I received the ultimate birthday gift a few weeks ago, notice that two things for which i’m very passionate would be coming together in a fit of perfection: drinking and classic films. Awesome. Cheryl Charming wrote me to let me know she is hosting the 1st Annual Cocktail Film Fest through Tales of the Cocktail.

I’ve dreamt of something like this for a long long while, watching movies like You Can’t Take It With You, Key Largo, The Apartment, The Big Lebowski and so many others thinking, “hey, there’s really a set of drinks that could be themed around this…” Well, they’ve gone and done it, and a month from now you can find yourself in New Orleans enjoying just that very thing:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
Ann Tuennerman; 504-343-4285; ann@talesofthecocktail.com
Debbie Rizzo; 617-233-8024; darizzo@gmail.com

COCKTAIL FILM FEST CELEBRATES SIPPING IN CINEMA WITH THREE SCREENINGS AT W NEW ORLEANS HOTEL

Host Cheryl Charming presents movies and themed cocktails and food March 21 – 22.

NEW ORLEANS – (January 18, 2008) –
Tales of the Cocktail and the W New Orleans invite movie buffs and libation lovers to indulge in two evenings of celebrating cocktail in film. Cheryl Charming, cocktail writer and founder of MissCharming.com, plays hostess for the screenings of Casablanca, Guys and Dolls, and The Seven Year Itch, on the evenings of Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22, at the W, located at 333 Poydras St. in downtown New Orleans.

“Cocktail scenes in film have been around since the invention of cinema,” said Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail. “Our film fest looks at the specific cocktails and spirits served in great films and offers guests an opportunity to learn more about these drinks and of course taste and enjoy them in the sophisticated atmosphere of the W.”

The Film Fest schedule is as follows:
Friday, March 21, 8 p.m., Casablanca
Saturday, March 22, 5 p.m., The Seven Year Itch
Saturday, March 22, 8 p.m., Guys and Dolls

Tickets are $25 per film, per person, and include drinks, cocktail food and snacks. A weekend package that includes all three films is $65 per person, which saves $10. For tickets, visit www.TalesoftheCocktail.com or call 504-377-7935 beginning March 1, 2008. The W New Orleans is featuring a special rate of $129 a night for Cocktail Film Fest goers. Visit W Hotels New Orleans for more information.

Themed food and drink by Zoë will coordinate with each film. During Casablanca, guests will enjoy French 75’s, Champagne Cocktails, Champagne, Brandy, Grand Marnier and Moroccan themed food. As The Seven Year Itch is screened, potato chips (dip ‘em bubbly if one cares to), popcorn, retro candy, Martinis, Tom Collins’, Scotch, Whiskey Sours and Gin and Tonics will be served. On Saturday, during the Guys and Dolls screening, guests can taste TV dinners, wedding cake, Mojitos, Cuba Libres, Milk Punch and Mexican Beer.

Lay this on top of the fact that my wife is a professional foodie and we are absolutely going to make it. Errrrr… or not. Easter Sunday as well as my daughter’s 7th birthday are on the 23rd and it’s a ten-hour drive from here to the Big Easy…but hell, I’ll try and make it to Casablanca at the very least. This is a great opportunity at a great price to spend time with three of the great things in life; drink, food, well-made movies, and people that enjoy the same . Don’t miss it.

I’ve been intrigued by classic films since I became fascinated with quality filmmaking and studying its art. In classic films you often see drink and/or drinking used as a metaphor much more often than you do today. I’m not talking about Days of Wine and Roses sort of in-your-face with alcoholism and its destruction of a man’s soul, but more of how drinking (and smoking) were used as character signals for dramatic subtext, whether it be, ‘hey, that guy just lit a long thin cigarette, he must be morally ambiguous,’ or it’s in a sexual context where sharing a drink with pregnant pauses and dramatic lighting display the growing tension between two people who may just well be married to boot. In other words, drinking and smoking used to be used as dramatic shorthand to great effect. Where sexual tension was once gracefully handled between two characters by the touching of their hands at the passing of a bottle or cocktail glass it is now grossly on display and, more often than not, handled without the slightest hint of subtlety or panache. It’s ironic that what sexuality was once kept off-screen for propriety’s sake is now left on-screen, often with all the delicacy and respect afforded a plumbing training video, and what was once a romanticized and accepted part of adult life, drinking, has been co-opted by the forces of political correctness and is often left off-screen or avoided entirely (except as a means to self-destruction), much to our loss. Read More »