Formula One racing has become a sport that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world. One of the reasons for this is the excitement of the sport itself. However, Formula One has been the home to some of the most legendary drivers in the history of auto racing. These great drivers built up huge followings of fans who would make a point of watching every televised race they participated in. The Internet has made the current crop of drivers even more famous than their predecessors. This is due to social media and the fact that most drivers have their own websites. Here is a look at some of the most notable Formula One drivers.
Month: May 2015 (Page 6 of 10)
Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.
“American Sniper”
WHAT: After witnessing the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Africa, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) enlists in the Navy SEALS, eventually getting deployed to Iraq where he earns the nickname, The Legend, after becoming the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. But while Chris feels at home on the battlefield, he struggles to maintain a normal life with his wife (Sienna Miller) and kids while on leave from his numerous tours of duty.
WHY: For someone as prolific and revered as Clint Eastwood, six years is a long time to go without making a really good film (2008’s “Gran Torino” was his last), and sadly, “American Sniper” only extends that streak. It’s far from a bad movie, but there’s nothing really special that makes it stand out, either. Apart from Kyle’s impressive record, this is a story that’s been told countless times before, and in some cases, much better. Though it’s based on real-life events, a lot of what happens seems incredibly exaggerated, especially the ongoing battle of wits between Kyle and an Olympic medal-winning Syrian sniper, which feels like something you’d expect to see in a Jason Bourne film. The action sequences are handled really well, but the domestic drama is so boring and repetitive that the movie loses steam every time Kyle returns home. Part of the problem is that, with the exception of Bradley Cooper’s strong performance, the rest of the cast is underserved, especially Sienna Miller as his wife. “American Sniper” wants to have it both ways – as a war-on-terror fantasy and poignant PTSD drama – but while it doesn’t shy away from the physical and psychological horrors of battle, the movie is so heavy on pro-military propaganda that it doesn’t realize its dramatic potential until it’s too late.
EXTRAS: The Blu-ray includes a pair of featurettes about making the film.
FINAL VERDICT: RENT
“Cymbeline”
WHAT: When Briton Motorcycle Club leader Cymbeline (Ed Harris) discovers that his daughter (Dakota Johnson) has secretly married humble orphan Posthumus (Penn Badgley) – despite already being promised to stepbrother Cloten (Anton Yelchin) – he banishes Posthumus from the outlaw biker gang, setting into a motion a series of events that threaten Cymbeline’s criminal empire amid a mounting turf war between the Britons and the crooked Roman police force.
WHY: Writer/director Michael Almereyda may have had minor success with his contemporary adaptation of “Hamlet” back in 2000, but this modernization of one of Shakespeare’s less popular works is an absolute failure. Not only has “Sons of Anarchy” already done the whole “outlaw bikers meets Shakespeare” thing, but there’s a reason why “Cymbeline” isn’t as well-known as the Bard’s other plays, and that’s because it’s not terribly engaging. Though it treads familiar Shakespearean territory with an array of secret affairs, false deaths, crossdressing women and betrayals galore, the story doesn’t make much sense in the context of its modern setting, especially with the preservation of the original dialogue. The movie boasts an excellent cast that includes Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke, Delroy Lindo, Anton Yelchin and John Leguizamo, but many of them are wasted in insignificant roles, including a messy-haired Bill Pullman, who appears in exactly one scene. No amount of talent could improve “Cymbeline,” although Almereyda certainly tries, because while it’s easy to see why the actors would be attracted to such material (they get to perform Shakespeare without the commitment of theater), the film version is an even bigger mess than the play itself.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by director Michael Almereyda and actor Ethan Hawke, a behind-the-scenes featurette and additional interviews with the cast and crew.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
You knew David Letterman would have some great guests help to send him off as he winds down a memorable career on late night. Not surprisingly, the great Norm Macdonald is hilarious in his final Letterman appearance, but it is a bit surprising to see crusty Norm get so emotional. This one is worth watching . . .
You can follow Norm on Twitter here.
The Liberal’s history goes back to before the turn of the 20th century, which means it’s probably dangerous to make any strong connections with modern day political affiliations, especially since this drink doesn’t have any particular story to go with it. When it comes to political labels, in any case, a lot of things have changed since 1895. That’s why modern day conservative writers feel like they can argue that they are the real liberals — as in libertarian — while today’s liberals are, in fact, fascists — a political affiliation that I’m pretty sure didn’t exist when the Liberal was first being mixed. Also, I think there’s maybe kind of a big difference between Benito Mussolini and Adlai Stevenson.
Still, as someone who has been a proud and very unapologetic actual bleeding heart liberal since the age of 12 or so, I can’t but be attracted to a drink with this name. If your politics are different than my own, however, I can reassure you that drinking the Liberal won’t impact your voting choices next year. Well, as long as you don’t drink five of them on election day, in which case you might find yourself voting for people who are dead, fictitious, or named “Huckabee.”
I can say that I like this version of the drink, which is primarily drawn from the recipe in cocktail historian Ted Haigh’s cocktail revival ur-volume, Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. There is a stronger, larger, and less sweet version of this drink, but I don’t love it. Yes, this Liberal is open to charges of being subtly reactionary and stingy to boot. Nevertheless, our taste buds know no ideology and are immune to purity trolling. So, let’s get started.
The Liberal
3/4 ounce bourbon or rye
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 teaspoon Torani Amer
1-2 dashes orange bitters
1 cocktail cherry (very desirable garnish)
Combine the liquid ingredients in a mixing glass or a cocktail shaker. Add ice and stir vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, preferably a smaller one, and add the cocktail cherry of your choice.
As for your toast, I can’t tell you what to think or do, but you might consider the people who brought us the 8 hour day, the 40 hour work week, the minimum wage, child labor laws, and now accessible healthcare (guaranteed 100% death panel free). If you’d rather not have those things, you can still drink this, of course, but make sure you drink it from a clean glass and don’t get sick and lose your job, because then you’ll be on your own.
****
In his book,Ted Haigh calls for using 100 proof Wild Turkey, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, and 3 dashes of Amer Picon, which brings up a few issues. For starters, there’s no such thing as 100 proof Wild Turkey these days, not precisely. Instead, we have Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon and Rye. I’m not sure which he meant, or whether the rye was even available when he first recreated the recipe. Since I had the 101 proof bourbon on hand already on hand left over from my pre-Derby Day post, that’s what I used first, along with the always excellent, if pricey, Carpano. Amer Picon is simply impossible to obtain, so I went with the most common substitute, Torani Amer, which is easily obtainable here in California, in any case. As for three dashes…how much is that and where I am supposed to find an amaro in a bottle with a dasher top?
Having made my adjustments, my first attempt at a Liberal was pretty excellent. Sweet, but not one bit cloying and complex enough for slow sipping, with a chocolatey undercurrent thanks to the Carpano. I followed it up with other versions, including ones with 1776 100 proof rye and my cheaper default sweet vermouth, Noilly Pratt. They were less rich in flavor, but still had plenty of complex, more floral, notes to keep your mouth good and busy.
One thing about this drink that surprised me, however, is that it really doesn’t seem to work shaken, which is my usual contrarian preference with the drink’s fairly close relative, the Manhattan. No, this one time the cocktail cognoscenti dogma about stirring over shaking drinks without juice in them proves to be correct. As usual, I could not care less about “clouding” drinks by shaking them. However, I do care a lot about flavor, and the Liberal simply tastes better that way. When I figure out how that reflects my political/philosophical leanings, I’ll let you know.
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Zoe Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
George Miller
George Miller may be 70 years old, but that hasn’t stopped him from outclassing filmmakers half his age by making one of the craziest, ballsiest and most badass action movies in ages. “Mad Max: Fury Road” has been decades in the making, and that passion shows in the final product. Though Mel Gibson was originally considered to reprise the titular role when Miller first hatched the idea back in 1998, after production was stalled by a series of financial and political difficulties (not to mention Gibson’s own well-publicized personal issues), “Fury Road” slipped into development hell for many years until Miller eventually got to make his movie. With the entire film famously storyboarded before a script was even written, “Fury Road” is about as nontraditional as a big-budget studio movie gets, surviving on its sheer originality, audacity and no-holds-barred attitude.
Set in the year 2060 and loosely following the events of the first three installments, “Fury Road” finds former cop Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) just barely surviving in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. When he’s captured by tyrannical leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and forced to serve as a human blood bank for his diseased male minions, known as the War Boys, Max’s fate appears to be sealed. But after one of Joe’s war rig drivers, the bionic-armed Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), suddenly goes off course during a routine fuel run, Joe’s massive army chases after her – including sickly War Boy, Nux (Nicholas Hoult), who’s so desperate not to miss out on the action that he straps Max to the hood of his car, connected only by a chain and IV tube, so he can continue to heal. It turns out that Furiosa is trying to rescue a group of female captives that Joe plans to use to repopulate the world in his image, and when Max eventually crosses paths with them following a miraculous escape, he reluctantly agrees to help get them to safety.
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