If you know what Butterfield 8 is, let us know.
Dave: Do you know those random motion cat toys? The ones that have batteries and move around taking erratic turns at odd moments? Now, imagine you have several of them and you let them all go at once - they crash into each other, run away from each other, and go in circles with no direction or logic. That, dear reader, is what this movie was like, but substitute our main characters for the cat toys. Everyone’s motivation was entirely inscrutable and they all spoke in grandiose cliches, all while making one baffling, bizarre decision after another. Liz Taylor was, as always, gorgeous, but didn’t have the magnetic stage presence she had in, say, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Everyone else was simply exhausting. The best part of the film were the interior shots of the swanky New York apartment. (️⭐️1/2)
We’ve had this popcorn dilemma before: is a popcorn still good if it tastes good but it’s unclear what it was intended to taste like? This popcorn was buttery, salty, and had a little twang of something, though if I didn’t know it was balsamic vinegar, I never would have guessed. Still, we finished the bowl well before we realized Butterfield 8 was going to go completely off the rails, so that says something for how tasty it was! (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Joe: Halfway through this film, I thought, "What is this movie about?" Three-quarters through this film, I asked Dave, "What in the hell is Butterfield 8?" The bigger question is why this film is titled Butterfield 8, especially when so much of the melodrama is plotless, heightened by an overly dramatic score and some of the clunkiest dialogue ever committed to paper. Elizabeth Taylor, who for some unknown reason won a fucking Oscar for this, emotes spectacularly. I imagine much of the population in 1960 was scandalized by the lines she spits out: a woman who likes sex?!?! - not on my watch! Maybe that's why she won the Academy Award? She was edgy and raw? I don't know. This would have worked better as a stage play, but as a full length feature film, it's a bit much. (⭐️⭐️)
We first tried an Ashton Epps Swank recipe after completing the 50 Popcorn Flavors from Food Network that kickstarted this endeavor. In fact, Epps made a debut at #50. We've only quasi-committed to working our way through her book. 99% of the recipes are sweet - like, diabetes-onset sweet - and sound largely unappetizing/tailored to the tastes of four-year-olds. By completing this recipe, we've made all of her savory popcorns. Epps' successes are rather scattershot, and this endeavor falls safely in the middle. It's inoffensive, but edible-bordering-on-pleasing. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Popcorn recipe from: Party Popcorn by Ashton Epps Swank. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).
Butterfield 8 on IMDB.
The write-up was very entertaining; probably more than the movie. Thanks!