Streaming Netflix and Drinking Alone in Your Apartment This Weekend? Here’s What to Watch and Drink
Each week Yahoo Tech’s Alyssa Bereznak will help you pick the best of Netflix, old and new. She will also recommend drink pairings. Please note: Any pairing can always be substituted with a large bottle of wine.
To celebrate Mean Girls’ Netflix debut, this week’s Sip and Stream is dedicated to the best of the teen drama genre. Please drink responsibly.
1. Mean Girls, paired with a raspberry cosmopolitan.
The jewel of Lindsay Lohan’s pawn-shopped crown, this 2004 comedy remains astoundingly present in pop culture today, whether it’s the White House riffing off of one of the film’s most famous lines or that intern who recited the entire movie script in under 30 minutes. Lohan plays the new kid who befriends two outcasts. They persuade her to infiltrate an uber-popular clique ruled by Regina George (Rachel McAdams) for revenge. Hilarity and soul-searching ensue.
For libations, I’ve chosen something so outwardly sweet that it must be inherently sinister: a raspberry cosmopolitan, which is made of raspberry vodka, triple sec, and lime and cranberry juice. It’s essentially pure sugar and alcohol. It’s also pink. Because on Wednesdays they wear pink.
As Regina’s super-endowed mom says, “Happy hour is from 4 to 6!” Bottoms up.
2. The Graduate, paired with bourbon on the rocks.
You have probably already seen this legendary Dustin Hoffman movie, but it’s so creatively shot and well-cast that I can guarantee you’ll enjoy seeing it again. Especially because this time, you’ll be watching from the comfort of your own bed or couch with a bourbon in your hand.
I suggest bourbon because this is the drink that Mrs. Robinson (God bless her) first used to seduce poor young and accomplished Ben (Hoffman) that night he drove her home. Little did he know he’d actually fall in love with her daughter. Moral of the story: Adulthood is … sorta messed up! But better with bourbon.
3. Heathers, paired with a tequila sunrise.
Poor little Winona Ryder hates her popular friends so much that she jokes to the dark, handsome-ish new kid that she wants to kill them. And overnight she’s suddenly an accomplice to murder veiled as suicide! Yes, this brings up some questions about the competence of her town’s local police force, but otherwise this 1988 teen flick is surprisingly enjoyable. You know — in a twisted, cynical, murdery sort of way.
That’s why it calls for a sunny cocktail with the deadliest of all alcohols: a tequila sunrise. A drink of this strength will sufficiently lubricate your brain into accepting some of this film’s surreal scenes and ridiculous outfits. But also, its sugary grenadine and orange juice reminds us that there’s light at the end of the tunnel, as our dear Winona so heroically demonstrates at the film’s end.
Just make sure you don’t overdo it. Ralphing is so ’87.
4 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, paired with Andre champagne.
Dashing boy hero Ferris Beuller (Matthew Broderick) ditches class to spend the day being an adventurous whippersnapper in Chicago with his girlfriend and best pal. All the while, the school’s weirdly invested principal stalks him, hoping to catch him in a lie and expel him for good.
John Hughes’ 1986 ode to living beyond one’s boundaries is best paired with champagne. Well, not exactly champagne, but Andre, which is technically sparkling wine but still makes you feel fancy in a pinch. Because, the bittersweet thing about a handsome, popular kid who charms his way into fancy restaurants and expensive cars is that he’s usually not the one who can afford to buy a bottle of Moët as an adult.
Plus, you won’t feel so bad about spilling Andre all over your floor when you inevitably dance along to the “Twist and Shout” parade scene. Alone. In front of your mirror.
5. Clueless, paired with a daiquiri.
I’ll have you know that as a Californian child of the ’90s, I’m using every ounce of self-control not to fill this space entirely with the infinitely wise words of Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone). This 1995 teen flick follows a pack of rich Beverly Hills girls who take a new student (Brittany Murphy) under their wing and try to make her popular.
Though the premise certainly sounds despicable and the characters are indisputably shallow, it’s hard to hate anyone in this film. So sit back and stream it with a daiquiri, which I’ve selected because daiquiris are usually served in a fancy glass, and a fancy glass would totally complement one of Cher’s killer outfits. I’d recommend a Zima, but I think Coors stopped making those in 2008.
6. The Breakfast Club, paired with a mimosa.
Does anyone find it suspect that, in the entirety of The Breakfast Club, no one actually eats breakfast? Let’s remedy that as you stream, with a nice balanced morning beverage: a mimosa. Besides, you’ll need something sweet and bubbly to counteract all the cathartic, emotional dialogue that goes on among this group of depressed detention attendees.
This is considered to be John Hughes’ opus, so please forgive him in advance for getting so heavy.
Do you have a pairing suggestion? Send it to Alyssa Bereznak here. And follow her on Twitter. Please, she begs you.
