Thankfully the 21st century no longer requires a person to hand crank his popcorn over a hot stove. Instead a seemingly flat bag in a microwave can magically transform into what we need with just the punch of a button. Microwave popcorn companies have even found a way to truly meet the movie connoisseur's needs with butter-soaked "movie style popcorn." Unfortunately, the average 5-cup bag of movie popcorn has 15 grams of fat and over 200 calories.



Fortunately the health-conscious popcorn engineers put their brains to work as well, creating lighter versions of butter-flavored popcorn that average 5 grams of fat and 125 calories for the same 5-cup portion.

We also have the incredible option of flavored popcorn beyond the typical buttered style. For example, Kettle Corn offers a sweet and salty popcorn variation. Unfortunately, these too range high in calories and fat. Caramel, cinnamon butter, and honey butter popcorn are also viable options for a sweetened form of our favorite treat. A person could even doctor his own light popcorn with cinnamon, sugar, or even M&M's to satisfy his sweet tooth.

Cheese lovers even have their own variety of popcorn, with cheddar flavored popcorn like Orville Redenbacher's "Pour Over Cheddar" popcorn, which allowed the hungry movie watcher to add real cheese toping to his bowl and cover every kernel with a cheddar cheese taste.

For some people, microwave popcorn just doesn't cut it, and they want the real thing. Retailers are listening to those kinds of please and have thus developed movie popcorn machines in a variety of styles and sizes. The smallest of these models requires just tabletop space and produces enough popcorn to fill four one-ounce bags. Smaller machines range from $250 to $350 while the larger machines can reach up to $1200.

Those with limited counter space will want to consider a popcorn machine with a cart. This increases their total by $100 to $200 but saves room in the home theater room.

Companies that sell movie style popcorn machines many times sell the necessary accessories, such as popcorn portion packs that make popping popcorn easy.

To reach just a little farther into the movie-watcher's dream, you can also purchase the authentic popcorn bags, boxes, and buckets seen at theaters. Kettle cleaning kits will help keep your machine in top working condition as well.

Finally, the popcorn and movie expert will also want to consider the various seasonings available, from barbeque to jalapeno.

Regardless of where you watch your movie, popcorn will always add that extra zing to make the movie-watching experience special.