The movie Zach Cregger would watch forever: “I wish it was five times as long”
Brutality and hilarity, despite their apparently disparate positions on the emotional spectrum, are very common and welcome bedfellows. Able to bring both notions to the screen is a feat not managed by many, but Zach Cregger and his movie, Weapons, was one such picture.
When movies like Weapons arrive on the scene, despite their singularity, there is a clamour to understand the influences behind the release. Cregger was very keen to express just how influential the work of Paul Thomas Anderson was on his career so far, and notably singled out Magnolia as a clear reference point. Weapons is a story told from multiple points of view, and it feels almost like a horror version of the melodramas of the early 2000s. The movie plays out like an opus that takes cues from the most classic films from yesteryear.
Cregger made a recent revelation regarding his favourite films of all time that backs his previous claims about the inspirations for Weapons. When the Whitest Kids U’Know co-creator was asked by Letterbox about his top four movies, Cregger listed Boogie Nights, Mad Max: Fury Road, Fargo, and City of God.
While giving his favourable opinion on Boogie Nights, the ultimate film about the porn industry in the 1970s, Cregger said, “It does so many things, and it gets them all exactly right. It’s so long, and yet, I wish it was five times as long as it is]”.
The acclaimed director then referred to the film as his “favourite thing”.
There are some obvious similarities between PTA’s most acclaimed works, with Boogie Nights also possessing a wide ensemble cast and using the screen to explore their psyches. The Dirk Diggler story starts out on the peripheries of the porn industry, jovial and light, before diving deep into its murky depths. All the characters in the 1997 Academy Award-nominated drama go through rough transformations, like when Amber Waves (Julianne Moore) starts dealing with nightmarish custody battles, or when Buck Swope (Don Cheadle) deals with being broke with a pregnant fiancée before being the only survivor of an armed robbery gone wrong.
Weapons also showcases the lives of everyday people turned upside down during the course of the film. Elementary school teacher Justine (Julia Garner) begins the movie dealing with her own personal problems, before all of her students mysteriously go missing, and the entire town blames her. It’s a technique that can certainly be seen in Boogie Nights, as well as a whole host of other great movies.
While there is plenty to distinguish Weapons as a great work in its own right, there can be no denying the influence of PTA on Cregger, and like any good artist, he has used that inspiration and channelled it into his own movies.
Regarding the other three films mentioned by Cregger as some of his personal favourites, he didn’t double down on his reasoning behind these choices. This may indicate that the funnyman turned horror maestro’s very favourite work is Boogie Nights, but he has never actually ranked the movies he claims as his favourites.
While speaking with the BFI, Cregger listed ten movies that are, in his opinion, the best of all time. The four movies he mentioned to Letterbox are also named in his ten favourite movies list for the BFI, showcasing his consistency. The other masterpieces he mentioned to the BFI include Schindler’s List, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Mulholland Dr, Bicycle Thieves, and Harold and Maude, which are all films that, in one way or another, match the energy of Weapons.
