“The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years,” says Michael Caine. That hasn’t stopped plenty of American actors from giving it a shot. This week, Johnny Depp appears in The Rum Diary, based on a typically boozy (not to mention druggy) book by Hunter Thompson. Even if you try to ignore the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Depp has had years of experience to hone his on-screen stagger. But he’s not the first – and definitely not the craziest – actor to bring the party to work. Below, we revisit some of the best drunken performances committed to film.
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At long last Mad Men is back, and we’re looking forward to the return of the best reason for cocktails on a Sunday night (other than work on Monday). Now we can find out what it would be like to run your office out of a hotel room (like Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but with more cigarettes and adultery). And to celebrate the season four premiere, we’ve created a Mad Men drinking game. Not that you weren’t planning to throw back a few already, but because everything is more fun if you’re doing it competitively. Haven’t you read The Fountainhead like Bert Cooper told you to?
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Drink cocktails. Not too many. Mostly spirits.
It may not be as simple as Michael Pollan’s “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.” The omnivorous author’s bestselling books In Defense of Food and Food Rules offer plenty of excellent advice about how to eat better without hating what’s in your fridge. He barely mentions drinking except for the divine commandment “Have a Glass of Wine with Dinner.” Until he writes a follow-up bartending guide, we’ve rejiggered some of his most important rules so that they apply to what goes in our glass as well as our plate.
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Every musical artist needs a nest egg. Some rainy-day money for when the ticket sales slump. Pop singers like Gwen Stefani or Jessica Simpson can capitalize on their influence over young girls and launch a fashion label. The RZA has his limited-edition art. For rock stars known as much for their partying as their music, they might as well start earning some money for those boozy reputations. Tool‘s frontman Maynard James Keenan doubled down on his attempt to make a decent spirit. Not only is he making his own wine, but he let someone make a documentary about it.
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You’d think that if a town’s only Nobel laureate supported legalizing the sale of alcohol, then the townspeople might take it to heart. Not so in New Albany, Mississippi, the town where William Faulkner was born, and a place where the sale of beer and wine coolers only became legal this year, reports the New York Times. If Faulkner was right when he said “Civilization begins with distillation,” then New Albany just took one step closer to joining up the rest of the modern world. Then again, based on the famous novelist’s own history, drinking those distilled spirits does not always lead to civilized behavior.
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Thanks to Vampire’s Weekend’s new single, this week is probably a high water mark for producers of horchata. Those unsuspecting merchants are probably marveling at their sudden popularity the way the clothing maker The Mountain was surprised when they sold all those Three Wolf Moon shirts. But if Vampire Weekend wanted to increase enjoyment of their new record they should have suggested something stronger (this is known as the “George Thorogood Effect“). Thankfully plenty of other creative imbibers around the world have already been preparing horchata cocktails just for this moment.
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Sorry Copenhagen: Not all of today’s visionary thinkers are focused on cloud-sourcing and climate change. Some of them are doing important work behind the bar, as well. While most drinkers are happy to enjoy a decade-old scotch or a classic cocktail, there are plenty who are not so old-fashioned. Here, we review some of the brave souls exploring unknown territory in alcohol-based chemistry.
Popular Science reports that Nonpolynomial labs has developed an ingenious game system that rewards players with a drink mixed based on their playing ability. Ignore the Pavlovian implications and appreciate Bartris. This game operates on the same system as Tetris, but here each colored block represents either rum, coke, or water.
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Plenty of movies have a famous drink connected with them — The Big Lebowski‘s White Russian or Blue Velvet‘s PBR — but no movie has such a laughably terrible cocktail as the laughably terrible cult film The Room. In one key scene, the main character (played by actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and oddball Tommy Wiseau) gets drunk with his future-wife on a mix of Scotch and vodka. While Scotchka may not exist outside of college dorms, it’s not the only hazardous alcoholic concoction that you’ll need if you plan to enjoy this incredible/incredibly bad film.
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The popularity of Wes Anderson‘s films is surprisingly like the popularity of neo-classic cocktails. The styles are fastidiously retro but obviously new. The elements are excellent on their own, but make the whole a success. So why don’t cocktails play a bigger role in his films? Today, we aim to change that.
Disclaimer: Unless you are Anderson pet performer Bill Murray, please do not drink and drive Swedish golf carts.
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Across the nation, conservatives are making inaccurate historical references and liberals are making accurate sexual puns. Tea Parties are here to stay, at least while the ratings at Fox News are good. There have been complaints about the protesters and their message, but here’s what we don’t understand: How are you going to stoke fires of dissent with soothing chamomile? The only chance left is to spike that tea with something stronger, just like our forefathers did.
You’d have to be drunk to think that wearing that t-shirt was something to smile about.
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