“They should completely put you in charge of movie premieres in Hollywood,” I tell her. “People will talk about them for weeks after.”
“Thank you,” she says sincerely. “I love when people talk about something I put together long after the fact.”
I believe her. And I also believe that it happens on a regular basis.
“Come check out the snacks,” she says excitedly, pulling me toward the table.
In addition to the buttered popcorn that people can add everything to from cheddar cheese flavored powder to mix-ins like M & M’s and pretzels, there are also lime green popcorn balls with a single eye-ball on the front, sugar cookies in various monster shapes and colors, and what would essentially amount to a charcuterie board, but the meat, cheese, olives, and fruits have been added to little wooden skewers.
“What are those bright blue balls?” I ask.
They are stuck on the skewers with pieces of ham and salami, large green olives, and cherry tomatoes.
“Those are herbed cream cheese balls,” she says. “Dyed blue for Sully.” She grins as she names one of the main monsters in the movie.
“Monster balls?” I ask, grabbing one.
She laughs. “Not likethat.”
“Good. Because they’d have to bewaybigger.”
She swats my arm. “Alex! It’s a kids’ movie!”
I look around. “And there is a surprisingly large number of adults here.”
She shrugs. “We do a different person’s favorite each time, and since most of the attendees are adults, often they’re R-rated, so it’s not necessarily kid-friendly. We leave it up to the parents and sometimes kids come if it’s a kid movie, though.” She looks around. “This one was kind of last-minute, though. I just sentthe movie name out late last night so it’s possible a lot of families didn’t have time to watch.”
“Wait,” I say. “Time to watch what?”
But she’s already heading toward the movie screen.
I follow simply because she’s the entire reason I’m here and I don’t know where she’s set us up to sit.
Nora picks up a wireless microphone.
“Hey, everyone!” she greets.
The crowd choruses a “Hi, Nora!” back to her as people head for their seats.
“Anyone want to guess whose favorite movie this is?” she asks.
I look around. I’m curious who else lovesMonsters, Inc.
No one raises their hand or speaks up, which is odd. I don’t think this town has a single person in it who wouldn’t speak up to share information about themselves. Or anyone else.
“Yours?” someone asks Nora.
I look at Nora in surprise. Do we have the same favorite movie?
“How long have you been doing movie nights?” I ask her.
She frowns. “I don’t know. Three years?” She looks back at the group. “I do like the movie, but no, it’s not my favorite,” she says with a smile.
So no, we don’t share the same favorite.
But the group doesn’t already know her favorite movie? Haven’t they all watched it together here with themed decorations and snacks? Inthree years,they haven’t gotten around toNora’sfavorite?
I look out at the crowd. “How often do you do this?”
