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USA Today
6 days ago
- USA Today
'Weapons' hot dog scene goes viral but may have a moving inspiration
Rarely in film history has a character's tray of food caused such a stir. The buzzy horror movie "Weapons" is packed with striking, nightmarish images, but an unexpected one has become a social media sensation: a shot of a tray of hot dogs. In a scene from the film, Benedict Wong's school principal character, Marcus, is shown at home with his husband, and viewers get a glimpse at their peaceful life before things take a dark turn. Marcus' husband prepares food for the two of them to share and brings out a surprisingly packed tray filled with a whopping seven hot dogs, four chocolate chip cookies, some potato chips and a bowl of carrots. For some moviegoers, the arguably excessive number of hot dogs, not to mention the fact that an odd number of them were prepared even though there were only two people, was one of the main things they wanted to talk about after the credits rolled. "Why did bro need so many hot dogs??" one Reddit user asked, while another commented, "Homies had a LOT of hot dogs to consume which was kind of crazy for lunch time." "Sharing 7 hot dogs is just what you do when you're really in love," one X user joked. Another person quipped about the online discourse getting out of control, joking, "You don't see a movie opening weekend and by Monday morning people are talking about the hot dogs in it." Even the official X account for Letterboxd got in on the fun, sharing a photo of the hot dog tray from the movie along with the caption, "Time for lunch." The X account, Shirts That Go Hard, meanwhile, posted a shirt inspired by the food tray. But memes aside, there may be a touching meaning behind the scene. 'Weapons' comes out: What critics say about the 'spine-tingler' horror movie Fans have speculated that the seven hot dogs are a nod to an old sketch by the Whitest Kids U'Know, the comedy group that "Weapons" director Zach Cregger was a member of alongside late comedian Trevor Moore. In a 2009 sketch from the group's TV show, a doctor, played by Moore, asks a patient how many hot dogs he eats a day. "Average per day would be something like, I don't know, seven?" the patient says, leading the doctor to note that this is "a little high." The doctor then asks the patient to walk him through his routine, which reveals that he is constantly eating hot dogs throughout the day. Spoilers! Why this 'Weapons' villain is summer's most disturbing baddie In August 2021, Moore died after falling off a balcony at age 41. In interviews, Cregger has said he wrote "Weapons" as a way to process his grief about the loss of his friend. The film, which stars Julia Garner as a teacher whose entire class disappears except for one student, topped the box office after receiving near-universal acclaim from critics. It was released on Aug. 8, just one day after the fourth anniversary of Moore's death.
Buzz Feed
6 days ago
- Buzz Feed
The Materialists' Director Celine Song On Film's Ending
Earlier this summer, director Celine Song released her sophomore movie, The Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson as Lucy, Pedro Pascal as wealthy financier Harry, and Chris Evans as struggling actor/ part-time waiter John. In the film, Lucy is in somewhat of a love triangle with John, who is her ex-boyfriend, and charming Harry — but she ultimately ends up choosing John after he proposes to her in Central Park with a flower ring. Celine previously opened up about her decision for Lucy to follow her heart over financial stability in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where she explained: 'What's amazing about Pride and Prejudice is that the person who is going to pay off your debt and your family's debt is also going to be the love of your life. What an amazing fantasy, but we know in life, that's not necessarily true.''I think it's so much easier to be somebody who is cynical and materialistic about what we're looking for. I totally understand it. It's fun to be like: 'Well, who cares about love?'' she went on. 'But what I believe more than anything is that the fantasy of true love, the hope of it, the thing that's really hard and humiliating and embarrassing — it's the bravest thing you can do." However, The Materialists' ending remains pretty divisive for many, with some going so far as to call it 'broke man propaganda' as they questioned Lucy's final decision. And in a new interview, Celine expertly shut down this rhetoric as she bluntly admitted that she doesn't find the jokes surrounding her movie funny in any capacity. While speaking to Refinery29, Celine was alerted to a viral Letterboxd review of the movie, with the journalist saying: 'I did read one Letterbox review comment that really made me laugh that said: 'Not Celine promoting broke men in this economy,' which really made me laugh. What do you think of that?' But Celine was not amused, and remained deadpan as she replied: 'Thank you for asking me about it, I think that it doesn't make me laugh because it really is disappointing to me.' 'I think that there is a very real confusion about feminism and the history of feminism,' she added. 'Because through intersectionality, so much of feminism has been about anti-corporate and anti-capitalist, and, of course, it was always at the forefront of fighting classism. So, I'm very concerned about the way that we talk about people who are poor.' 'I think the thing that's very important to me is to stress that poverty is not the fault of the poor,' Celine continued. 'And given that, it is very brutal, I find it very cruel, to talk about John as a character, who loves Lucy, and who is a beautiful character being played beautifully by Chris, and to talk about him in such cruel terms as 'broke boy' or 'broke man.'' 'I think that there is something about the classism of that the kind of hatred of poverty, the hatred of poor people, who, again, it's not their fault that they're poor,' she went on. 'I think that that is a very troubling result of the way that the wealthy people have gotten into our hearts; about how it's your fault if you're poor, and you're a bad person if you're poor.' 'So, it doesn't make me laugh, actually, just makes me feel very concerned that anybody would talk about my movie and my characters, and then to really think about it in such classist terms,' Celine concluded. 'The whole movie is about fighting the way that capitalism is trying to colonize our hearts and colonize love.' This clip recently went viral on X as people praised Celine for the way that she expertly shut down the discourse while refusing to indulge the interviewer's question, leading to a wider conversation about how inane modern day interview culture has become. One person tweeted the footage alongside the simple caption: 'this rules' on Sunday, and it has since been seen more than 18 million times, and racked up 10s of thousands of retweets, likes, and popular quote tweet reads: 'a lot to be said about interview culture now but it's actually rousing to see a filmmaker bucking the light tone of a prompt to defend how we see and talk about the poor. I don't know if I've ever seen a big filmmaker say 'being poor is not the fault of the poor' like this.''so much of movie promotion has become a humiliation ritual the last few years, and I loveeee that she's refusing to play ball. Artists are entitled to take their own work seriously!' somebody else wrote. 'a great example of leveraging the role you have as the person being interviewed to steer the conversation towards something meaningful and worthwhile. this is clearly a serious person tired of unserious questions. i'll have to watch her movies,' another one more reasoned: 'I get the interviewer was trying to be lighthearted but like you showed her a post that was blatant misinterpretation of her movie! i'm glad she was honest and said this disturbs her.'And another wrote: 'This is immaterial to my thoughts on Celine Song or her work but I think more filmmakers, actors, whoever should keep responding seriously to these glib attempts at viral bullshit.'
Geek Vibes Nation
11-08-2025
- Geek Vibes Nation
The Criterion Collection Announces Plans To Revive Acclaimed Eclipse Line This Fall On Blu-Ray
The Criterion Collection has announced plans to revive its celebrated Eclipse line, a continuing series of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films presented in simple, affordable box-set editions. The previously DVD-only Eclipse line has been on ice for several years, but it will return this November, and this time films will be upgraded to Blu-Ray. The label is going to be upgrading some of the most popular titles as well as producing brand-new sets, and they will be kicking off the series relaunch with a new release of Abbas Kiarostami's early films. This deep dive into the prolific and wide-ranging first two decades of the director's career will include playful shorts made for children, probing feature-length documentaries on education, and exquisite narrative masterpieces about adolescent longing and disappointment. Series editor Imogen Sara Smith had the following details to share about the relaunch: In the coming months, you can look forward to Eclipse sets of the six extraordinary features directed by Kinuyo Tanaka, Japan's first successful woman director; and five searingly radical documentaries from the husband-and-wife team of Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi. And we'll get you singing and dancing with Blu-ray upgrades of Carlos Saura's electrifying Flamenco Trilogy and Ernst Lubitsch's joyously risqué pre-Code musicals. Also in the pipeline are sets devoted to the early films of Ruben Östlund and the revolutionary cinema of Sara Gómez. With the relaunch of the Eclipse line, Criterion reaffirms its commitment to making the full richness of film history accessible with the reliable permanence of physical media. Each release will use the best available materials and feature an essay in which an expert shares historical context and insight about the films. The standard cinema canon has been shaped—and sometimes misshapen—by what films are available. In a vicious cycle, films that can't be seen are forgotten, and hence less likely to be restored. Preservation and access, on the other hand, form a virtuous cycle, spurring rediscovery and further efforts to ensure the survival of a fragile medium. Alongside the ever-expanding Criterion Channel, Eclipse is once again fostering this rediscovery, serving as an enduring home for deep cuts and hidden treasures. Are you excited for this revived line of physical media releases? Let us know in the comments or over on Twitter. Before we let you go, we have officially launched our merch store! Check out all of our amazing apparel when you click here and type in GVN15 at checkout for a 15% discount! Make sure to check out our podcasts each week including Geek Vibes Live, Top 10 with Tia, Wrestling Geeks Alliance and more! For major deals and money off on Amazon, make sure to use our affiliate link!
