Sequels usually ruin everything. So do sweet popcorns, for that matter.
Dave: Happy Death Day 2U was disappointing in the way a lot of sequels are. On the positive side, we get to see our favorite spunky main character again and she’s as much of a lovable train wreck as she was the first time around. Unfortunately, the inordinately complex plot and the bizarrely unbelievable details in the sequel really detract from the already flimsy plot. I mean, what university has an award winning Department of Science whose Dean has a wood-paneled office as big as my apartment*!? I think watching this sequel without seeing the first movie in the series would be like trying to understand the appeal of any YouTube star in the early 90s, before the Internet. It’s funny and occasionally fun to watch, but mostly they’re talking about things that don’t make sense and acting too smart for their own good. Actually, that’s how I feel about most YouTube stars now. And the movie, while funny, was a little tough to get through. (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
We’ve been doing this so long, I don’t remember all the popcorns. I have vague memories of one popcorn recipe that included Cinnamon Toast Crunch. This was a bit like the CTC popcorn but less tooth-rottingly sweet, which regular readers know has been a problem with sweet popcorns. Sadly, the nutmeg and ginger got completely lost, and the popcorn ended up very one-note - at least the CTC popcorn had some interesting texture. Even if we ate the whole bowl, this popcorn was a let-down: it had the potential to be so adult and interesting and ended up just tasting like crunchy cinnamon (⭐️⭐️)
Joe: Long-time followers will note that we watched Happy Death Day back in May, and were fairly united in our assessment: funny and fairly scary. The sequel leans even heavier into the sci-fi bent that was hinted at in the original. Like most sequels, though, it doesn't quite live up to its predecessor. For one thing, the scares are slight - in fact, there doesn't seem to be much at stake. The addition of quantum physics stuff doesn't help much. There is, however, an unexpected heart to this film that makes it emotionally resonant. But. It's October. I want chills and thrills first and laughs second, and Happy Death Day 2U doesn't quite deliver on the former. Jessica Rothe is still hilarious, though, and I'd gladly watch b-roll of her facial expressions on an endless loop. Buh-dum ching! (⭐️⭐️1/2)
I love the Popcorn Board. Really, I do. Their savory recipes are uniformly terrific. I don't love sweet popcorn, though. Y'all know that by now. Was this popcorn pumpkin-spicy? Nope. Was it sugary? Sure. A little. But if something is described as "pumpkin spice", I expect full-tilt basic bitch levels of pumpkin spice. This doesn't deliver. It just tastes sugary. In fact, I think my eyeballs are vibrating as I type this. (⭐️⭐️)
*of course, Dave meant to write our apartment. And also, we live in a duplex. But details, shmetails.
Popcorn recipe from: Popcorn.org. (The Popcorn Board, 2019).
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