Snakes On A Plane meets Sofia Coppola: Inside MoMA and Chanel's Annual Film Benefit

Was this the first time Snakes on a Plane was shown in a museum?

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the Museum of Modern Art held their 16th annual Film Benefit, presented by Chanel (who has been the lead sponsor of film at MoMA since 2021) and honoring Samuel L. Jackson (past honorees have included Guillermo del Toro, Julianne Moore, Penelope Cruz, and George Clooney). The evening kicked off with a glamorous cocktail hour in the museum lobby, where guests like Amanda Seyfried, Meghann Fahy, Sofia Coppola, Natasha Lyonne, and Francesca Scorsese mingled about, but it was when guests finally settled down at the upstairs dinner table that the first treat of the night began: a montage of Jackson’s greatest roles and lines, including, of course, “I’ve had it with these motherf*cking snakes on this motherf*cking plane.” Consider it the kickoff to a night that surely holds the world record for the most f*cks said in an art museum.

On hand to celebrate the actor were some of his most illustrious colleagues, many in person and some popping in virtually to address their friend in their own way.

“My bestie.” — Brie Larson

“Great actor, great friend, and my family.” — Denzel Washington

“He definitely deserves it.” — George Lucas

“The greatest motherf*cker to ever do it.” — Walter Goggins

When the time came for the legendary actor to make his own speech, he addressed the elephant in the room. “All these speeches and not one motherf*cker?” he quipped, before launching into his remarks, a rapt audience hanging onto his gratitude-filled speech. Though Tems was still to perform a stunning set of her Grammy-nominated work, it was Jackson who put the perfect capstone on the evening just before he left the stage: “You’re trying real hard to make a motherf*cker cry.”