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" Originally published in the new November 2010 issue If Men in Black 3 is wildly successful, I could say in all modesty that it was because of me. I&amp;#039;m sure my directing will be excellent, and the actors charming, funny, and moving, but the real reason will be that I was testing pod-based espresso and coffee machines during two intensive days of script meetings with top Sony executives, the producers, and Will Smith. Over ten hours of meetings we went through scores of coffees, cappuccinos, and espressos. Production assistants floated between my office, where I had five of the best new machines set up, and the conference room, where our energy never flagged. A couple of the espresso machines and one of the coffeemakers were clear standouts.  I should state that coffee pods, unless they are of the paper-filter variety (which none of these are) are not particularly environmentally friendly. They&amp;#039;re the ground-coffee equivalent of plastic water bottles. However, since I was testing these to see what I would use in my trailer on the set (I ply certain actors and crew members with unasked-for espressos to keep them going during night shoots), this variety worked best for my needs.  Depending on your bean preference, the best machine was either the Lavazza Espresso Point Matin\u00E9e ($695; espressozone.com) \u2014 if you prefer the industrial look, go with the almost-as-good Lavazza Blue ($800; cafe-razzi.com) \u2014 or the Illy Francis Francis X1 (starting at $595; illyusa.com). (I prefer the sharper, Italian taste of Lavazza. Sweetie [the wife] prefers Illy. I don&amp;#039;t know what to tell ya.) The Lavazza looks great, never failed, even after thousands of espressos, and offers many choices of roasts. You can also buy various tea pods, although most are overly presweetened, as well as hot chocolate. You just put in the pod, and once it&amp;#039;s used, it&amp;#039;s ejected into a drawer at the bottom of the machine.  The disadvantage of the Francis Francis is that it has an energy-saving default that puts the device into &amp;quot;sleep&amp;quot; mode, which requires about a four-minute wait \u2014 way too long if you&amp;#039;re already jazzed from the 26 espressos you&amp;#039;ve already had. (On the other hand, saving energy might make you feel less guilty about using those plastic pods.) The Illy is a little more manual than the Lavazza, in that you have to take the used pod out of the handle thing the same way you would with a regular machine. Both have good steamers. The Illy looks like the machine George and Jane Jetson might use to serve Mr. Spacely a fine cappuccino.  Will doesn&amp;#039;t really like espresso. He&amp;#039;s more of a coffee drinker. For him, the Keurig Platinum coffeemaker ($170; keurig.com) was perfect. You can buy a variety of very good, strong coffee and black-tea pods, and the convenience and easy cleanup makes hosting business associates a dream. Will has more energy in his sleep than most humans do on amphetamines, so I was happy to see that he cuts his coffee with a little milk and sugar. He&amp;#039;s not the guy you want to overcaffeinate. His personality is already enough. Barry Sonnenfeld is an Emmy-winning television director and the director of Get Shorty and Men in Black. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/how-to/a8747/best-espresso-machines-1110/>