The Nerdery Movie Night #249: Santa Camp and Cheese Quesadilla Popcorn

Ho-ho-hum?

Cheese Quesadilla Popcorn

Dave: While it was both campy and endearing, Santa Camp missed the mark a bit for me. The narrative felt both thin and a bit sensationalistic, even if I did openly weep a few times. The narrative follows some non-traditional Santas through Santa Camp, but the ill-intentioned, combative interactions are put on equal footing with well-intentioned but sometimes bumbling scenes, making the entire movie feel a bit off-center. Also, we see very little of the goings-on at actual Santa Camp; I would have loved to see what all went on besides “ho ho ho” practice, photos, and games. Much of the film is taken up with scene-setting and following up with the Santas at the center of the story, making Santa Camp almost a subplot. Still, kids deserve all the Santas, and watching them interact with Santas was almost worth the price of admission. I just wish the set up and contextualization had been a bit better. (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

I’m not sure I would have pegged this as quesadilla popcorn, but the cheese and spices definitely made this delicious. The butter and Mexican cheese mixture came out so creamy, I could have sworn there was a dab of sour cream in the mix, but Joe swears there wasn’t. At any rate, it was delicious, though pretty similar to other south-of-the-border popcorns we’ve had over the years. (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Joe: Although I admire what this documentary set out to accomplish - prove that there's more than one way to be a Santa - there was not enough meat to sustain its running time. And that's saying something since it's running time was just barely over 90 minutes. This is not to diminish some of the documentary's truly affecting moments: seeing a man with spina bifida achieve his dream of being the Santa in a quintessential Main Street parade; watching a neighborhood community come together to support the visibility of a Black Santa - these are powerful depictions of the importance of representation. All too often, though, the film felt more than a little scripted (the "confrontation" of Mrs. Claus gender norms, the children "witnessing" Santa in action, the "important" conversations among the traditional Santas, etc.). In that sense, it was more than a little contrived and heavy-handed. Still, there's nothing truly egregious here. It's feel-good holiday fare. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

We had a bag of "Mexican" style shredded cheese that was going to be used last week for quesadillas, but Dave had the stomach flu, so that plan was jettisoned. I decided, then, to create my own popcorn. Unfortunately, an insane number of kernels did not pop, a phenomenon that occasionally happens despite doing the exact same thing every week. What we got was a disarmingly crunchy popcorn that had a bursts of cheesy spiciness throughout. If I make this again, I'll definitely throw in something like pickled jalapeños to give it even more oomph. And I'd add more cheese because there's no such thing as Too Much Cheese. So. I'll consider this a template for greatness on the horizon. Look out for Cheesier Quesadilla Popcorn sooooooon. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Popcorn from: Joe's brain 🧠💅🏻

Santa Camp on IMDB.