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| Next Door |
World Bartender Day - which falls today, on February 22 - may seem a little bit niche but most of us have a favourite, whether it's the place where we stop off for a coffee on the way to work or drown our sorrows when we're back off the clock. The same is true for films, whether it's the lure of Rick's famous "gin joint" in
Casablanca, the energy of
Coyote Ugly or Mos Eisley's cantina bar in
Star Wars or the fear of getting stuck in somewhere like the place in Álex de la Iglesia's The Bar. So today, we're raising a glass to some of cinema's famous - and not so famous - bars.
Next Door, Curzon
Virtually all the action in Daniel Brühl's directorial debut takes place within the confines of the sort of neighbourhood bar you could stumble on in any city. He also stars in a role that has been puckishly shaped around his own career, as a full-of-himself actor, also called Daniel, with an inch-perfect life, who is heading to London for an audition. His coffee stop-off will come to be a source of regret when he encounters Bruno (Peter Kurth), a man whose own agenda comes gradually to light. What ensues is a taut little psychodrama, played beautifully by Kurth and Brühl that touches on the very modern malaise of gentrification and which made all the more delightful by the fact that Daniel is a dick so we long to see him brought down.
Amelie, Prime
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| Amelie |
While occasionally threatening quirky overload, this fable from Jean-Pierre Jeunet is likely to have you longing to hang out not only in the Café des 2 Moulins where its lead character works but in this fictionalised Paris in general, full of warmth and joie de vivre. Audrey Tautou had been working for a while before this, in the likes of Venus Beauty, but this was a film that cemented her fame on the international stage as the quirky cafe waitress determined to improve the lives of those around her. A film of boundless energy that encourages us, like Amelie, to notice the small and enjoyable details of life, it's a love letter to eccentrics everywhere.
Shaun Of The Dead, Netflix
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| Shaun of The Dead - The Winchester |
If you have to hole up in the event of a zombie apocalypse then it makes sense to have a pint of beer to hand - and the Winchester Arms in Edgar Wright's comedy horror is the sort of place we've all had as our local at some point or another. Indeed, the chief joy of Wright's film - and much of his back catalogue - is the way the outrageous is so firmly rooted in the everyday goings on of British life, as Shaun (Simon Pegg) suddenly begins to realise there's something odd happening to people. Wright achieves the perfect balance of humour and bloodshed, while couching everything in the sort of domestic politics we can all relate to, helped enormously by a cast that also includes Nick Frost, Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy. Dead on the money.
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, BFI Player
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| Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute |
Brothers Bill and Turner Ross head to the cutting edge of documentary/fiction hybrids with this immersive study of the last day in the life of a dive bar in Las Vegas. The bar The Roaring 20s may not exist in real life, but the brothers have filled the space they use for it - actually a bar in New Orleans - with real people having genuine conversations about their lives against its backdrop. Although the directors have made no secret of their methods, they don't announce it at the start of the film and anyone going in without the knowledge may well come out of the other side thinking they've seen a pure documentary. The addition of an element of "construction" to proceedings, which were shot over several days even though the timeline of the film is confined to a single one allows the film to have a much more cinematic quality than many documentaries, with scenes outside the bar able to be dovetailed with those within. The conversations also flow as free and easily as a pint, sometimes mingling with one another into a potentially volatile cocktail at other times drifting off without easy resolution but frequently offering sharply observant moments that are all the more remarkable because they don't stem from a script.
An American Werewolf In London, Shudder, Amazon, AppleTV
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| An American Werewolf In London |
Not every pub in the world opens its doors gratefully to strangers and in the leagues of the least hospitable, The Slaughtered Lamb is right up there. It's the local boozer US student David (David Naughten) and his best mate Jack (Griffin Dunne) stumble into on the Yorkshire Moors, that proves to be just the start of their woes. Soon it's not froth on beer but fur on face that's the problem. Landish keeps up the pace and, as with Shaun Of The Dead, there's a level of humour that acts as a counterpoint to the horror, which doesn't disappoint and includes the film's famous transformation film, which though showing its age a little, still remains impressive.
The Drop, Prime
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| The Drop |
Best known for being James Gandolfini's last film, the action of Michaël R Roskam's crime-tale-cum-character-study - with a screenplay adapted from his own novel Animal Rescue by Denis Lehane - begins in a bar. It's there we see how dirty money is laundered through New York, with random bars nominated for 'the drop' of the title. When a robbery throws a spanner in the works, trouble brews for barman Bob (played with taciturn depth by Tom Hardy) and his not-so-wiseguy cousin/boss Marv (Gandolfini). The chief drivers of the plot turn out to be a puppy-in-peril, rescued one night by Bob and the past of the new woman in Bob's life Nadia (Noomi Rapace). Although threatening to go off the boil completely in places, Hardy's performance keeps you with Bob at the bar, listening to his story.
Beauty And The Beast, Disney+
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| Beauty And The Beast Photo: Disney |
While the chief target audience may not be old enough to drop in for a pint any time soon, the tavern owned by hunter Gaston (voiced boomingly by Richard White) is the setting for one of the best songs in this Disney remake of the classic tale of a girl who charms a monster. It's in the tavern that he is serenaded - before joining in - the song of Gaston, outlining all his "charms", from his biceps to the small cleft in his chin not to mention the fact that every square inch of him is covered with hair, which is, perhaps, not a thought to dwell on. Animated with the sort of verve you'd expect from Disney, it's one of the best "bad guy" songs out there, as the hunter is determined nobody but he should win the heart of Belle.
You'll have to nip over to Vimeo to view this week's short selection - but it's worth the click. Any early outing from Simon Hynd - who has since gone on to direct everything from Two Doors Down to Motherland and The Cockfields - Tumshie McFadgen's Bid For Ultimate Bliss tracks one man's search for happiness... including the perfectly pulled pint of Caley 80.
