The Nerdery Movie Night #187: Beanie Mania and Hot Honey Butter Popcorn

Two lessons learned tonight: don't think any fad will pay for your kid's college tuition and never underestimate sriracha's mystical powers.

Hot Honey Butter Popcorn

Dave: The 90s were wild. Seeing Beanie Babies, malls, giant hair, and Angelfire/Geocities-esque websites was really a throwback. I was in late high school and early college in the era of Beanies, so it was a bit peripheral for me. Watching it all unfold tonight was completely bizarre. The documentary really delved into the Beanie bubble and mystique, but sadly really skimmed over the corporate malfeasance and employee mistreatment that also seems to have been happening. Still, watching the Beanie bubble pop over the course of an hour and a half makes me reflect on so many similarities. Is cryptocurrency Beanie Babies for Bros and is Elon Musk the Beanie Queenie (which I think is the name of a person in the documentary)? The sad thing, though, is even the fine art and antiquarian markets are pretty similar to Beanies - when you leave the realm of Great Masters, the markets are all driven by crazy collectors, whether they’re Chardonnay moms in Naperville or super-wealthy art collectors and museums. Sothebys or Mary Beth’s Beanie World Magazine, the broad strokes are the same! (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Speaking of fads, hot honey is having a moment. To be clear, we didn’t use super-trendy Mike’s Hot Honey. It was a Kroger knock-off [Joe's edit: Joke's on Dave, I didn't use the Kroger brand hot honey!]. This popcorn was incredibly messy - not only does honey make popcorn a little soggy, but it also makes it incredibly sticky. Even so, it was pretty delicious, hitting that great sweet/savory sweet spot that meant we could have popcorn for dinner rather than dessert. Mess or not, I’d definitely have it again. (️️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Joe: Since nonfiction is my favorite genre of literature, it makes sense that documentaries are my favorite genre of film to watch. The nerd in me (ok - that's, like, 95% of me) enjoys learning, and I am especially fascinated by stories that have a veneer of schadenfreude. In that regard, a film about the Beanie Babies craze is right up my alley. Jesus. You guys. We don't deserve this big, beautiful world. Buy buy buy sell sell sell - and how much ends up in a landfill? Awful. Anyway, when Beanie Babies were at their peak, my then-roommate in college was part of the mania. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. The documentary answers very few questions, but it was kinda fun watching how stupid a bunch of white suburban moms behaved. Also, the rap about Beanie Babies is *chef's kiss* awful. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

I don't know who the genius was that discovered the magical combination of sweet and spicy, but they deserve a Nobel Prize for Foodstuffs or whatever. While making this popcorn, I was initially concerned with the level of sugar - two tablespoons each of brown sugar and honey - but it's perfectly balanced out by the sriracha. And the splash of vanilla provides a distinctively earthy balance to the mix. Definitely an easy recipe to revisit again and again and again. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Popcorn recipe from: Popcorn Board

Beanie Mania on IMDB.