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The 4th live action Hellboy feature film, the second reboot, this time aiming for a lower budget (~$20M) folk horror themed entry with a younger Hellboy and a story pulled straight from the comics.
How does it stack up to the previous 3?
We're joined today by special guests JON WESTHOFF and MATT HARDING, both hailing from the indie comic book landscape.
Jon Westoff is the publisher of Part Time Comix and
PART TIME COMIX STORE
KICKSTARTER PROFILE
Matt Harding - Matt is a bay area comic artist and writer who's worked on projects such as Dead Beats 2, All the Devils are Here, Hamilton, GWAR, The Not Forgotten Anthology, Rick and Morty, and Stan Lee's Lucky Man: Bracelet Chronicles. He writes, illustrates, edits, and animates comics in a variety of mediums.
The Pairings
Matt’s Wine
19 Crimes Frankenstein Cabernet Sauvignon
Limited Edition 19 Crimes x Universal Monsters comes to life in the dark!
Firm and full filled with a dark berry fruit finish. Flavors of red currant, dark cherries, and chocolate.
Dallas’ Wine
Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Dallas: I’m a glutton for punishment so occasionally I like to pair film/media with a wine that has cinematic parallel. And since this film initially felt like punishment for the crime of enjoying the first 2 Hellboy films I chose a wine that felt like punishment for the crime of enjoying good wine.
The 2018 Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon is full-bodied with a smooth profile. You get notes of hazelnut, blackberry, maybe cinnamon or coffee. The film felt a bit meh and i chose a wine that left me feeling the same way. But i will say it’s a solid “cinematic pilot”.
Dave’s Wine
2020 Yves Leccia "E Croce" Patrimonio Rouge (Corsica)
Dave: When I think of folk horor and legend, I often think of Corsica. I’ll explain that further below, but first let me introduce my Corsican wine pairing!
One of the icons of Corsica's Patrimonio region, Yves Leccia followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather working at the family estate. In 2004 he left the domaine and created his own property, alongside his wife Sandrine, whose family are winemakers in Alsace, to focus on the single terroir he felt was the top in Patrimonio.
This terroir, “E Croce,” sits on a thin chalk soil above a thick bedrock of pure schist. Yves is a firm believer in the idea that if you want something done right you need to do it yourself, and thus he tends to his vines alone and works the cellar by himself as well, at least for the most part, his wife Sandrine does assist in both the cellar and vineyards, especially during harvest and for blending. Yves keeps his yields low, knows when to harvest, and knows how to let E Croce express itself in the wines.
In Corsica, Yves is celebrated not only for his wines, but also for being a founding member of A Filetta, a legendary and proudly nationalistic Corsican polyphonic singing group. His family name, Leccia, is Corsican for Oak. The name is ironic, because he's never used any oak with his wines, in fact he's never even allowed wood to enter his cellar.
The E Croce Rouge is a blend of 90% Niellucciu (the local indigenous grape likely related to Sangiovese) and 10% Grenache. The vines are planted on clay-limestone soils and fermentation and aging is all done in stainless steel tanks. Yves' wines are one of the best places to begin your journey for exploring Corsican wine.
Now let’s return to why I’ve had Corsican mythology on the brain. Many years ago, I stumbled upon the above book, THE DREAM HUNTERS OF CORSIA by Dorothy Carrington in a used bookstore, a non-fiction telling of Corsican mythology.
It tells of the dream-hunters, or mazzeri, a thing unknown outside Corsica and probably date from pre-historic times. At night they go hunting - or dream they do - and kill an animal, in whom they recognise a human face. The next day they announce the death of the person they saw, which always takes place within a year. Where the mazzeri are harbingers of death, the signadori are guardians of life - they practice folk medicine, but more importantly, they secure release from the curse of the “Evil Eye”, or the death curse of the mazzeri.
I just love that myth, I know it better than I know American appalachia, and then this particular Corsican wine tastes of red fruit, fine tannis, soft acidity, and a sour cherry / tart note that completes the package - like the sourness of the land the movie takes place within! (It’s absolutely delicious, I recommend it highly, both the wine and the book!)
Jon’s Fireball and Beer
Hellboy 'Hellwater' Cinnamon Whiskey
Hellboy Hell Water is small-batch naturally flavored cinnamon whiskey. It is micro-distilled, hand bottled, and styled in the old traditional process of making southern corn whiskey. Old fashioned corn whiskey uses only the finest corn, natural ingredients, spring water, glassware, and craftsmanship.
(You know when a description talks about the GLASS that the liquid inside probably ain’t all that great, which Jon confirmed. It’s fun, available, cheap, and you get what you pay for here.)
Hellboy Collection from Gigantic Brewing Company
Only 666 sets made! All with 6.66% or 9.99% ABV! Ha! Jon says these are pretty good and pair well with the movie, notably the Citrus Wit.
Made to coincide with the 2019 HELLBOY movie release with David Harbour. Very hard to find these days, though you can find a stray single bottle of one or more of the below floating about if you rummage through the internet enough. The collection consists of:
Hellboy - Maple Syrup Pancake Beer (6.66% abv)
Liz Sherman - Mole Chili Stout (6.66% abv)
Johann Kraus - Citrus Wit Beer (6.66% abv)
Abe Sapien - Indigo Blue Fruit Ale (6.66% abv)
Blood Queen - Cranberry Yuzu Sour (6.66% abv)
Trevor Bruttenholm - British Barleywine (9.99% abv)
And there you have it! What did you think of Hellboy: The Crooked Man? What would you pair with it?
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