Tag Archives: Alicia Silverstone

Image credit Clueless, Paramount Pictures, 1995

Will I ever get tired of watching this movie? As if! This week on Cinema Sips, I’m excited to pair one of my favorite high school movies of the 90’s with a cocktail that is appropriately girly and tart. Truly, it was impossible to grow up in that decade without seeing Clueless, and unfortunately it was also impossible to be a teenage girl and not compare yourself to the physical perfection that was Alicia Silverstone. Did I hike up the hem on my plaid skirts and constantly wonder why my hair wasn’t as silken and shiny as hers? Of course! Did I often eat “two bowls of Special K, 3 pieces of turkey bacon, a handful of popcorn, 5 peanut butter M&M’s and like 3 pieces of licorice,” and also feel like a heifer? Absolutely.

Clueless (DVD/Download) was that rare movie that captured teen angst and pop culture so perfectly (see also Mean Girls, and Pretty in Pink), and it was tailor made for the MTV generation. Amy Heckerling’s film is an adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Emma. Popular main character Cher schemes and plays matchmaker to those around her, before finally realizing that her own life is in need of a makeover. Alicia Silverstone does an amazing job of playing the character as shallow and ditzy on the outside, but secretly smart and caring on the inside. Of course most of the supporting cast has gone on to have long and varied careers (not least of which is the adorable Paul Rudd), and the movie even spun off a pretty terrible television show that was never able to live up to the brilliance of the film’s script. Clueless is full of pop culture references from the era- (ie. The Cranberries, Marky Mark, Ren & Stimpy, etc.) but it also references classic cinema, art history, and Shakespeare. In short, Clueless was the movie I could unabashedly like along with all of my peers, while still feeling good about myself for actually understanding the highbrow references.

This week’s cocktail is a nod to the ladies of Bronson Alcott High School, who are equal parts sweet and acid-tongued. Calling out a classmate’s designer-imposter perfume? Ouch! This drink recipe was adapted from one I enjoyed recently at the Raines Law Room in New York City. I’m guessing on the proportions, but the ingredients remain basically the same. When watching Clueless, I recommend drinking a Duchess.

1 ½ oz White Rum

1 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

1 oz lemon juice

¼ cup fresh raspberries

Muddle raspberries in cocktail shaker. Fill shaker with ice, and add the rum, lemon juice, and white chocolate liqueur. Shake vigorously and strain into a glass ¾ filled with crushed ice. Top with an additional mound of crushed ice, and one fresh raspberry.

This cocktail is upscale enough to fit in with Cher and Dionne’s Beverly Hills lifestyle, and definitely on the girly side!  Just be careful not to spill this drink on anyone’s satin pumps while you’re dancing to “Rollin’ With the Homies”. So not fixable. So this week, have fun, invite your friends over to join you in watching this film, and remember- it does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty. Cheers!