Bo Burnham may very well be an artistic genius. Sassy popcorn isn't really a thing.
Dave: When everyone was learning to become a #girlboss, baking sourdough, and dreaming up side hustles during the pandemic, I remember reading advice to those who decided to take up writing as a quarantine hobby: no one wants to read your pandemic memoir-cum-novel. I make an exception for Bo Burnham, though. In the midst of jokey songs about white women’s Instagram feeds, mansplaining, sexting, and the Internet, there’s a sober, startling meditation on connection and mental health that’s incredibly affecting. Since the film was shot during COVID-19 in a single room, the claustrophobic atmosphere is visceral for anyone who was mildly awake over the last year and a half; the long shots of Burnham alone with camera equipment were gorgeous and poignant, as was watching Burnham’s hair and beard slowly grow more unruly. There’s a visual metaphor about isolation, fame, and a feral existence in that slow transition. It helps that the film is punctuated with Burnham’s (deceptively) catchy tunes in a variety of styles - he moves from folk-rock to show tunes to synthpop. I’d definitely buy the album and revel in singing along to Burnham’s gleeful, hopeless lyrics about how we’re all hastening the end of the world. If you don’t have time to watch the entire film, we aren’t done with the pandemic yet, so fire up Netflix and stay the hell home. But also, the soundtrack is available to stream on Spotify, so you can catch the abridged version. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Joe told me the name of this popcorn several times, and every time it was different, but the word sassy was in all of them. Normally I’d expect a “sassy” popcorn to involve chardonnay or margarita mix, so this was a welcome surprise. Joe thought he’d under-seasoned, but the garlic and parsley were pungent and delicious, even if it might nave needed a tad more salt. This is the latest popcorn in a fairly long line of deceptively simple recipes that were nearly perfect, while some of the more complicated recipes (long time readers will remember the abject horror that was Szechuan popcorn) left a lot to be desired. Maybe if we ever put together a popcorn cookbook, it will be full of simple recipes over which you can quietly sob about the end of the world and the end of human kindness while stuffing your face with a crunchy, buttery treat like this one. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Joe: I had an extremely visceral response to this film. About a quarter way through, I turned to Dave and said, "If [Bo Burnham] releases a soundtrack for this film, I will absolutely buy it." Seriously! The electro-clash bangers in the early part of the film reminded me of Fischerspooner (if they were funny). Halfway into the film, my cheeks were burning from laughing so hard. About three-quarters through, I wasn't laughing. Instead, I was thinking about all our friends who managed lockdowns on their own, removed from friends, families, and comforting embraces; my heart ached all over again for them. While the credits rolled, I was (and had been for several minutes) in tears. This is not an easy piece of art to watch. It touches on a lot of very difficult issues: mental health, loneliness, suicide, identity, the incremental disassociation that technology thrusts upon us, the isolation we feel because of the internet and social media. We're not on the other side of the pandemic, even those of us who are vaccinated, and this is a humanizing look at what it's done to us. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐)
Oh, Kirk Castle. Sometimes you surprise, sometimes you enchant. Sometimes you disappoint, sometimes you baffle. This popcorn has ingredients that should work seamlessly together: dried parsley, garlic salt, butter, pepper, and dried minced onion. But either by user error or Kirk Castle Error, it tastes like butter and popcorn. This is fine, but when it should taste like so much more, it's a bit of a letdown. Though this popcorn was certainly savory, I fail to see the sassy. (⭐️⭐️⭐)
Popcorn recipe from: 100 Popcorn Recipes by "Kirk Castle"
Inside on IMDB.
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