The Nerdery Movie Night #269: Y2K and Kankankan Popcorn

Why? 2 Korny... Konfounding? One of us liked it, anyway. Both of us like the popcorn, though.

Kankankan Popcorn (the dregs of it, anyway)

Dave: If The Young and the Restless had a “scary computers” episode, it might have been the movie Y2K. The acting was a tad wooden, the computer monsters were bizarre, and the special effects were…not very special. Still, this film gets at some of the creepiness of the information age while plucking at the heartstrings of late Gen-X/early Millennial viewers: the dialup screeching, the pixelated on-screen animations, and the lack of computers being integrated into every moment of our lives were both heartening and terrifying. The sum of its parts, though, was not entirely satisfying. (️️⭐️⭐️1/2)

We are hurting for popcorn recipes, so I’m relegated to trolling the Internet for recipes that might be easily transitioned into a popcorn recipe. This week, I found two recipes but one had several kinds of nuts in it and because FUCKING MIKE JOHNSON has kept the U.S. House from voting for 5 WEEKS, I decided we shouldn’t spend money we don’t have on walnuts and hazelnuts. Instead, I made a Senegalese spice mix that only needed peanut powder. This might be better on meat like beef or lamb - on popcorn, you had to eat carefully to avoid snorting STRAIGHT CAYENNE PEPPER up your nose. Still. it was pretty good.  (️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2)

Joe: I was 22 and knee deep in my first semester of teaching 7th graders when the real Y2K rolled around. To that end, the pop culture touchstones this film references brought back a wave of memories from that time in my life. The blend of horror and comedy here is mostly effective - especially in the movie's first half, which manages to be gut-bustingly hilarious and gross. One kill features a drill bit, another a hairspray blowtorch, neither of which should be funny but actually are in the context of the plot. Unfortunately, Y2K struggles mightily to keep up the momentum, and the eventual climax is far more stupid than it is clever (although the running Fred Durst gags are really fucking funny). Still. A fun movie that kept me entertained. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Dave has committed to experimenting with spice blends from different regions of the world for forthcoming Nerdery Movie Nights. His first foray is this, a Senegalese blend that I'd never heard of. Although it would have benefited from a buttery sauce on the popcorn, the blend itself was fantastic. Deeply flavorful and really spicy. I think if we modify the recipe, we'll have a winner on our hands. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

Popcorn: Dr. David Lewis 💅🏻

Y2K on IMDb