Last Call for Secondhand Screenings!

April is running out on us and we got stuck with the tab. For such a rowdy month of “drinking responsibly,” it’s nearly closing time for our fellow patrons. Here at SLUG, we think we can squeeze in one more drink before you hit the high road, but what pairs better than a few last sips? A decent flick to enjoy it with, duh!!! Secondhand Screenings are bringing the heart-warming, the soul-crushing, the hopeful light at the end of the tunnel or the sorrowful turn for the worst. Either way you pour it, we’ll have a lot to drink about. Last call!

Angel Engine
Creator: Nicolai Leimer “The Unearthly Guy”
Released: 01.10.2025
Paired with: Watermelon White Claw

Religion and science fiction could be one and the same with a fandom number of followers. Show me a flock’s sacred text in search of divine retribution, and I’ll show you a storage unit of comics and clips hyperanalyzing all processes that revolve around The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. I’m not going to stand on a soapbox to pull a John Lennon by saying it’s bigger than Jesus, but I will at least point out that finding another world beyond heaven or seeing a dozen retellings of Revelations can sometimes feel enlightening in the most biblical of proportions. It’s sacred, entertaining and, in certain circumstances, it’s political. Once a viable company gets their fistful of dollars on the intellectual property, however, that message and imagery becomes dampened like sniper rounds. Why do you think so many Hyundai minivans rock rebel symbols from Star Wars right next to “I brake for quail” bumper stickers? Why does A Clockwork Orange, a depraved critique on impressionable youth and government control, get its cover plastered on Old Navy tees? That’s why you have to dig deeper for such gold. Never had there been a more grim depiction of manifested progress than Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, until a bleak clip rejolted my Instagram algorithm like malware. That corrupted visual of damnation and dark forces to come: Angel Engine. 

Taking place in the not-so-distant future where humanity teeters into global collapse, God sends the angel Uriel to save us pathetic humans from our own misdoings. Instead of taking this second chance, the angel is kidnapped, tortured and placed into a mechanical chamber of body horror to power the construction of the second Tower of Babel. With each growing level, the brains of the operation, Dr. Ernstmann, begins using the angel’s divine power to create grotesque abnormalities from captured humans, only for the doctor to end up assassinated and resurrected as the new Anti-Christ. As the media is tampered with and the world yearns for clarity, a hero is set on one final quest to save us all … only to find more pain and suffering at the end of the lightened tunnel.

Although I don’t condone the use of artificial intelligence in any creative outlet, the disjointed computerized images give the story an uncanny, H. R. Giger flavor to each short, as if AI itself created its own illustrated book in the Unholy Bible. The plot is high-level excellence, which is incredible for something that could’ve taken Vine by storm. Who would’ve thought a story that’s the equivalent of a creepypasta could hold so much potential? Well, Hollywood executives said the same thing about Backrooms. And to hear that the creator is reaching out to artists to help make a full-length series of Angel Engine — that makes me giddy! 

So how do I pair a beverage to such an inhumane presence — something devoid of hope that still makes me shiver into my late-20s? A watermelon White Claw would do! It’s the type of drink that promises a good time, but with enough intake will leave you sickened and worthless. Note to self: Don’t attempt The Cat in The Hat drinking game with these pre-packaged cans of asscrack sweat. —Alton Barnhart 

Drinking Buddies
Director: Joe Swanberg
Burn Later Productions
Released: 03.13.2013
Paired with: Chicago Handshake

In Drinking Buddies, a brewery owner played by Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) says that shooting Jeppson’s Malört is “like swallowing a burnt condom full of gas.” He isn’t far off. The film, which was shot on location at Revolution Brewing in Chicago, follows Kate, a brewery marketing rep played by Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling), in her uncouth yet thoroughly relatable situation-ship with brewery laborer Luke, who’s played by a bearded Jake Johnson (New Girl) and dons a baseball cap bearing the Old Style beer logo.

Drinking Buddies captures the beer-soaked monotonies of Midwestern city life, portraying in a very indie-2010s way the messiness of relationships between people who casually drink too much. With very real, almost plot-less conversations and slow, normal-life pacing, it shows how alcohol can permeate and sometimes adversely affect relationships among young people in a city where beer is in the blood, and the blood runs thick.

Now, it’s been nearly 10 years since I myself moved to Chicago and had forced upon me the friendly hazing ritual known as the “Chicago Handshake,” a beer-and-sidecar combination that includes one shot of the wormwood-based liqueur Malört and a tall boy of Old Style. Serendipitously, Hopkins Brewing Company recently posted a video on their Instagram showing they’d gotten in a whole case of the liquefied black licorice juice, so I paid them a visit. At 2 p.m. on a Tuesday in sunny April, I was the only drinker at the bar shooting anything. While Old Style isn’t available in Utah, I made do, settling for a refreshing pint of Hopkins Lager to stave off the queasy shivers to come. As it happens, the beer barely had an effect on the initial wave of ethanol, and did almost nothing for the shot’s lingering effects, which can only be described as a strange, defiant combination of bitter roots and sticky microplastics. Regardless, I know now that if I want the greasy taste of home, I can still find it here, in the gilded sanctuary of sobriety that is Utah. —Kyle Forbush

Howl’s Moving Castle
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Ghibli
Released: 11.20.2004
Paired with: Hot Toddy

If Howl’s Moving Castle was a drink, I think it would be a hot toddy. They both crackle, one with cinnamon and the other with a fire demon in the hearth. There’s just enough heat in the hot toddy’s whiskey or bourbon to sizzle a little, and just enough danger in the film to keep your breath held. There’s a sour tinge of lemon ― and the bitterness of the Witch of the Waste ― but honey sweetens the drink as love sweetens the film; not just the romance with a moping wizard trailing slime across the floor, but also the love of a found family and Sophie’s slow realization that she is worthy of it.

Drink and let the hot toddy warm your core like a heart replaced, like friends gathered around a meal or like a sun-filled meadow of flowers with a cottage in the distance. Howl’s Moving Castle is a comfort movie for so many, brimming with the magic of Studio Ghibli’s beautiful animation. It’s a classic to return to again and again, much like the hot toddy. Raise your cozy drink to this whimsical masterpiece and sip yourself into a satisfied, warm contentment. ―Rebekah Bowman

Repo! The Genetic Opera
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Twisted Pictures
Released: 11.07.2008
Paired with: AMF

In preparation for my theatre group’s shadow cast performance, I’ve been watching Repo! The Genetic Opera about once a week. Before rehearsals started, I was a Repo virgin – and that’s because I had actively been avoiding it. After watching it this many times, I can confirm that the vibes are god-awful. The plot is weird. The acting is bad and the singing is worse. With an epidemic of organ failure, Geneco rents out synthetic organs then repossesses them if you don’t make your payments. I always zone out halfway through the climactic scene at the opera, and when I come back, it’s somehow still going.

 If you know anything about Repo, it’s probably “Zydrate Anatomy.” As one of my fellow cast members put it, it’s like the “Time Warp” of Repo. If you’re normal and don’t know anything about Repo, Zydrate is an electric-blue substance extracted from dead bodies by the Graverobber, and everyone’s hooked. The more that I think about it, it really doesn’t have much to do with the actual plot (if you can call it that). It struck me one night when I was hanging out at the bar after rehearsal that there’s another popular blue substance that will get you if you’re not careful. The AMF is equal parts vodka, gin, rum, tequila and blue curaçao, mixed with sweet & sour mix and topped with lemon-lime soda – it’s very sweet and very strong. Zydrate comes in a little glass vial, and an AMF comes in a tall glass cup. Down a couple of these, and you won’t care how uncomfortable and confused Repo makes you feel. But be warned: the cute, white dress I was wearing when I first tried one is no longer white. Adios, mother fuckers! –Braxtyn Birrell

Stardust
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Paramount Pictures
Released: 07.29.2007
Paired with: Earl grey tea with lavender syrup. 

Enter a whimsical fantasy world where magic is real, princes are bloodthirsty brothers, and your true love can be a fallen star. Stardust, is the 2007 romantic-fantasy movie of all your childhood dreams with a star-studded cast: Charlie Cox as Tristan Thorne, Claire Danes as Yvaine, Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia, and Robert Di Niro as Captain Shakespeare. Stardust is a beautiful, unforgettable story about how love conquers greed. 

It’s one of my all-time favorites, and I only wish I saw it as a kid, not in my early ‘20s so I could fully soak in the magic this movie holds. It’s very cheesy, à la Ella Enchanted/The Spiderwick Chronicles, with genuine, heart-warming characters and happy endings that you will adore. The CGI is subtle, the action scenes flow naturally, and the costumes are top-tier. I’m honestly surprised that Stardust doesn’t have a cult-following like other fantasy movies of that era.

Cox plays Tristan Thorne, a young man from a small village in England called Wall, which lies outside of a magical realm that “Everyone knows to stay away from.” He aches for the love of Victoria — an upper-class woman courted by a snobby upper-class man. One night, Tristan convinces her to have a late night picnic with him where she reveals that she’s getting engaged in a week. Tristan, after a shooting star flies by, says he’d go across the Wall and get that star for her in exchange for her hand in marriage. Victoria agrees, and so Tristan embarks on his journey, learning way more than he bargained for about his birth, the realm beyond the Wall, and what it means to love someone who wants you for the person you are inside, not only for material gifts.

Tristan finds his fallen star but it turns out to be a woman named Yvaine, played by Claire Danes. On their journey to get home, they run into a power-hungry, youth seeking witch, bloodthirsty princes murdering each other for the crown, and pirates with a captain who longs for England and the freedom of the theatre.

I loved watching this movie again. Charlie Cox and Claire Danes have natural chemistry together that will have you rooting for them to kiss. The entire cast does a wonderful job in immersing you in a world where quite literally love is the most powerful force out there. And, although subtle, Stardust even has queer representation and acceptance! It unfortunately does have the damsel-in-distress trope, but if you can look past that, it’s a great whimsical movie about love and believing in yourself. The only thing that could make this movie better is more magical beings, like trolls and elves, but I’m just biased because I saw Ella Enchanted about a million times as a kid. —Cherri Cheetah

Tampopo
Director: Jūzō Itami
Itami Productions, New Century Producers
Released: 11.23.1985
Paired with: Grapefruit Soju

Genuine epicurean films are hard to find. Artists tend to obsess over the aesthetics of food. How hard it is to make, how much technical ability it requires, how much you have to understand flavor and texture to make something palatable. A lot of filmmaker obsessions tend to feel this way (law is the close runner up to food). I’m not so interested in food — or anything, really — as technicality and terminology. I am interested in food as life.

In Tampopo, food is love, anger, joy, sadness, ennui, sex, innocence, loss. It is life. Two cowboys ride into town on their oil-tanker, stopping to eat at Lai Lai Ramen, a hole in the wall full of hoodlums run by the titular Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, The Funeral), an old maid in the eyes of the drunks. After Goro (Tsutomu Yamazaki, High and Low, The Funeral), the older of the two tankers, is beaten by the goons in a fight to leave the owner alone, she begs him to stay and make her ramen shop exceptional. 

Tampopo is more than that. It’s a movie that you have never seen. Truly original, poignant at its height and endlessly charming throughout.

I took my combo very seriously. I landed on Grapefruit Soju not because it’s authentic (Korean Rice Wine for a Japanese film appears to be disingenuous), instead because it’s the only alcohol I consistently have on hand. I love it. Its perfect sweetness makes the intoxication feel somehow joyous. Soju feels social, too. I had some friends over to share the alcohol and the Japanese Beef curry I made with stew meat, Yukon gold potatoes, a shallot, and mild Golden Curry roux (though I normally prefer medium spicy).

Oh right, Tampopo! Great writing is what makes it so addictive to me. Characters pop out of the screen. It shares life experiences that are relatable, even if they aren’t realistic. Its central cast sells it. The direction is brilliant. It switches genres so effortlessly. The world feels lived in and authentic. Tokyo is made out to feel expansive in a prairie kind of way. Watch Tampopo with your friends. Drink good alcohol and eat good food (preferably food you cooked yourself). The experience is elevated dramatically. Food is your most carnal instinct, and therefore, your most carnal pleasure. —B. Allan Johnson

To Die For
Director: Gus Van Sant
Columbia Pictures, Rank Film Distributors
Released: 10.06.1995
Paired with: Blackberry-passionfruit mojito

What pairs well with a dark satirical comedy about fame and murder? Something tangy and bubbly for the comedy and sweet for the supposed romance, but it must also have a bit of a dark edge as well. For To Die For, a blackberry-passionfruit mojito was the first thing that came to my mind.  

In this satirical dark comedy, Nicole Kidman stars as Suzanne Stone, an ambitious local weathergirl with dreams of stardom. At the outset, Suzanne has the perfect life; her husband, Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), is obsessed with her, she is financially stable thanks to her in-laws, she works at a local cable station and she has even started her own documentary project. Despite initially promising to support her career ambitions, Larry begins to pressure Suzanne to set aside her career so they can start a family. Suzanne, intent on becoming a celebrity, begins to see Larry as an obstacle to her goal and plots to get rid of him. Through her documentary project, Suzanne acquaints herself with three teenage misfits, Russel Hines (Casey Affleck), Lydia Mertz (Alison Folland) and Jimmy Emmett (Joaquin Phoenix) and manipulates them into killing Larry for her. 

Based on the book by Joyce Maynard, which itself was inspired by the real life crime of Pamela Smart, the film exudes a sense of confidence that perfectly mirrors Kidman’s character. Its mockumentary format lends itself to fun tongue-in-cheek commentary that underscores the entire film with a comedic tone and really keeps the audience invested as they try to piece together the bits of the story given to them by the characters. The satirical elements are also heightened by Danny Elfman’s score and the pastel color palette that makes the whole film a delight to unravel. I can easily see this being the perfect companion piece for I, Tonya and, of course, having a bubbly and fruity drink paired with this viewing affair also helps. —Angela Garcia

Read more from past Secondhand Screenings:
Screenings So Bad: A Secondhand Screenings Special
Secondhand Screenings Gone Wild!!!