We pair a vaguely fruity popcorn with a film that features a man appropriating fruit.
Nearly two years ago, when we first moved in together, we began The Nerdery Movie Night working off a list of 50 “gourmet” popcorn recipes from The Food Network.
Tonight we finished the project.
A couple weeks ago, many of you expressed deep concern about this project ending. After much discussion - including alternate ideas - we have ditched all other avenues and bought a popcorn recipe book that we will begin working through.
The project, therefore, will continue in its definitive form.
Next week we will rank the 50 popcorns we’ve made over the last couple years (and maybe watch a movie, too).
Thanks for sticking it out with us.
For now, though, enjoy the end of this - our first The Nerdery Movie Night chapter.
Dave: Montagna di Brokeback. This is how Google Translate tells me you say Brokeback Mountain in Italian. Take the Brokeback Mountain storyline, add in some archaeology, take out the steer rustling and cowboy hats, replace the Wyoming vistas with Italy, and you’ve kind of got this movie. Not that there isn’t always something poignant about first love, first breakup, sexual awakening films like Call Me By Your Name, but this one felt a little precious and overdone at points. For example, the “ripe fruit ready to be picked that the American visitor can’t eat enough of” metaphor was pretty well driven into the ground within 45 mins - before the two leads had done anything but pat each other awkwardly on the back. But, the acting was wonderfully restrained and measured, and it did recall the awkward pre-Ellen days of gay courtship vividly, but not overdramatically. And yes, it helped that the lead actors were hot. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
What happens when you add yogurt covered raisins to warm popcorn and a warm butter/sugar mixture in an un air conditioned apartment? A mess. I’m glad we had Wet Ones on hand. That said, the granola and raisins added nice texture and, while it was sweet and rich, it didn’t feel overpowering or extremely heavy. That could also be because Joe and I only finished part of the bowl - and we halved the recipe. High marks for taste, low marks for getting yogurt all over my face so I look like the Joker. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Joe: I love me some early 90s Merchant Ivory, and was so excited when I learned that James Ivory won a long overdue Academy Award for this film’s screenplay. Let’s get a few things straight: Timothée Chalamet’s performance was a thing of beauty. So was Michael Stuhlbarg’s performance. Armie Hammer is a total snack and I would do unspeakable things to him [pending Dave’s approval], but his acting is kinda wooden. Plus those lingering, lovely Merchant Ivory shots of nature that worked so beautifully in, say, Howards End, just kinda felt silly here. And Sufjan Stevens’ songs felt waaaaay out of place. I expected to sob through this film and have all the feels. Instead I just liked it. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Our last popcorn of this little project just so happens to be a sweet popcorn, and at this point, the whole friggin’ world knows how I feel about those. But I really liked this one! Seriously! The granola was a tasty addition to the yogurt that kinda just melted off the raisins into a gooey, yummy mess. That sounds so revolting, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. I would’ve eaten the whole bowl, but I had already gorged on too much pizza. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
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