Dash & Lily
Let's be honest, Netflix sometimes churns out so much content that the writing, acting and production value doesn't hold up (i.e. any of their holiday movies, with the exception of The Christmas Chronicles). When I turned on the first installment of Dash & Lily, an eight-episode miniseries based on a young adult novel of the same name, I was worried I'd be in for an Emily in Paris meets A Christmas Prince-style disaster. I was pleasantly shocked to find an adorable, festive, sugary with some spice, heartfelt romcom that channels To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets You've Got Mail. A couple things you need to know before you start watching. Suspend your common sense! It's the holiday season (almost) and that means you are going to have to be ready to not poke holes in the universe where this story is unfolding. How do all of these high schoolers run around the city and get left alone for the holidays by their parents? Not relevant! How do these kids get into bars that serve alcohol? Don't think too hard about it! How does Lily somehow have a connection to everyone in this city? Magical realism! The Jonas Brothers cameo? Yes, you read that right. Once you've got that behind you, get ready to soak in the beauty of Dash & Lily. The series tells the story of two people who meet via red notebook at The Strand. Dash is lonely, sarcastic, reeling from a break-up and trying to push the holiday cheer away from him so he can sulk. Lily loves December in NYC, but finds her holiday traditions changing and struggles to break out of her comfort zone and admit when she's feeling less than cheery. As you can already expect, these two have different ways of approaching life but they both bond over other common interests and push each other to do new things via this notebook. Dash & Lily don't meet (at first) and instead begin exchanging messages and a series of dares. The actors who play the leads are truly excellent, conveying the awkwardness of being a teenager and the many intricacies of the characters they portray. The supporting cast of characters help take the show to the next level by building out Dash & Lily's worlds and weaving them together. The show plays with time, storytelling, the way we create false expectations in our heads and so much more in a series of artfully directed episodes that I flew through in a week. It's an absolute delight and the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.
Some other odds & ends
Taylor Swift + Paul McCartney: For their musicians on musicians series, Rolling Stone put Taylor and Paul together for a photoshoot and interview to discuss the process of creating music during the pandemic.
Looking for more festivities?: NPR's Linda Holmes put together a comprehensive guide to the 2020 holiday movies premiering on Hallmark, Lifetime, UPTV, Netflix and Hulu. I've already watched two -- Christmas on Ice and One Royal Holiday -- both of which I thoroughly enjoyed (but Dash & Lily is still better!).
