Everything Everywhere All At Once Won… pretty much Everything, Everywhere All At Once at
the 95th Oscars this year.
It won - best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best director, best
original screenplay, best editing…
And it totally deserved that best picture win!
Not to say, those other films were undeserving - far from it - but I think this was the right
choice.
I’m really pleased that it managed to do it.
The Daniels, kinda like Johnson and Johnson from die hard except if Johnson and Johnson
were directors instead of cops, have finally managed to outdo themselves after the majesty
that was the “Turn Down For What” music video…
There was also that time I played a dead body that could do lots of things kinda like a…
a… uh… a swiss army knife… but it was a man… a swiss army… guy.
Yes.
That’ll do.
There’s something about Everything Everywhere All At Once that I noticed since its release
that set it apart from the other best picture winners.
I kept getting comments on my videos asking me to do something on it.
That’s quite rare for a best picture nominee; whilst I’ve enjoyed contenders like tar
and the Banshees of Inisherin, I don’t really expect to get comments from people asking
me to make video essays on them.
Internet film culture, particularly on YouTube is, by and large, geared towards the biggest
movies and the biggest spectacles.
You do a video on Under the Silver Lake and nobody cares…
I was also surprised to hear my Mum wanted to see it.
Lots of people in my life who aren’t film fans, or enjoy big sci fi concepts, had heard
of it and wanted to see it.
It had a cultural moment that was impactful and well received.
And then many months later, it got nominated for best picture.
It had legs within the pop culture consciousness.
Whilst there is certainly snobbery within the Oscars, Rogers Deakins is absolutely right
about that Batman cinematography snub, a great film is a great film no matter the genre or
the time of year it was released.
Whilst popularity isn’t a hallmark of a truly great movie, I think it’s really special
that this year’s best picture winner is something that film buffs and the casual moviegoer
could get behind.
It bucks the trend that the Oscar’s only celebrate film elitism, that idea put forth
by Trevor Noah that you have vegetable films that you have to watch because they’re good
for you.
No, films that are good are good and deserve to be seen.
Films that gain traction have a lot to do with marketing budgets and movie politics
and, say, a company like Disney pushing out smaller films from being screened at all…
I think by and large audiences are very smart, and are more than willing to engage with things
if they’re marketed well enough, and the gluttony of attention span ruining internet
content doesn’t pervade every creeping second of our lives.
Including this stupid video!
Go away!
That’s not to say that the best picture nominees weren’t spectacular; Banshees was
teetering on becoming my favourite film of 2022, until I watched RRR… part of the problem
is that good movies are buried by big studio fare, and then after the fact they end up
getting this reputation as being pretentious and artsy, too artsy for general audiences
to enjoy.
Now it’s gotten so bad that anything that appears to have lots of talking is written
off that way and it sucks!
It’s sad because many films of yesteryear were huge cultural moments and best picture
winners or nominees far more regularly.
It doesn’t help when something like Coda wins best picture; honestly, who the hell
has mentioned that movie since it had its Oscar push from apple?
Did anybody really care to begin with?
I don’t mean to crap on one movie to hoist up another and I’m sure everyone put love
into that movie just like any other, but it was a pretty disingenuous win.
It was the kind of win that people who feel disillusioned with the state of prestige film
can point to.
We should be giving people more reasons to love and celebrate film, not reasons to feel
like the tastes that mass markets have forced upon them in the first place make them stupid.
It’s significant is the fact that it didn’t come out in that specific Oscar season.
The fact that there is a time where movies tipped to win Oscars come out around that
November to January period across the world only further served to promote that idea of
elitism, even if that’s not really the case.
Over the years it’s created a wedge between movies that come out and deserve Oscar’s
and movies that come out the rest of the year.
Well Everything Everywhere has come to remind us that it’s baloney, and anything can win
best picture no matter what time of year it’s released.
I don’t want to see big movies winning best picture in a popularity contest just for the
sake of it; remember a few years back when the Oscar’s tried to introduce a best popular
film category to try and get back in touch with audiences?
But I also think it shows how special everything everywhere is that it didn’t try to be revered
and popular at the same time; it simply was.
It’s a great picture, it’s got a really strong emotional core, it’s got some great
spectacle and comedy and it’s bolstered by a slew of now Oscar winning performances.
I think part of the reason audiences now can be put off by the Oscar bait release slot
is because it’s kind of telling you it’s going to be a great film, Oscar worthy, before
you even see it - and people don’t like being told what to do.
Everything, Everywhere’s win feels very organic.
Many people have asked me to comment on the movie particularly whenever I’ve spoken
about multiverses.
And yes it was a slam dunk for the Russo brothers produced movie to outshine the mcu’s multiverse
of madness in the same month in 2022.
It proved that you can have all the money in the world but if your creativity extends
to swapping traffic light colours, your dollars can only take you so far.
Contrast that with Everything, which had a tiny team of visual effects artists working
tirelessly to deliver some of the most convincing and charming effects all year.
How nice is it that this year’s best picture winner didn’t bankrupt the company that
brought you the effects, and the academy didn’t shoo them off when they voiced this fact on
stage.
Remember Life of PI?
It also really has something to say about the idea of consequences and individuality
when dealing with infinite permutations of your life.
Perhaps I was asking too much of other multiverse movies to look inwards when dealing with three
people who seem to be on the same destiny of losing loved ones and what that might mean
to their choices, but I think this movie proves I wasn’t.
People tell you to turn your brain off and enjoy that kind of thing for what it is.
But I’d point to something like everything everywhere and say no- you can have your thrills
and spills and still examine the purpose of a life and the choices made with integrity.
Having multiple splintered outcomes to one person’s life and the massive ramifications
to the smallest changes isn’t something that should just be quipped away before the
next big set piece.
It’s mad that no other multiverse film in the last few years has really tackled the
idea that nothing matters in an infinite branching multiverse, the existential crisis that emerges
from that, and the humanist conclusion that comes from simply deciding that kindness does
matter.
Partly why it’s been so popular is because in spite of its multiverse plotting, its themes
are universal.
We all want to be better versions of ourselves, and I think this movie is timely amongst a
constant online culture of self improvement and excess porn.
Coming out post the many lockdowns as well, and hearing Michelle Yoeh ask “can we get
back?”
Was something else that I know really hit me.
Everything everywhere is uplifting and inspiring because it teaches us not to focus on what
has happened, to let go and concentrate on what is.
To embrace life’s absurdity, to admit that nothing makes sense, but the people we spend
our time with and the real love that we share is really the only thing that is worth fighting
for.
I think it also corners that fear of firm choices in life; that notion that you could
be the worst version of yourself, that all those decisions and mistakes you made have
layered up to create the worst chain of events.
That harsh feeling you get from not feeling good enough, or loved enough, or worthy enough
- to look at those feelings we all get at times within the scope of such engrossing
science fiction concepts is nothing short of brilliant.
The idea of doing random things that don’t make any sense to make connections to other
universes, not only plays into the themes of the movie perfectly but it makes for so
many memorable moments and bits of tension.
The paper cuts between the fingers are so wince worthy, and eating that chapstick?
Vomit!
It totally deserved to sweep things like best original screenplay and editing too.
It speeds through so many concepts and rules to the multiverse hopping whilst never losing
sight of the characters and the action.
That’s of course brought together by some seriously slick editing - I’m always floored
watching everyone hop from world to world and the film often juggles so many different
locations at once yet never feels confusing.
You never lose a sense of space, and you never lose an ounce of energy to the action.
It’s a real editing feat!
Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu’s mother daughter relationship is the heart of the
movie.
What struck me about it was there was truth to it; particularly with Evelyn‘s homophobia
towards her daughter.
Rather than just having every character exemplify the tolerant opinion, I think it was much
more real to have a protagonist that holds the same kind of views older generations are
prone to.
That arc of acceptance and realising the error of her ways by the end was only so powerful
because it felt true.
You have a diverse cast, an lgbt+ character who isn’t window dressing, and it all feeds
into the story - rather than it being some blink and you miss it lip service that can
be easily cut for certain territories.
If you can cut those things, I question how genuine you’re being about including them.
Films in the 90s did half the things certain big business is praised for doing with the
bare minimum now.
Hell, you know Dog Day Afternoon is about a gay protagonist holding up a bank to pay
for his partner’s transition surgery?
That was the biggest movie of 1975, a critical and commercial success, was nominated for
Best picture, Best actor, Best supporting actor, best director, best editing and won
for best original screenplay.
That movie would never be made today; we’ve gone backwards in a lot of ways, not forwards.
Those kinds of movies are possible not from huge corporations choke holding the theatrical
experience but by having a wide array of films readily available to as many people as possible.
Ke Huy Quan winning is awesome, he was great in the movie and he’s been long overdue
a break in Hollywood.
I think people immediately calling for him to become Short Round again kinda defeats
the point a little; he appeared in a movie that did what Disney is currently trying to
do but better… and now people want to see him do something for Disney.
Wouldn’t it be cooler if he went on to star in more awesome original projects?
That’s not to say he wouldn’t kill it, and Short Round would certainly be a better
legacy character to give the keys to over a rushed new character, but it doesn’t get
away from the fact that original movies shouldn’t be training grounds for franchises all the
time.
If anything, doing the franchises are what allow you to make weirder fare like this.
Ke Huy Quan becoming short round would be doing a Robert Pattinson in reverse…
It was definitely a strong year of contenders.
I’m happy Brendan Fraser won but I could have just as easily seen Colin Farrell take
best actor for his magnificent turn as Pádraic.
Elvis was a fun if average biopic but Austin Butler deserved the nom and even the win in
any other year.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ win for this was contentious, but it's always good to remember that a lot
of actors win for their careers rather than that one performance.
True Detective on TV did as much for the mcconaissance as Dallas Buyers Club did.
I know that’s frustrating to a degree, and it's not like Kerry Condon and Angela Bassett
weren’t contenders, but ultimately I think it was a fine win.
If it was my vote it would go to Stephanie Hsu…
2022 was a great year in film.
In terms of Hollywood, the blockbusters struck back against an increasingly stale and played
out superhero genre.
Top gun maverick and Avatar 2 were action movies that looked like they actually cost
200 million, but you also had great pure comedies like jackass forever proving that audiences
will still go to the cinema for laughs.
We need a more diverse range of films back in the theatre; I love the mythos of superheroes
but if you’re one of those commenters that gets annoyed when these movies are dunked
on, stop and think about how quickly the landscape of movies have changed in such a short space
of time, and whether that’s right.
One film shouldn’t be clogging up the multiplex.
All the billion dollar releases shouldn’t be mainly made by the same corporation.
I know a lot of you champion diversity in moviemaking- well how diverse can we be when
the same Mouse is employing everybody?
We need different studios, different genres, world cinema to have its place in theatres.
I think 2022 was a step in the right direction for some real change in the cinematic landscape,
and I hope we can continue to get more interesting original projects, or at the very least sequels
that actually try, instead of a streaming gluttony of content that looks like film but
behaves like tv and isn’t as satisfying as either.