Paris When It Freezes

I'm back again with more booze-related movie-watching! What was on tap this week? Some Technicolor gold. If you've got an Amazon Prime account then you can currently stream the Audrey Hepburn classic Paris When It Sizzles free of charge. Seeing that I'm heading to Paris tomorrow (in the dead of winter), I was definitely in the mood to watch some Paris-related cinema last night and feed my current excitement. This is a vacation voyage, not a business trip for for K&L, so I won't have David OG with me to translate everything. My wife and I will be at the mercy of my weak French language skills, so I had to start getting my act together in preparation. Je vais manger et boire en Paris avec ma épouse. Nous voulons acheter un bouteille du vin et marcher aux les rues. Or something like that. I still need some practice.

In any case, I'd never seen Paris When It Sizzles until last night, surprisingly enough. I'm a pretty big fan of Audrey Hepburn, but for some reason I'd never gotten around to this one. It's kind of a gigantic mess, but if you like to drink and you like to do so while watching glamorous actors from the 1960s chug down their own booze, then this is one romantic piece of cinema you won't want to miss. William Holden literally drinks a bottle of Smirnoff by himself within the first twenty minutes, gulping down a Bloody Mary every thirty seconds while readying a Hollywood script for his paying producer. By the time Audrey shows up to transcribe everything it's a total boozefest. They start ordering room service, drinking martinis, bottles of wine, followed by brandy and more vodka. At one point Audrey screams, "I see what you're trying to do! You want to get me drunk!" I was thinking, "Honey, with your frame and the amount of hooch you just sucked down, there's no way you're not drunk already!"

In any case, I don't know if I'd sit down to watch Paris When It Sizzles sober, but when you're mixing cocktails, dreaming of vacation, and readying your suitcase with visions of Paris in February, it's just the thing you want on in the background. There's a ton of boozing going on in this film. It's one giant drunken mess, but it's a fun mess. They hang out in a luxurious sweet, mix cocktails, and just flirt about while creating a Parisian love story in the process. The booze takes center stage, however.

So I'm off! I won't be answering emails or phone calls for the next two weeks, but the blog will be active the entire time. I've got more interviews that I'll be posting each Monday, along with photos and notes from the road. Make sure you call the store or email David OG if you need help with an order. Otherwise, I'll say au revoir and see you all back in the store later this month.

-David Driscoll