Burning Questions from the 2023 Oscars

Wasn't it weird seeing someone host again?

Were you counting down the seconds until Jimmy Kimmel joked about the slap?

Didn't it take much longer than you expected? 

Actually, didn't his whole monologue take longer than you expected? 

But wasn't it still pretty good overall? 

Can you ever go wrong referencing Encino Man?

Were you worried Kimmel was going to talk about The Fabelmans all night? 

Did I not appreciate his Babylon joke? 

Is it possible he's right about James Cameron not being able to sit through his own movies?

Or enjoying drowning Kate Winslet?

Kimmel sure does like picking on Cameron, doesn't he? 

Do you think Cameron even cares?

Wasn't he spot on on about the Academy rewarding assault with a Best Actor Oscar?

And about everyone embarrassingly going along with it?

Will Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt be forever linked because of...Jungle Cruise? 

If you had to predict who'd present the first Oscar, wouldn't Johnson be an odds on favorite?

Wouldn't it be a bad start to miss Animated Feature considering how obvious that win was? 

Did you remember who won the supporting Oscars last year?

Wasn't the Ke Huy Quan moment every bit as special as we knew it would be?

After seeing Jamie Lee Curtis win, didn't it almost seem inevitable that she had to? 

Then again, was that a tough category to predict or what? 

How about her shout out to Halloween fans? 

Did Angela Bassett look...less than happy?

Were you thinking this was a good indication of how things would go for EEAAO?

Didn't that Diane Warren song sound like something you'd hear at the dentist's office?

Did you get the impression this nomination wouldn't end her 14-time losing streak? 

So, we're introducing movie trailers on the show now?

Doesn't EEAAO totally seem like David Byrne's type of movie?

As a Best Picture nominee, isn't Women Talking just a complete afterthought?

Not a question but...Jennifer Connelly!

Was it really necessary to keep THAT shot from The Whale on the screen while makeup artist Adrien Morot accepted his Oscar? 

Did this just ensure Connelly won't ever agree to return? 

Between Disney and Warner Bros., was this movie studios tribute night? 

When is the Orion Pictures montage?

Wasn't it great to see Gizmo?

And (not the real) Jenny The Donkey?

When will I stop picking Elvis as a winner in the craft categories?

Does this bode poorly for Austin Butler?

International Feature: most locked victory of the night?

Wasn't it funny when Kimmel said this was about the time in the show that people are missing the slapping?

Is Elizabeth Olsen the only actress to have actually gained respect and acting cred from starring in huge franchise movies?  

Were you worried/hoping My Year of Dicks would win Best Animated Short? 

Were you expecting such a stripped down performance from Lady Gaga?

Especially considering the song's from Top Gun: Maverick?

But wasn't it the best one so far? 

Did Hugh Grant call himself a scrotum?

Again, not a question but Babylon should have won for Production Design.

Again, not a question by Babylon should have won for Original Score.

Will that film ever be able to shake the stench of its box office failure?

They're really going to deny the 91-year-old John Williams also?

Is All Quiet cleaning up or what?

Are we back to regretting including all the categories on the show?

Just wasn't Elizabeth Banks' night, was it?

Aren't the Oscars a fitting venue for Cocaine Bear? 

Isn't "We just want to thank our families" the perfect place to cut a winner's speech off? 

Should the FCC prepare for another batch of pointless complaints for Rihanna's performance?

Remember those dark days when Sound was separated into two categories?

Did Kimmel really just joke about Robert Blake being in the In Memoriam montage? 

Wasn't his audience bit fairly quick and painless?

Did you think Chandrabose would sing through all of the "Naatu Naatu" acceptance speech?

Did John Travolta have a tough time getting through that In Memoriam intro or what?

When you saw the first name in the montage did it then become obvious why?

Um, Anne Heche?

Tom Sizemore?

Leslie Jordan?

These Daniels guys sure are characters aren't they? 

Fair to say Will Smith not presenting Best Actress? 

Hoping Kimmel really was joking about stretching the remaining awards out?

Weren't the presenter pairings fairly solid all night ?

About ten seconds before Best Actor was announced, why was I regretting my Austin Butler prediction?

Did the result answer that question? 

Is Brendan Fraser winning the happiest I've been to get a major category wrong?

Were you relieved Cate Blanchett didn't storm the stage in character as Lydia Tár when Michelle Yeoh won?

Given how the night went, how big a shock would it have been if EEAAO lost?

It took 95 years for a sci-fi film to win Best Picture?

Knowing the Academy's tastes, is anyone surprised?

Does it get any better than seeing Ke Huy Quan reunited with Harrison Ford onstage?

Didn't this seem like one of the more competently produced shows in recent years?  

Especially last year's?

Should we just accept that the Oscars feeling and being too long goes with the territory at this point?

Wasn't the "Telecasts Without Incident" gag a good closer?

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Directors: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., Tallie Medel
Running Time: 140 min.
Rating: R   

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

With a still growing reputation that precedes it, such a deafening buzz surrounds Everything Everywhere All at Once that by the time you get around to watching it, it's easy to be intimidated by all the build up. Starting conventionally enough, we're introduced to the Chinese American immigrant family the story revolves around, accompanied by a certain amount of relief that this may not be as insane or unintelligible as everyone's saying. Then it happens. There's an early moment that forces us to reevaluate that notion, as there's barely enough time to process our thoughts before the ride actually starts, careening off the rails with reckless abandon. 

The story goes in a number of crazy directions, dipping in and out of dimensions, parallel universes and multiverses while crossing over various genres not strictly limited to sci-fi or fantasy. But the most shocking thing is that despite pummeling our senses with a frenetic onslaught of dark comedy, domestic drama and martial arts for nearly two and a half hours, there's a method to the madness. It somehow makes sense because the film remains at its core about a family's relatable struggles, no matter how that happens to manifest itself at any rapidly changing instant. 

Much like the many universes and choices not taken by the protagonist, you could envision an another take on this story that would function as a straightforward character drama examining the Asian immigrant experience. It would still probably be a great achievement, but unnecessary considering we get that anyway, on top of everything else. Writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as "Daniels") take a huge, ambitious swing for the fences that pretty much guarantees it won't all work, which is okay. Then again, it's hard to expect anything less from the team who concocted 2016's bizarre, far from forgettable Swiss Army Man, of which this shares similar, yet entirely different DNA.   

Years ago in China, Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yeoh) fell in love with Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan), eventually eloping to the United States against her strict, traditional father Gong Gong's (James Hong) wishes. Now running a family laundromat that's currently being audited, they're struggling to make ends meet, as Waymond plans to serve Evelyn with divorce papers. With her dad wheelchair bound and living with them, she has also a seriously strained relationship with gay daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), who wants her mother to accept her relationship with non-Chinese girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel), a detail Evelyn hides from Gong Gong. 

Following a disastrous meeting with sullen IRS auditor Deirdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), Waymond's suddenly overtaken by an another version of himself from an alternate universe (the "Alphaverse"). This "Alpha-Waymond" must recruit this Evelyn to use "verse-jumping" technology to access skills and memories of her parallel selves to defeat the villainous Jobu Tupaki, who's created a black (bagel) hole that threatens the multiverse.  As Evelyn uses her newly acquired powers to fight Jobu and an army of followers, her consciousness spans across wildly different universes, as she's given glimpses of into what could have been. In coming face-to-face with Jobu she soon realizes the enemy she was battling wasn't who or what she thought, and it might not be too late to save her family from surrendering to a nihilistic, self-destructive existence.

Any description will make the film sound substantially more convoluted and inaccessible than it actually is, but that fact still doesn't make this any less of a challenge for viewers, from which a lot is demanded. Practically from the jump, the story moves at a breakneck, unrelenting pace before the actual craziness really kicks in. Part of why most of this works is because the Daniels seamlessly introduce this family's dynamic and set the table well enough that you're invested in their plight right away, especially Evelyn's. From that point on, you're willing to follow them through whatever rabbit hole they're dragged down. And there's many of them.

Buried in piles of receipts and completely oblivious to the kind but meek Waymond's half-hearted attempt at initiating a divorce, Evelyn's life is a mess, made no better by a difficult relationship with her father that's now repeating itself with daughter Joy. It's all prologue to what unfolds in that IRS office, when her existence is turned upside down with the arrival of Alpha-Waymond, briefly entering an awkward period where we're trying to figure out if sensational kung fu fights, fanny pack attacks and a villainous auditor of the month stalking the Wangs like Godzilla are meant to be taken literally. It turns out they are. 

Once that's established, what follows becomes a bit easier to take in, with characters popping in and out as actors take on different roles and the multiverse concept provides endless opportunities for a dizzying amount of callbacks and gags. These range from hilarious (A Ratatouille parody with a raccoon, rocks with googly eyes), to intentionally repetitive (hot dog hands), or sometimes just plain disgusting (you know the ones), but there's a usually a narrative reasoning behind them that exceeds mere shock value. 

The martial arts fight scenes are mind blowing in how even some of the cheaper CGI works to further enhance and reflect the film's tone and style, almost as if anything that looked better would only defeat the purpose. Kwan and Scheinert definitely make the most of what they have, and considering the budget, much of what we see on screen does looks very good, with all the dimension hopping containing moments of recognition and joy that will have you leaning forward in your seat. 

The biggest beneficiary is Yeoh, who not only gets to use all the skills that's made her a top action star, but gets to flex certain dramatic and comedic muscles that have gone completely unexplored in any previous role. Struggling with her own shortcomings and disappointment in fully connecting with her family, Evelyn even has a timeline wherein she's a movie star not unlike the actress playing her, as actual red carpet footage and clips of Yeoh are briefly but smoothly inserted in.

Sometimes when an actor makes a big return after a long layoff it can result in disappointment, competing with audiences' memories of how they were once perceived. And if they were a child, it's only further compounded by that seemingly insurmountable nostalgia factor. These unfair expectations are moot in the case of Ke Huy Quan, or as he's best known, Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data from The Goonies. What's so wonderful about his performance is that all the enthusiasm and comedic likability he brought to those roles has not only been entirely retained as an actor over fifty, but fully woven into the fabric of Waymond's character.

That Quan worked as a stunt choreographer had to help in the many action scenes but it's how he manages to balance these different versions of the character from scene-to-scene that leaves the most lasting impression. Whether he's Beta-Wayond goofing off in the laundromat to make his wife's day brighter or Alpha-Waymond guiding Evelyn toward unlocking her full potential, we're buying every second of it. And as an alternate, more debonair Waymond, he delivers the film's most powerful line as both he and Evelyn attempt to make sense of their unmarried existence in a scene reminiscent of a Wong Kar-wai film. At first, 93-year-old legend James Hong initially seems as if he'll be relegated to the sidelines until his Gong Gong emerges as a key antagonist, enabling the veteran actor to also cleverly send up up his most famous role in Big Trouble in Little China. 

Stephanie Hsu is the big breakout, albeit in a far different capacity than Yeoh. The antithesis of her name, Joy's given up all hope and believes nothing matters in the face of her mother's constant criticisms and disapproval. Playing dual roles, Hsu gets to do more than wear crazy costumes and kick ass, somehow merging two seemingly disparate personalities into one, often heartbreakingly. It's only as the film wears on that we realize how important Hsu's performance is to the movie's themes as a whole, which in between its laughs goes dark enough to earn serious consideration as a timely metaphor for suicidal depression. And deftly handling a supporting part unlike anything we've seen her in, Jamie Lee Curtis figures into the equation in constantly surprising ways, delivering a delightfully odd turn. 

You have to wonder what directors like Richard Kelly, David Robert Mitchell, Edgar Wright and Darren Aronofsky must be thinking right now, having each gone down a similarly ambitious route with follow-up projects just as visionary and off-putting, only to be met with varying degrees of ridicule that impacted their careers. But if it's any conciliation, without those titles there's a decent chance we wouldn't have gotten this, or at least the uncompromising version of it that A24 released. That it's broken through like this probably has a lot to do with the universal themes of humanity and culture it hits on, as well as the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. hammered home with an ending (or two or three) that feels earned for the characters.

Undeniably lengthy and sometimes overly reliant on gross-out toilet humor, Everything still manages to come together beautifully, subverting the tropes currently associated with overblown superhero spectacles. It also provides an enduring lead showcase for a long overdue talent while featuring one of the most welcome acting comebacks in years. This won't be for everyone, as the rest test comes in repeated viewings when we discover whether it really is too much and could have used a more focused, disciplined approach. That's possible, but the entire experience just wouldn't be nearly as much fun without all the chaos.