Summer has finally arrived, and with that comes the release of many long-anticipated new movies. Going to the movies has been a classic summer activity for decades. However, correctly choosing the right candy to accompany your movie watching can make or break the entire experience. Here is a guide to what is, in my opinion, the best and worst of movie theatre candy:
The Worst:
Jelly Beans. Arguably the best part about eating jelly beans is picking through the assorted bag to find your favorites, and immediately grabbing a couple of toasted marshmallow flavored beans if you have the misfortune of accidentally eating a cinnamon bean after mistaking it for cherry flavored. Unless you're one of those monsters who eats Jelly Beans blindly by the handful, Jelly Beans are the worst candy to eat at the movies because you simply cannot enjoy them in the dark.
Sour Patch Kids. Great if you love all the flavors. Risky if you despise the green ones as much as I do. Unless you genuinely enjoy all five distinctive flavors, Sour Patch Kids are also a terrible movie theatre option because like Jelly Beans, eating them in the dark is just too dangerous.
Starbursts. You have to unwrap each one individually, which essentially ruins them as a candidate for a good movie theatre candy. Though, their wrappers do make it possible to more effectively avoid accidentally eating the undebatable worst flavor: orange.
The Not Completely Terrible:
Milk Duds. Tasty, chocolate-caramel, lasting flavor. And by that I mean be prepared to spend the entirety of "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" picking these out of your teeth.
A classic Hershey's Chocolate Bar. While delicious, even if you break it into sections, there is no way you can make a candy bar last past a couple of previews.
Sno-Caps: While a fun twist on chocolate, if you buy a box of Sno-Caps you are likely to be disappointed with the alarmingly small amount of candy present in the unnecessarily large box.
The Average:
Air Heads Xtremes. While the strips of rainbow-berry flavored sour magic are fun to eat, and the package actually comes with quite a lot of the candy in it, you have to be pretty comfortable with the person you are seeing the movie with to enjoy these adequately.
Mentos. Specifically the fruit flavored kind, as mint flavored Mentos can hardly be considered candy. While a box or roll of Mentos includes a variety of flavors, in my opinion they are all great (even the orange ones) and compliment each other nicely, so they can be eaten peacefully and without concern in the darkness of a movie theatre.
Skittles: Essentially the same reasoning as Mentos leads to their rank as "average." However, Skittles do get bonus points because movie theatres often sell them in large bags laughingly labeled as “fun to share."
The Best:
M&Ms. You simply cannot go wrong with classic M&Ms. The only downside to choosing M&Ms as your movie theatre candy is that whoever you are at the movies with will most likely ask you to share a couple with them.
Sour Patch Watermelons. All the wonderful sour flavor and texture of Sour Patch Kids without any of the risk.
Junior Mints. The crown jewel of all movie theatre candy. Delightful chocolate and minty flavor in a mess-free candy that comes in a box that actually contains more candy than air.
While commonly found at movie theatres, Welch's Fruit Snacks and Raisinets are not included in this list because I do not consider them to be classified as "candy." Also, it should be noted that because this list only analyzes candy, it therefore does not even begin to take into account movie theatre snacks such as popcorn, nachos, icees, and hot dogs. It should also be noted that you should never, under any circumstances, order a hot dog at a movie theatre concession stand.
