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Dave: Who knew Miss Cleo’s story was this touching and nuanced? Apparently not the seemingly three dozen people who had a hand in making the documentary. The movie felt as disjointed as one of those “let’s look back” Golden Girls episodes where you learn about Blanche’s childhood, Rose’s appendectomy, and Dorothy’s new hairdo. Aside from Miss Cleo, who is a bit of an enigma throughout, nothing provided a clear through-line. As consequential as it was, Miss Cleo’s coming out of seclusion and coming out of the closet towards the end felt anticlimactic and tacked-on. We’d just heard an hour of phone psychic operators and district attorneys talking about the scammy business jerks that hired Cleo to be their spokesperson. While this was all (apparently) Cleo’s lived experience, the end result felt a bit chaotic and unedited. I do have a new respect for Raven-Symone, who was astute and funny in her interview segments (️️️⭐️⭐⭐️1/2).
When I envisioned (en-tasted?) this popcorn, I thought it would be a bit like honey-nut cheerios. The slightly sweet, nutty flavor would go well with popcorn, like a caramel, I thought. Then I found a recipe for honey-roasted nuts online and thought - great! I’ll just adapt this and it will be perfect. Even as I put the cayenne pepper in the warm honey, along with cinnamon and brown sugar, I thought “Geez, this seems like a lot of cayenne. Maybe the honey balances it out!” Dear readers, the honey did not balance anything out. So this was a bit more like a throwback take on spiced nuts than a riff on Cheerios. But, hey - it’s the holidays and the perfect time for a bowl of spiced nuts, amirite? (️️️️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐)
Joe: I had high expectations for this documentary, and it didn't quite deliver. It's the very definition of a mixed bag. Miss Cleo is a complicated character, a person who clearly suffered and fell prey to capitalists. The filmmakers follow her meteoric rise, but fail to humanize her as she's exploited. In fact, they never once dig into how she navigates that time of her life. Maybe it's because it's an impossibility; after all, this is a woman who fiercely protected her true identity. It isn't until the final half hour when she feels "real", and by then it's too late. The gauzy interstitials of tarot cards being dealt, kaleidoscopic crystal balls and bottles of Rhum Barbancourt (which is Haitian, not Jamaican), and blurry "psychics" distract from the beating heart of the story. I was far more interested in her life as a queer Black woman than anything else, but its was buried in service of a story that did her memory very little justice. Still, I'd watch Raven-Symoné pop off about anything, any day. (⭐️⭐️⭐)
Sometimes when Dave's cooking, I hear him mutter to himself or bemoan a mistake he thinks he's made. He'll lumber out and announce that [insert meal] might not be as tasty as expected. Here's the funny thing. He's almost always wrong. The man's track record in the kitchen is close to unimpeachable. Tonight he announced that he had made a mistake - that the popcorn was too spicy. Reader, it wasn't. Sure, it packed a fierce heat, but it was balanced beautifully by the honey and the earthiness of the walnuts. Another win for the Nerdery! (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Popcorn recipe from: Dave Lewis 💅
Call Me Miss Cleo on IMDB.
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