The Popcorn Dialogues
May232010
For those of you who missed the madness of the past weeks on Argh Ink, Lucy March (aka Lani Diane Rich) and I are about to begin a project called The Popcorn Dialogues. With the help of the Argh People, we have compiled a list of 36 American romantic comedies that the group felt met the criteria of having a romance at the center of the story while being legitmately funny and technically excellent (character, plot, pacing, etc.). For the next nine months, we’re going to examine one of those movies in a podcast every Friday night, analyzing it to see what makes it work, why we love the parts we love, how it could have been better, and how we can apply that knowledge to our own work in hopes of getting better at what we do.
Lucy is in charge of the podcasts, and I’ll be running the blog, the organizational center for the podcasts. The post for the movie of the week will go up on Wednesday with the comments closed. On Friday night, I’ll open the comments and we’ll watch the movie, possibly tweeting during it (we’re still trying to get the twitter feed to work on the blog), and afterward we’ll tape the podcast, which should be up by the morning of the next day (Saturday). We’ll keep the comments open Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday and then close them on Monday, possibly opening up a forum topic for the movie on Cherry Forums if people want to continue discussing it. A lot of this is going to be experimental until we can see what works best.
And with that, the new blog is now open. There’s not much to do there now except kick the tires and find good seats. I will leave the comments on the intro post open so you can settle in with your overpriced Cokes and Junior Mints and talk about how the blog works and what you’d like to see changed, and we’ll be doing an introductory non-movie podcast on the 28th so we can argue about the best way to organize the discussions/arguments/catfights, and you all can put your two (four, six, eight) cents in the comments.
And now The Popcorn Dialogues. Because the world so desperately needed another blog from me.
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36 Comments to 'The Popcorn Dialogues'
On May 23, 2010 at 9:35 pm KellyJ said...
Yee-ha! This sounds like so much fun, like a fantasy film class.
On May 23, 2010 at 10:24 pm Sierra said...
Yes. Yes it did.
Plus, it’s you and Lucy. How can we lose? (She asks, knowing that now something will surely go kablooey.
)
On May 24, 2010 at 1:53 am Micki said...
(-: OK, that’s settled. What’s for snacks? I’m going to make popcorn from scratch, sprinkled with Penzey’s cheese sprinkles (Brady Street? Grady Street? I can’t remember, but it’s sooo delicious!). And a HUGE glass of ice water.
On May 24, 2010 at 2:44 am Julie in Eugene said...
I can’t watch the movies or listen to the podcasts, but I am very happy about anything new you and Lani have going. It’s been said before, we’d read your grocery lists. And have. I will be having snacks, but it’s hard to get crumbs out of my keyboard, so maybe just the Junior Mints for me.
On May 24, 2010 at 2:59 am Sure Thing said...
Oh, another place to get lost in. Yay!
On May 24, 2010 at 6:45 am Eva said...
I never heard of Penzey’s before, and all of a sudden I hear of them everywhere–what’s with Penzey’s?
And yay on the new blog.
On May 24, 2010 at 8:30 am Kate G said...
ho boy. Another reason to neglect my word count. You guys won’t cut me a break, will you?
On May 24, 2010 at 9:12 am JulieB said...
Sound great with one request to consider — could you keep the blog comments open through Monday? Two days to comment seems a bit rushed. Speaking as a mom of three — my weekends are pretty full.
On May 24, 2010 at 11:04 am Jenny said...
Sure. How about we keep them open through Tuesday, shut them down on Wednesday?
On May 24, 2010 at 11:11 am JulieB said...
Thanks!
On May 24, 2010 at 9:14 am JulieB said...
Plus, a lot of the people here have said they don’t want to go to the forums. I go every day, but I wonder if people will follow the discussion….
On May 24, 2010 at 11:05 am Jenny said...
I think we give it a shot. I have to talk to Jill and Molly because the forums are their turf, but in general, anybody can put up a topic. If nobody follows the discussion there, no problem. If they want to keep talking, they have a place to go to. And really, the Cherry Forums are very easy to use.
On May 24, 2010 at 10:33 am Bethany said...
I’d also like to vote for Mondays to be a comment day as well. I probably won’t be able to watch the movie until Sundays and then comment on my breaks at work. It’s just easier to comment on a weekday than on a weekend.
On May 24, 2010 at 11:24 am Bethany said...
Yay for comments through Tuesday! Thanks!
On May 24, 2010 at 11:28 am robena grant said...
I’m really looking forward to this. It’s not just entertainment, I’m gonna learn something. Yay! Hey, maybe my writing will improve.
On May 24, 2010 at 1:57 pm Beki said...
Seriously, as long as I can sell it to myself that it will be a boon to my writing, I can talk myself into it. Yay, fun!
On May 24, 2010 at 2:45 pm LilyC said...
thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou…..
On May 24, 2010 at 7:21 pm Sheena said...
The world cannot have too many blogs from either you or Lucy. Hooray for one more! I’ll be settling in with my choc top and my jaffas (handy for throwing at people).
On May 24, 2010 at 7:39 pm Marta said...
Sheesh! I’m out one month, and come back to find y’all’ve (southern linguistic roots showing) had a huge party, and I missed it!
What’s worse, I missed the chance to join the group lobbying for The American President. It’s a great romance, and arguably funnier than most of the 90′s list. I mean, when he couldn’t send the girl flowers, he sent her a ham! I can only think of two scenes that aren’t overtly humorous. The dialog is brilliant. This scene between Sydney and her sister after Sydney gets back from dinner with the President is typical:
Sydney: “Why did I have to kiss him?”
Beth: “You kissed him? You didn’t tell me that. Where did you kiss him?”
Sydney: “On the mouth.”
Beth: “Where in the White House?”
Sydney: “The dish room.”
Beth: “The dish room?”
Sydney: “The china room.”
Beth: “And then what happened?”
Sydney: “He had to go and attack Libya.”
Beth: “It’s always something.”
Sydney: “Yeah… I gotta nip this in the bud. This has catastrophe written all over it.”
Beth: “In what language? Sydney, the man is the leader of the free world. He’s brilliant, funny, handsome. He’s an above-average dancer. Isn’t it possible our standards are just a tad high?”
Sigh. Oh, well. Other than that, I would have liked to see My Man Godfrey on the list. Either version, Carol Lombard or June Allyson, they’re both good.
On May 24, 2010 at 8:35 pm Marta said...
I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of discussion regarding good eats for movie night.
I like butter and fresh asiago cheese on popcorn. First, I take out the ‘old maids’ because I eat popcorn with a spoon, and don’t want to accidently crunch down on unpopped kernels. It’s a lot easier to eat popcorn with a spoon. No greasy hands, clothes, couch. No having to take my eyes off the screen to look for escapees.
On May 25, 2010 at 1:34 pm Bonnie C said...
OMG that sounds delish!
Do you have any tips for removing the unpoppeds?
On May 24, 2010 at 8:51 pm Thea said...
Popcorn with garlic picante butter topped with finely shredded Parmesan cheese. Lots o’ it. The movie better be great to justify the prep time.
On May 25, 2010 at 12:16 am Micki said...
I don’t know what’s up with Penzey’s . . . but it’s super good. I grow my own herbs when I have time, but Penzey’s is sooo easy and flavorful. My sister turned me on to them. I love their Mural of Flavor on eggs, and their Adobo seasoning makes chicken taste just like doritos (-:. V. nice cinnamons, too. I recommend the one from Vietnam.
On May 25, 2010 at 1:12 am Clever Cherry aka Judy Long said...
Marta – I love the popcorn with a spoon idea. I must try that. I hate the greasy feeling on my hands…
On May 25, 2010 at 11:48 am Diane said...
Is it just me or is the new blog… not so much working? (That has to be a record.)
On May 25, 2010 at 12:46 pm Jenny said...
Not working how? I just posted a comment on it, so I think that part’s okay. And the rest of it just kind of sits there. Unless you typed in the URL and it didn’t load?
Lucy and I are working on it right now (mostly Lucy who is working miracles with code) so you may have tried it when it was in mid-update.
On May 25, 2010 at 12:52 pm Diane said...
Oh, maybe that’s what it was, I just got a string of text instead of the site. Have tried again and it’s baaack!
On May 25, 2010 at 3:45 pm Jenny said...
Lani has done an amazing job of going into the code and fixing all the glitches.
We’re still struggling with the twitter feed, but she’ll get that, too.
On May 25, 2010 at 10:30 pm Clever Cherry aka Judy Long said...
Oh I’m drooling just looking at the cover of Maybe This Time! Yeah!
On May 25, 2010 at 11:30 pm Kelly S said...
Penzy’s is a spice company, if you haven’t figured it out. http://www.penzeys.com/ I first learned of them when I was living in Wisconsin so that made me believe they started there, but I could be quite wrong. They have catalogs and you can order online or visit a store which there appear to be many in various states.
Butter and salt or a caramel syrup are my not so original popcorn making efforts. If I was still in Chicagoland, I’d have to kick off the big event with Garrett’s Chicago mix, which also could be ordered online, but I’m too cheap. Maybe I’ll try to convince my DH to bring back some as he’ll be passing thru Chicagoland soon.
On May 26, 2010 at 1:38 pm Stephanie said...
We have a Penzey’s in my neighborhood and it is so much fun to just walk up the street and sniff the different kinds of cinnamon or get some good vanilla or let the kidlets draw pictures while I pick up he things that my mom needs – she’s a big fan of Mural of Flavor, too. If you get on the mailing list you’ll get coupons for free things on the cover of the catalog each time. They have expiration dates but they never actually expire so don’t worry about that. They have wonderful stuff and great prices. But then what else would you expect from nice people from the Midwest.
On May 25, 2010 at 11:57 pm Shiloh said...
Where did you see the cover??
On May 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm JulieB said...
@ Shilo — I just looked — the cover is on the “Books, Etc.” page — look for the link at the top right side of the screen.
– now off to check ou the cover….
On May 26, 2010 at 12:59 pm JulieB said...
Oops! I didn’t see the “H” was missing — sorry!
On May 26, 2010 at 1:15 pm monique said...
OOH! It is a lovely cover. Love the chair.
On May 26, 2010 at 7:18 pm Shiloh said...
@ JulieB Awesome thanks! And don’t worry about the “H”