Vintertainment
(Fka "Wine and...") We pair wine with enetertainment! Wine and movies, TV, music, books, and comics with guests from both the wine and entertainment industries.
Vintertainment
Wine and...Movies: ROMEO + JULIET (1996) and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)
Happy Valentine's, Galentine's, Broentine's (no, really) Day! Let's celebrate humans loving other humans + the very concept of romance itself, which is a beautiful thing.
Today we celebrate by covering our respective fave romantic movies of all time:
Dallas: ROMEO + JULIET (1996)
Paired with (AI-free search links):
2022 Tres Raices 'Tre' Sangiovese Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato Mexico
2018 Bocale Montefalco Sagrantino, Umbria, Italy
Dave: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)
Paired with (AI-free search links):
Otima 10 Year Tawny Port, Portugal
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He's Dave and I'm Dallas and we have opinions on just about everything. Sometimes they're on point and sometimes they go down better with a glass of wine. Join us. This is the Wine Hand Podcast. Welcome everybody to another episode of The Legendary, The Historic, the place where all lovers converge naturally because what's more romantic than a show hosted by two besotted middle-aged male winos? That's right, it's the one, the only, wine. The show where we pair wine with entertainment to lead ourselves into thinking you want to hear what we have to say about different pieces of pop culture and art. But no for a fact that you need to hear what we have to say about wine, because man using love you better get your ass in gear about wine and know to serve your significant other this upcoming weekend. Yes, it is our special Valentine's Day episode. So especially if you're planning to watch 1996's Romeo plus Juliet or 1995's Sense and Sensibility, respectively, me and Dallas's favorite romantic movies of all time. We are gonna tell you what to pair with those two movies. What do we think about those movies? Which wines do we suggest to drink while watching them? All coming up in this episode, but... Before we edumacate you, make sure you smash that subscribe or follow button. It's how any podcast grows and reaches new listeners. Also leave a rating and or review. That also helps the podcast grow. And it's how we know you're not just blowing kisses into the void. Whenever we do this show, we want to hear what you think of us, especially if it's positive. If not, eh, eh. You can skip that. Turn us off, move on with your life, go on. But also. Follow us, subscribe. If you like to know us better, you can subscribe to us on Substack. That's the best place to follow us outside of just listening to this episode on your platform of choice, winand.substack.com, where you will find weekly articles on additional wine and entertainment pairings, collabs with other independent writers of both wine and entertainment. And that's a place where you can also support us by becoming a paid subscriber of the Substack and. By becoming a paid subscriber, will unlock paid only benefits like uncut interviews and pairing directories that track all the wine and whatever pairings we've done throughout the years. You can also rifle through the podcast episodes there clicking into only one category or another. So for instance, if you just want to listen to the movie episodes or the wine and comics episodes, the wine and music episodes, you can do so there. Wineand.substack.com. We do hope to see you. Now, before we get started, we have kind of a new format for season two of this show. So we're going to start. We've already mentioned the movies we're going to be talking about, but first, let's give a little hint of what we're sipping with these movies on both our parts. So Dallas, you hopefully, we both have two things, one for each of these movies that we might be sipping without revealing it quite yet. Give us a little taste. What are we sipping today? With Romeo plus Juliet curiously my taste Got a little I want to say predictable go predictable but not predictable. It's a little on the nose Okay, kind of rare for me. I went with something that has a very heavy bouquet For anyone who knows what that means for anyone who doesn't it's okay. It's just 20 20 talk for being in It's a Valentine's Day reference. Bouquet of flowers. That's what you people for Valentine's Day. You want to wine with a bouquet. There you go. It does blend some dark chocolate notes in there. You get a little hint of a spearmint in there. There's That's what I like to say this show does. We blend some dark chocolate notes there. I got that, we definitely do. You get a little bit of the cigar box with that leather and tobacco. There's some spice around the core. There is some good acidity, which all things, if I had to use verbiage that mirrored what's happening in this film. All of it resonates with the film. you know, there's some, there's a little vinegar or sorry, balsamic kind of undertone there. All right. All right. Yeah, you went dark on Romeo plus Juliet. I'm gonna call it Romeo plus Juliet this whole time because I know I know. So it's Romeo plus Juliet. That's that's the phrase we're going to be using. But yeah, I think I want an opposite direction in you. I went much I did stick I am drinking something that is red. But I am going with so you seem to have gone dark and a little more bold and even though it's got the floral bouquet. I went with something, know, Romeo plus Juliet is a movie that takes place in Fair Verona Beach, which when you look at it, which is a made up place, but it is obviously Southern California, right? And the film was shot in Mexico. So I went with something that has its roots in old world Italian wine, but was made in Mexico. And it came out. It's got this nice acidity. It's got this sourness to it. It's got this, it's very floral, but also very, like you're on that strawberry and raspberry and rose kind of like end of the spectrum. Like it feels very Valentine's day romantic, light, light, light, light. So bright. and more acidic and light. All the fruit flavors are redder and lighter and brighter. So I didn't go that heavy dark chocolate, balsamic tobacco route. I went the opposite of that in terms of a red wine for Romeo plus Juliet. And then for a sense and sensibility, I am actually sipping an aperitivo with that. So a little aperitif, it is grape based. So it is still kind of in that proper wine category. But I went with something, I had to go with something that was just like, There's something about that movie, it takes place in England, which is cold and rainy as AF, but there is something about that movie that feels very bright and summery and springtime and just, I had to go with something that reminded me of just spring fruits and summertime and sunshine and was just light and warm and sweet. And yeah, I think that's all I can say without just like saying what it is. but I am drinking something a little heavier on the alcohol because it is an aperitivo. So it's got that like you're elevated to like that 18 % alcohol level rather than your dry wine type of a thing. And it is sweet, bitter sweet because it is an aperitivo. It leans towards the Amaro bitter section, but sweeter than most Amaro's. So you're looking at closer to bitter sweet than bitter. So yeah, that's what I'm drinking with Sense and Sensibility. How about for you for that? With Synthesis Ability, I have difficulty. I wanted to try a Devon port. There is a very small sort of class of Devon ports through the years. this film was filmed partially in Devon. And the book itself is, I think, partially set in Devon. And so the short of it is I went with the port. But it is not a death insurer. Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. But we both went fortified and sweet. That's really interesting. Yeah, we both lean towards that same thing. There was something about this movie where I was like, yeah, not just a basic like I needed, I was leaning towards that dessert, Apertivo kind of a thing. mean the film itself is so... it is a little... lazy is the wrong term but it's a little indulgent, it's a little... Thanks. favorite romance movie of all time. That's Lazy. you All right, so we are here to talk about these two movies. So Romeo plus Juliet was Dallas's pick. That is his most romantic movie of all time or what he decided at this moment in time. Ding, Remember that, Yeah, yeah. I will always change my mind because I will forget in process. So what's your history with this movie? yeah, give us a little bit. Why did you choose it as the most romantic movie? you. First of all, it's it's just it's R and J right. It's it's Romeo and Juliet. It is a very painfully romantic tale of longing and of factions and of dissonance and friction. And it's just it's it's it's the core of the romantic canon at this point. It just really is. So on one hand that on the other hand I think It is so wonderfully stylized and the aesthetic presentation of this film. It is so seductive. It is so intensely. sensory that my connection with the aesthetic, with the production design is romantic. Like it was just, I was seduced by this film. I really am properly sort of intellectually sort of in sensory seduced by this film. those two things together, I think just make it wonderfully romantic film. I think it's difficult for anyone. know, I imagine, as a matter of fact, I know a number of people whose first date was this film. And it inspired such great passion in their relationships. And I think it just fires on all cylinders romantically. When it came out, I was a budding young classical actor and writer. And I had aspirations of filmmaking and all this other stuff. And so this film kind of was the first film that allowed me to see represented on film what I'd been seeing on stage. You can take a lot of liberties on stage. You can do virtually anything on stage. I hadn't seen film take leaps and risks this way. So when I came across this film, really was, I was enamored with everything about it from the soundtrack, which was this sort of immersive experience. They took one of Prince's greatest songs and turned it into this almost gospel kind of chant. And everything about the film is just as seductive. dense and my connection to it is a one of romance. I was romanced by this aesthetic, by this design. Alright. How about you? What was your history with this? My history is not much. I saw it in the theater when it came out. I had no doubt that so many people had a first date going to see this movie. It made $130-plus million domestically on a, I think it was a 13 or 14-something million-dollar budget. Now, a lot of the cast took cuts in there. Like, Leo had to, because he was actually a rising star at the time. That's right. That's But he was into it. They had to do workshops down in Australia as proof of concepts for the studio before they would green light it. And Leo like flew himself down there and did the workshops and he wasn't even 100 % officially cast yet. And he knew, or I think at the time he was even pretty sure they couldn't afford him. And he was like, fine, I'll take a cut. It's so funny you say that because one of the in the research a great interview that it wasn't a filmed interview was a text interview Magazine interview, sorry Lerman was saying about the process of casting how they couldn't figure out who the guy was going to be they couldn't figure out the Romeo and he saw some images of Leo and was like that guy should be a Romeo that's that's what Romeo should look like and He thought that DiCaprio was some rock star and they finally had to tell him like, no, that guy is a very accomplished actor. So he was just blown away because he thought that DiCaprio was just some, you know, some rock star who looked a movie. So, yeah. be fair, that was largely his, I mean, so he had done, I think by this time, he had done What's Eating Gilbert Grapes. He had done that role, which I think it was the first time a lot of people were like, he's trying. Like he's doing something interesting. Not that that movie has aged remarkably well in terms of like, know, an able person playing a disabled person kind of a thing, which now we look back on and we're like, yeah, yeah, that was insensitive, but well. I don't, we don't, well you may, I don't, but go on. Culturally, yes, yes, absolutely. Right, culturally, yes. Because I mean, it's one of those things where it's like, mean, I don't know if you like the kind of disabled that character was supposed to be, you couldn't get someone like that to play that role because they wouldn't be able to. But then there's a question of did you really need someone in like a role that was precisely that? And it's like, well, yeah, that's another question. But in any event, these cultural conversations have not yet happened. But but this was pre-Titanic, just two years before Titanic. So This was Leo on the rise, but not yet at his apex. He hadn't quite blown through the roof. So for me, I saw this in the theater. I recognized a lot of the cast. I kind of knew who Leo was. No one really knew who Claire Danes was yet. this was one of her big breakthrough roles. I think she was. in the first season of the show. What's the show that made her famous? Yeah, that I don't know, Gossip Girl or something like that or Gilmore Girls. I forget. I forget. Keep talking. I did not watch TV in these years, so I'm clueless. I know of this stuff only through secondhand. But she was kind of like relatively unknown. But John Leguizamo, I was getting used to who he was. I recognized Brian Dennehy. Paul Cervino, I recognized. I probably didn't actually know who he was. I was still pretty young, but I saw this once in the theater. I don't think I got it. It wasn't really for me. was fine with it, but I never watched it again until now. So I'd seen it precisely once in the theater and I had since become a Baz Luhrmann fan. Strictly Ballroom, love it. Mulan Rouge I fell in love. Which I still have in Steam, by the way. which is hysterical because Romeo plus Juliet is the middle part, the second movie of his quote unquote red curtain trilogy. And the red curtain trilogy is Strictly Ballroom, this and then Moulin Rouge. And according to Lerman, this is divided into like different types of theatricality, each movie kind of mostly displaying and showcasing a different type. So Strictly Ballroom, it was dance. This one it's poetry in verse. and Moulin Rouge was music and song, right? And for the most part, you can break it down that way, but as you even noticed in Romeo plus Juliet, the song part was already starting to come into play. this was an evolution from Strictly to Romeo plus Juliet. It was an evolution of his set design and the aesthetics and the aesthetics also of the editing, like that frenetic way in which he puts things together where you're like, you can follow it, but you're like, This is unusual. Like this is not how anything else is edited, especially at the time. The editing is just so, the editing is a, this is, could do an entire masterclass on the editing in this film. And again, it is a secondary character, which is a carnal sin in filmmaking. Your editing in general, the theory is your editing should not be noticeable. It should be seamless. I think with, what's beautiful about the editing in this film is that they're taking so many different aesthetic and sensory influences from different places that, you know, using the mechanism of editing as a way to kind of splice these things together, it's just masterful. I'm gonna have to find some film. Yep. It reminded me a lot of the Wachowskis editing. We discussed that with Speed Racer. It was the first, yeah, early digital editing, digital film editing, where they were trying a bunch of new shit that audiences didn't know how to take at the time. It was too frenetic and too much TMI, too much information coming at them. But yeah, everyone go listen to that. talked about it with filmmaker Justin Deklue in our very first episode ever back in the day. So you can go back. Yes. Back to our first episode number one, Speed Racer from 2008. You can listen to us talk about that. But the editing here reminded me a fair bit of that, but this is film, still proper, that he's editing with. So more limited in what he can do than what the Wachowskis were doing with Speed Racer. But yeah, the editing, this is something that was an evolution from Strictly Ballroom into this and then into Moulin Rouge. Same thing as well with the music. Here you mentioned the print song, but... He's doing things where he's taking pop songs and reworking them into completely different styles. And this movie is like, the dialogue is all from the play Shakespeare, except for the music. every once in a while, someone will start singing a pop song in a completely reworked different style. And you're like, whoa, okay. And it gets some information across sometimes about what's happening or what. Great notes about that right. I think for me what happens in this film is that first it paints effective images for both high brow and low brow contemporary audiences which is the exact same thing that Shakespeare did as a matter of fact he was you know derided mocked for doing that right being a part. for catering to the lowest common denominator. was populist. was it was a, he was a populist writing was, was populist writing. And this film is exactly that. And I, how to, how to, hmm. So what it does, it takes the world we know and adapts it to fit the play rather than taking the play and adapting it to the world. Yes. I have never seen Shakespeare so... You still can't really follow the words because of the tortured way that that type of Elizabethan dialogue was back then. But I've never watched Shakespeare, because I've seen lots of adaptations where it's like, you just get the point across. People don't have to... But I've never seen it done as well as this movie. And I have to give a credit for that. Like, the way in which they're doing it in such a modern delivery style. where they're like, they're saying it in a way where you're like, I get this better than I have ever gotten what these lines are meant to mean. And I'm not even trying. It's it's spoon feeding me effortlessly the meaning of these lines. As a bit of a Shakespearean scholar and fan in general, you know, a thumbnail, great thumbnail for anyone who has a question about stylistically how effective this film is in terms of the world of Shakespeare's writing. The prologue and epilogues are done in this newscaster presentation, which is just inspired. Yes, it is just inspired it sets it is it sets the stage the onboarding for this film and It's it's just everything about it is inspired also the advertisements which are used in this city in this film They are used to supplant Easter eggs. And as you said further along the plot, you know It's sort of this, you know going back to that kinetic kind of frenetic energy every billboard every commercial every kind of sign or any sort of iconography used in this film is used to further some sort of plot point or character point or arc. And again, it's all inspired. Yes. the way in which the music does this and like this is something he takes into Moulin Rouge. I'm going to be very excited to see your take on Moulin Rouge when we get because we got to do it at some point now. We absolutely have to. But everything that Romeo plus Juliet is doing like Moulin Rouge, it's taken to like 11. And like even the music, it all all the music in Moulin Rouge is pop music or different lines from different pieces of pop music strung together into like these medleys. It's all lyrics that existed in other music and put together and it does fit the plot and advances it so perfectly that you're just like, when I first saw it in the theater, I didn't realize it was all lines from that and actual pop music. Cause there were like, there's a lot of David Bowie music in there and things that I like songs that I wasn't super familiar with. And later I realized what these songs were. And I was like, Whoa, I would not have guessed these songs didn't belong in this movie that weren't made explicitly for it. And similarly here, if you didn't know, if you are coming out of a cultural vacuum and you didn't know these songs existed that weren't made for this movie, you wouldn't think they weren't made for this movie. They fit so seamlessly. And that is a skill that Lerman has always had. I think he takes, again, takes 211 in Moulin Rouge, but you can see him. Figuring it out here in Romeo plus Juliet. It's the first time you've really seen him do it or anyone do it like this I think and it's impressive And I think another thing to credit this film, you mentioned earlier, you know, about the ability to kind of follow the language of Shakespeare in the film adaptations. one of two things generally usually happens is they either dumb it down so much that it's just uninspired and boring and there's no movement or motion, or they kind of ramp up the, for lack of a better term, pretentiousness of the potential pretentiousness of the prose and verse. But in this, it isn't dumbed down at all. It allows the music of the original text to kind of translate to the ear and minds of the audiences so that your understanding of the characters, the narrative, and the arc comes when the actual prose, the language, is married to the aesthetic, for lack of a better term. It's like you need both of those in order to get context for the story if you're a person who's unfamiliar with R &J. One of my favorite Shakespearean movie adaptations is Henry V, the Kenneth Branagh movie. And I think this is the only other one that even challenges it for that spot because as an adaptation, it's actually using what you can do in a movie that you cannot do on stage. Cause a number of the line deliveries too, one of the reasons they're so modern and so easy to understand is they're giving deliveries that you could not do on a stage. Because on a stage you have to be so elevated and so the projection and you're getting, can't even give those, you know, you can't be subtle. You can't give facial expressions that are subtle. You need it to read to the back rows of the fucking theater. And that's not gonna work on stage, but in the movie, he's like, we're making a movie. We're going to edit this. We're going to be close up on your face. You're going to be able to give subtlety and nuance and these. the lilt and levels of your void, the cadence, all of it can be done. These are things that would be extremely difficult to translate on stage. they're doing it in movie form. And Henry, and also the action, right? Like in Shakespeare, the action is always takes place off stage because it's really hard to do action on stage. You sometimes get a tiny bit of a sword fight here or there or something like that. But for the most part, in Henry V, it would always be like the war is going on. And so it's like the war, people would just come on stage, talk about the battles that are raging, then leave and some then come back on to talk about the next battle that happened. And then Henry V, Kenneth Branagh was like, let's film the fucking battle. It's a war movie. And so they did it. And it's like, my God, yes, this is using film like the right way if you're going to translate it. And Romeo and plus Juliet, I think does a very similar thing where a lot of what they put on screen are things you could never do on stage. And I hear that that also goes. You you think about Zeffirelli's adaptations of Shakespeare and how sweeping they were, and even just more of the sort of filmic and cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare's work. They essentially just film larger, larger, broader versions of the play. And which in and of itself is great. But what this does, very well and even Brenna's as you said is that it utilizes the medium of film and marries it with the text marries it with the narrative rather than using film that's sort of just a layer of paint on top of the original text the narrative and curiously enough in an interview lerman says that The exploration of this film was essentially to ask the question, what would Shakespeare do if he were making a film version of R &J in contemporary times? And when you think about the framing of that question, you think about how Shakespeare was a populist. Shakespeare was writing for both high and low brow. Shakespeare was using music of the day. He was using aesthetics of the time, notions, concepts of the time. When you think about that and then you review this film It answers that question so well because this is probably the film Shakespeare. What a fucking mate In his time and it's just a great great great sort of them and I hate you hate using the term adaptation It's a great presentation of this Right. And Lerman, think is on a record is like that was his intention. Like what if Shakespeare directed a movie, what would he like? How would he have made that this as a movie? And he approached it from that. Obviously none of us actually know how Shakespeare would take this. But of course not. But, but I mean, I buy it. You know what I mean? Like watching this movie, I'm like, yes, I buy that. Now really fun fact, one really cool fun fact. And then let's reveal what we paired with this movie. But the fun fact. one of the cast members was actually in love with their co-star. That's true. And that co-star, so according to the actress who plays the nurse, Miriam Margulies, if I'm pronouncing her last name right, I'm never actually, Margulies? All right, Miriam Margulies. She mentioned that Claire Danes, the poor dear was in fact in love with Leo at the time. And Leo did not reciprocate in those feelings. Which is surprising because Claire Danes was properly underage at the time. no. Sorry, not sorry, Leo. Sorry, not sorry, Leo. that out of the episode. is too polarized. How is that polarizing? is not remotely polarizing. According to Margolis, I liked DiCaprio tremendously and admired his work, but luckily I was immune from his groin charms. Unlike poor Claire Danes. Then only 17. It was obvious to all that she was really in love with her Romeo, but Leonardo wasn't in love with her. She wasn't his type at all. He didn't know how to cope with her evident infatuation. He wasn't sensitive to her feelings, was dismissive of her and could be quite nasty in his keenness to get away. While Claire was utterly sincere and so open, it was painful to watch. Many years later, I was in a restaurant and she came up to me and said, we worked together in a film once. I don't know if you remember me. My name is Claire Danes. It was the opposite of the arrogant behavior of some stars and so typical of her. You know, the only other note I have in this movie, is the end, they really go out of their way to make that ending as cruel as humanly fucking possible. the fact that she gets to wake up, watch him actually, and not quite know what she's looking at until, then him having that split second where she could've, she almost stops him but doesn't, and then he notices what's happening, then he has to die. Holy shit, like of all the ways you can play out how that. has to end. Like sure, that's how it has to end, but the play is not that mean. And this movie was even meaner about it. It was like, whoa guys, holy shit. Anyway, so for me, I mentioned earlier, this movie takes place in quote unquote, fair Verona beach. Now there is actually a real Verona beach, which it is a actual beach in upper New York. It is a ha ha Hamlet in Oneida County, New York. But that is not where this is meant to take place because that would be a very cold place and not nearly as desert like as, this was again filmed in Mexico. So it's plainly trying to be in like Southern California beach type of a thing. I got a Sangiovese, 100 % Sangio from Mexico. Yeah, Tracereisis, R-A-I-C-E-S. Is that It's 100%. No, this is from Hidalgo, Mexico. So it is properly deep in Mexico. And yeah, this was there. They play around with a couple of the Italian varietals. This this group Tracerisis, they do a Nebbiolo Sangio blend as well. And then they do some more like common things you find down in Mexico. But this 100 percent Sangio, it surprised me. One, it is twelve point eight percent alcohol. Yeah, so it's lighter. It is, my notes on this are basically that it tastes light. So this is, this is from Hidalgo, which is in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Texas, Guanajuato, Mexico. Ooh, Freudian slip there. Guanajuato, Mexico. All stainless steel aged, Sangiovese, no oak, right? So it kept it really light and fresh. You get strawberries, watermelon, blueberries. This is like a summer salad. It's like strawberries, blueberries, watermelon and mint menthol. And it's got this nice sharp menthol flavor and the slight sour cherry finish. Very young, but fine tannins. It's just this lighter and fresh feel, almost like a dark rosé more than a red. And this is a place, so this vineyard. Tracer Isis vineyards, they were planted in 2012. So very young. First vintage was 2016. And this is the 2022 vintage here. So about five-ish years in, five, six years in from when they started actually producing for the public. And yeah, it's old world meets new world, just like this Romeo plus Juliet. And it really did it for me. It had that lighter, fresher feel. the menthol and the slight sourness to it, I think works well with the tone of this piece where it's it's sweet, it's romantic, but it's mean, and it's got an edge and it's got a bite. So yeah, this really worked for me. What do you got? Alright, I went with a wine that you can actually. Oh, maybe you can still find it at K now. It was at K and now once when it's time I had it. But they should have something from this family of bitters. If this isn't there, I went with a Sacramento. The Montefalco it is a 2018 vocal. It is so again is very seductive. It is. it's very mature, but it's also, how to say that, it's sort of, it mirrors the low brow and the high brow thing that you get in both Shakespeare and in this film, right? You get some really vibrant, peppery things like the, that mint that's in there. You get that, you know, we talked about that heavy bouquet, there's a little cherry in there, but you also get that like really grounded, earthy kind of thing with tobacco. Absolutely the balsamic thing that blackberry thing that spice that that cigar box and it just sort of it kind of opens up a bit with each glass and Depending on the sip depending on the waft of air, you know, some of those notes You know are a bit more cute at times and I I just really enjoyed it again. You can get this from K and L I take that back. You could get this from K &L. I'm not sure if they still have it. But it is the 2018 Bucala Sobrantino di Montefalco. And a little about the family of it is here. They have been around for I think about 120, 130 years. And it is an umbrion red, of course. It's called a quintessential umbrion red, which is bold and full bodied. And you know, It comes from the Sacartino grape, is one of those sort of core grapes. We'll call it core grape. Core grapes of the Montefalco region in Umbria, yeah. And yeah, I highly recommend watching this film and pouring a glass. If you can't get this one, try Sagartina. for you a few lazy dumb Americans out there. know, Sagrantino, if you're into Napa cabs kind of a thing, like this is your dark, bold, punchy. It's got that what the way we make, especially in the Napa area, Cabernet Sauvignon, like it's gonna have that spice and tobacco and leather. It's gonna have all those, that dark fruit, the crunchiness, the slight, the roughness of the tannins. You can really age a Sagrantino for quite some time. Sagrantino is just one of those big, red. It holds up. It holds up. And this film, again, film holds up so well. And K &L for those who don't know as well, that's all in the West Coast, unfortunately. So if you're not on the West Coast, there's no K &L for you, but you can order online. But they are Redwood City, San Francisco, Hollywood, and Culver City. So we can go there. by the way, that's Sagrantino. You had before you had to take off to the East Coast again, but we had one together at Curated Wine Shop. If you remember that it was 2015. So it had like a nice like solid 10 years on it. And I just got their last bottle last night. So they were down to their end and that was a $30 bottle. That's so nuts. 10 year old Sagrantino. That's amazing. A proper month Falco Sagrantino. tannins really make, again, the tannins really make Sacritina for me. It's that, it has a chewiness that, and I'm using the wrong term, but that's my too. That really satisfies. Anyway, what's next? All right. Well, next we are on to Sense and Sensibility, my favorite most romantic movie of all time. I first saw this movie actually at a student. I was at George Mason University, my college years, my undergrad. And I don't know why I always say that because I've never been to grad, but I've never been to grad. So it was my undergrad. I think that's why I specify. And while I was there, there was a student theater that like movie theater. where they would put on for free for students. Like they would play movies once a week, think, something like that. Like you just check what they were playing. One day was Sense and Sensibility. I'd never seen it. I don't remember how old it was, but this would have been, it came out in 96 and like I was at George Mason 96 to 2000. So somewhere in there. It could have been like, probably it was sort of like already out of the main theaters, but might've been in like the dollar theaters kind of a thing. And then they were able to show it to George Mason. but I'd never seen it. I'd never read any Jane Austen. At the time, I'd never really read any romantic novels of this time period. Although since then, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is one of my top 10 novels of all time. Like I love that novel to pieces. But I've still never read the book Sense and Sensibility, but this movie, I watched this movie and I was, it's over two hours long. It's a pure romantic drama. And I was captivated as a young man who was not into this genre at what so fucking ever. But this, this did it for me. There was just something about it. The characters were so charming, so winning. I love the script. I love the humor in it too. It's very much a comedy of manners. And this is a movie directed by Ang Lee. He was coming off of the wedding banquet. And he got this gig. They were interested in him for this gig because of the wedding banquet, which is another family drama. And interestingly, you know, he's a Taiwanese director. English is not his first language. When they approached him originally, he was quote unquote, cautiously interested because even he wasn't sure if he, if this was right for him, because he's like, adapt one of the great English language novels, what's considered now one of the great English language novels. And I, you know, again, I'm an ESL speaker, like, can I do justice? Will I get it? Will I do justice by this? I don't even like, your culture is not my culture. Like, will I understand this well enough to do what you think I should do with it? So on and so forth. Like, he was even like, I don't know if this is what I should be doing. And the producers talked to many, many other directors. They weren't just like, Ang Lee, you, and went like whole hog for him. But the producer of this movie did say that after meeting with like, dozens of other directors, Ang Lee was the only one who seemed to recognize the humor in the script. And no one else seemed to note that the humor was there because this is a, it's comedy of manners. So the humor is like, it's understated. It's, you could, can see how this on paper could read like a straight drama with nobody trying to pepper any black humor into it, but my God, it is so funny under. his direction. And then, course, obviously the producer and this is written by Emma Thompson. That's right. was her. Yep. It was her first screenplay that she'd ever done. She did spend five years working on it. So it took her some time. But it's so funny because even the studio was hesitant because like no studio wanted to bite on this one because they're like, it's her first time screenwriting. I'm like, motherfucker, it's Emma fucking Thompson. Like, who cares if it's her first screenplay? in. here's the thing. But here's the thing. Wait, wait. Let me finish. ahead. Read the fucking thing. Is it good or is it bad? Like the thing that kills me about studio executives, right? And about really Hollywood executives of the whole thing is they're like, but you've never written before. And I'm like, OK, read it. Is does it is it good or is it bad? That's your job. That's your fucking job. That's is that not what you're actually weighing? Like, here's a star that you want to work with. And they wrote a script. Sure, it's their first one. Fucking read it and tell us if you decide if it's good or not. But they're just like, but it's your first. We're just leaving it at that. I'm like, what is wrong with you? I said Howard said fortunately. I will say a point of note here, at the time Emma Thompson was, as you said, an unproven writer and screenwriter. And she didn't get her first big acting break until Howard's end, which came out, you know, not long before this film was released. Also, the reason that Emma Thompson was ended up even in consideration was because the one of the producers saw a sketch that she wrote on a British comedy. And she responded to the way in which Emma was able to sort of imbue this small sketch with both comedy and sort of some seriousness. And so she saw early on that Emma clearly had what it took. And she fought for Emma. And it paid off. mean, like you said, five years to get this. think Emma Thompson says she went through eight different drafts. And Ang Lee himself. He said he had never read any Austin before this, you know, this film. He never read any of the sort of classic works. And he cried the first time he read one of the final drafts of the film, of the screenplay. And so that was one of the things that kind of sold him. Yes, and I texted Dallas this time when I watched it and I've watched it many times. I cried three times. I teared up three fucking times. always do, spoilers guys, I always do at when the Kate Winslet character is dying and they're pretty sure she's not gonna pull through, then when she pulls through. And then that ending with Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson, when Emma Thompson just like loses her shit. Like all the composure that she's held the whole movie and she just has that sudden, like it's like a nervous breakdown. It's, or, you know, it is that like, can finally let it all out and she does. And it happens. So the first time, I remember the first time I saw this movie, I thought that was one of the best pieces of acting was just watching her have that moment where the revelation, the huge, Hugh Grant says what he's there to say. And she goes from like almost completely still and like, know, again, trying very hard not to show any emotion to just complete bubbly tears, like just bubbling mess, puddle on the ground. And I'm just like, wow, I've never, I had, I think in my life at the time, I'd never seen anyone actually pull that off. I've never seen that in real life. I'd never seen that on screen, never seen that on stage. Like just this, complete like and release and emotionally just break down and it was like wow and it was such an amazing payoff after two hours and 10 minutes into the movie where you're just like this is the payoff and it's amazing. I think it was one it was the first time when I originally saw this movie was first time I'd ever seen Alan Rickman not be a villain. yes, now that was so satisfying. Yes, like seeing him as just this incredibly good nature guy that can't seem to win in anything either. And then having him get a happy ending in the end as well. Like the journey of this story, I've never read the novel, but I believe in the major points, like this is very faithful to the novel. Like it made some changes, but very little, relatively minor tweaks in like characters' ages. I think there were things like in the novel Emma Thompson's character is supposed to be 19 and they aged it up one so Emma Thompson could play it. think originally they kept the character 19 in the screenplay and Emma was like, no, no, I have no intention of playing this, but they want, she'd become such a big star. wanted her and they also decided and I think this was actually really smart. They aged her up and made the character 27. because they were like, look, modern audiences are gonna have a hard time understanding why a 19 year old is worried about spinster hood in the first place. so they're like, this was just going to be an easier sell dramatically if we're like, but she's in her almost thirties and worried about never getting married and being alone for the rest of her life. Which even that's a little bit of a stretch by nineties modern standards, but 19 would have been, we would have been like. Wait, what the fuck are these people even talking about? It's like look guys back then that was old age like you were past your prime Yeah, exactly So yeah, that's me for you. Have you ever seen this movie before now? Yes, but it was one of those. What was this 95 right? This is 96. No, you're right. Five, 95, 95. Yes, but a couple of things. One, it was a film I saw and instantly sort of just forgot. Because the script was great. The performances are all great. But I'd seen so many period pieces in my life by that point that it was like, all right. It's cute. It's funny. I'd never seen one that was this funny though. Like everyone was very self-aware of what they were making. And there was just, there was a lot of satirical commentary going on all throughout. And I think even if I couldn't have put that into words back then, I think I recognized that and really latched onto it back then. could see that. I could see that. I had no idea that Ang Lee directed it until I came back many, many years later. That kind of blew my mind. And in retrospect, it's like that's probably one of the reasons that subtle humor was so well-defined in this film is because he is a person as a director, as an eye, everything he does, there is a weird... comedic undertone, even to his serious stuff sometimes. There's this sort of bryness to everything he does. And I've heard him say in a couple of interviews, he's like, that's my perspective is, even in my dramatic things, I kind of am seeing the humor. And it's so clear in this film that, you know, he was definitely trying to further hone that skill. Some trivia here real quick. It was actually shot. a few miles away from the setting of the novel in Devon, England. And Emma Thompson has been on record saying that in her research, she came across a letter in Austin's collection, which was written by Lady Bowman and the house that they filmed, one of the homes they filmed in was owned by the Bowman family, an exact same family. And it was an all British production with the exception of Ang Lee and his immediate team. The film has great cynicism, there's great warmth. This was also, it should be noted, Jane Austen's very first novel. Yes, you know, and she is she is the original cottage core Queen. Everything about her work is just so cottage core, which is lovely and pastoral and all the good things. And I will say. You know, the first draft of this novel was an epistolary novel, which is a novel that's all letters back and forth between people and between the two sisters, I believe. I'm going to forget their names. But anyways, Marianne and Eleanor. Eleanor and Marianne. And I think that was the working title of novel was Eleanor and Marianne. And it was just letters back and forth between the two of them. And then she reworked the whole thing into a proper novel. And that became Sense and Sensibility. the film has some wonderful, I guess it some great levity, great comedy. There are some heartbreaking moments like when Edward can't visit Willoughby and when Marianne's dismissed, the letter that Willoughby writes, it's just Marianne dying, of course. It's some great, great moments. It's very much romantic escapism. which I'm generally not a fan of, I think it's a like, jaunt. I call it a fun little jaunt in the countryside. I know you think that me calling it lazy is offensive, but when I say lazy, I mean sort of that, sort of, you know, it's that sort of pastoral. That's the sits I get. It's a pastoral kind of. But you know, lazy is an offensive term to use in this context. And I disagree that this is, what was the term you just used? Something about the romance? romantic fantasy or something like that. Escapism, yeah. So I disagree with that though, because the whole point of this story is how impossible any romance actually is. Like it happens. by the skin of these women's teeth at the very bitter end and everything leading up to it, not just to them, but even the men, nobody gets fucking romance, nobody. Everyone wants it. Everyone regrets what they have to do. Some of them dig their own grave in that regard. Some of them just are pushed into these positions. But even the ones who try, some of them just trying to do right and being moral have to let go of the idea of romance to do right by other things, other people, families, other promises they've made to other people. Like the point of this movie is how fucking impossible romance was at that time period and with these mores and in this society. And it's heartbreaking to watch it all unfold and how just No, everyone is plainly like, don't know what to do. We don't know. Like they keep pausing to figure out if there's a way out and there isn't and not really. And so they don't and life goes on. so like, this is the pure opposite of escapism. No. Simply because, you know, the reality is such that you're right. These are very well-defined, caustic roles and parameters to their lives, right? The limitations are clear and are almost inescapable. And so the romance lives in in their minds the romance is an idea it is a long game it is. A fantasy that each one of them carries through each separate disappointment each separate sort of you know sad. So I don't mean. I don't mean it's- I-I-I-I-I It's escapism in terms of escapism for the audience like we turn to it because it's a fantasy fantastical, you know I'm still not gonna... It's brutal. How is it escapism? Maybe Marianne, there's an argument to be made there because she is the one who like very willfully refuses to let those fantasies go. And very willfully makes a lot of harebrained decisions that are very, you know, against propriety, like very improper. decisions because of how romantic she wants to be and is and refuses not to be. But none of the others do. In fact, they're locked within their propriety and their properness, which keeps them from escaping into their romantic notions. Even if they have the thought from time to time and long for it, wish for it, that's not what they're escaping into. Only Marianne, as far as I can tell, can you even argue that for. Again, the notion and concept of a fantasy exists, know, fantasy exists in our mind, in our psyche, in our head. And so even a character who, you like you mentioned earlier, when she does get this fantasy, this opportunity for the fantasy at the end, essentially what she's saying is, I've always had this fantasy in my mind. I've always wanted this thing, but I never allowed myself to act upon it. It's always been there. Sure. But escaping into it... Yeah, yeah, but she's not escaping into it. She's doing everything but escaping into it. She's not living... Because escaping is kind of what Marianne does, where she's like, this will be my life, I will will it into fucking being. Because she's escaping into the fantasy of that notion. She's very... picky about who that's going to be with for that very reason. She's like, it must be love, it must be romance. Honestly, Eleanor doesn't even feel that way. That's not even really part of her fantasy. Like it's thrilling if it could be that, but she's ready to do what needs to be done. And even with Marianne, it's like, yeah, maybe you can argue that, but everyone else, no one's actually escaping into the fantasy. The fantasy is always there. It's omnipresent. It's always very cute. is a very... Because that's the nature of passion. That's the nature of desire. It is very cute. You can allow yourself to think around it. You can allow yourself to mutate. You can allow... I'm not saying it's a full, submersive experience that they're escaping into. That's not what saying. That's never been my postulation. mean the words gotta mean something specific. Escaping into a fantasy can be just that dipping into the pool whenever it is appropriate for you. No, again, it's got to mean something. This is like every, you're allowing the dipping the toe all the way to complete immersion to all be the definition of escapism. Yes. It can be depending on the perspective of the person. For instance, me, for me having, wait, for me having a dip in the pool could be, you know, putting my ankles and getting them wet. For you, it could be lazing in the pool for a day and getting wrinkle. That just depends on the perspective. We may both call those things escapism. And the exact same thing could be true for escaping a you do, but, if you do, but you're talking about characters that don't, that's not escapism. They are resisting the escapism. They're not dipping their ankles in the pool and being like, this is great. This is all I need. And then moving on. So it's not escapism. They, if they're going to get their fantasy and get their desire and escape into it, it's going to be a hell of a lot more than that. They are not allowing themselves. to do these things at all. They're not allowing themselves to live in those beliefs. They're not allowing themselves to really think it's going to happen. That, even if it is the ankle, that has to be to that character. The context must be actual escapism, fulfilling up to that point, fulfilling in a way that we allow, why we allow our fantasies in, because it does fulfill us up to a point and in a way, but it doesn't. There's a reason these people are surviving, but they're miserable. because they're not escaping. They're not getting that. And that's why the word has to have a meaning beyond just, yes, somewhere, somewhere in there, you have dreams and fantasies that you sometimes think a teeny tiny bit about, but you mostly keep buried in the bay and you never even really give into them even for a single day or anything like that. Like if that's escapism, then escapism means anything. And it has to have more don't think it has to have more meaning than that. I think it has to be specific to the individual and what they need. Some characters need more to get along. I don't disagree with that, I've already talked about what that has to still be. Even if dipping your toe in is escapism to you, that has to be escapism to you. But you're just saying that because they dipped a toe in, you're just going to assume it's escapism to them. But that's, I disagree. You can see these characters are not escaping into. And I say that they are clearly escaping because it allows them to continue. That's a part of the thing that allows them to continue. Breathing allows you to continue. They're not happy and they're not fulfilled. That is what escapism would do is get you through when, you know, when Marianne escapes into her poetry and her Shakespeare, like that makes her happy, authentically. Being sensible doesn't make Eleanor happy. It just... keeps. worse things from happening. And that's not the same thing. No, it is keeping worse things from happening, literal things. So not in her head, it's keeping literal worse things from happening. Right. But again, escapism, be it sort of the escapism of the mind, which is no sort of fantasies, romantic fantasies or hobbies or reading poetry when you get the opportunity, that it doesn't make the trouble worth it, but it is a bit of respite. And I'm saying those fantasies. But Eleanor doesn't have any of that. She doesn't do any of that. So there's no escapism. It's only Marianne at best. None of the other characters have it. all the characters have, I'm talking about the fantasy though, all of these characters have fantasies that they live in. but they don't escape into them. That's the point. Just because they don't exist. No, no, no, no, no, no, they don't live in that. No, no, no. But I mean, even in their head, they don't live in them. Eleanor, you had like this moment with Hugh Grant's character. And as soon as it was quashed, she moved the fuck on. And she knew shit was never gonna happen. It doesn't mean she doesn't feel anything, but she knew it was never gonna happen. Okay, I will, let's leave it here then. I will say that at the very least one character exhibits a romantic escapism and Dave doesn't think that many of the characters in this world escape once a week. I say the characters escape to their fantasy world. And I do overall disagree with the use of the term in this context. feel like it's a... that I'm gonna just gonna say no and I'm gonna wave the hand which annoys you So I went first on R &J, so what are you pairing with Sense and Sensibility? Hold on. So I went with the OTIMA. that. Even yours is kind of called something similar to mine. That's why. Really? Go ahead. Yeah. Kinda. It's kind of a weird open-bowel nonsense word. you go ahead. That's a great way to describe most wine titles. But I went with the Otima 10 year old Tani Port. It is the bottle we had was $31. It's I will read the description because I love it. It's a feel the feast of your taste buds with the Warre Otima's 10 year old Tani Port. If you are a true port wine lover, you deserve to taste this. Moreover, this wine can brighten up your occasion. So be especially vent. Remember to add this portier wine. Anyway, it is a full body. It's very, it's weirdly. You should taste this. It is weirdly nutty. It feels like a... It tastes like... I mean, like you know, most ports you get a nutty note, but this feels... Well, Tony, anyway. feels like a nut liqueur. Like a proper nut liqueur. Is it it light? it less sweet than other tawny ports? It's actually a good question. It didn't feel overly sweet for a tonic. Cause that could be what's making the nuttiness more accentuated is that if it has a little dialed back sweetness, then you're getting that dryer sherry nuttiness kind of thing going on. Yeah. You know? Yeah, the OTIMA, you can pick it up at... Everywhere. as I can tell. Devmo. It's a Devmo. 20 % or yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah, it's funny. My backup was a sweet white port is what I was going to pair with this. So not a dry white. I mean, you could do a dry white port. But for me, I think you need some sweetness with this one, whether it is through a tawny port, a sweet white which I just had my first one a couple of weeks ago. I bought my first one. I'd never seen a sweet white port before. You usually see it dry. But this one, I was like, let's try it. It's boozy. It's interesting. The fortified element comes through stronger in the white, I think, than the red. And the sweetness, it doesn't come across as sweet, but it is still sweet. I like it quite a bit, but yeah, it feels boozy. What's the percentage on it? And I was like, okay, that could work. 18 on the white one that I have. But that's not the one I'm pairing with it. But I do think, you know, anything like that, like the Tony port, white port, I think you could do sweet sherry or like, this is a British, this is movie, is Jane Austen, it takes place in the British countryside, very British. There's few things in the wine world more British than a cream sherry. And I would, so I would highly recommend a cream sherry, which is a blend of dry and sweet sherry. So it's kind of middle sweet. And so that's that. same amount of like port sweetness. So I think any of those could do really well. But the one that I went with was this aperitivo called a toast. And it's a California, aperitif. It's made with California oranges, lemons, strawberries, and roses. Yeah. And then, and then a list of other botanicals, proprietary blend. don't tell you what else, but those, those, those bits, they, know it's oranges, lemons, roses, and strawberries. And it definitely tastes it. Like it tastes like roses and strawberries. That's always my issue with the note. It just gets so medicinal. How's the balance? Is it balanced? I love it. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The rose is much more on the nose than on the palette. The palette, it's very fruity. I even have a perfect, this comes with a recipe for a spritz, which is four, you do two ounces of this with four ounces of sparkling rosé. And it is, I think that would actually be amazing. and Sparkling Rose again for a romance kind of movie and for Valentine's Day. So the toast, especially if you're in California, it's the California Apertivo, it's predominantly here. You can find it in Whole Foods. You can find it in a lot of the markets around here. But that made me think of the whole color and aesthetic palette of this movie, the feeling of it where it's very romantic, but also a little sly and satirical and humorous. It's got an acerbic edge to it. It's got a bite. So this is a bittersweet. So it's got that little bit of bitterness because of the struggles they have. is that it's the English era, propriety over all else. There is a huge bitter edge and like the things these poor women suffer through to get to their romance in the final bitter end. Yeah, I think this really... worked well for me in that regard. so yeah, take a look at that. And like I said, cream sherry or ports, I think that all works with this one. But yeah, a sweet aperitivo or dessert wine that isn't too sweet and give it has a little bit of nudge, a little bit of sharpness, a little bit of bitterness. That's that's what you need sweet on this one. All right. All right, guys, that has been a Valentine's Day episode. That was Romeo plus Juliet from 1996. And since sensibility from 1995, owe These are our favorite movies from that era. And I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine's Day or what do they call it? Gallentine's Day. Gallentine's Day, whatever kind of day you're gonna celebrate or not celebrate. Yeah, it's still fun to watch these romantic movies sometimes because if you as an audience member would like some romantic escapism, either we'll do the trick for you, because that's what the word means. Yeah. Don't say it, Alex. Don't say it, Alex. We will be back next week with another one and entertainment fairing for your entertainment Don't forget to check us out on sub stack wine and sub stack comm we will check you next time you you you Color in the Cheeks. It's an audio podcast, yes, Color in the Cheeks. You know, I'm looking at myself. That's what I'm talking about. I'll give a damn when anybody else sees. I'm like, you know, have color in your, like compared to me, you have color in your cheeks. I'm looking at myself. I mean, it's the white boys that need to be like, know, give me something that isn't just white, please. Something, anything. We need, that isn't splotchiness either, right? Like that's why we have to be careful with it because color to us is like, it can go wrong very quickly. That's very true.
