ed Norton’s drink of choice in the play), floral liqueur, and a hit of citrus from the lemon juice to create a shot that’s slightly lighter and sweeter than your typical throat-burning experience. Take it with a Red Bull chaser to give you wings!
(makes 1 cocktail’s worth, or about 4 shots)
1.5oz Little Bird gin
1oz fresh lemon juice
1.5oz Hum hibiscus liqueur
Dash, cherry bitters
1) Combine in cocktail shaker with ice; shake vigorously.
2) Put maraschino cherries in shotglasses or shooters; pour straight into shooters. Enjoy!
DRINKING RULES FOR BIRDMAN:
- Whenever you think there was a cut in the film (a more subjective rule that we usually have, but it gets pretty evident)
- Every time someone strokes Riggan’s ego or tells him he’s a good actor
- Any time Riggan uses/appears to use his telekinetic powers
FINISH YOUR DRINK WHEN:
The woman across the street shouts to Riggan, “Hey, is this real or are you shooting a movie?”
Join us next week as we recover Jared from Keanu, go over the results of the Oscars, and regale ourselves with the adventures of the world’s greatest de-tot-ctive, Young Sherlock Holmes!
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