logo
Watch Julia Garner Visit a Creepy Home in ‘Weapons'

Watch Julia Garner Visit a Creepy Home in ‘Weapons'

New York Times2 days ago
In 'Anatomy of a Scene,' we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
A teacher follows a student home and gets more than she bargained for in this scene from 'Weapons,' the latest twisty horror film from the writer and director Zach Cregger ('Barbarian').
The movie involves a classroom of children who go missing in a small town, save for one boy, Alex (Cary Christopher). His teacher, Justine (Julia Garner), has been trying to solve this mystery, meeting roadblocks along the way, so she decides to track Alex back to his house to see if she can learn more. As she goes to his front door, she notices newspaper covering all the windows.
Narrating the sequence, Cregger said, 'It was fun to try and create the tension here by just being in her P.O.V. and studying the newspaper as she would have studied it. And also, it was really fun to play with the diegetic sound of the cicadas and crank the chorus of insects to become the score.'
Read the 'Weapons' review.
Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics' Picks and more.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Not Getting Invited Sucks. But Here's How To Stop Taking It So Personally.
Not Getting Invited Sucks. But Here's How To Stop Taking It So Personally.

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Not Getting Invited Sucks. But Here's How To Stop Taking It So Personally.

It stings when you discover you weren't invited to that couples dinner, industry event or weekend trip with your college pals. Your mind starts swirling, and you conclude that you are a social outcast destined for a life of loneliness. Or maybe you're convinced that the friend who planned this intentionally excluded you because they're a terrible person. Friendship expert Danielle Bayard Jackson has recently come across 'a surge of videos' on social media focusing on the latter. 'Oftentimes the tone of the video is very accusatory, and people tend to dismiss the inviters as being bad friends, fake friends, not really caring and as somehow being duplicitous and being exposed in their duplicity,' Bayard Jackson — a friendship coach and host of the 'Friend Forward' podcast —told HuffPost. 'And I saw less dialogue around other reasons why you may not be invited.' So she posted her own TikTok in response, listing a dozen other possible reasons for people to consider when they aren't invited to something. She created the video, she said, to open people's eyes to different perspectives and 'depersonalize' the experience. It has racked up more than 1.5 million views since she uploaded it in March. 'It was something that people needed to hear, but a lot of people don't want to say,' Bayard Jackson said. 'But my job as a coach is to offer you various perspectives to inform the choices you make about your friendships.' Some of the potential explanations Bayard Jackson offers in the video include: 'You never go to other things they invite you to, so they stopped trying.' 'They've made assumptions on your behalf about your financial abilities, your interest or your availability. And they think they're doing you a favor by not inviting you because of those things.' 'They got together out of convenience, meaning the two of them were together, they saw the coffee shop down the street, and they decided to go to the coffee shop. The decision was less about you and more about proximity.' 'They prefer to keep their circles separate. So they're going together with church friends, maybe they don't invite you. If they're going with mom friends, maybe they don't invite you. Because they want to maintain a certain sameness or rhythm in a particular group.' Her hope was for people to see that 'sometimes it's logistical, sometimes it's an oversight, sometimes they're doing it for what they believe to be noble reasons,' she said. Adopting this perspective won't get rid of the pain of rejection — but it might help soften it. Anna Goldfarb is a journalist who covers friendship and the author of the forthcoming book 'Modern Friendship.' She's also noticed that people tend to take not getting invited 'very personally' while acknowledging how hurtful the experience can be. 'Studies show that rejection triggers the same pathways as physical pain, so it does hurt to be excluded,' she told HuffPost. Goldfarb said even she struggles with this from time to time. For example, when she finds out a friend went to dinner in her neighborhood but didn't call her, she sometimes gets a 'ping of hurt.' 'Then I'll think, 'Well, she was going out for dinner with her husband. Why would she invite me?'' she said. 'Then I remind myself I've had dinner in her neighborhood and haven't called her, and it wasn't that I don't love her. I still love her. So that helps, just to put yourself in the other person's shoes.' But sometimes, the reasons for not being included do feel a bit more personal. Pulling from Bayard Jackson's list, things like: 'Whenever you're there, you dominate the conversation, so it's not a good time.' 'You make them feel judged or criticized when you're around, which makes people measure their words. And if they don't want to do that, they just don't invite you.' 'You have some kind of conversational tendency that makes the experience unpleasurable for other people. So if you tend to be a one-upper or a negative Nancy, then people probably won't elect to have you in the room.' These reasons require you to look inward: Is there, perhaps, something you're doing that's putting people off? And though these might be hard to consider, doing some introspection is a good thing. In fact, having self-awareness is an important first step toward having better friendships, said Bayard Jackson. 'A lot of times on social media, I see people conflating feedback with attacking you or criticism,' she said. 'But that's how we get better. That's how we're made aware of how our friends experience us. I should want to know how my efforts and intentions are being received by others, by the people that I love. I want to know that.' Consider these possible reasons and if they might apply to you. If they're not relevant, let them go. But if they might be, then explore them further. 'Reflect on the past couple experiences you had in a social gathering. If you looked at a pie chart, how much of the talking was you? How much was them? And how frequently does that happen?' Bayard Jackson said. 'Sure, there might be times where maybe the spotlight's on you tonight because you kind of need more of the attention. But how often are you speaking most of the time? Do you tend to notice the same reaction from people? Do they tend to pull away or switch subjects when you bring up certain subjects? Does the energy in the room shift after you say certain things?' And take note if you're hearing the same comments about your attitude or conversational habits from different people in your life. 'If your mother and your boyfriend and your friend and your coworkers are giving you the same feedback, it might be worth looking at,' Bayard Jackson said. 'We can't be so sensitive to feedback that we don't get any. Because if we do, what continues to happen is we're going around life not realizing that we're turning people off, offending people, and just simply not engaging them well.' How To Deal With Not Being Invited Again, it's totally normal and OK to feel hurt, disappointed or even embarrassed by not being included in someone's plans. But resist the urge to dwell on those feelings, Goldfarb said. 'If there's a long history of closeness, if you're in a good place with your friend, give your friend the benefit of the doubt,' she said. 'Assume they have good intentions.' Think back to when you've planned something and haven't invited certain people for practical or arbitrary reasons. Then keep that in mind the next time you feel left out. 'I don't invite my best friends to some things I do, not because I don't want to connect with my friend, but because I have another friend going through a sensitive time, and I want to carve out time to focus on that other person,' Goldfarb said. 'That's OK. It's OK to not include everyone in everything.' You can also communicate your desire to be included in future social get-togethers or events. Just approach the conversation in a casual, tactful way. 'You don't have to accuse anyone of leaving you out,' Goldfarb said. 'Maybe they didn't realize you'd be interested, just like Danielle said. Just throw it out there. Be like, 'Oh, I'd love to come. If anyone can't make it, let me know, or next time you throw an event, keep me in mind because that sounds really fun.'' Taking some positive action can also help you feel better. For instance, you could use this as an opportunity to reach out to friends you've 'let float into the outer orbits,' said Goldfarb. 'Anytime you feel rejected, it can feel empowering to use that sadness, use that energy, to connect with someone else,' she said. 'You feel a little hurt, go connect with someone else. Because I'm sure, there's a friend out there who would love to hear from you.' Related... Freudenfreude Might Be Just What Your Friendships Are Missing This Is One Of The Most Damaging Phrases In A Friendship It's Not Just You: Making Friends After 60 Is Really Hard Solve the daily Crossword

7 Signs Your Friendship Isn't Going To Last
7 Signs Your Friendship Isn't Going To Last

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

7 Signs Your Friendship Isn't Going To Last

In the months leading up to the premiere of 'And Just Like That...,' fans were wondering how the 'Sex and the City' reboot would address the absence of Kim Cattrall as the crew's fourth Musketeer, Samantha Jones. The writers tackled it early: She and Carrie had a falling out and were no longer friends. It's not uncommon. Despite exchanging friendship bracelets with childhood besties and promising to be best friends forever, as we move into adulthood, our relationship needs change. Sometimes friendships just run their course. Other times there are toxic dynamics at play that make a friendship breakup simply inevitable. Below, experts share the signs that a friendship might have an expiration date. It's consistently one-sided. 'Relationships can't be equal all the time, but over time they should equal out,' said Irene S. Levine, a clinical psychologist and friendship expert. 'There's an inequality in the relationship if one person is doing all the heavy lifting, always being on the giving end.' When only one person in the friendship is putting in effort to spend time together or taking an interest in the other person's life, things start to become one-sided. You might feel unappreciated and less inclined to open up if your friend doesn't seem genuinely interested in you. 'It's a big red flag when someone who is supposed to be your friend turns most of your conversations into their own personal monologue,' said Glenda Shaw, author of 'Better You, Better Friends.' 'Or when you find yourself unable to express your ideas or share your own experiences with them. Or when you start telling a story and they change the subject back to themselves. These are important indications that a friendship isn't a real friendship.' Being around this person makes you feel bad. 'If we hang up the phone or drive away from our time together feeling unpleasant emotions, we'll be less likely to want to keep repeating that experience,' said friendship expert and author Shasta Nelson. Pay attention to whether or not your interactions leave you feeling drained, if that person judges or criticizes you, if they never affirm you or show gratitude or appreciation, or if the substance of your conversations is always negative. 'None of us wants to feel judged, criticized or devalued, and yet all too often we don't take the time when we're together to say, 'What can I do to make sure my friend feels better for having been in my presence?'' she added. 'Too often we received advice when empathy would have felt better, we listened to complaining all night instead of some sharing that left us happy, or we felt like she was judging our choices when we want to feel accepted.' Levine pointed to the emotional ― and even physical ― indications that a friendship might not be particularly healthy. 'When you to get together, you feel anxious, jittery or uncomfortable,' she said. 'It may even be somatic, showing up in headaches or tummy aches.' You don't have any plans to get together. 'One of the biggest causes of relationships not lasting is when people don't initiate time together,' Nelson said. 'There are a lot of people who like each other but their friendship never lasts simply because they didn't figure out a way to initiate new time together after a big life change (i.e making time together when they now no longer work together) or when one person feels resentful for being the one who always reaches out.' Of course, we all go through periods when our schedules are difficult to coordinate, but if you can't even squeeze in 10 minutes for a phone call or text exchange every now and then, that might be an indication of your real priorities. 'Finding it hard to schedule time with each other or if one or both of you keep breaking appointments might suggest that your motivation to be together is vastly diminished,' Levine said. They don't celebrate your success. 'Another sign of a toxic friendship is a friend who's just bringing you down,' said psychologist and friendship expert Marisa G. Franco. Pay attention to their reaction when you find success in your life ― whether it's work or a personal matter. 'Are they happy for you? Or are they jealous of you and trying to tear you down?' Franco asked. 'When you have a promotion, are they saying, 'I'm so proud of you' or are they saying, 'I don't know if you deserve that'?' When a friend doesn't celebrate your successes, it's often out of a sense of jealousy or insecurity. 'Being happy for your success and more generally wanting you to succeed is an important part of healthy friendship,' Franco said. 'The opposite of that is more toxic.' Your communication is strained. No friendship is absent of conflict or tension from time to time, but there should still be an ease of communication. If this is lacking, consider if there are toxic dynamics at play or you're simply drifting apart. 'There may be frequent misunderstandings, or you simply run out of things to talk about,' Levine said. 'It becomes tough to speak to one another.' She noted that your life circumstances might have taken such divergent paths that you have less in common than you once did. It might also be difficult to overcome 'having vastly different lifestyles based on deep-seated and discrepant beliefs over politics, religion or money.' If you run into an issue with your friend, consider if they'll have an honest, constructive conversation about it. 'Most of us try to talk with our friends about the things they do that irritate us ― always being late, texting or calling us at inconvenient times, bringing up sensitive topics in front of other people,' Shaw said. 'These are the kinds of issues everyone has to negotiate in life. What becomes a red flag is when a person continually ignores your request to address a situation that irritates you.' There's an unresolved breach of trust. 'We all have different deal breakers, boundaries, breaking points,' Shaw said. 'It's helpful to figure out what your own personal ones are.' She noted that a red flag for her is a person who gossips incessantly about everyone because it's a sign that you might not be able to trust them. 'One of the hardest issues to deal with in friendship is when you find out that a friend is not being honest with you,' Shaw explained. 'Unlike our family and colleagues, our friends are the people we choose in our lives. A real friend is a person we're honest with, a person we trust.' Even with a trustworthy friend, something may arise that jeopardizes your faith in them. It's important to work through these situations if you want to preserve the relationship. 'One sign a friendship may be fraying is that there has been a major breach of trust that remains unresolved,' Levine said. 'Some of these may be fatal ― undermining the person with her boss, saying hurtful things behind her back or having a romantic liaison with her lover.' They don't listen to your perspective. 'In a healthy friendship, you work through conflict openly instead of pushing it away and pretending it's not there, or ghosting or withdrawing,' Franco said. 'You're able to say, 'Hey, this hurts me,' and the other person wants to listen because they are invested in continuing a relationship with you.' She noted that in unhealthy friendships, people might withdraw when they're upset. Or they might attack you, blame you for their problems or otherwise project their negative experience onto you. There's a lack of interest in reaching mutual understanding. It's a major sign of a toxic relationship if a friend rarely considers your perspective, Franco added. 'They're thinking about whether you're fulfilling their needs but not whether they're fulfilling your needs. When I was writing my book, I interviewed someone who was supposed to go a friend's dance recital but couldn't because she got sick. Her friend got mad at her and said, 'You abandoned me, and you're a bad friend.' Clearly that's a lack of perspective-taking. She only thought about her own needs and not her friend's.' Listening to one another is a fundamental part of healthy friendships. As Nelson noted, 'if a person doesn't seem to want to hear you, then that's a warning that this friendship is not working.' Related... 38 Interesting Questions You Never Thought To Ask Your Friends But Should How To Accept An Apology Like A Grown-Up How To Travel With Friends On Different Budgets

Ice Cube and Dwight Howard tout Big3's potential during festive Intuit Dome visit
Ice Cube and Dwight Howard tout Big3's potential during festive Intuit Dome visit

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Ice Cube and Dwight Howard tout Big3's potential during festive Intuit Dome visit

The BIG3 basketball atmosphere is one of a West Coast summer-style block party — quite literally — bursting with frenetic hip-hop energy brought straight to the hardwood. At the center is legendary rapper and Hollywood A-lister Ice Cube, who, between games, stands before a BIG3-branded backdrop in the bowels of the Intuit Dome, greeting families and flashing Westside hand signs as cameras click. 'It takes a village; all these people have honed their skills to be the best,' Ice Cube, the league's co-owner and founder, said of the atmosphere. Rooted in the streetball tradition of three-on-three hoops played on neighborhood blacktops, the league rolled out its Summer in the City tour — a day-long showcase with eight teams vying for a $1 million championship. Not shy on production value, few sporting events offer such an intimate setting — players mingling casually around the concourse, almost like an AAU tournament. Or comedic stars Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer serving as guest sideline reporters, greeting every fan who stops by with a quick hello. But for the South-Central–born rapper, whose league has toured the country, Saturday's showcase in Inglewood marked the first time his hometown crowd could watch one of the BIG3's newest — and first privately owned — franchises, the LA Riot, play live. A franchise namesake born from L.A.'s history of tumultuous racial unrest — evoking memories of the 1992 Rodney King riots — also symbolizes a movement, rebellion and cultural takeover, just as Ice Cube envisioned. 'It was a dream come true, not too far from where I grew up,' Ice Cube said. 'So to have a league like this, right at the house, is just beautiful.' Read more: Straight Outta L.A.: Ice Cube's new BIG3 team is the Riot and 'here to shake things up' After seven years of unaffiliated teams, the BIG3 shifted to a city-based model to cultivate loyal fan bases and sell franchises to local owners. Using L.A. as the blueprint — with a $10 million price tag — the hope is to bring long-term stability to the league. 'We're going to these eight cities every year,' Ice Cube said. 'We can plan long term, hopefully grow the league to other cities, [who] want to get in on the act.' Since 2017, part of that stability has been built on the backs of veteran players — athletes well past their NBA primes and no longer chasing NBA contracts. Among them is newly elected Naismith Hall of Famer Dwight Howard, alongside names like Joe Johnson, Michael Beasley, and Lance Stephenson. Howard, a member of the 2020 Lakers championship team, made a highly anticipated return to the city where he played three seasons across three separate stints. With his signing, he has become the face of the Riot, committing to play his final season of professional basketball with the club. 'It's our first year, we're just getting started,' Howard said. 'We're looking forward to keeping it going. Obviously, the first year is always a little difficult — trying to get to know each other — but we're doing a great job.' Howard has dabbled in ownership ventures, investing $7 million to purchase the WNBA Atlanta Dream — a deal that later turned out to be a scam — and joining The Asian Tournament, an international league, as a co-owner and player for the Taiwan Mustangs. In his first Big3 season, Howard has witnessed how well the league connects with its fans, a connection he believes will be key to its long-term success. Christopher Thomas, 35, a lifelong Angeleno who brought his daughter and best friend to Saturday's Big3 games, was rocking a No. 12 Howard Riot jersey. Thomas left the arena converted after initially scoring free tickets through his job. Read more: Dwight Howard will play basketball in L.A. again, not for the Lakers, but the BIG3's Riot 'I have to admit, I never heard of the BIG3,' Thomas said. 'Now I'm leaving as a Riot fan, especially with my boy Dwight Howard on the team.' For Thomas, the draw went beyond basketball. It was the atmosphere, constant energy between games and novelty the league offered. The experience was 'something new, something different,' he said — the kind that will have him back in the stands when the BIG3 returns to town. Making headway in localized markets, Howard — who has played overseas several times throughout his career — says the league can also tap into those international markets with smart decisions and profitability. 'Oh, international,' Howard said. 'BIG3 international is what we're looking for.' On the globalization front, the league is planning exhibitions in Australia and Asia, which Ice Cube hopes will come to fruition soon. For now, though, the focus remains on expanding and privatizing within the U.S., beyond L.A., Houston, Detroit and Miami. The BIG3 also aims to grow beyond its current eight-team format by securing investors for four city-based teams, and then aims for further expansion down the line. 'We got some smart people who are buying teams, people who can help us grow the league,' Ice Cube said. 'Not just sign a check, but to help us be innovative. Help us with sponsors. We want owners who are active.' While expansion plans continue to be discussed behind closed doors, the league's public focus remains on its fast, physical and unpredictable style — all of which was on full display as the action at the Intuit Dome wound down. The Riot's matchup against the Boston Ball Hogs came down to the wire with a playoff berth on the line. Clawing back from a 48-45 deficit, the Riot unleashed desperate four-point shots and dove for loose balls galore. Eventually taking the lead, the Riot-friendly crowd spilled from its seats into the walkways surrounding the court, watching with bated breath as Jordan Crawford drained a walk-off three-pointer to seal a 52-48 victory. 'At the end of the day, I can only do so much to get people hyped up,' Ice Cube said of the appeal of the Big3. 'The basketball has to be pure.' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store