Ah, the beer flick...
Last weekend, while in Chicago visiting JJ and Megan, I had the good fortune to see Wedding Crashers at the Brew & View, an old converted theatre where patrons come to see a double feature for five bucks and drink the beer that can be purchased at the two bars in the back of the room. This, like many things tend to do, got me thinking. What are some of the best drinking movies? Now, I'm not talking necessarily about movies that involve a lot of drinking, though some of the ones I'll mention do, but about those during which viewers might particularly enjoy a few brewskies.
Of course, The Big Lebowski warrants first mention. My old roommate and compadre Bridger introduced me to this film, which I saw for the first time (for all you Griz alumni) in Urey Lecture Hall. I know that people have tried to match the dude white russian for white russian while watching this film, but that's impossible, and it's just inviting disaster. No one wants to consume that many mixed drinks in 117 minutes. I've also heard of people playing a game in which participants have to take a sip of their drink every time someone says an obscenity. If the white russian for white russian thing is inviting disaster, this other game is inviting death itself. I mean, seriously, the dude knows how to swear. But the point is that this film must be one of the best drinking films since it is so absurd and since it has inspired such hard-core drinking games in the past. I'm sure there are reasonable ways to practice structured drinking during The Big Lebowski, but I haven't devoted much time to thinking of them. Suggestions, perhaps?
Top Gun seems to come to mind at this point, and I know JJ and I have often suggested playing a drinking game in which participants take a drink every time there's a reference to sex. A bit extreme, perhaps, but nothing like the swearing game accompanying The Big Lebowski. In any case, Top Gun's classic cheesiness seems to lend itself to the sort of mindset involved in drinking beer while watching a film. And this film is so familiar to many of us that we don't even have to pay much attention to it while we watch. I know I could flip off some belligerent mig pilots and make a pass at my flight instructor while fetching beers from the fridge.
But anyway, even though I've only suggested two films, I'm calling it a blog. I'm sure there are many possibilities here, and perhaps over this season of holidays some of us will get together and explore them.
Of course, The Big Lebowski warrants first mention. My old roommate and compadre Bridger introduced me to this film, which I saw for the first time (for all you Griz alumni) in Urey Lecture Hall. I know that people have tried to match the dude white russian for white russian while watching this film, but that's impossible, and it's just inviting disaster. No one wants to consume that many mixed drinks in 117 minutes. I've also heard of people playing a game in which participants have to take a sip of their drink every time someone says an obscenity. If the white russian for white russian thing is inviting disaster, this other game is inviting death itself. I mean, seriously, the dude knows how to swear. But the point is that this film must be one of the best drinking films since it is so absurd and since it has inspired such hard-core drinking games in the past. I'm sure there are reasonable ways to practice structured drinking during The Big Lebowski, but I haven't devoted much time to thinking of them. Suggestions, perhaps?
Top Gun seems to come to mind at this point, and I know JJ and I have often suggested playing a drinking game in which participants take a drink every time there's a reference to sex. A bit extreme, perhaps, but nothing like the swearing game accompanying The Big Lebowski. In any case, Top Gun's classic cheesiness seems to lend itself to the sort of mindset involved in drinking beer while watching a film. And this film is so familiar to many of us that we don't even have to pay much attention to it while we watch. I know I could flip off some belligerent mig pilots and make a pass at my flight instructor while fetching beers from the fridge.
But anyway, even though I've only suggested two films, I'm calling it a blog. I'm sure there are many possibilities here, and perhaps over this season of holidays some of us will get together and explore them.
Labels: Brew and View, Bridger, Chicago, drinking, JJ, Megan, The Big Lebowski, Top Gun, University of Montana, Wedding Crashers
posted by Brian at 10:32 AM
1 Comments:
"The Big Lebowski" is indeed a film that is particularly conducive to structured drinking. As the Dude says, he's only able to keep all of the strains of the mystery together by adhering to a strict alcohol and drug regimen that keeps his mind limber. One could probably argue that this comment is an important moment with regard to interpretation, but I'll spare you all this argument. For now...
A friend of mine from college devised an absolutely brutal drinking game to be played with that mid-nineties Mel Gibson monstrosity (because, of course, we have to differentiate between Mel Gibson monstrosities), "Braveheart." Basically, you have to drink every time something looks like it hurts. Needless to say, during the second half of the film, you basically just keep your beer inverted at all times. Now, the first 45 minutes or so of the film are slow, so, if you're impatient to begin drinking, you have to include things like emotional pain. I don't recall ever being able to finish this game...
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