We watch a double feature and eat a popcorn that is its own double feature (coffee & chocolate).
Dave: I liked a good bit about this film: the campy, over-the-top backstory sequences for all the villains, the just-shy-of-B-movie fight sequences, and most of all Uma Thurman’s dry wit and improbably believable characterization, even in the midst of all the fantastic action. But watching all four hours of this to realize that it boils down to Uma Thurman really wanting to be a mother is the worst payoff since we thought we were going to get our first female president and instead endured four years with an orange buffoon. And there’s so little else to take away from seeing both Kills Bills together - why take this badass, independent character and utterly domesticate her in the last quarter of the last film? The Uma that ends the movie is almost unrecognizable from the one that we saw for the first three hours and 45 minutes. Really - at least let us see that she’s teaching her new 5-year-old to punch through the walls of her Barbie house, or get even with the mean 6th graders at recess. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
I’m glad I made this popcorn on a day we took off from work: boiling milk, sugar, instant coffee, and cocoa powder together until it reached soft ball stage took a while. After I’d finally finished and poured it over the popcorn I’d also coated a spoon, a spatula, another spoon, a bowl, a candy thermometer, and a saucepan in sticky, chocolatey sugar. I nearly didn’t add the dusting of powdered sugar that the Popcorn Board asked for, but, despite the cup and a half of sugar (!), the cocoa powder and chocolate make it the tiniest bit bitter. It was good, and I couldn’t stop shoveling it in, but, as with many of the sweet, caramel-style popcorns, it’s simply not worth the effort unless you’re Uma Thurman and have to feed a small child before teaching them how to [Kill Bill Spoiler Alert] rip someone’s eyeball out with their bare hands. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Joe: Though we tend to avoid movies we've seen before, it's been well over 15 years since I'd seen either Kill Bill I (which I'd probably seen thrice before tonight) or Kill Bill II (which I saw only once, in the theaters). I have always wanted to watch both of them back to back, and since we had the day off, it seemed like a doable plan: four hours of film and a lot of time to watch. Turns out, four straight hours of Quentin Tarantino is a lot. The films are compulsively watchable, the dialogue is snappy, and the directing is never less than cleverer-than-thou. But it just became a wee bit wearying about an hour into the second installment. For one thing, there's some uncomfortable tongue-in-cheek moments with the kung fu bits - which I'm sure Tarantino, yappy appropriator he is, thought was "homage" but, to 2021 eyes feels more than a little yikes. Still, Uma Thurman is terrific. So's Lucy Liu. So's Daryl Hannah. Hell, they all seem to be having such a grand time. Just maybe not all in one sitting. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Consider me a convert. Or maybe - just maybe - when we started this little endeavor and were working off the 50 popcorns from the Food Network website, their sweet popcorn recipes just weren't that good. But the Popcorn Board certainly knows what it's doing. Heaven knows, Dave spent quite some time in the kitchen today preparing it, so I know it was a labor of love. And it was well worth it. The dusting of powdered sugar on top of the rich chocolate mixed with the acidic coffee was right up my alley. I do wonder, though, if I will sleep tonight. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Popcorn recipe from: Popcorn Board
Kill Bill I & II on IMDB.
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