Saw an announcement on twitter today that a movie called "Drinking Buddies" was filmed over the summer at Revolution Chicago (among other locales.) Doesn't appear to have a distribution deal yet, but it's premiering at South by Southwest which is a huge deal (think the film equivalent of GABF.) It has some big names: Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston (star of Office Space!) and is directed by Joe Swanberg- a recognizable name to film buffs as one of the pioneers of the "mumblecore" style. He goes on to say "In DRINKING BUDDIES they drink beer from @RevBrewChicago @3floyds @HalfAcreBeer @BellsBrewery and @foundersbrewing My midwest favs" From what I read elsewhere it sounds like a romantic comedy. I'm guessing it will be rather naturalistic in the acting, since they apparently had no real scripts. So it has the potential of being a quirky niche hit if it is received well. I'm excited! Has there been a craft beer film yet? Maybe this will be "Sideways" for us beer folks. Link: http://twitter.com/joe_swanberg/status/291277099094908928
From IMDB; Drinking Buddies Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They're perfect for each other, except that they're both in relationships. Luke is in the midst of marriage talks with his girlfriend of six years, Kate is playing it cool with her music producer boyfriend Chris. But you know what makes the line between "friends" and "more than friends" really blurry? Beer. Written by Anonymous
FWIW, I'm not exactly a film festival aficionado, but I really don't think this is true. I'd say a better comparison would be Cannes or maybe Sundance if we're only talking American festivals. Not that that's a knock on the film or anything. And oh man. Let's not forget that Sideways was actually a decent film. This looks to me like it has chick flick written all over it. And I mean ALL over it. Not that there's anything wrong with chick flicks or anything. I mean hey, some people prefer Joe Swanberg, and others prefer Terrence Malick. Some prefer Bud Light Lime, and others prefer Hopslam. Who am I to judge?
South by Southwest is the equivalent of GABF? I guess I didn't get that memo. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing the film.
Cannes = GABF* (the biggest and most widely known events to the outside world) Sundance = Dark Lord Day (long ago reached critical mass of popularity and nearly more trouble than they're worth nowadays) SXSW = Extreme Beer Fest (where you're most likely to find the oddball stuff you'll never seen again) American Film Market = Craft Brewers Conference (industry gatherings that are at the end of the day not too fun) *Analogies pulled entirely out of my ass based on eight years as a film producer and ten years as a beer fanatic.
Haha, its going be many a year before there is a good flick like Sideways centered around good craft beer. Craft Beer just isn't quite as ubiquitous as wine is yet for Hollywood to give a fuck about it. imagine Paul Giamatti saying "I'm not drinking any fucking trippels!" instead of merlot haha.
Yeah but we're at least getting closer to a good craft beer centered film when it starts getting exposure from well known directors & actors. There's one scene in Sideways where Paul Giamatti gets messed up at a tasting and wildly chugs the waste wine when they cut him off. I could totally see a scene like that at a beer tasting with the rinse bucket. Just typing that sentence made me gag.
One of the guys from FFF was the film's Brewery advisor (E.g. how to make it seem most realistic) and i'm pretty sure they filmed a scene or two at West Lakeview Liquors as well (Kristina?) And on a related note, they're filimg that show Chicago Fire in Lagunitas' Chicago brewery.
they actually did some of the filming at west lakeview i think. they posted some pictures from the shoot on facebook.
This may be a stretch but sounds like this movie is trying to appeal to both men and women. Scenario A: Man - "hey honey, let's go see that new movie about beer." Woman - "boring" Man - "It's a romcom where 2 people are destined by fate to fall in love" Woman - "okay!" Scenario B: Woman - "hey honey, let's go see that new movie about 2 people destined to fall in love" Man - "boring" Woman - "It''s about craft beer AND it has Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick!" Man - "okay!" This could be the smartest marketing angle ever! (or not)
It would actually be something like a lager honestly. The whole Merlot hate is coming from a disdain for shitty California Merlots, even though his prized Cheval Blanc is a Bordeaux that is made from Merlot primarily. What's a beer that can be transcendent in Europe, but is often not handled properly in the States? Definitely not IPAs.
Exciting news -- apparently this was really well received at SXSW (won for Best Ensemble and I believe was #2 for director) and has already been picked up for distribution by Magnolia Pictures, for possible release later this year! Article follows: (link) I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this in a theater, preferably a Brew & View, and it will be cool to see some Chicago beer spots & maybe Midwestern beer labels on the big screen. And what a cast!
FYI: with Magnolia Pictures this will be on Netflix near day-in-date with its' video release (maybe 30 days? it's VERY short for Magnolia releases) and most likely available to watch at home via iTunes/Amazon during its' theatrical release for ~$8.
there's an old thread in the great lake forum when the shooting happened. i was there for about 3 or 4 hours. t'was pretty cool. Here are a couple of (terrible) pics i shot. first pic of olivia wilde and jake johnson second pic is Jake (maybe olivia, can't recall) and ron livingston
I never cease to be amazed, and pissed off, at all the cool things happening in Chicago that I don't find out about until months later, if at all...
