Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Mini Review

 

As movie titles go, this was a pretty accurate one.

There is A LOT in Everything Everywhere All At Once (I would have loved to have reviewed this movie for the newspaper because repeating the title every now and then would have easily gotten me to the five hundred word minimum), and I’m not talking about all the multiverse shenanigans. This was a long one, with tons of emotional moments and themes, and I am certain that they did not need all of it. This could have been a perfect movie, but what it ended up being instead was a super good movie that left me feeling unnecessarily exhausted by the end.

What surprised me the most was how funny Everything Everywhere All At Once was. I knew going in that it was a universe-hopping adventure with lots of Kung Fu action, and that was about it. I was not ready for the surrealist brilliance of hot dog fingers or Racacoonie, and every time the mood went from serious to goofy and back again it was a delight. Michelle Yeoh proves for the billionth time that not only is she the world’s greatest action heroine but also an incredible comedic force, and equally as fun to watch was Ke Huy Quan as her eternally optimistic husband.

Superbly written and brilliantly directed, Everything was rightfully hyped up at the time of release as an award-winning tour de force, but I wish it was one that didn’t try to do, well, everything.

Fargo (1996) Mini Review

 

Great accents can take a production far. That was one of my biggest takeaways from Fargo, along with the gratitude that I don't live in a place where I have to worry too much about snow.  

Fargo would be much less than it is if not for its charm, whether it arises from Frances McDormand’s “oh jeez” Minnesotan innocence or the pure incompetence of William H. Macy's wannabe criminal mastermind character. Even the two kidnappers, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, have a certain bumbling appeal to them, even when they commit extreme acts of violence and cruelty. You know who they reminded me of? The Wet Bandits, if the Home Alone criminals were a little toned down and a little more vicious and capable.  

Fargo was the recipient of two Oscar’s (Best Actor for McDormand and Best Screenplay for the Coen brothers) and was nominated for several more. I was therefore expecting something… bigger, in a way. But the smallness is what makes it a great movie. As the tagine says, it is a homespun murder mystery, and it’s one that feels real (the win for best screenplay is well deserved) and funny and charming all at the same time. Great movie.  

Eraserhead (1977) Mini Review

 

    I've been watching a lot of classic movies recently and figured that I might as well jot down some thoughts. Enjoy!

It was a mistake to watch this one right before my sister was scheduled to have her C-section.

Eraserhead is the very first full-length film by David Lynch, master of surrealist cinema. It was also the first I have seen of his, and I was not sufficiently prepared for how bizarre, disorienting, and most of all disturbing the 1977 film would be. In the most basic terms it is the story of a father's struggles with caring for his newborn child, but that child also happens to be the most horrifying creature I have ever seen come to life with practical effects. There is also a deformed lady who lives in the radiator, a diseased man who pulls levers inside of a meteor, and a decapitated head that is used to make pencil erasers.

The film is nonsensical when you try to treat it as a narrative that follows normal logic, but as a cinematic representation of a nightmare it is quite effective. I was unsure of whether or not I liked it when I was watching it—there is a certain film-school student level of pretentiousness to Eraserhead, as if Lynch is making things as obtuse as he can, pretending they mean something, and then laughing at us when we don’t understand his genius, or maybe I’m just dumb and this is all coming from my frustration with not understanding everything. There is also no doubting that Eraserhead is unpleasant to experience, which was, of course, intentional. The music, an omnipresent drone of discordant industrial noise, made sure I was never comfortable, even when the disturbing and disorienting visuals took a break from messing with my brain, and the acting work by Jack Nance and his supporting cast is so alien that it made me feel like I was watching… well, aliens. 

So did I like Eraserhead? The jury’s still out. There is no doubt that it is an effective film, and it is one that I have thought about a lot since I have watched it (compare that to Mufasa: The Lion King, which I watched a day after and couldn’t tell you anything about). The metaphors are strong, the visuals appropriately haunting, and the filmmaking unquestionably solid. But like any nightmare I sure never wish to experience it again.