February 10, 2005 - Not that it's gotten any warmer, but by now you're used to the frightful weather outside. It's a good thing too, because there's no Thanksgiving reunion or holiday gift giving waiting for you to help make the sunless days and bundled up nights more bearable.

Your friends at ABSOLUT and IGN know a little something about taking the chill out of the air and warming up when and where it counts. It's all about finding the right indoor activities to keep you warm and the right libation. We're happy to present to you, the wayward, half-frozen IGN reader, our Cold Chillin' series of how to stay warm, stay indoors and stay chillin during these winter months. And remember spring is just around the corner….although you may not want to come out once you learn how to chill properly.


The Movies

Before settling in to watch a few of our favorite wintertime movies, you need to mix up a few glasses of ABSOLUT Citron Blizzard as described in the following recipe.

ABSOLUT Citron Blizzard

2 parts ABSOLUT Citron

2 parts passion fruit syrup

2 parts mango juice

1 part lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender with ice

Turn blender on

Serve in glass of your choosing (we like frosty mugs ourselves)

Serve with spoon and straw and drink responsibly



Now that you're feeling the Blizzard, fire up the home theatre system or your raggedy VHS player if you're stuck in the 80s and dig these flicks that are guaranteed to chill.

Dr Zhivago- Who knew Russian history could be so much fun? Omar Shariff plays the title character in this classic that includes saucy adultery, an armed revolution and more snow than you can shake a thermometer at. Russian winters are no joke, and you'll be thanking your wool booties that you're toasty warm indoors during the blizzard scenes in this flick. The Soviet revolution provides quite a backdrop to this film that defines romance in the original sense of the word.

Neptune's Daughter- We're going way back to 1949 with this one, but how can you resist a flick that features Ricardo Montalban in his pre-Star Trek/Fantasy Island days, bathing beauty Esther Williams diving off of fake cliffs and the classic holiday song "Baby, It's Cold Outside?" Feel free to use that line on the object of desire who should be watching with you, especially after you've shared a few of those ABSOLUT Citron Blizzards. That line worked when Ricardo used it on Esther and just think they didn't even have any ABSOLUT going on back then.

Alive- A plane crash lands in the Andes mountains and you play witness to the trials of the survivors who literally eat through each other to survive. Much like Das Boot, all of the male characters have full beards midway through so it can be hard to tell who's who, but the gravity of the situation is pressing upon the viewer throughout the entire film. Wintertime in Chile has its way with the folks in this movie (they don't get out until the snow starts to thaw) but you'll be toasting to their bravery and keeping your insides warm throughout thanks to ABSOLUT.

Die Hard 2- Enough of all this talking and deep thought and meaning. How about some hard-boiled Bruce Willis action? It's Christmas in Washington DC and Willis has to off some more American terrorists while his wife is flying into town on a jet with no fuel. You will love the major role played by John Amos (from TV's Good Times), hate the awkward attempts to make Willis's John McLean a sex symbol (rent-a-car chicks are never that foxy AND friendly) and wince when McLean uses an icicle as a lethal weapon. Oh and by now you'll be engulfed in ABSOLUT euphoria so you probably won't be impressed with the fact -like we were-- that snowmobiles can ride over powder, ice and slushy snow without sinking.

Apocalypse Now- One of the longest movies ever, you should be good and pickled about halfway through this Francis Ford Coppola. Featuring Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen and a super young Laurence Fishburne, this flick is definitely worth it if you can keep your eyes open. Set during the Vietnam War, this is the first film on our list that is not snow-centric. Sweaty soldiers in the jungle should get somebody's blood flowing along with the smell of napalm in the morning.

Honorable mention:

Summer School-Mark Harmon, Kirstie Allie and drunk teenagers are a formula for fun. Inspired many a prank at many a high school back in the 1980s.

Superman II-We say it's the best of the series, mainly because we get to hang in the Fortress of Solitude, near the North Pole. Further proof that Santa Claus is a fraud. Sorry but it's true.

Dumb and Dumber- The snowball to the face of Lauren Holly is the second funniest scene in this classic flick. You'll have to watch, or rather listen, for yourself to catch the funniest.

Fargo- Brr, there's nothing in Minnesota or North Dakota but snow it seems. The polite mannerisms of the people warm the heart however in this dark comedy.

Superman III- To hell with it. Richard Pryor AND Superman get rip-roaring drunk in this one, and that fits our theme here perfectly. Favorite scene: Supes is drunk, complete with five o'clock shadow and "drunken" dark costume, and flicking peanuts with lethal force at a mirror behind his local dive bar. Who among us hasn't wanted to do this?

Be sure to keep it locked on IGN and make sure you're Cold Chillin' with ABSOLUT this winter.