directed by:
Deborah Richards written by: Deborah Richards genre: Documentary |
"You wanna play with glass, you're gonna cut yourself." #WordsToLiveBy Welcome to the world of premium movers and shakers – the artists that make your cocktails with a supreme amount of flash & flair. Right off the drop in this documentary, you'll meet a competitor named Colby Ashton, who basically goes on to sum up what being a professional is really all about. It's about dedication, digging into what you do, and understanding that to be the best in whatever you do, you must be immersed in the craft. If you want to be a competitor, you must have a drive to do things differently. I love the fact that real professionals understand that the very concept of being the best applies to just about everything – you could be a manager, a Starbucks employee, a graffiti artist, a mortgage broker…honestly, it really doesn't matter & that's the point – you can make whatever it is you do into an art form if you apply yourself more than the rest out there do. As Lorenzo Garcia goes on to explain, it's about how much time you dedicate to your craft. Whatever it is that you do, practice makes perfect, does it not? "You either want it, or you don't" – I feel the same way about what I do, and I'm merely a writer – but I can guarantee you that across the board, those out there who have become the best in their respective fields, would all be able to trace their success back to the simple equation of time + dedication = experience & results. Colby ends up talking about an extremely insightful aspect of the drink-making art form early on into this documentary, where he talks about how many of his peers will shake & do their thing to music that's timed differently than what they should be using…as in, the BPM is moving against them, rather than with them. That's likely to be a major piece of the puzzle that a lot of people in his field wouldn't even realize, but when you really have an understanding of rhythm and flow, you'd know exactly how crucial it is to get that right. In my own humble opinion, which I know doesn't amount to much since I am way too clumsy for something like this, you can't help but look at what these amazing competitors do and feel awed by it all, but I really think you also can't help but recognize it for the art that it has become. We're not just talkin' about twirling a few bottles around – if you're competing in Flair Bartending, you're basically the equivalent of an Olympian athlete in your own right. Before you ask – YES…the movie "Cocktail" has inspired just about half of these people you'll meet in the interviews that run through "Shaken & Stirred" – but you knew that already, didn't you? Of course, that famous Tom Cruise movie inspired a whole generation of people to go out and grab a shaker and see what they could do with it! Heck – YOU probably even grabbed a bottle or two while no one was looking to see if you could even make a basic twirl happen, just out of sheer curiosity and/or envy. While some out there would no doubt look at this sport – that's what it is, a sport – and feel like it's a little on the juvenile side of things, I'd again challenge you to understand that a professional at the top of their game is exactly that, no matter what you do. You can't look at these amazing bartenders & not acknowledge how much work they would have had to put in to become as great as they are. You get an excellent glimpse into this world and all the little things like necessary techniques, to signature moves, to how many rules are included in different types of competitions, believe me when I tell ya, "Shaken & Stirred" will easily confirm that this sport is way more complex than you probably thought. There are even special bottles that allow you to do more than you previously thought possible, as six-time champion Ken Hall will confirm in one of his interview segments. You'll hear all about their time in the trenches, on floors that are covered in crushed glass, trying to hone their chops to become the best of the best. The advent of the 'Flair' bottle has become a game-changer for the entire sport overall, giving the competitors a new tool to work with that offers them the opportunity to do more than they previously could. Think of how cool that is on its own…you probably didn't think that there would be innovative technological advances made in something like bartending, yet there have been – and you get a great sense about how this industry of competition has evolved by what "Shaken & Stirred" goes on to show you overall. You visually see how this all goes from a theoretical hobby and shifts into becoming an undeniable sport. I love how well this is explained throughout the film. Watching things like the creation of the FBA (Flair Bartenders Association) is nothing short of extremely cool…seeing the philosophy of how if they wanted it to be a sport, it had to resemble one…so you see the fine line they walk of borrowing ideas from the NBA - without going too far to put themselves in the position of being sued. But in the process, they usher in a new generation of rules and regulations, and how much the sport continued to grow & still battle through its own growing pains, like the perception that it was completely male-dominated, even while badasses like Lindsay Palumbo were out there changing the game too. You'll also see how crucial the role Vegas plays in elevating the sport is, too, right from the heart of the entertainment capital of the world. Drinks AND entertainment? Come on y'all… that's entirely synonymous with all-things-Vegas.
Director Deborah Richards has done this entire sport a great service with this documentary. The footage is fantastic, the interviews are great, and the information comes at you in a steady stream that you can get your head around. More importantly, perhaps, is that you'll WANT to learn about this from the moment that "Shaken & Stirred" begins… that's the Richards' effect & how cohesively this documentary has been put together. It flows with such a brilliantly logical progression that perfectly details how the sport has evolved, and quite fearlessly tackles the devastating imbalance between how male competitors & female competitors have been regarded in such different ways. You'll find that even some of the most groundbreaking bartenders can't help but reveal some majorly misogynistic views, and like Lindsay will point out, they are often completely clueless as to how toxic their masculinity can become. All-in-all, that seriously threatens to hold back the entire sport – but as Palumbo also goes on to explain, there's always been a disconnect straight across the board that keeps women being viewed differently than the guys are, despite how many times it has been proven that being considered the best of the best in anything, is genderless. Underestimate a competitor like Lindsay, and trust me when I tell ya, she'll show you why you shouldn't as she puts a male competitor straight into the dirt, never to return. Documentaries always walk a very fine line. I'm interested in this, because I'm usually interested in anything I don't know anything about – and this was all new to me. Is "Shaken & Stirred" long at nearly two hours? Yes! It is. It's still a collected set of interviews at the end of the day, all centred around one topic, and that's always going to appeal to some folks more than others in terms of potential views. Personally, I believe that Richards has done an exceptional job of presenting the information, and did a remarkable job showing us how much heart and history come along with the sport. Where it gets really interesting to me - is where you see how the sport kind of hits its peak, and how the same innovation that once made it become amazing, starts to become its downfall. You start to witness how money & sponsorships begin to kill the competitions. You start to see how the next phase of bartending – mixology – starts to threaten the flair bartenders to go the way of the dinosaurs if they don't find a way to adapt. The FBA becomes endangered, if not completely, on life support for a while, and you wonder how that could be the case when you still see so many amazing skills in places like Las Vegas today. "Shaken & Stirred" reminds you that no single place has a monopoly on bartending, and that the appreciation that tends to get lost in commercialization can still exist in other places in the world. I don't think you could watch this film and not come out with more appreciation for great bartending than you had before, or more respect for those who get involved with it than you had going into it. From broken teeth to massive cuts, black eyes & blackouts – these amazing competitors have bled for their sport to become the professionals that they went on to be, and wouldn't have it any other way. These people don't just make drinks – they make art. All of these incredible competitors give you the recipe for success if you're paying close attention – time + dedication = experience & results. We can all truly learn something from watching this – "Shaken & Stirred" gets a solid four stars out of five from me. |
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