Screen Time

BEER MOVIES Rick Moranis (left) and Dave Thomas “Beer” (1985) An advertising executive (Loretta Swit) tries to turn around the fortunes of a struggling brewery in this often-crude comedy that nevertheless delivers a spot-on satire of the ad industry. The perfect campaign falls into her lap in the form of three regular guys (David Alan Grier, William Russ, Saul Stein) who foil a robbery at a bar and become media darlings and the beer’s spokesdudes. Rip Torn (“30 Rock”) and Peter Michael Goetz (“The Practice”) also appear. John Belushi Anat Baron 2 select TV “Strange Brew” (1983) Shakespeare would be spinning in his grave if he knew Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas used his “Hamlet” as a vehicle to bring their “SCTV” characters Bob and Doug McKenzie to the big screen. If the plotline – dad’s ghost, evil uncle – doesn’t tip you off, the names will – starting with the setting, Elsinore Brewery. The boys inadvertently get jobs there, uncover a plot to take over the world (with beer!), and save both the world and the niece (Lynn Griffin) of the villain (a delightfully dastardly Max Von Sydow). Despite its lofty inspiration, this isn’t exactly great art, but there’s nothing wrong with that, eh? “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (1978) OK, so this comedy classic wasn’t exactly about beer, but where frat boys go, fermented malt beverages follow. And the boys of Delta House certainly consumed their share of it, especially at that infamous toga party. To quote John “Bluto” Blutarski (John Belushi): “Grab a brew. Don’t cost nothin’.” A warning to today’s Daily News BY BEVERLY FOSTER SEINBERG college students: Don’t try this at school. In the 1970s, when this movie was made, and the ’60s, when it’s set, the drinking age in many states was still 18. Nowadays, underage undergraduate drinking costs a lot more than “nothin’.” “Beer Wars” (2009) The good news for fans of good beer: Craft breweries are hot. The bad news: They face formidable competition from the two megabreweries that dominate the market. Anat Baron’s David-and- Goliath documentary profiles Sam Calagione, founder of the tiny, terrific Delaware craft brewery Dogfish Head, and Rhonda Kallman, co-founder of The Boston Beer Co. (maker of Samuel Adams), who is struggling to launch her own microbrew. November 27 - December 3, 2010

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