movie reviews

“I Want to Believe”… Or Do We? The Gang Takes on Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day

By gophotographer 4 weeks ago

What happens when Steven Spielberg drops a $115 million alien epic billed as an 80s-throwback sci-fi adventure, but forgets to put actual aliens in it until the final two minutes?

You get an hour of pure, unfiltered, hilarious chaos on the Adult Beverage Film Podcast!

In this episode, hosts Kent Smith, Laura Truman, Patrick G. Keenan, and the newly returned Carlisle “Squeaker” Hamrick sit down to dissect Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Safe to say: the consensus is as split as an alien dissection procedure.

The Verdict: Masterpiece or “I Shit My Pants at the End”?

The energy gets wild right out of the gate. While host Kent Smith came out of the theater practically begging everyone to go see it—ranking it an 8 out of 10 and praising its quiet nuances—the rest of the panel had… slightly different reactions.

Laura Truman: Summarized her thoughts in one poetic phrase: “Big ‘so what?'” She pointed out that despite all the running, drama, and screaming, there wasn’t a single alien on screen until the last two minutes.
Patrick G. Keenan: Thought the ride was fun, but felt betrayed by the landing. “It’s not a bad movie… it was well executed, I wasn’t bored, but at the end, it felt like I just shit my pants!”
Squeaker: Admitted to being underwhelmed, but defended the core concept. “Maybe it just wasn’t the movie you wanted it to be… it’s about the disclosure, not meeting the aliens.”

The Standout Star: Everyone agreed that Emily Blunt as the weather reporter absolutely carried the movie on her back. “Captivating,” said Laura. “I would have watched a movie that was just about her doing the weather!”
Adult Beverage Film Podcast – Disclosure Day

Episode Review
“I Want to Believe”… Or Do We? Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day

Adult Beverage Film Podcast

🎙️ Kent, Laura, Patrick & Squeaker ⏱️ 1h 10m

What happens when Steven Spielberg drops a $115M alien epic billed as an 80s throwback, but forgets to show actual aliens until the last two minutes? The gang breaks down Disclosure Day in a hilarious, split-panel debate.

🛸 Episode Highlights:
• Laura: “Big ‘so what?’… not an alien until the last two minutes!”
• Patrick: “It’s not a bad movie, but at the end it felt like I just shit my pants!”
• The Consensus: Emily Blunt as the weather reporter completely carried the movie.

Listen on Apple Podcasts 🌐 Visit AdultBeverage.net

Lens Flares, Adam & Eve, and Fake Deer

The gang doesn’t pull any punches when breaking down the film’s production choices:

J.J. Abrams Level Lens Flares: Laura passionately called out the blinding sun flares. “There’s a scene where they are showing the big alien secret on the computer, and all you can see is lens flare! Nobody’s face! Steven, I need my eyes!”
Subliminal Religious Imagery: From nuns on the phone to subtle “Adam and Eve” dynamic setups, Kent and the crew debated whether the movie was trying to make a deep theological statement or just tossing in 12 Apostles for the aesthetic.
CGI Wildlife: Why do sci-fi CGI animals always look like they’re glitching? The crew unanimously agreed the “visiting animals” looked aggressively fake. “We can train a fox! We can train a deer!” groaned the panel.

What Else Are They Watching?

Before wrapping up, the hosts dove into their recent watchlists, giving quick-fire takes on what’s hitting screens right now:

Superman & Masters of the Universe: Pure, unadulterated fun according to Laura and Patrick.
Obsession: The $750k indie horror darling that made $300M+. Patrick and Laura couldn’t stop raving about it, while Kent remained loyal to high-budget blockbusters.
The Back Rooms: Patrick called it “like being locked in an IKEA back room”—fun concept, but lacks the payoff.
Widow’s Bay & The Beast in Me: Laura highly recommends both, calling Widow’s Bay a wild mix of Murder She Wrote meets Evil Dead.

Hit Play & Join the Conversation!

Did Spielberg miss the mark, or was Disclosure Day a misunderstood masterpiece? Grab a cold one, settle in, and listen to the full debate!

👉 Listen to the Episode on Apple Podcasts or head over to adultbeverage.net!

Shimmering Blue Cocktail: The Blinding Lens Flare

By gophotographer 4 weeks ago

A cocktail that looks impossibly bright, hits you with a punch of citrus and ginger, and finishes with a mysterious, shimmering float that leaves you asking: “Wait… was that an alien, or did I just stare into the sun for two hours?”

📋 Ingredients

2 oz Mezcal or Tequila Blanco (Mezcal gives it that smokey, ‘did a UFO just land in a custom meatpacking plant?’ vibe)
0.75 oz Blue Curaçao (for that iconic J.J. Abrams / Spielberg blue flare glow)
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice (crisp acidity to keep you awake through the middle 90 minutes)
0.5 oz Agave Nectar
3 oz Ginger Beer (spicy top-off)
Garnish: A lime wheel, a sprig of mint, and a heavy pinch of edible silver luster dust (so it literally shimmers when light hits your glass)

🛠️ Mixology Instructions (The Protocol)

The Concealment: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the Mezcal (or Tequila), fresh lime juice, and agave nectar. Shake vigorously until ice-cold.
The Base: Strain the mixture over fresh crushed ice into a tall highball glass.
The Fizz: Top off the glass with ginger beer, leaving about an inch at the top.
The Lens Flare Float: Slowly pour the Blue Curaçao over the back of a bar spoon so it layers over the top and bleeds into the golden ginger base.
The Shimmer: Stir in a pinch of edible silver luster dust. Hold it up to the nearest light fixture—if it blinds your eyes like a 1980s Spielberg sunset, you made it right!

Adult Beverage Film Podcast – Disclosure Day

Episode Review

“I Want to Believe”… Or Do We? Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day

Adult Beverage Film Podcast

🎙️ Kent, Laura, Patrick & Squeaker ⏱️ 1h 10m

What happens when Steven Spielberg drops a $115M alien epic billed as an 80s throwback, but forgets to show actual aliens until the last two minutes? The gang breaks down Disclosure Day in a hilarious, split-panel debate.

🛸 Episode Highlights:
• Laura: “Big ‘so what?’… not an alien until the last two minutes!”
• Patrick: “It’s not a bad movie, but at the end it felt like I just shit my pants!”
• The Consensus: Emily Blunt as the weather reporter completely carried the movie.

🍸 Drink of the Day: The Blinding Lens Flare

2 oz Mezcal • 0.75 oz Blue Curaçao • 0.75 oz Fresh Lime • 0.5 oz Agave • 3 oz Ginger Beer • Edible Silver Luster Dust

“Smokey, shimmering blue, and dangerously bright—designed to blind your eyes just like a 1980s Spielberg sunset!”

Listen on Apple Podcasts 🌐 Visit AdultBeverage.net

💬 Tasting Notes & On-Air Toast

“Smokey, citrusy, and dangerously drinkable. It starts out bright blue, turns a mysterious green as you stir it, and leaves you wondering if the government is hiding the recipe. Pairs best with Emily Blunt doing the weather and CGI deer staring at you in the woods.”

The Official Toast: “To 115 million dollars, 2 minutes of screen time, and zero answers. Cheers!”

One Battle After Another: PTA’s High-Proof Masterpiece (Best Served with a Double)

By gophotographer 5 months ago

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you take the paranoid DNA of Thomas Pynchon, douse it in 100-proof cinematic adrenaline, and hand the keys to a master like Paul Thomas Anderson, you get “One Battle After Another.”

And if you’ve ever wondered what happens when you take that 161-minute epic and try to make sense of it through the bottom of a bourbon glass, you get the latest episode of the Adult Beverage Film Podcast.

The Movie: A Sprawling, Sovereign Mess (In the Best Way)

Paul Thomas Anderson has always been a director who likes his stories like we like our drinks: complex, layered, and capable of making your head spin. With One Battle After Another, he’s moved past the oil derricks of There Will Be Blood and the fashion houses of Phantom Thread to deliver something far more urgent and “American Berserk.”

The film—loosely based on Pynchon’s Vineland—is a dizzying journey through a landscape of aging revolutionaries, clandestine groups like the “French 75,” and the looming, menacing shadow of Colonel Lockjaw (played with terrifying intensity by Sean Penn). At the center of it all is Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Ghetto” Pat Calhoun—a performance that is equal parts Jeff Bridges “Dude” energy and desperate, off-the-grid survivalism.

It’s a movie about the battles we fight with the state, the battles we fight with our past, and the battles we fight with our own family. In other words: It’s a lot to process.

The Podcast: Breaking Down the “Berserk”

That’s where we come in. On the latest episode of the Adult Beverage Film Podcast, hosts Kent, Laura, and Patrick (and maybe a few “Squeekers” in the background) sat down to dissect PTA’s Oscar-winning odyssey.

What’s on the menu for this episode?

The Pairing: You can’t watch a movie this dense with a light beer. We’re talking high-octane bourbon and savory Micheladas. We even attempt to recreate the “Fanny’s Best Picture Cocktail”—a drink that, much like the film’s plot, has a lot of ingredients and might leave you questioning your reality by the third act.
The Debate: Is Colonel Lockjaw PTA’s greatest villain yet? Does DiCaprio’s “Bob Ferguson” deserve a spot in the stoner-cinema Hall of Fame? And just how many hidden Pynchon references did we miss because we were busy refilling our glasses?
The Vibe: We go deep into the technical brilliance—the Dolby soundscapes, the grit of the handheld camera work, and that “convent of revolutionary nuns” (which is exactly as cool as it sounds).

Why You Should Listen (and Watch)

One Battle After Another is a film that demands a second viewing and a long conversation. It’s a “Big Ugly Now” diagnosis of America that manages to be both a heartbreaking family drama and a truly edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Whether you’re a die-hard PTA scholar or just someone who likes to hear three friends get increasingly passionate about cinematography as the bottle gets lighter, this episode is your perfect companion.

So, pour yourself a stiff one, keep your eyes on the rooftops, and join us for a deep dive into the chaotic genius of Paul Thomas Anderson.

Trust No One, Pass the Whiskey: A Frostbitten Toast to John Carpenter’s The Thing

By gophotographer 1 year ago

In the vast, frozen emptiness of Antarctica, there’s no sound but the wind, no warmth but your breath, and no one you can truly trust — especially if you’ve just discovered an alien parasite that’s really good at playing dress-up. John Carpenter’s The Thing isn’t just a horror film. It’s a paranoia-fueled cocktail of isolation, mistrust, and monster mayhem… served ice-cold with a twist.

At the Adult Beverage Film Podcast, we don’t just watch movies — we pop the cork, pour something strong, and drink in every frame like it’s a rare vintage. And The Thing? This is a bottle you keep tucked away for special occasions… like when you’re snowed in with twelve suspicious co-workers and a few suspiciously moving body parts.

A Horror Vintage That Only Gets Better With Age

When The Thing hit theaters in 1982, audiences didn’t quite know what to do with it. Critics called it too gory, too bleak, and (in one famously bad take) “instant junk.” Then the years passed, the snow settled, and Carpenter’s chilly little monster flick was uncorked again by new audiences — who realized they weren’t just watching a creature feature, but a masterclass in tension.

This is a film that breathes suspicion. Every creak of the station, every sideways glance, every shared bottle of J&B Scotch is another seed of doubt. And unlike many horror films of the era, The Thing refused to give us safety in numbers — here, your best friend could be it. Your drinking buddy? Also it. The guy guarding the door? Definitely it.

The Perfect Pour: Practical Effects Over Digital Ice

The real magic — okay, horror — of The Thing lies in Rob Bottin’s jaw-dropping practical effects. No computer-generated shortcuts, just gallons of goo, twisted latex, and nightmare fuel sculpted by hand. Carpenter’s camera lingers just long enough for the transformations to sear into your brain, but never so long that the illusion melts away.

Watching these effects today, they’re still shocking… and oddly beautiful, in the way that only a dog’s head sprouting spider legs could be. We at Adult Beverage liken it to a perfectly aged whiskey: raw, fiery, and impossible to forget once it burns down your throat.

Bottled Paranoia: The Thing as the Ultimate Barroom Conversation

Imagine you’re at a dive bar in McMurdo Station. Outside, it’s -50°F. Inside, there’s a single bottle of good Scotch, a battered jukebox, and eleven other scientists you’re not entirely sure are human. This is The Thing.

The brilliance is that Carpenter turns every conversation, every drink shared between characters, into a gamble. Who pours from the bottle? Who hesitates? Who drinks without question? It’s the same dynamic you get in a good pub debate — except instead of arguing over who’d win in a fight (Godzilla or King Kong), you’re wondering if your drinking buddy is secretly an alien parasite waiting for you to turn your back.

The Ending: Cheers or Chills?

And then there’s that ending. MacReady and Childs, two men who’ve been through hell together, sitting in the freezing dark with nothing left but mutual suspicion… and a bottle. It’s the cinematic equivalent of clinking glasses with your rival because, hey, you might both be dead by morning anyway.

Is one of them infected? Are they both? Or are they just two stubborn humans refusing to give up without one last drink? That’s the genius of Carpenter’s final toast — it leaves you thinking long after the credits roll, and maybe pouring yourself something strong while you try to decide.

**Why The Thing Belongs in the Adult Beverage Hall of Fame**

Here’s the thing (pun intended): The Thing isn’t just horror. It’s barroom horror. It’s the kind of movie that thrives on shared experience — best enjoyed with friends, a good drink, and the occasional nervous glance to make sure no one’s face is splitting open mid-conversation.

It’s also the perfect example of how we at Adult Beverage Film Podcast approach cinema: with equal parts admiration, irreverence, and the understanding that sometimes the best way to appreciate a masterpiece is to argue about it over cocktails.

So next time you find yourself snowed in, low on trust, and with nothing but an old VHS player or streaming subscription for company, do yourself a favor:

Put on The Thing.
Pour a glass of something that could strip paint.
Keep an eye on your drinking buddies.

Because in Antarctica, no one can hear you scream… but they can definitely hear you pop a cork.

🎙 More episodes at: https://adultbeverage.net
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“Anora”: A Modern-Day Cinderella Story (With a Russian Oligarch and Way More Vodka)

By gophotographer 1 year ago

Pour yourself a stiff one, because the latest episode of the Adult Beverage Film Podcast is a wild ride through Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece, “Anora”! If you thought Cinderella’s story was a fairytale, just wait until you hear about Ani, a Brooklyn stripper who swaps a glass slipper for a private jet and a very expensive fur coat after a whirlwind, vodka-fueled romance with Vanya, the ridiculously rich son of a Russian oligarch.

The gang, including award-winning producer Kent Smith, actor Patrick G. Keenan, critic Laura Truman, and the delightfully grumpy “Audio Genius” Carlisle Hamrick, are joined by special guest Nicolas Brown. With his behind-the-camera experience on shows like The Righteous Gemstones and Outer Banks, Nicolas brings some real on-set magic to the discussion. And probably a few stories about what happens after “a few too many celebratory beverages on set.”

The hosts dive into this hilarious, chaotic, and ultimately heartbreaking tale, pondering some of life’s most pressing questions. How much alcohol does it take to truly fall in love with a guy who’s still playing video games during… well, everything? What’s the perfect adult beverage to pair with an unexpected, international annulment drama? And can you ever really outrun a Russian oligarch’s family in a high-stakes chase scene through Brooklyn?

“Anora” is a cinematic cocktail of screwball comedy and genuine emotional depth. It’s a “Pretty Woman” meets “run for your life from some very serious Russians” kind of film, and our hosts, with their collective experience and love of cinema, break down every magnificent, cringe-worthy, and poignant moment.

So, grab your favorite drink and join the party. This episode is a rollicking good time, with a splash of cinematic wisdom and a chaser of questionable life choices. And we promise, you’ll be laughing all the way to the credit roll—or at least until the international annulment papers arrive.

For more episodes and film reviews, visit adultbeverage.org.