đ”I feel tired. đ¶Oh so tired.đ” (of critically lauded meh remakes and of popcorn that goes soggy)
Dave: While I appreciated the soaring music, of course, and a few of the new contextual flourishes, Iâm just not sure what all the fuss was about. This was a serviceable remake, but maybe we didnât need a remake of a film/musical thatâs hobbled by its hackneyed portrayal of its subjects. There were times when the veneer of the stodgy story cracked and the characters and their complexities threatened to break through, but the script could never sustain that for long and collapsed back into its old self. Still, the music and staging were lovely to behold (except when the autotune/overproduction became annoyingly audible), and Ariana DeBose milked her screen time as Anita for everything she had. Ultimately, it just wasnât enough to keep this together for me. (ïžïžïžâïžâïžâïž)
Despite having approximately 10 slices of bacon in it and, presumably, a fair amount of maple syrup, this popcorn tasted like neither. I enjoyed the caramel corn-like crunch of the kernels and the occasional pieces of bacon I found in the bottom of the bowl, but for as much trouble as Joe took to make this recipe, I definitely expected something a bit more flavorful. (âïžâïž1/2)
Joe: Being a Gay who only recently realized he likes musicals, I had never seen West Side Story - not the 1961 OG, not in a high school theater, not in a community production. I knew that it was a riff on Romeo & Julie. Because the 50s and 60s were the heyday for musicals, I imagine that the original is pretty darn phenomenal. This was just... okay. For one thing, it was super long. It was also really heavy-handed, a little over-emotive-y (especially the two leads, which I guess is #broadway), and the green screen was insanely bad. Spielberg's maybe drunk too much of his own Kool-Aid. Anyway. Ariana DeBose was really good. Do I think her performance was better than Dunst's in The Power of the Dog? I do not. Do I think she'll win the Academy Award? I do. This film is ultimately Oscars fodder, and considering it has 7 nominations, I rest my case. (âïžâïžâïž)
One day. One day I will add sauce to a popcorn and it will not immediately turn into soup. I've tried everything, even baking it (as this recipe calls for). You know what this recipe also called for? One pound of bacon. One. Pound. I did not make one pound of bacon. If everything hadn't gotten all shriveled after adding the bacon fat (!) and maple syrup, maybe this would've been better. I popped more popcorn to add to the soup, but that had the effect of lessening the punch of the flavors. (âïžâïžâïž)
Popcorn recipe from: Saveur
West Side Story [2021] on IMDB.
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