Whipped Cream Difficulties

Because I’m old and can’t do 24 hours any longer.

This weekend was the combined birthday party/1970’s crime film fest.

No, the cake was not a lie, and I think that came out pretty well. I was impressed that the Sam’s bakery called me to tell me my dates didn’t add up. (They were misreading my handwriting.) Now that’s customer service.

The absinthe went over pretty well, though I think I need to work on proportions. At the recommendation of one of the liquor guys at Spec’s, I’ve been using an Irish coffee glass for absinthe, and my typical pour is two ounces of absinthe, topped off with cold water and one sugar cube. At that level, I can feel an effect. Not anything trippy, just a good solid knock (and that wears off in an hour or so). I think next time I make a glass, I may try two sugar cubes instead of one, but I tend to like things sweet.

The Kraken spiced rum also went over well, though I didn’t care much for it straight; I can see that it would go well with the right mixer (maybe some Dublin Dr. Pepper?). I still haven’t tried any of the Crystal Head. I was trying to be moderate in my drinking, since I had to drive, and as fun as it sounds, drinking Scotch whiskey all night long and dying behind the wheel is a sub-optimal evolutionary strategy.

We only got to two of the movies on our list. Possible spoilers follow.

I’m glad we watched Mean Streets. I think it’s an important early movie from a great American director, and I thought it was fun to see very young versions of De Niro and Keitel. The problem with Mean Streets is that it is basically a “slice of life” movie. Translation: not much happens. De Niro spends all of his time ducking people he owes money to, and Keitel spends much of his time protecting De Niro for reasons that aren’t clear. (As a side note, Amy Robinson didn’t have much of a career as an actress, but she sure went on to bigger things, didn’t she?) There’s some nice 1970s New York exteriors, and a few memorable scenes (the pool hall fight), but I don’t think Mean Streets holds up for anyone except a serious Martin Scorsese fan.

The original Get Carter, on the other hand, holds up remarkably well. Part of the reason may be because things happen. Specifically, Michael Caine kicks butt. I do think Get Carter is a little slow to get going (how much did British Rail pay for that extended advertisement at the start of the movie?) but once it does, there’s violence and sex and more violence and more sex. And you know this is a 70’s crime film because of the nihilistic ending.

Random observation: the men’s clothing in Mean Streets looks pretty ridiculous these days (except for Harvey Keitel’s well tailored suit). Here’s a good example:

Yeah, that zippered shirt doesn’t hold up well.

On the other hand, the men’s clothing in Get Carter still holds up pretty well. There’s nothing that leaps off the screen and says “I’m ridiculous” like the checked hounds tooth suit in Mean Streets. But the women’s clothing is absurd. PVC dresses, skirts so short that the entire world is their gynecologist, purple underwear…

I suspect part of this may be due to the structure of the two films. Mean Streets is pretty much all male. Amy Robinson is a significant exception, but I think her role is more as a symbol, something for Keitel’s character to strive for, perhaps, or maybe a symbol of the ties to De Niro’s character that are holding Keitel back. Get Carter is full of women, but they’re all sluts and whores; I suspect their clothing may be intended to symbolize this. (One exception: Carter’s niece/possible daughter, who isn’t shown as being a slut or a whore. However, she does get roped into making a pornographic film, and that is the plot driver for the movie…)

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, April 25th, 2011 at 9:28 am and is filed under 1911, Food, Guns, Mixology, Movies, Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.