Minutes from the Moviejawn Pizza 🍕 Film 📼 Club ♣ July 2019

recorded by Allison Yakulis, PFC Co-Founder

It is no secret that your Moviejawn pals love pizza. Heck, we are making a movie (Pizzaman) that focuses on the circular and sometimes square, cheesy delicacy laden with herbs. So it should be no surprise to anyone that once a month we have been gathering in robes, together to share in the holy trinity of pizza, movies, and camaraderie. Starting with this, our third official meeting, we will be pulling back the curtain on our antics and giving you some tips on hosting a themed movie club of your own. 

Each month we will share the club’s movie selection of the month, recipes for themed cocktails and snacks, possibly some suggestions for decorations or other extras and, of course, pictures of your humble Moviejawn contributors enjoying the meet-up. For those members that live outside of Philadelphia, they join us on our slack channel. Interested in joining the club? Click here to inquire.

July’s Movie: The Party (1968)

Directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers, who you might know by their more famous collaboration on the Pink Panther film series - which, given the slapstick nature of The Party, makes a lot of sense.

Bumbling would-be actor Hrundi Bakshi (Peter Sellers) is supposed to be blacklisted after accidentally ruining the movie he was cast in but, through a merry mixup, is instead invited to an exclusive Hollywood party. Hijinks ensue as Bakshi bumbles through dinner and drinks and finds himself enamored with the beautiful actress/singer Michele Monet (Claudine Longet), at one point defending her from boorish director C.S. Divot (Gavin MacLeod) who attempts to take advantage of her. Further mishaps are facilitated by colorful characters like the increasingly drunken waiter (Steve Franken), wild west actor “Wyoming Bill” Kelso (Denny Miller) and a tardy rowdy Russian dance troupe, as well as the overwrought features of the house itself.

While somewhat problematic by modern standards (Seller’s use of brownface), if you get past that The Party is a fairly delightful romcom/improvisational farce. With only a rough outline of a script, much of the movie revolves around physical comedy and call-backs, sprinkled in with a few touching moments between our leads. Its experimental nature, strong cast, and impressive sets make this 50-something year-old film worth taking a look at.

THE COCKTAIL: Brunette in Yellow

For a Hollywood-centric movie like The Party, you need an elegant drink to pair with it. Enter this spin on a French 75, a WWI-era champagne cocktail that has been referenced in classic movies such as A Man Betrayed (1941), Jet Pilot (1957) and Casablanca (1942). Refreshing, classic, and festive - you’ll be in the right mood for a party!

Recipe provided by Liz Locke of Cinema Sips 

1oz gin
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
2 oz Champagne
Lemon twist

Shake the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup over ice, then strain into a martini glass. Top with champagne, then lemon twist.

For our purposes, Liz found some darling sparkly champagne coupes for a little extra sparkle - check out some of your Moviejawn pals enjoying them:

Trivia fact: “Brunette in Yellow” is both the second song on the film’s soundtrack and a reference to Longet’s gorgeous yellow dress.

THE MENU

Pizza Film Club always involves pizza but often includes additional snacks, sometimes related to the movie. This time as a nod to the caviar scene in the movie (but on the cheap) we had two versions of olive tapenade, with recipes below. Also included is Allison’s hummus recipe which she makes every time (because who doesn’t love hummus? - and it went really well with the tapenade too).

Other snacks were chips, crackers and candy. Notably, The Old Sport, Rosalie Kicks also picked up a pack of Tastycake’s banana cupcakes - they’re not only robed in yellow, but they’re also an extremely Philly addition. Good call!

Traditional Olive Tapenade
Recipe provided by Allison Yakulis
(NOTE: This recipe makes half as much as the Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Tapenade below - scale according to your needs)

2 cloves garlic
1 cup olives (kalamata)
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil

Load all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined but still a little chunky. Serve with crackers or melba toast.

Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Olive Tapenade
Recipe provided by Rosalie Kicks (Old Sport)

2 cups olives (kalamata and/or green)
2 cloves garlic
⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes (note: if packed in oil, start with a smaller amount and omit olive oil from recipe)
⅓ cup tightly packed fresh basil
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice

Load all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined but still a little chunky. Adjust to taste and pulse until combined. Serve with crackers or melba toast.

Creamy Home-made Hummus
Recipe provided by Allison Yakulis

3 cups chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
⅓ cup sesame paste (aka tahini)
½ cup lemon juice
Olive oil
Paprika
Optional: water

Load chickpeas, garlic, salt, sesame paste, lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil into food processor. Blend until combined and adjust to taste (adding more salt, sesame paste, or lemon juice to your preferences), add water a tablespoon at a time to adjust consistency to your liking if it’s too thick (I usually end up adding 3 or 4 whenever I make it). Once the mixture is where you want it, blend continuously for a few minutes until creamy. Plate the hummus and top with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika to serve. Serve with pita, fresh cut vegetables, or any other snack food you wish.

EXTRAS

Depending on your preferences, fancy dress might be a fun addition. We also had a few party favors in the form of bubbles and water guns for the finale.

Until next month… may your cheese always be stretchy and the movie be cheesy.