Sip, sip, hooray! Film, music, art and more about drinking
Bill and Turner Ross’s 2020 docufiction Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is set in a Las Vegas dive bar the night before it is to permanently close and, cultural differences aside, it is a frighteningly accurate depiction of the highs and lows of a boozy night down the local. The bonding, bickering and barstool philosophising among this increasingly inebriated motley crew is almost embarrassingly recognisable, but though it doesn’t soft-pedal the bursts of antagonism, fumbled passes and beckoning hangovers, neither does the film judge characters simply trying to push back the break of dawn, one drink at a time. In vino there’s often veritas; sometimes we see more clearly through the bottom of a glass. Jessica Kiang
*** TV
“Alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems!” This phrase was coined by one great small-screen boozer (Homer Simpson) but it could equally have been credited to Don Draper and most of the cast of the darkly glorious Mad Men. There were very few business deals that could not be lubricated by an old fashioned or five. Alcohol acted as a relaxant, an accelerant, a truth serum and an aesthetic. In the world of Mad Men, it was both a creator of reality and a shield against it. And in some ways, it served as a route into understanding the world of advertising and the impoverished inner lives of those involved. It was a quick fix that both reflected and exploited a more profound emptiness. Phil Harrison
*** Games
Two college grads find themselves in hell – before their time, obviously, if you ask them – and the first thing they do is head into a sports bar full of demons and order some shots. There, they discover that the only way out of the underworld is to make it into
Satan’s nightly party and drink him under the table. With its characterful bars, ridiculous cocktails and talkative strangers Afterparty is in some ways a tribute to the endless nights that alcohol can fuel. But it also reminds us that endless partying isn’t necessarily as fun as it sounds. Keza MacDonald
*** Music
Broadly, songs about heavy drinking either venerate the act or detail its long-term effects. Few attempt to do both simultaneously. But then Pulitzer prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar isn’t like most lyricists: his trap-adjacent single from 2012’s Grammy-nominated Good Kid, MAAD City Swimming Pools (Drank) flits between hypnotic party-ready anthem and sobering all-caps warning. The oddly pitched, chanted intro – “Pour up (drank) ... pass out (drank)” – initially sounds like your typical house party narrative, but it’s quickly tempered by verses that explore the perils of peer pressure. Later, Lamar’s conscience tries to shepherd him away from “the damage of vodka”. Deeply relatable. Michael Cragg
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Books
Probably the least controversial book by the late philosopher, Roger Scruton’s 2009 memoir IDrink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher’s Guide to Wine is a splendidly convivial fireside draught. Looking back on his youthful travels in continental vineyards, Scruton self-deprecatingly calls himself a mere “wino” rather than a connoisseur, but argues seriously that good drink can be an aid – as modern “health fanatics” too seldom acknowledge – to good thought. A sweet hymn to Bacchus that also recommends the best wines to quaff while reading famous philosophers, and urges us to beware of the dangers of “drinking on an empty mind”. Steven Poole