Not a remake of a 2006 German drama and popcorn that might be made with ground-up LEGOs.
Dave: While it had the typical rom com happy romantic ending, the stock quasi villainous, dopey love interest, and the ever-present female sidekick, In A World... is a tiny bit more than the sum of its parts. The bits where the voice over actors interact with each other have a quirky The Office-type vibe to them. And the lovely and very moving B-plot involving just-the-tip infidelity with Rob Cordry and Michaela Watkins broke out of the rom com mold and brought some touching acting out of both of them. The feminist underpinnings of the film felt a bit more Girl Power and a bit less bell hooks than I’d have liked, but all in all, a solidly entertaining film. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Sweet popcorns should be enjoyed in moderation. Someone needs to remind me of this every time we have one. For those of you who may not know, I have a monstrous sweet tooth and when we have a sweet popcorn I really need to be restrained to keep from eating more than my share. This popcorn, with its buttery toffee and salty bite, was no exception. The candy melt, while it probably contains gross things like petroleum and ground up LEGOs, really made the popcorn less soggy and wet than some others we’ve had. While I’m not sure I’d make another whole batch just for the two of us, I’d definitely make it for a party sometime. So long as someone kept me from just wolfing down the entire bowl. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Joe: I avoided this movie for years because I thought it was a knock-off of Das Leben der Anderen (because of the headphones on the film’s promotional poster). Anyway. Earlier this week, I surreptitiously learned that In A World... is a comedy. And that it received good reviews. I don’t know why I’m learning this 5 years after its release date. So. Here we are. Decidedly not Das Leben der Anderen. Much funnier. But not as well-crafted. Similarly brilliant casting choices. But not as upsetting. The delightful Michaela Watkins. But not the complex Ulrich Mühe. All this is to say I liked In A World... it made me laugh. But it’s not Academy Award winning material. Like the German film I thought it was aping. The end. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
I bet you’re expecting me to bitch about sweet popcorn, aren’t you? About how much I loathe it? Surprise, friends. Like the last two sweet popcorns we’ve made, I quite liked this one. It’s salty. It’s chocolatey. It’s toffee-eee-y. It’s something that made me lick my fingers repeatedly. I quite enjoyed it. But my god - there’s SO much of it left over. Why is it I can shovel savory popcorn into my gob like a champ, but I feel like sweet popcorn slowly shuts down my internal organs by the tenth handful? Inquiring minds want to know. (⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)
Popcorn recipe from: Party Popcorn by Ashton Epps Swank. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014).
Comments