Coming of Age
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we try to grow up a little. Hopefully we’ll grow to legal drinking age, because, you know, wine pairings.
Flirting made its way out of Australia in 1991. If you’ve forgotten that year, think of “More Than Words” by Extreme, but don’t hold it against the movie. Flirting is actually a pretty good film. It was the sequel to The Year My Voice Broke which was also a pretty good film. In fact, both of them won the Best Film Award from the Australian Film Institute. Good work, writer-director John Duigan.
The film is set in 1965. If you’ve forgotten 1965, think of The Beatles or The Supremes. Nobody else made records in that year. A young schoolboy goes ass over teakettle for an African girl. Their budding romance pits them against the racist society of the mid-’60s. If you’ve forgotten the racism of the mid-’60s, what the hell? MAGA much?
Besides being an all-around good film, it also features early appearances from Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts. If you’ve forgotten… oh the hell with it. If you’ve forgotten them, you’re probably not reading this article.
Martha Stoumen’s Post Flirtation Red brings Zinfandel and Carignan together for a fruity party. Mendocino and Contra Costa county grapes are here for $29.
https://www.marthastoumen.com/
I Start Counting is from 1970. It is described as a coming-of-age thriller in which a teen suspects her brother of being a serial killer. That’s the sort of thing that grows one up in a hurry. I’m sure we’ve all suspected a family member or two of being serial killers. No? For me it was a distant cousin, and the more distant, the better.
I wouldn’t say Counting has a happy ending, unless structural demolition is your thing. At least the ending is merciful.
They say years of age and glasses of wine should never be counted. That should go double for an old guy who is an actual Hungarian Count. For I Start Counting, let’s pair Count Karolyi Grüner Veltliner. Now there is a snobby grape. And a good one. Hear me now, thank me later. Count on Grüner Veltliner.
1980’s Foxes was Adrian Lyne’s first time in the director’s chair. Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Sally Kellerman, and Randy Quaid star in a film about four teenagers from the Valley in the dying days of the disco era. That can only mean one thing. Synth-funk is next.
One of the gals is a sexpot, one is an overweight virgin, one is into drugs, and one tries to take care of them all. She is mostly successful.
Fox Wine Company has a tasting room in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, so that takes care of the street cred. Their Sauvignon Blanc comes from a vineyard located, happily enough, on Foxen Canyon Road. Old vines, barrel fermentation, what’s not to like? $27