Everything Everywhere All At Once thoughts, all of them:
Stephanie Hsu sang a song about wanting to play different parts, then went and played all the parts. I want your outfits.
Stephanie could do the genie, but Robin Williams couldn’t do Jobu Tupaki
The scene with Alpha Waymond praising Evelyn for being so bad at everything had most of the theater laughing, but being an ADHDer, after Evelyn had been shamed by Deirdre for failing at so many hobbies, hearing just the capacity for experiences praised and considered as elements of identity, I was sobbing and ya know also laughing
This explanation is told in a hilarious way, is the most thorough and convincing reason an everywoman should become any sort of chosen one, and it’s also the best way to construct a superhero story while deconstructing the inherent ableism in the genre.
Daniels talked about a couple cut scenes that more thoroughly resolved Evelyn’s and Jenny Slate’s relationship, one with the same character and one where Jenny plays a talking macaroni boy. It was somewhat clear that Evelyn was being racist in the beginning, but still uncomfortable it didn’t resolve that further
The feet in the Debussy looked um super accurate to the notes at first glance. If they really did pull that off that’s my favorite miracle of the movie
So Daniel Scheinert gave himself the job of being spanked by Michelle Yeoh in the kink-positive climax of the movie.
I want to see more people talking about this ending: this movie reinvents sci-fi action, then makes non-violence look cooler. Evelyn could’ve gotten up those stairs faster with punches, but she wouldn’t have been able to stay grounded enough to care without committing 100% to Waymond’s principles, learning to love even the hot dog verse. And after all that they make rebuilding lines of communication look even cooler.
For all the feats this crew accomplished, they got this movie made cause Michelle Yeoh signed on, and they got Michelle Yeoh by simply writing a complex East Asian woman. Indie creators in all media take note.
Alpha Waymond could have given himself the last paper cut on the other hand.
It would feel disrespectful to the point of the movie to not somehow adapt the themes of the second half, but I know for a fact the mechanics of the first half of EEAAO would be a blast to run as a ttrpg: “Roll me two d100? Ok you’ll be able to pick this lock, but first you have to either hiccup or bark like a dog.”
While we should be talking about the wild things that we are talking about, it’s worth celebrating how well this movie coheres. By constant attention to context, visual references, sound design, whatever it was, I was never once confused which universe we were in. I get lost in normal movies.
I can’t wait to watch a hundred rip-offs of the first act of EEAAO that attempt 10% of what EEAAO succeeds at (sincere).
The trend of fight scenes set to pop songs is over. Long live fight scenes set to remixed Chinese opera.
If Liam Neeson can start an action stardom at 56, we can easily launch Ke Huy Quan at 50.
Son Lux could do Inception, but Hans Zimmer couldn’t do EEAAO
Settling into my post-EEAAO self, I love how much easier it is to feel pride in my skills that have never been visibly useful, and to feel patience for the disappointments and paths I never followed. Somewhere another me is helped by my skills, and somewhen my disappointments will help me access another me.
So them Daniels keep starting with weird concepts then figuring out how to make it about parenting. Dan Kwan wasn’t even a dad when Swiss Army Man dropped and still made a movie about the pain and joy and values we pass on.
Lot of direct movie references: kung fu movies, domestic romance dramas, the chef world is all Pixar, the movie star world is shot with Wong Kar-Wai’s step printing (a type of motion blur) in the wide shots, the hot dog world uses 2001, Evelyn is enamored with MGMish musicals
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