Random Thoughts

I did DVDs and stuff last weekend, so it’s time to delve into Youtube videos again. (Because I couldn’t find any films from Barbados on DVD.)

This one can be watched here.

It’s a no-budget kind of film, but there’s definitely some talent here. The editing (for about the first half hour) is on point, the soundtrack is interesting, some of the actors (like “Cheryl”) are great and the storyline is way out there.

But it loses focus after about half an hour and we get very strange porn slo-mo shots of expensive cars and motorbikes doing burnouts.

*sucks air through teeth*

And then suddenly it turns into a comedy! It’s funny.

The Kite Flyer. Sean Russell. 2007. Barbados.

Rum Punch Recipe

• 3 parts dark rum
• 2 parts white rum
• 1 part simple syrup
• 2 parts orange juice
• 1 part grapefruit juice
• a dash of Grenadine
• a dash of Angostura bitters
• nutmeg

Stir with ice in a glass. Grate nutmeg on top.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

Man, I’m having having almost no luck with these Central American films. South America: Wonderful. Central America: Not so much. But I guess these countries are a lot smaller (and poorer), so perhaps that’s not that odd…

Anyway, this is pretty bad. And I even ended up buying the DVD twice, since it turned out that the one that said “Surviving Guazapo” didn’t have English subtitles, but the one that said “Sobreviviendo Guazapa” did.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

I just watched the “making of” film on the DVD, and it was apparently all bluescreened: Nothing actually filmed in the jungle? I had no idea. So: Kudos on the compositing.

Surviving Guazapa. Roberto d’Avila Alegria. 2008. El Salvador.

San Salvador

• 1 part lime juice
• 3 parts orange juice
• 2 parts Grand Marnier
• 3 parts dark rum

Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with an orange slace and a lime slice.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

This is a really charming film. Thoroughly amusing.

I thought the dialogue was strangely like a sitcom set in New York, and it turns out that the director worked on the crew of The Nanny. Yes. Most of these lines could have been delivered by Fran Fine.

So… not completely, er, Tonga… nese?

But very entertaining.

When the Man Went South. Alex Bernstein. 2014. Tonga.

Tonga Mai Tai

• 4 parts lime juice
• 12 parts pineapple juice
• 1 part orgeat syrup
• 4 parts dark rum
• 4 parts light rum
• 4 parts Grand Marnier

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry, a pineapple slice, and a paper umbrella.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

I think they’re aiming for a broad, classic Mediterranean coming of age/sex comedy kind of thing, but it’s remarkably creepy (at least it is now, three decades after it was made).

It tries to hard to be charming, but the performances are super-hammy, the cinematography is meh, and it’s all kinda boring. It’s a well-liked film, though: 6.9 on imdb and many positive reviews all over the place, using words like “lush”, “warm” and “whimsical” (but strangely enough, not “Orientalism”).

It’s just creepy.

Halfaouine. Férid Boughedir. 1990. Tunisia.

A Night in Tunisia

• 1 part absinthe
• 10 parts vodka
• 2 parts apricot liqueur
• 5 parts red vermouth
• 5 parts orange juice
• 2 parts grapefruit juice
• cinnamon
• orange zest

Shake all ingredients (except the absinthe) with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Add the absinthe and light on fire. Add the orange zest and cinnamon. Don’t drink until the absinthe finishes burning.

(This may not actually be a Tunisian recipe. Oops!)

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.

Hey! It’s a comedy! Of sorts. Well, not really. A … “dramedy”?

I love the actors, and it’s amusing and quite moving. The sheer number of characters in this film is a bit on the confusing side, though.

The Syrian Bride. Eran Riklis. 2004. Syrian Arab Republic.

POLO

• water
• lemon juice
• sugar
• mint
• orange blossom water
• rum

Middle the mint leaves and sugar in the lemon juice. Add water and an extremely small dash of orange blossom water. Add rum to taste. Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled glass.

This post is part of the World of Films and Cocktails series. Explore the map.