Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie Ice Cream and a Tale of Two Movies

I don't know how it happened, but I saw two movies in 3 days. That may not seem like a lot, but when parenthood has whittled you down to 2 or 3 movies a year, 2 in a few days is a lot. I adore going to movies, always have, always will. I saw Ghostbusters five times in the theater, Back to the Future three times... It's one of the very rare benefits of coming from a broken home, both parents offer to take you and your bro to the same movie... What? Just trying to be positive.

Now I try to bring you an ice cream review whenever I hit the theaters, but things don't always go as planned. See, I took my wife out to Man of Steel on Saturday. It's a decent movie, they made some neat tweaks like what Russell Crowe did, but if I hear someone call Superman "Kal" one more time, I'm going to freak out. Seriously, there are some strange plot points for those of us who grew up with Christopher Reeve (and Dean Cain) being Superman. I get that it's an origin story, it does plenty of things well, but, it didn't always feel right.

"I want fresh ice cream!"

(photo courtesy of Man of Steel on facebook)

Unfortunately, much like my disappointment with certain plot points, I was also disappointed by my ice cream choices. They had scooped out the very bottom of a B&J Candy Bar Pie carton from the night before and left it on top of the new carton. Yeah, if I'm doing a one shot review for $5.50, I don't really want it to be melted leftovers, sorry. We went with stale, greasy popcorn instead. Bleck.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Fudge Flakes, Chocolate Nougat & Sweet & Salty Pretzel Swirls

But fear not, I said I went to two movies and the ice cream before you was my dinner before one awesome IMAX showing of Pacific Rim. What a great experience. No, it's not going to win any academy awards, but it's a movie about giant robots fighting off giant monsters and made by a dude who knows a thing or two about movies. No, it's not perfect, it can't be with this subject matter, but there are just tons of great moments. There are quality touches that turn a B movie concept into a excellent 2 hour distraction. I was laughing, cheering, and squirming in my seat. Oh yeah, that's the way movies were meant to be.

I had high hopes for the movie after my brother's glowing recommendation, and I had high hopes for this ice cream as well. The movie certainly delivered, and for the most part, Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie ice cream delivered on those hopes as well. It's the kind of flavor that hooks you from that first bite. I do love peanut butter ice cream and I basically just started inhaling the whole cup. My buddy came with me to the movie and I had to tell him "wow, that's good" about my ice cream (which he quickly followed with "but it's not cookie dough").

It's a great peanut butter base flavor, I love the chocolate chips/chunks.... but... sorry, there's a but, it wore me down a bit. I went with the large (for a dollar more) and I think it was the saltiness of the pretzel swirl that started to... dry me out a little I guess we could say. Maybe I should have stopped for a sip of water, but I was enjoying the ice cream enough and pushed through without really thinking about it until I was done. Maybe I was rushing too much, or maybe a few more chips would have distracted me more. It's definitely good, but is it great? I need a second scooping to be sure.

Ok, time to wait for this one to hit us as a pint flavor so I can get my second scoop in.