Who knew tentacles could be so mesmerizing? Who knew a single serving of popcorn could bring induce early-onset diabetes?
Dave: This film was absolutely gorgeous. Period. Really, I have nothing snarky to say about it. The footage of underwater kelp forests were breathtakingly strange, the many shots of odd and quirky sea life were enthralling, and the film even made the octopus look stately and elegant. That’s at least kind of a difficult task for an animal that’s so squishy. I’m sure the "octopus taught me so much about my own family!” storyline was heartfelt, but parts of it really did feel like a stretch. I appreciated, though, the almost ethnographic nature of this man’s project, going back to visit an octopus every day for the better part of a year and coming to understand so much about the octopus and everything else in the ecosystem. Watching the octopus interact with the filmmaker and even play with fish (!) was absolutely magical, and witnessing its intelligence and creativity was mind-blowing. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This popcorn was supposedly based on an “avalanche” candy apple the author and her husband used to get on dates when they were first married. I hope those candy apple dates didn’t continue too long into their marriage. Between the sugar candy coating (thank God they didn’t include that in this recipe) and the chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallows, they’d have ended up toothless, crazed, sugar junkies if they'd done it too long. Don’t get me wrong - I liked the popcorn. But I’m also partial to foods that are so sweet they make your teeth ache just a little. But, even for me, this was a lot. I did add a bit of salt to cut the sweet after I dumped in the marshmallows and Rice Krispies (that gave the popcorn a delightful crunch) on top of the white chocolate/peanut butter goo. I’m not sure it worked - we don’t have enough salt in the house to cut that amount of sweet. But it did make the popcorn feel a bit less like a snack you’d make for neighbor kids in order to get back at their parents for not returning your leafblower and more like something actual adults would ingest on purpose. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Joe: I'm a sucker (pun initially unintended) for animals and documentaries, so this was going to scratch both those itches simultaneously. Since it's fresh of an Oscar win, I thought I couldn't go wrong by selecting it. I was right. This is a really refreshing, sweet, and astonishing film. I admire how it's structured as a long story, rather than being peppered with interviews, experts weighing in, and an omniscient narrator informing the viewer every step of this way. Nope. This is some middle-aged white dude just talking vaguely about being troubled and then talking explicitly about how an octopus taught him to be less troubled. There are some moments of codswallop, particularly in overly dramatic framing devices (e.g., emo middle-aged white dude staring out a window while it's raining; the insane anthropomorphism). None of this distracts too terribly from the movie's intended effect: to connect and learn from nature and to be transformed by it. Powerful stuff. Also, octopuses are kind of cute. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
I forgot that Dave was making a sweet popcorn tonight, so I visited the vending machine on the 7th floor of the library today for a post-lunch snack of a Whatchamacallit bar. Ok, and some mini lemon cookies. I thought I would be hesitant to indulge too heavily in this treat since I'd already far exceeded the recommended daily allowance of refined sugars. After the first handful, though, I knew that was a fool's errand. Frankly, it tasted like sweet peanut butter and chocolate - almost like a Watchamacallit bar! - and I simply couldn't seem to cram enough in my gob. It was sheer delight, and I'll probably sleep well tonight. If a sugar coma counts as sleep. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Popcorn recipe from: Party Popcorn by Ashton Epps Swank (2014)
My Octopus Teacher on IMDB.
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