The Nerdery Movie Night #248: A Quiet Place, Part II and Brown Butter and Crispy Sage Popcorn

A Quiet Place, Part II? More like Clench Your Buttcheeks for 90 Minutes.

Brown Butter & Crispy Sage Popcorn (Dave forgot to take a photo of the actual popcorn; enjoy this unhinged photo of Joe instead)

Dave: Well, my pulse has been racing for about an hour and a half, according to my FitBit. At one point Joe was standing and squirming in front of the TV and I was cowering in the corner of the couch, shouting “You were the one who picked this!” Still, A Quiet Place, Part II didn’t pack the same emotional punch the first one did, and we had to re-read the synopsis of the first film to orient ourselves in the flashback/flash-forward scenes towards the beginning. Where the first film was a contained affair (only a few characters, one giant problem that unfolds), the second feels a bit herky-jerky and stuffed full of plot, introducing new characters, stories, and problems throughout. The agonizing suspense scenes are well done, though, as is the continued deepening of the characterization of the main characters who remain, as well as the introduction of Cillian Murphy as grizzled Emmett. (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2).

We had a good bit of sage left over from Thanksgiving, so I Googled around until I found a seemingly simple recipe which I glanced at, then proceeded to riff on. When Joe asked me what it was called, I looked at the browser tab where I had it open and said “Oh, it’s called brown butter crispy sage popcorn. I neither browned the butter nor made the sage crispy.” Still, the recipe called for dumping several tablespoons of sage-infused butter onto popcorn, so it could only be so bad. I added salt, pepper, and a bit of dried sage for oomph. In the end, you could smell the sage a bit more than you could taste it, at least until you got a lucky bite with an actual piece of butter-soaked sage in it, at which point your taste buds sang. This didn’t happen nearly enough, so it was mostly sage-adjacent buttery popcorn goodness (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Joe: After the terrifying opening sequence, Dave and I had to pause the film and refresh our memories (thanks, Wikipedia!) about the first installment, which we saw in theaters in 2018. Sufficiently armed with plot points, we dove back into the fray. Like its predecessor, A Quiet Place, Part II relies less on gore (though there is a truly horrific sequence involving an animal trap) and more on the kind of slow-building, edge-of-the-seat terror that just isn't often successful in the genre. There are some slightly incredulous plot points, especially in the overwrought final act, but over all, it achieves what it sets out to do: scare the shit out of the viewer. Solid acting, deliciously tense atmospherics, and a swiftly moving plot. Apparently the third and final part of the trilogy has stalled out, but this definitely works as a satisfying duology. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Oftentimes, simplicity is a virtue with a popcorn recipe, and that certainly stands to reason with tonight's popcorn. I detected only butter, sage, salt, and pepper as flavors, and they were such a good complement to the main star. Each component played nicely with the other, and the result was a highly snackable treat, one that was both tasty and addictive. I couldn't help but rub my fingers along the bottom of the bowl, sopping up as much buttery sage residue as I could. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Popcorn from: some Tradwife Mommy blog Dave found

A Quiet Place, Part II on IMDB.