The Nerdery Movie Night #256: The Zone of Interest and Spicy Salami & Mozzarella Popcorn

Very rarely, we score both film and popcorn identically. This is one of those nights.

Spicy Salami and Mozzarella Popcorn

Dave: All the decisive action in The Zone of Interest, set during the Holocaust, happens offscreen. We hear traces of it around the edges: gunshots, screaming, the sound of trains, ashes covering the town. But the camera is focused on pool parties, gardening, political wrangling, and family visits. While the film evokes understanding, if not empathy, for the German family at the center of the film, the specter of Auschwitz is ever-present physically in the background and psychically behind all of the dialogue. It’s hard not to watch this film without a nod to the aspirational despotic government currently at work in the U.S. as well as the gulf of class, racial, and political disparities currently at work. There is a scene early in the movie in which the wife of the commandant applies lipstick taken from the pocket of a fur coat that belonged to a woman imprisoned or dead in Auschwitz. The wife, Hedwig, admires herself in the mirror then scours the lipstick off. The scene felt very American: wanton destruction for baubles and momentary pleasure. (️️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2).

We leave for vacation soon - so no Nerdery Movie Nights for several weeks! - and I wanted to use up what we had in the house. Spicy cured meat and mozzarella seemed like great pizza toppings, so I built a popcorn around them based loosely on a Popcorn Board recipe. Instead of making a cheese sauce or using Parmesan, I baked the popcorn with mozzarella until it was melty and bubbly. The end result was freaking delicious if I do say so myself. It if weren’t so darned messy, I’d serve it for company! (️️️️️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Joe: I have never before seen a movie that forces the viewer to listen with such intent. Without beds of music in the background, the film relies solely on sound design to contrast the mundanity of the Höss' daily life with the horror of what's happening right over the wall: a horror for which they are responsible. There is a masterful sequence in which Heddy is showing her mother the glories of her garden, blithely talking about flowers while behind her is the staccato of gunfire and screams. This is a difficult film to like. In addition to the upsetting subject matter, it pushes a lot of boundaries and requires an incredible amount of attention. Though I am loathe to say I liked it, I did. A lot, actually. And I swear I am super attuned to all the noises happening around me now. It's fucking chilling. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2)

We've made five other variations of pepperoni popcorn (this entry links to all the others), but Dave the Genius used spicy salami instead of pepperoni, and, combined with his masterful blend of herbs, created the best iteration yet. In fact, I was almost distraught when we reached the end of the bowl and almost demanded that he make another batch. 10/10, no notes, I married the perfect man. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Popcorn from: Dr. David Lewis 💅🏻

The Zone of Interest on IMDb.