Good Ass Indie Movies and Wine: The G | In Vitro | Mr. Crocket
Paired with Old/Young Tannat, Noble Rot/Ice Wine, and a Pet Nat that tastes like beer.
No podcast episode this week! We take a skip week and instead bring you this compilation of absolutely banger independent films you likely haven’t seen, or even heard of!
Note that two of these are only available for rental or purchase on VOD, while the third is a “Hulu Original”. Remember those days when we used to rent movies and find all sorts of hidden gems placed among the studio blockbusters? Try doing the same thing in the New Releases section of your preferred VOD purchase platform. Just like back in the day, there is GOLD in them hills!
Here are 3 I highly recommend, plus the wines I paired with them which dig even deeper into how these films hit me.
Theme Song for This Post
The G directed by Karl R. Hearne
Hearne hit the scene in the early 00’s with a duo of award-winning short films before disappearing for a decade helping a friend start a business. When he returned in 2017 he almost immediatel secured funding for his first feature in Canada - pretty much the one country propping up the truly DIY independent film scene in the 21st century.
For his second feature, he was inspired by his own grandmother who lived unassisted until the age of 95, and refused to ever slow down. This plus Hearne wanted to tackle the mostly invisible issue of senoir exploitation through the lens of a senior woman who had the cajones and lived experience of violence to actually fight back.
Dale Dickey (My Name is Earl, Breaking Bad, A Love Song) snags a rare leading role as “The G” (for “grandma”) the matriarch of a family that was once somehow involved in the criminal underworld, but their chrildren and grandchildren no longer have any part of it. Dickey cares for her ailing husband, who used to be the apex patriarch but has been brought low by his health. One night, they are visited unceremoniously by a man named Ramirez who proclaims he is now their “legal guardian”. He and his hoods shuffle the elderly couple off to a retirement home where they are kept prisoner, while Ramirez hopes to claim their fortune - which he will control as their “guaridan”.
The G is a unique crime drama. It’s as slow burn as they come, far more concerned with treating its characters like real flesh and blood people than archetypes. The cinematography is austere, the camera always still: this is life at the end. Things can happen suddenly, but never fast.
This is sort-of a JOHN WICK but starring a grandma and minus all the action. That sounds terrible but it isn’t. There is also some surprisingly racy septaguenarian sex in it as Dickey performs her first nude scene at the tender age of 61 (when she shot it.)
The story is fully focused on how senoirs are invisible in our society. The rest of the world - outside of the family and those taking advantage of them - are almost non-existent. There are never extras filling up the background. No one comes to visit or notices the occurences. This movie only has the villains and the victims on screen. The messgae is clear: our characters are on their own.
Generationally, The G’s children reject her attitude and toughness, but the grandchild is mesmerized and intrigued, rejecting her own parents’ views. But even when the young take part in trying to assist the elderly, the rest of the world vanishes from their orbit; again, they are on their own. Actress Romane Denis (who mysteriously has no information available about her family, no parentage, no siblings, I’m not talking about the character - the actress!) plays the part with as much dedication as Dickey in hers. The grandchild goes from sheer naievete and respect for the law to nearly the equal of her grandmother. And the legacy lives on.
FIND WHERE TO WATCH “THE G” IN YOUR COUNTRY
Paired With…Tannat (preferrably Madiran)
Tannat is a grape named such because of how “tannic” it is. “Tannins” being large polyphenolic compounds found in plants, most notably in grape skins, stems, and seeds. They’re large enough that we can feel them as texture in our mouths, and if they are too intense they can feel rustic or “course”. With age, however, tannins “integrate” with the wine, becoming silkier and smoother, maintaining the robust total texture/body but offering a more elegant drinking experience.
“The G” is all about aging without losing your robustness, yet becoming something more elegant. Drink a well-aged Tannat (8-10 years, so a 2016 or 2017) to match The G herself, or drink a younger Tannat to match her grandchild’s journey into becoming the fresher, younger version of her grandmother, rough edges and all.
Domaine Berthoumieu Vitis MCM Madiran (old) - The 2016 and 2017 are floating around out there, though the current vintage, 2019, isn’t too shabby of an age, either - this brand ages the wine a bit for you before releasing it. Pure 100% Tannat from the Madiran region of France, from 119 yearr old vines.
Domaine Laougue Madiran 19.10 (young) - The 2021 is the current vintage, and there is a portion of Cabernet Franc blended in to make it more approachable while still young. Which you want! Sure, keep it a little rough to match the youth of the granddaughter, but you still want an overall pleasant sip. Cab Franc brings elegance and balance to what would otherwise be a bit too course of a wine.
In Vitro directed by Will Howarth and Tom McKeith
Talia Zucker (Lake Mungo) co-wrote and stars with Ashley Zuckerman (Succession) - or as I like to call them “the Zuckers”, not to be confused with the ZAZ - in a sci-fi psychological thriller that’s best to go in cold. The only thing I’ll say about the plot that is spoiler-free: it takes place on a farm, where the couple are working on a new breed of animal that can help feed the world, which is currently facing some kind of food shortage crisis.
But the work isn’t going well. One failure after another and the tension between the two begins to mount. The thing is: it isn’t the failure of the experiments that’s the cause of this tension, and the animals aren’t the only experiment being performed.
IN VITRO is a plot twisty low-key feature that explores key human relationship themes under a microscope and a sci-fi scalpel. The future here looks a lot like the present, but also not. Cars are older models, rusty around the edges, but they’re also electric. The science is peformed with rubber and steel, yet the results are fantastical. The world has advanced, yet decayed; much like the relationship we’re watching.
The film is somewhat of a more solidly genre version of Andrzej Żuławski’s POSSESSION: rather than metaphor and symbolism, In Vitro commits to its sci-fi underpinnings. It contains a certain depth but refrains from running quite as deep as its predecessor, chossing a more literal unraveling in the second half.
Come for the atmosphere, stick around for the multiple plot twists, at least one of which you may not see coming.
Paired with…Sauternes or Ice Wine
IN VITRO explores a world that is rotting, through a relationship that is frozen. The film itself is stark, quiet, atmospheric and sterile. To counteract this, drink something sweet! And what better than wine that has been sweetened by allowing the grapes to rot, or by allowing them to freeze.
Sauternes is considered one of the greatest version of “noble rot” or botrytis afflicted wines in the world. Botrytis is a fungus that pokes little holes through the grape skins and dehydrates or partially “raisins” the grape, removing water and concentrating the sugars. The rot itself, when not out of control, lends honeyed, apricot, and toffee notes to the wine. When used on high acid grapes like Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, as in Sauternes, you end up with a solidly sweet, richly flavored yet high acid wine to balance out the sweetness. Be careful: you can drink far too much of this shit, too quickly!
Ice Wine - most commonly found in Germany, Canada, and Michigan - is when they leave grapes on the vine to naturally freeze. They then press the grapes while still frozen, the water still iced; it can take literal hours for the first drop of sugar-rich / water-lite nectar to drop from the pressed frozen mash. Roughly 20% liquid is gained from this method (80% volume is lost due to the lack of water), making for a pricey but utterly delicious “Ice Wine”, with a similar acidity to Sauternes, usually from the high acid grapes of Reisling, Vidal, or Cabernet Franc (for a red version.)
Funnily enough, there was once a combo Noble Rot / Ice Wine made in Canada - Stoneboat Vineyard’s 2018 Verglas, which was an Ice Wine made from botrysized grapes! Hopefully another vintage will be released someday soon!
Mr. Crocket directed by Brandon Espy
The greatest fear of every parent…is to lose your child. But the SECOND greatest fear? That you’re not good enough. That you’re a terrible parent. Now what if there was a Boogeyman who would tell you your second greatest fear to your face, then make your greatest fear come true immediately after?
Fuck.
MR. CROCKET is a film about a Mister Rodgers style child’s show host who isn’t the genial, affable character he plays on TV. In fact, he’s no longer of this world. But even when he was, behind the scenes he was an abusee become the abuser. Now, he shepherds kids to his studio on the other side when he spots parents he deems as unworthy as his own.
Based on a short film that plays as part of Hulu’s BITE SIZE HALLOWEEN anthology, the feature explores the cycle of abuse from adults to children, as well as attaching oneself to any fictional celebrity personality, and owning one’s fallibilities as a source of strength.
recently posted her own take of the movie, with some lovely insights including how appropos its use of practical effects.It should also be noted that this film was produced by one of Filmstack’s staple contrubutors
. The film is a wild ride, with an unforgettable climax and a committed as all hell performances from its two leads. This is what FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S wants to be when it grows up and graduates to being an independent film. (And I quite liked Freddy’s!)MR. CROCKET exists in an analogue world, where the things - the TVs, VHS tapes, players, the broken picture frames or dishes, Crocket’s magic marker - none of these things matter or save the day. At the end, it’s just human commitment to one another, regardless of fault or blame. We only lose each other if we let go and stop trying.
Paired with…A Pet Nat that Tastes Like Beer
Azal Branco (“white”) is a rare and unique indigenous grape from the southeastern corner of Portugal. An important blending grape, a few exampled of pure Azal have been making their way across the border and into other countries. When made into a white wine, the flavor profile is comparable to Chenin Blanc or Petite Manseng, with green apple and lime profile.
But when made into an unfiltered orange semi-sparkling Pet Nat? (“Petillant Naturel” aka “Natural Sparkling”)
Folks, this thing tastes so much like a beer my brain is still marveling over it. Soaked on the green grape skins for 4 months in amphorae - which is what gives it its orange hue (green skins are rarely actually green in pigment!) then bottled with additional fermentation allowing to occur in bottle to create the slight effervesance, somehow this thing tastes like fresh ginger, bruised apple, and, yes, hops.
MR. CROCKET is a film about parenting gone wrong, whether the actual paents or Mr. Crocket himself, the ultimate demonic helicopter parent that can’t see his own wrongness. Beer is the beverage du jour of the abusive parent here in the States, and the unfiltered, sparkling spikiness of this wine matches the filth and anger that drive of the characters. This slightly bitter, hop-y, sharp and bubbly beverage hit all the right notes while I watched. The fact that it was made by a 4-month soak on the grape skins - the juice steeping in its own protective layer - is simply chef’s kiss
FIND BOJO DU LUAR PET NAT “AZAL"
Funny enough I don’t drink, but if I did I’d be on the way to grab the wine right now — that said, your suggested pairing seems right on point. I’ll send this to some others from the film who will definitely try it, and be as excited as me to read your take on the film, which I greatly appreciate!!