Eating popcorn or other snacks at the movies isn’t mandatory to enjoy the theatrical experience, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. If you’re reading this, then chances are you have fond memories of snacking on some kind of food, along with enjoying a nice beverage, while enjoying big screen entertainment. That said, you can also probably relate with Pitch Perfect alum Anna Kendrick and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s recent conversation about “inhaling” said snacks too early into the theatrical presentation.
Early into her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which she visited to promote her new movie Alice, Darling, Anna Kendrick mentioned how her brother worked in a movie theater. After she told the story about how she got drunk for the first time at her brother’s movie theater, Kendrick then had the following exchange with Kimmel about their bad habit of eating popcorn (on which movie theaters make a fortune) and other snacks at the movies way too quickly:
“Anna Kendrick: I try to avoid movie snacks because I cannot stop myself from just shoving the entire snack in my mouth before the movie has begun.
Jimmy Kimmel: Same here. I finish it before the previews are done.
Kendrick: Yes, before the previews are even done! It’s just, like, I can’t stop myself. It’s a conveyor belt of just calories.
Kimmel: I turn into a horse. Like a feedbag.
Kendrick: I need someone to invent, like, a thing for nachos and popcorn that’s like one of those pet feeder things that you leave your cat for a weekend, where it’s like ‘You have to wait until the next preview starts before you can take another handful of popcorn. That’s the only thing that’s going to slow me down.”
Jimmy Kimmel then joked that a hole should be cut into the bottom of a popcorn container, and then suspended in midair so the person snacking can only eat a little at a time; “like a gerbil,” as Anna Kendrick quickly put it. Kimmel then admitted that him eating popcorn too quickly has drawn the ire of his kids, because even though they start off focused on their “gummy rings or whatever they have,” later on their in the mood for that classic salty snack, and whoops, it’s all gone! We’ve come a long way from the days when popcorn was banned in movie theaters, and yes, it is all too relatable to gorge on most, if not all of that, or any type of staple movie snack, but for the movie you paid to see has actually started.
So should you go to your local theater this weekend to watch Anna Kendrick in Alice, Darling (which snuck in as one of the final 2022 movies ahead of the 2023 movie releases rolling in), or any movie that’s currently playing, keep Kendrick and Jimmy Kimmel’s conversation in mind when you’re snacking. Sure, it’s easy enough to inhale the snacks during the trailers, but by practicing a little delayed gratification, you can stretch out the enjoyment of these tasty delights. On the other hand, if you go into the movie on an empty stomach, then all bets are off.
Alice, Darling sees Anna Kendrick delivering a career-best performance as the title character, who is a victim of emotional abuse. Whether or not you end up seeing the movie, feel free to read CinemaBlend’s other coverage about Kendrick, including the funny resolution she set at the end of 2022.