26
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‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ scores seven Oscars including Best Picture
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- Title
- Oscars Winners List - Updating Live
- Authors
- Erik Pedersen
- Published
- Mar 12 2023
- Word count
- 467 words
I love that EEOO did as well as it did, and I hope its success makes studios a bit more willing to take on original ideas instead of just churning out franchise installments.
So I don’t watch a ton of movies and don’t keep up with film anymore so I had never even heard of this movie until the Oscars.
Watched it last night with my wife and in-laws.
Wife: fell asleep 30 minutes in (classic)
In-laws: “This is the weirdest movie we’ve ever seen.” (they don’t get out much)
Me: “This is the best movie I’ve ever seen?"
Loved it from start to finish. I find sometimes the Oscar winners are a little too ‘film-club’ for me (which I totally get, no hard feelings) but this was a movie that just had a lot of fun with the medium and somehow managed to tell a pretty emotional story throughout the silliness.
Oh man, I finally watched it tonight. The movie felt tailor made for me! Everything from the frenetic energy, to the random acts of kung fu, the crude humor, the existential dread... all of it!!! The whole narrative was so well written, without a frame of filler. Start to finish 10/10.
That said, I can't believe it won so many awards. I just don't feel like others would dig it as much as I did, but maybe the pandemic changed folks more than I imagined. This does seem to tap into some of the energy that Bo Burnham's Inside had, so maybe that type of absurd introspective is still resonating even "past" the pandemic. Really excited for the whole cast and crew!
It’s a really good movie and it definitely deserves the awards, but honestly I feel the reason why it swept so many categories was because this year’s selection was particularly bad.
The entire concept of an Elvis documentary in this day and age was enough to bore me to death. Triangle of Sadness was the most pointless and unfunny farce that I have ever seen. The Whale was actually pretty great, but I’m saying this as someone who typically hates the filmmaker and part of why I like it so much is that it doesn’t feel like it’s one of his films. And then we had a random sequel to a movie from the 80s? Get real.
The cynic in me says the reason why EEAAO managed to get so many awards is simply because everyone working on it was excited to be trying something new. That kind of energy is infectious.
(I did miss Banshees, though, and that one looked right up my alley.)
I didn't have much interest in Elvis, I reallllly want to see Triangle but haven't rented it yet, and would also love to see the Whale (I love Brendan Frasier).
Banshees was.... well it was something. I love In Bruges so I was pretty hyped for it. The end result was a little, unsatisfying. I actually had a few friends join me for it in theaters with the encouragement that it would probably be very similar to my favorite movie. The biggest lol moment of that dark comedy came at the end when I had to explain myself. It wasn't bad, but it was weird. More like the Lobster than In Bruges.
Pretty sure this is the worst I’ve ever done in these predictions lol. I went 1/4 in the acting categories and missed a majority of the techs. I did not expect them to hate Elvis as much as they did.
Basically, film twitters favorites won in the major categories. If I didn’t get EEAAO’s praise before, I definitely don’t get it now.
I am a bit shocked at how many awards EEAAO took home. While I am a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan, I was especially surprised by her win. I think Best Supporting Actress is the category where I had seen the most performances, and of the ones I had seen, I think there were at least two stronger performances.
Great speech, though.
It definitely tracks with how many people think it’s one of, if not the best movie ever made. It also shows demographic changes within the Academy and the industry at large. It’s basically millennials announcing that they’re in charge now.
As a Millennial, I would like to formally welcome our new Millennial overlords.
I’m looking forward to Barbie winning next year.
It’s interesting because I’m technically a Zillennial, or on the older side of GenZ. Which means that I have a lot of similar references to millennials especially younger millennials, but I just do not have the same taste. I think I probably like Boomer stuff more.
I know you were probably joking about Barbie, but for once I am so hyped up for something that the end product can only disappoint me at this point.
Also don't want to speak for cloud_loud, but there were a couple of scenes that were just... too absurd for me? The hot dog finger multiverse really squicked me, and the whole fixation on bagels was just. Too silly? I tend to like grounded, serious movies, and a lot of the camp was a bit too... over the top? Cringe for me?
It's a really important movie to my partner, though. She's a bi daughter of first generation immigrants, and she struggles a lot with generational friction between herself and her mum, and so the dynamic between Joy and Evelyn really struck a chord with her. So, I've tried really hard to see the film from her perspective, and it helps?
Plus, last night I went to an EEAAO-themed Oscar watch party with my partner, and everyone attending LOVED EEAAO and was rooting for it. At first I was panicked about being the odd one out, but I eventually came around a bit to the absurdity? We did a bagel spread, and put googly eyes on chocolate-covered strawberries, and it was just. Nice? It was nice. It felt safer than the anxieties I had in my head. So I think I'm leaning more on the like/love side, now that I've had some time to process my own personal hangups with the movie.
I can understand this. I think a core part of my internal process for dealing with serious topics probably has M*A*S*H as it's foundation. It was a large part of my childhood because it was hugely popular and always in syndication, and deals with some extremely hard topics by mixing serious gravitas with levity (and sometimes absurdity). So that style really speaks to me.
I loved reading your whole comment, but in particular I loved this line in context.
Thank you for sharing your (changing) perspective with us.
Small update: I rewatched EEAAO at home (and in full for once)! (A detail I hadn't mentioned before was that I left the theatre midway through to use the washroom, and missed the middle 3rd of the movie. Oops.)
With all of the new context and priming I have now (adjusting to the absurdity, reflecting on the emotional importance of the movie, the friendly Oscar watch party), I can say that I absolutely loved the movie. It makes for such a good rewatch? Once you know what's coming, the opening slice-of-life scenes between the family are just... devastating. I couldn't stop crying! There are so many details to unpack once you've had the chance to internalize the general plot of the movie.
I will say the movie was still a bit of a joyride that left me drained at times, but I wasn't bothered by the absurdity anymore, so I just sat along for the ride, and really enjoyed it! 9/10, maybe even 9.5/10 for me. :D
One small funny tidbit:
Spoilers
When watching in theatres, I had missed the scene where Evelyn tries to explain what multiverse jumping is like to Joy and Waymond, and misremembers Ratatouille as Racacoonie.
This means that... when I came back from the bathroom the first time around, I had 0 context for the latter-3rd Racacoonie scenes, and was... completely confused? I had no idea it was based on such a heartwarming mixup, and wouldn't have found it so absurd if I had known the origin story.
Case in point: Don't draw conclusions about a movie if you haven't actually seen the full thing. :V
I’ve written about it before. Here a couple of months ago and also here recently.
But basically I think it’s good. It’s entertaining and there’s clear talent behind the camera. But it’s basically just a long episode of Rick and Morty. With similar juvenile humor and pseudo-deep philosophy. I just don’t think it’s as groundbreaking or as meaningful as everyone else seems to think it is. I think something like Banshees of Inisherin is more insightful and introspective about the human condition.
I hope I don't come off as defensive-- I enjoyed EEAAO and, while it's not in any of my top lists, I still thought it was surprisingly good-- so I'd like to pick your brain on this.
To me the movie could be summed up as essentially "nothing means anything, so try not to make big deals out of nothings, and just enjoy the time you have, loving those you're with." I am a cynical nihilist myself and think everything and everyone on this planet is fucked, but the only way I stay sane myself is to just love who and what is accessible to me. I thought the movie did a good job packaging that sort of nihilism with optimism so people weren't sad af when they left the theater, and was a welcome message these days. It felt like Jon Oliver or Daily Show where they give you some depressing themes/tidbits, and sprinkle jokes to pull you back up before putting you back in.
When I think "pseudo," I think Marvel-- movies where maybe something deep could've been touched on, but the punches are almost completely pulled with silly jokes and low stakes that don't mean much by the end of the movie.
What was "psuedo" about EEAAO to you? I'm thinking you might touch on things I hadn't considered and would also shed light for me on why I don't plan on adding it to my personal library anytime soon.
There’s no way I can say this without sounding mean about it. So I’ll just lean into it a little. I don’t think saying nothing matters is all that deep. I think in some ways it can be pretty shallow. Like when 17 year olds first start learning about existentialism and they start going around saying that. It’s very early 2010s Reddit.
Bringing up Rick and Morty again, this positive nihilism is brought up frequently in the show or at least in the first two seasons. It’s easy. It’s not insightful. And what I find interesting is that Rick and Morty fans, at least used to, get made fun of in certain circles because they thought the show was smarter and deeper than it actually was. That’s where this meme comes from. And now the same people that would criticize Rick and Morty fans are saying similar stuff about EEAAO. Perhaps because it’s presented through a story of an immigrant family it’s different, I’m not sure.
Banshees of Inisherin covers similar ground, but I think it presents it’s themes in a more mature way and in a more layered way. And perhaps it’s ironic to be saying this since Banshees is a slow talky movie and EEAAO is a fun action movie, but I think McDonagh writes his characters dealing with this stuff in a less pretentious way. It’s not presented in a “I just learned the secret of the universe” way it’s more just matter of fact. McDonagh also uses this to comment on other things like art and legacy and what that truly means. In a very simple exchange the characters go:
Not who are you responding to, but I don't disagree with what you have written here. I just don't think that should be the main reading of EEAAO. My takeaway from it wasn't some positive nihilism angle, but rather an acknowledgement that we manufacture meaning in our lives, and the fact that it isn't handed to us by some higher logic doesn't matter. Maybe that is what is meant by positive nihilism here.
In any case I never thought EEAAO was even attempting to be deep. Maybe some people felt it was, which is an entirely different thing. In fact, I think the sheer absurdity of some of its central plot points, like the bagel, are a self aware nod towards how ridiculous it is.
What EEAAO was was sincere. It was an extremely sincere movie that (imo) managed to avoid being cheesy. For me it was refreshing to see such a simple and sincere story (that of a mother and daughter at its core) told in such a blazingly creative and original way. A less creative movie with such a simple story would have veered into the cheese for me.
I think you're on to something. I was watching a video of a French Youtuber discussing EEAAO, and the guy brought the exact same point (EEAAO is sincere). He places EEAAO as part of the "metamodern" movement which he resumes as "modernism was 'tell me a story', post-modernism was 'I know you're telling me a story' and meta-modernism is 'please tell them anyway'".
And to illustrate this he even reference the very same Rick and Morty clip /u/cloud_loud/ showed, but notes that even though "Everybody's gonna die. Come watch TV ?" sounds super nihilistic and post-modern at first, in the context of the show it's far from nihilistic because Morty said this because he was trying to give some meaning to his sister's life (I don't know, I haven't watched this show).
And so EEAAO use a very similar approach where it turn the irony, cynicism and deconstruction of post-modernism on its head. Instead of using references, citations and homage in a wink-wink-have-you-seen-that distance the viewer from the film, they use them for what they can do to strengthen in a non-ironic way.
For instance, when it reference In the Mood for Love, it's not because it want to tell to the audience "see ? we're cinephile and we watch old movies from Hong-Kong!", but it's because the framing and coloring choice of Wong Kar-wai is especially good at evoking an intimate and melancholic atmosphere.
And so "deep" or not I don't know, but "sincere is a post-sincerity world" this film certainly is.
Gotcha, I appreciate the explanation. I mean you're right in that the ground has been covered many times, I think maybe this one was a hit for most because it covered it in an accessible way. But that is probably why I'm not going to add it to my personal collection anytime soon-- my cynical nihilism movie slot is already occupied by No Country for Old Men, and my optimistic nihilism movie is occupied by Life is Beautiful. Both have probably solidified their positions in my vision 'cause I saw them first and nostalgia tends to give movies free passes for me.
What is, to you, the deepest movie you've ever seen that challenges the way you think, or has stuck with you years after seeing it?
I've been having trouble putting my thoughts on EEAAO into words, but this is pretty close to it. I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun - but it didn't seem deep or as amazing to me as people have made it out to be. That mix of pseudo-deep concepts mixed with humor is something that I've seen before in anime and fiction novels a bunch - but Rick and Morty is a much better example.
Its also similar to Encanto with hitting familial trauma and healing - which I (fortunately) simply don't have a good way to relate to, so it doesn't hit quite as hard for me there.
The Director’s have admitted to the Rick and Morty comparison themselves (starts at 2:56).
In terms of animated film. I think Turning Red is more apt. Not because they’re both Asian, but because they both deal with “inter generational trauma” in a more direct mother daughter way. Which I kind of just find boring and overdone as a theme at this point. And this stuff is supposed to be made for me as a child of immigrants with a socially conservative overbearing mother.
It definitely had that vibe all throughout but the hotdog fingers part felt like a pretty direct homage to R&M's inter-dimensional cable. And the rock part was very pickle Rick-esque too.
Don't want to speak for /u/cloud_loud, however I've had a few friends who have also thought they didn't "get" it. I think it just doesn't work for some people, and that's fine. It's a genuinely weird movie, it just happens to be my kind of weird!
I don’t watch a lot of movies anymore, and the ones I do watch, even the ones I like, tend to feel a bit distant — like I’m looking at them from behind the glass at a zoo, or a museum.
EEAAO broke that feeling for me. I was entertained; I was charmed; I was surprised; I was moved, but, most of all, it felt like there was no glass between us — no distance.
I was even impressed. On paper, the movie sounds like a mess. Even when trying to describe it to someone else, it’s hard to give an explanation that isn’t a misfire. It has a magical quality to it that I can’t put my (hot dog) finger on. The movie’s mish-mash of ideas shouldn’t work and it’s obvious that it shouldn’t, even while in the midst of watching it (seriously, a bagel?), but it somehow miraculously does. Impressive.
I’m happy it won all the awards that it did. In particular I loved Ke Huy Quan’s character and performance.