Daily Halloween: Night 5

David Cronenberg is an art house director best known as the prime practitioner of body horror, though he has expanded well beyond that in his 40 years of filmmaking. Shivers (1975) is one of his early films. It takes place in a planned condominium reminiscent of the high-end enclaves in J.G.Ballard’s novels High Rise and Super-Cannes. In the film a sexually transmitted parasite runs rampant, causing uncontrollable libido in its hosts and resultant deviance, chaos, and death. Clearly, the juxtaposition of the setting and the increasingly twisted sexuality is rife with social commentary; you can watch and decide for yourself if it’s effective. The character Nurse Forsythe encapsulates the mood: “Even dying is sexual.” Not unexpectedly, Shivers met with much controversy when it came out, but Roger Ebert was an early (somewhat hesitant) proponent and it has come to be mostly well-regarded.

I appreciate Shivers. The Fly may be my favorite of Cronenberg’s horror films and his most polished. The Brood might be his creepiest. His psychological horror drama Dead Ringers, wherein Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot, is a truly unique film and probably the one I most recommend from his early catalog. And then there are his recent forays: his crime dramas like the great A History of Violence and Eastern Promises and the surreal, literary Cosmopolis. His is an oeuvre worth exploring.

You could spend a lot of time diagramming Cronenberg’s influence, and one branch would lead you from Shivers to the 1986 cult horror comedy Night ofthe Creeps, which also showcases mind-controlling slugs. Both are directly referenced by James Gunn’s 2006 Slither, a fun film with a great cast – one of my favorite post-2000 horror films. I’m glad Gunn is seeing wider success now with Guardians of the Galaxy.

(Here’s a Paris Review interview with J.G. Ballard from 1984.)

The Old Fashioned

(note: This post was imported from Iapetus Beat)

For a few years, my cocktail of choice was the Manhattan*, but lately it has been the Old Fashioned. I follow Ted Haigh’s recipe from his great book on Classic Cocktails: a teaspoon of simple syrup (or a sugar cube and a splash of water) muddled with Angostura bitters and a swath of orange zest; add bourbon or rye and ice. I drink these now and then during the week, but I’ve made it a tradition to have one or more while watching Mad Men on Sunday nights. It’s Don Draper’s tipple. He orders one in the first scene of the first season and mixes two for himself and Conrad Hilton in the third season’s third episode. Draper normally uses Canadian Club and finishes it with soda water.

Image from Esquire article on the Old Fashioned

An important aside concerning rye: American rye is like a spicy and light-bodied bourbon. Canadians call their whiskey “rye” though it often bears little resemblance to either the historic or the boutique ryes now available. I’ve learned that some Quebecois, such as the bar staff at a particular downtown Montreal hotel, take exception to this distinction. I was feeling loose and cosmopolitan in their stylish yet non-threatening bar and thinking, hey, these French Canadiens are cordial and welcoming and I’d like to share with them my perspective on their much-adored national product, so I critically deconstructed my Manhattan and asked if they had real rye. This led to harsh words and lots of gesturing. Don’t misunderstand me, some of their whiskeys meet the criteria we use to distinguish rye, and many are quite good. They are a proud and spirited people and I appreciate their occasionally misguided vehemence.

Anyway, bourbon is great for the Old Fashioned, but the right rye can be even better. Sazerac is my new favorite. As far as I can tell, it’s based on the original New Orleans whiskey that lends its name to the classic cocktail**. I’m not in a position to judge its fidelity to the original product, but it’s good and it’s available in my town. The Old Fashioned is a cocktail lover’s drink – it’s strong but nuanced and it benefits from a balanced hand. Soda isn’t traditional but it’s been common since at least the 1950’s, and the drink’s flavor stands up to it. My girlfriend, who likes her drinks a little less alcoholic and has to get up extra early on Monday mornings, joins in during Mad Men and the soda helps. Made with a single shot of whiskey, 2-3 ice cubes, and topped with soda, it’s still a fine drink.

(*The Manhattan is maybe the oldest extant cocktail: ~3:1 bourbon/rye:sweet vermouth stirred on ice with Angostura bitters, and served up with a maraschino cherry. The balance is easy to ruin. First, don’t put the cherry in the shaker but add it to the chilled glass. Second, avoid orange bitters – it’s often used because it seems a natural fit, but if you must, consider mixing it with angostura. The wrong bitters, like mashed cherries, can make the drink too sweet.)

(**The Sazerac is a beautiful but slightly difficult cocktail. You need the right bitters [Peychaud’s] and you can’t take shortcuts. For a video of a true New Orleans bartender mixing a Sazerac, click here. I’ve only had a few mixed professionally, but if you’re in San Francisco, NOPA’s is damn fine.)

Cheers.