Pop Up Screens: The Goonies - a reflection

Art & Culture

Anyone who says this isn't the best way to spend a hungover evening in London obviously has a rather questionable grasp on reality. As someone who hails from a tiny town in New Zealand, Pop Up Screens' showing of The Goonies at the 20th Century Theatre is what London is all about. You certainly couldn't do this sort of thing where I'm from.

The venue was set up in a fashion that reminded me of being shown a movie on the projector screen in the school hall when I was a kid. The fact that there were fairy lights and an audience made up of die-hard Goonies fans only helped to make this sense of nostalgia even more poignant. Props to Pop Up Screens there.

Before going any further, I should confess that I had never actually seen The Goonies up until this point. To most people, this is understandably a highly sacrilegious admission – all I can do is blame how my parents raised me and hope that you will forgive me.

But I digress, as we all know the film is utterly charming. I was sold the moment bad-guy Jake Fratelli pulled off one of the most original prison breaks that has ever graced our screens. One particularly hardcore fan let rip the first of many hearty guffaws at this point, and having now seen the film I can see where this enthusiasm comes from.

So, as far as movie selection and venue choice go, Pop Up Screens were nailing it. You would think that it would be hard to beat screening classic 80's films in intimate theatres on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but they managed it. This is where the cocktails come in.

Prior to entering, we were all instructed that the cocktails we were given were intended to be drunk at certain scenes throughout the film – although whether you actually stuck to this was entirely up to you. Being the good boy that I am, I decided to drink my cocktails as intended, and pre-loaded at the bar instead.

The first cocktail on the menu was the aptly-named 'Truffle Shuffle Shake'. This was made up of chocolate salted caramel and crème de cacao. It was paired with Chunk's infamous Truffle Shuffle dance, and whilst it was a rather disconcerting sampling a cocktail while watching a chubby kid lift up his shirt and shake his belly, it was still delicious.

Next up was the 'Baby Ruth Martini' – which was essentially vodka with more chocolate. Again, it was delicious. This cocktail was consumed at the point where Sloth and Chunk first bond over a Baby Ruth chocolate bar, which was a nice touch.

Finally, we got to 'One Eyed Willie's Rum Punch' – a fruity number made up of pineapple juice, rum and coconut rum which went down a treat. This was consumed when our hero, young Samwise Gamgee, discovered the lost treasure of One Eyed Willie.

By the time the movie finished, I was feeling rather buzzed and incredibly happy with the manner in which I lost my Goonies virginity. Pop Up Screens really is on to something here, their simple formula of a classic 80's movie paired with a charming venue and three great cocktails is nothing short of a winner.