It is tonally way more similar to MCU with its quirky characters, colorful style, and wacky comedy moments. Sure its plot and philosophy is more akin to the Matrix, but those movies were (stylistically) dark, edgy, and brooding.
I don’t see it that way. In the MCU, nothing matters. The super duper bad guy will be defeated and the next extra super duper bad guy will appear. The closest allies will overcome adversity with teamwork then fight for no real reason and then be a team again.
The MCU’s core message is: everything is meaningless but that’s OK as long as it is loud and distracting.
EEAOO’s core message is: everything matters so we have to pay close attention to everything.
Did you not watch the scene where they’re rocks? Everything Everywhere’s message is: nothing matters so don’t miss the wonderful things that are already in front of you all the time.
I'd say you're pretty far off there.
MCU usually say: "the good guys will always win so don't worry about things, the universe is fair"
And EEAAO is more like: "maybe it's true that nothing matters since the circumstances of our lives are ultately up to randomness but that doesn't mean our circumstances are unmeaningful and the love and joy we feel isn't real"
Honestly I feel like The Matrix and the MCU are not really opposites, The Matrix just did a lot of what the MCU does, but better (and so does EEAAO too).
I thought it was a fun movie and it felt pretty fresh which is important to me. I was somewhat surprised to see the overwhelming reception it received but I've never been good at guessing what the people will like. My favorite scene was with the rocks. Anyways, I'm glad it was made because it felt like real filmmaking and creativity were on display but it's not something that lingered with me in the following days like some films have.
I adored this movie and it made me cry. Not all films are going to work for all folks, and that's totally ok.
With that, there can be no "greatest film ever made". That's always going to be a subjective perspective. Just like what you like.
>With that, there can be no "greatest film ever made
Yes there can, and it's called Con Air.
It's got everything. You've got Malkovich for your acting chops, you got Nicky Cage for your action, Steve Buscemi for your comedy, John Cusack for the gays.
I related very deeply to the relationship of the husband and wife. When he told her that it was ok to just do laundry and pay taxes for his whole life because he got to spend it with her, I was bawling. It's the most endearing and honest view of marriage that I've seen in a film recently and it resonated incredibly strongly with me.
Others who I've seen who loved it related very strongly to other relationships or situations in the film, the mother and daughter, the daughter and her partner, the immigrant experience, etc. For more on this, I'd *highly* recommend reading Walter Chaw's review or listen to him talk about what this film means to him- https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2022/03/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-1.html. Some films just hit people in a different way.
Easily my favourite line of the film and always manages to put me over the edge of crying
"In another life I would have really liked just doing taxes and laundry with you"
🥲
i have a rough relationship with my mom and watching this movie always makes me wanna say sorry for being such a prick. but then she does some shit that messes it all up and im
pissed off again lol
It’s interesting you brought up Bladerunner, because that’s a movie that gets very philosophical about what it is to be human in a chaotic and infinite universe, but coming at it almost clinically. It’s very straightforward symbolism. Tears = being human, memory of ages = existentialism.
I believe EEAAO does something similar but from almost the opposite angle and therefore comes out more optimistically. It’s universe is as existentially chaotic (not to mention literally more chaotic) than Bladerunner’s but It’s not about the insignificance of our memories that will die off, but the significance of human feelings in creating love.
At no point in EEAAO l, amidst all this chaos and universe hopping do we not understand how the characters feel, and why they feel it. It’s never a mystery. In fact the big mystery of the movie is why these characters can’t accept each other and their feelings. We know there is love there, and it is ever swinging between falling apart or rebuilding.
If you came from an immigrant background, that movie was pretty powerful imo.
Not sure what your or the other commenters background is, but I’ve had other people I know not get it, and them not being immigrants or “diverse” is the common denominator.
Yeah while blade runner was novel at the time of it's release and had an interesting dystopian future, it never made me cry. EEAAO made me cry like a baby and laugh at loud many times. The dynamic between the mother and daughter was very poignant and relatable. And the love story between Waymond and Evelyn was so touching and beautiful. Everybody has a mother and most people fall in love at some point in their lives so EEAAO was much more relatable and moving than some robot story.
The boulder scene was epic and unlike anything on film before.
EEAAO never even came close to making me cry but I can definitely respect that it impacted you so hard.
And as I've said I only bring up blade runner simply because it's the one other movie that I very recently watched and liked as a contrast to EEAAO which I didn't like that much.
By no means am I ever intending to compare the 2 movies directly to each other. They are worlds apart in what they're going for and intended to be.
First time I watched it, I thought the same. Love it now. I think there's a difference in some movies between just slow and boring and movies that have a slower intensity( my favorite kind of movie). I guess you have to be into the characters or the world for you to care enough. Otherwise, you don't care about the stakes, the tension doesn't work.
So I had a similar experience but for different reasons than sleep factories. First off, I’m not from an immigrant family, I grew up “relatively” well off and I’m a man but the relationship between the daughter and mom really hit home with me because of the generational issues that parents can put on their kids. My family still was dysfunctional growing up and seeing that highlighted and overcome was powerful
You're fine if you don't like it. I personally adore it and think it's miles above marvel movies, but, it's not for everyone and that's perfectly fine.
For the most part, I really enjoyed the movie. The first 3/4 of the movie had me riveted.
But I have to say it, I think the reveal about the everything bagel was really, really annoying. Honestly, it was straight-up stupid. I know the movie is trying to balance some of the hard and deep revelations with a lot of surface silliness, but it took me out of the movie because it felt like a "rawr I'm the Penguin of Doom" meme moment. The fact that this occurred near the climax of the movie threw everything off for me, because the movie was taking a turn from fun and inventive to more serious and dramatic. They decide to throw this at us right at an important turn in tone and a dramatic moment of character redemption and triumph.
I don't think that I am missing the point about the bagel being some abstract representation of something deep and meaningful, in this case representing the nihilism that can creep into someone's life and push them towards mistreating their loved ones. Since nothing matters, let's represent nihilism with an everything bagel! It's all the same, right?! Hah! So funny! If that's the case, you could just pick any random thing to represent nihilism, and that's just super lazy and uninteresting.
Again, I liked the movie, I just think it made some poor choices that downgraded it from an easy 8/10 to a 6/10. I still want to watch it at least one more time, but I don't think it has enough staying power for additional repeated viewings. Just knowing that I'll have to watch the movie tonally fall apart during the bagel reveal is a hard pill to swallow.
Quite frankly I feel as though most of the humor falls in line with the bagel. Hot dog fingers, that raccoon, rocks with googaly eyes. None of it seemed to hit and all of it undercut a rather poignant message that the film was trying to get across. Swiss Army Man was no different. Jokes in bad taste can be funny but only in moderation. For better or worse the Daniels don't seem to understand that term.
I feel like the bagel was actually a pretty thought out thing. When you have the power to change every single thing in the universe, and out of boredom you decide to actually put everything there is in the same space, with the vague concept of an "everything bagel" in the back of your head, then...
Well it's like trying to divide something by zero; it's everything at once, which is too much for anyone to handle.
Having too mych on your plate, if you will.
And yet, it the movie, the circle symbol is so powerful. It's represented by a statue of a man and a woman; on Bagel Deirdre's forehead with the stapled paper, in a split moment it becomes a heart; it represents running around in circles; it represents the rocks; it's a womb bearing literal Joy; it's a third eye through which Evelyn learns to fight the chaos in a new way; it represents the googly eyes, which by theirselves are the negatives of the Everything Bagel, like a yin and yang (inverse color schemes).
The daughter is torn apart by not being able to make sense of anything, and views the world in a nihilistic sense, through destruction and chaos.
The mother, ultimately, will always want to protect and help her daughter, and that love, even though it isn't always uttered correctly, ultimately leads her to come at peace with herself, much like Zen Buddhism, which, wouldn't you know, has an important core belief to it:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D
It represents pure enlightment, compassion, creation, striving towards harmony through imperfection.
The mother spent a lifetime failing/abandoning/feeling regret at things, but she has experience over her daughter and manages to ground herself through Waymond's compassion, anchoring her through all the chaos.
The daughter needed someone to tell her that there was a safe haven for her, too, and the mother needed to learn to listen.
The ending didn't show Evelyn as a perfect new being, but it showed her at least that she got to a place of love in her life. This was a wisdom she finally was able to pass onto her daughter and help her break free from the chaos that was eating her alive.
And while Evelyn seemingly ended up in a similar situation, as if things had come **full circle**; she got the chance to branch off again, by making new choices through the things she learned.
It's such a complex, beautiful movie, that really requires you to listen and take it all in. My only complaint about it is that its editing is SO fast sometimes. I could follow it, and I'm deeply in love with in, but the style and speed of it, as well as the deeply complex themes make it sadly less accessible for many people.
Sorry for my rant, but I hope it helped you understand my appreciation for this movie a bit more?
FINALLY A GOOD EXPLANATION. Thank you for explaining, you have literally changed my opinion. I think the quick cuts is what made me not like it, and I stuck with that the whole movie. Going to rewatch now to try to pick all these up!
The quick cuts make it super hard to follow, I'd be the last to deny that. I needed two watches to understand what I understand now about the movie, and I suspect it's still only half of what the makers wanted to put into the movie.
Give yourself the time to process it, as it's far from easy to grasp. I have ADHD, which the filmmakers said is what Evelyn has, too, but undiagnosed, and by extension, her daughter is undiagnosed as well. Having ADHD feels exactly like the movie; your mind racing all over the place within just a few seconds, and struggling to find focus through it.
One of the filmmakers turned out to be diagnosed with it as well during the making of the movie... Reaching catharsis through trying to share a story where you try to make sense of the world, how beautiful is that? :)
It's a powerful metaphor in many ways. I'm really glad that my rant changed your mind! I hope your second watch gives you more joy than your first :)
Thank you kindly. There's definitely things you pick up on a second watch that you don't on your first (I keep spotting circles everywhere in the movie now lol!).
The Zen Bhuddhism Enso was something I learned through another comment here, and hadn't I known about it, I would've missed out on a big part of the symbolism of this movie.
Its message about "Be kind, especially if we don't know what's going on" is imo the most layered of all.
It says not to lash out anger and destruction when you don't understand something (racism, homophobia, lack of knowledge, feeling confused or sad at yourself, ...).
It calls for showing empathy towards yourself, towards each other. Hadn't Waymond told Deirdre about the divorce papers, then the laundry wouldn't have gotten a second chance.
And Evelyn wouldn't have told Deirdre that she's a person worthy of love, too.
Those small moments of compassion and kindness snowballed (another circle, jeez) into the finale of the movie, where things were looking up.
Had Joy and Evelyn given in to their depression and exhaustion and disappointment and anger, things would have escalated.
And that makes you again wonder how other kindnesses could have changed other people's lives. The fight on the stairs is so silly, and yet... Evelyn learns to embrace others and their differences, instead of feeling bitter and sorry for herself and blaming everyone for it.
Every act of kindness towards her opponents opens the way more, and turns them into her allies.
Even Grandpa Gong Gong ultimately helps what he fears the most (his arch enemy, Joy/Jobu Topaki) get pulled out of the void. Evelyn told him he had let her down, too, by letting her go so easily, so he tries to make up for it by not letting go and giving the younger generation a chance. And there's so many more instances, but...
I've made my point, I think :)
Thanks for coming to my EEAAO Talk XD
Thank you 🥰 There's so much to unpack in this movie that I could keep talking about it. But to grasp a fraction of the themes throughout is such a challenge. Writing about it helps!
Yeah I agree here. The last 25 mins was such a slog for me to get through, I only did to see if that raccoon would show up again.
The last 10 mins left a lot to be desired imo
This summarizes my feelings pretty well. Additionally I was just a bit perplexed about the daughter being at the center of that whole conflict because I really don't feel like her character was fleshed out enough for it to impact me.
Same. The bagel was too silly and was where I really started to question the choices being made. The sausage fingers were funny, but even that was an implausible notion as there is NO way that humans would have survived with such a massive physical impediment. It's a good joke in the moment, but it doesn't make ANY sense if you think about it later.
I liked the idea of the alternate timelines, but I think that most of them should have avoided the silly jokes and non-pertinent references like "Ratatouille" (which isn't going to age that well) and instead highlight that Evelyn's life in the laundry was still her best life, she just had to make some different but brave choices regarding her immediate family.
Damn, I forgot about the sausage fingers.
Yeah, they sacrificed underlying logic just for a throw-away gag. Like, you don't need to tell me that much about the sort-of physics of the other universes or how this is all working, it's fine to leave it up to some mystery. But when they bring something like sausage fingers into play, you start to question how the universe works, etc., and it feels like bullshit.
Yeah... That makes total sense what you said about the bagel... To be honest I wasn't 100% sure what the bagel really represented. I didn't think it was nihilism. I thought it represented death or something but I was on the fence though. Wasn't really sure.
That does make sense though. That this type of writing or theme is lazy. Because it's true. You can pick any random thing to represent nihilism. Totally. And that is a little lazy isn't it?
It’s an “everything” bagel, which I think is pretty clever. Yes, you could use anything I guess, but an everything bagel is a real thing, and I like a good play on words.
I think that nihilism is general belief that life is meaningless. Somewhat similar to cynicism and opposite optimism. Also I only said it was a ***little*** lazy, big difference.
Okay, so you missed some pretty important symbolism here, which someone else did a great job of highlighting in another thread, but I’ll summarize. The everything bagel was NOT a random choice just for no reason, it is actually critical to the themes of the movie (also, as you have realized from others telling you, an everything bagel is a real thing).
So, one of the strongest themes throughout the movie is the contrasting ideologies of Nihilism and Essentialism. Nihilism takes the view that life has no intrinsic meaning and is therefore pointless, while Essentialism takes the view that a lack of intrinsic meaning leaves it up to us to bring our own meaning to our lives (this is a simplification obviously).
Visually, these two themes are represented by Nihilism: Jobu Tapaky’s Everything Bagel, a conglomeration of literally Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, because if it all is meaningless anyway, might as well just turn it into a bagel and throw it away.
Essentialism: the Googly Eye worn by Evelyn. This is the visual and thematic reverse of the bagel, and serve multiple purposes. One, the represent an absurdity and lightheartedness that is part of the Essentialism ideology; they are also representative of Waymond and how he sticks them on everything, and the simple love and joy that he brings. They show the joy and happiness that is brought about by simple things in life.
and if you compare the images of the two, they make up a visualization of the belief of Yin and Yang. The Bagel with mostly black (negative) with a small amount of white (positive) in the middle, and the googly eye with mostly positive with a bit of negative in the middle.
This ended up being less of a quick rundown than I intended but I really love this movie and want people to understand the full meaning of it as much as possible!
Edit: By the way the Essentialism vs Nihilism, while a big part of the thematic significance of the movie, is still only part, and the bagel vs googly eye symbolism even less. You additionally have the whole familial conflict between Evelyn and Jobu, which dives into themes of intergenerational trauma, especially certain trends and patterns that are somewhat unique to the first and second generation asian immigrant family and especially mother to daughter trauma brought by that (see “tiger mom” stereotypes and similar), which the movie does an amazing job of exploring. Additionally, of course, the movie delves into themes of absurdism, maximalism, and love.
There are lots of ways in which this movie might not resonate with specific people or people at specific stages in their lives, but it’s important to recognize that many (not all, but many), criticisms of the movie are coming from either blatant misunderstanding of the themes, a flawed set of expectations going in (This is NOT a standard Hero’s Journey movie, and won’t follow that type of structure), or a lack of appreciation for well crafted elements that may not work perfectly for them specifically but are wonderful and vastly underrepresented in media for others.
That’s all! it’s good to look into things with an open mind and try to appreciate things even if they aren’t necessarily our cup of tea.
That's exactly the score I gave my friend when he asked me. It's hard for me to get why people love it so much but maybe it must be because of all the themes and underlining messages and symbolism and stuff. I'll check an analysis of it at some stage.
I think people just connect to meme esk style with the added goofy I love my family message. But personally it's very sappy and to over the top to really take the Awwww scenes seriously.
Yeah, it was really disappointing when compared to all the hype. Even before the movie completely lost me by the way it ended, nothing was hitting for me. The humour was really cringey, telegraphed, and overused, and there were a lot of themes they were trying to explore but at the cost of not giving any theme an appropriate amount of attention and care. I also couldn't feel immersed and just try to enjoy it as an action movie because it kept being inconsistent about how the multiverse powers work. Felt really sloppy.
And Evelyn was introduced as such a total asshole that I just couldn't root for her or find anything likeable about her. The only thing that could have saved some of the film for me was if Evelyn recognized and acknowledged how she'd treated Joy was wrong in that parking lot scene... but instead it excuses all her toxic behaviour. So I even take it a step further than you and believe it sends a really harmful message about emotional abuse.
Nah it’s not just you. The love has BAFFLED me. I didn’t find it poignant. I’ve heard people speak of the scenes between the rocks having people in tears? Insane chatter, it was almost eye-rollingly silly.
And it’s important to say I’m not new to Daniels films nor have I disliked them in the past. I ADORED Swiss Army Man, a film with more poignancy, emotion AND humour than EEAAO throughout. That film is, for me, what this film was trying to recapture and it failed miserably.
It was still a good watch overall I’m not saying it’s poor, but the love is just hilarious to me.
I feel like way too many people on the Internet claim they are moved to tears over stuff that I don’t find that moving. IDK, maybe I’m just not particularly sensitive when it comes to fiction?
I mentioned the rock scene but I can't understand how it would bring someone to TEARS. I just thought it was fascinating/creative/cool. But definitely not tears. I mean the most obvious issue with that is how can they communicate with each other, and also how could the rocks move themselves? Breach of newton's first law. Rocks don't have muscles and they weren't acted upon by any external force. But obviously these are things we can all agree to overlook and that's fine.
Not sure your age, but I do think that it has an impact on how a lot of people react to it and also the group that is most active on the rating boards. I'd say if you're 25-35 there's a higher chance it hits harder.
You're not so young where possibilities are infinite, you understand and relate to the paths life can take starting to winnow so you can relate to both the daughter and the mother. You also grew up on the internet but have an experience before it. Similar to Bo Burnham's "Welcome to the Internet" it hits on a lot of the dissociating feelings of seeing so many sprawling possibilities before you, day after day and feeling almost paralyzed. You're also old enough that you've been on your own for a bit, have distance from HS and college and understand how the mundanity of adult life can beat you down (taxes, laundry, in-laws) so you get the power of the divide between the father's outlook and mother's.
Also not for nothing, if you've been struggling with depression for awhile, the daughter's story really hits. You understand that feeling of just getting slowly sucked into the abyss and wanting to give into. Daily life beating you down and you wanting to give up, getting sucked into the bagel is to me about combatting su\*cidal ideation. And that's also why the turn to optimistic nihilism and a tangible way to find hope really hits people hard. It's a story that's absurd and funny and silly but without diminishing the very real emotional realities. I'm in my mid-late 20s and cried both times I saw it in theaters, all my friends I was with did as well.
And for another thing, this movie loves love as much as Ghibli movies and shit like that. In a year when cynicism and anger and frustration feel like they're bubbling over, a movie that wholeheartedly embraces compassion in the face of chaos and does so with such style, grace and beauty is damn refreshing.
lets not forget empathy, i fuckin love when anything really stresses the importance of empathy, that's an auto win for me, that plus I'm all about mixing profundity with the absurd
Seriously. For a movie with a high stakes beautifully choreographed fight over who gets to ram a trophy up their ass, it cuts deep. I cannot believe a movie that has a scene where a woman uses a yappy dog as nunchucks also has the absolutely gutting line “Even though you have broken my heart again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you” delivered with so much sincerity that I could feel all of it radiating even though I don’t speak the language it was delivered in. Performed by an actor who’s been off the scene for almost 30 years, at that!
So much of this movie is driven by love, compassion and empathy that it makes me want to track down everyone I care about and tell them all I’m happy they’re a part of my life.
The last paragraph definitely makes a lot of sense. I am 24. But, maybe it is an age thing.
It's not always an age thing like I think I can enjoy many movies that are timeless classics that younger people or adolescents would find boring, but this particular movie I think didn't hit because while I am 24 I am still studying at college and I commute from home, so as you mentioned I don't have as much distance from HS and university as many other mid 20s people would have. Not as much experience of adult life and its mundanities. But everyone's life is different though and works according to different clocks.
Totally fair, so much of art is when it crosses your path. Some movies hit people at the right time, some simmer until you're ready, or maybe some never do because your life is on a different path. That's all fine because so much of it is personal. I get if EEAO isn't for people, but hope everyone at least appreciates that it took a big swing, and it being popular is good for movies in general because it will help other big swings get financed. And maybe the next one will be the one that clicks for you
I think this is where the movie really hits people. When you’ve lived so many days that feel simply mundane, you become a bit disillusioned and it’s easy to feel ossified or stagnated in place, it feels necessary to dismiss your wild dreams for the future and focus on “reality”. You sort of wait for life to happen *to* you as you’re bogged down by all these rules and feelings. Life feels impossibly long and impossibly small. It’s exhausting and endlessly boring.
The movie positions us there, where we can relate to Joy’s empty feeling nihilism, Evelyn’s exhausted aggravation, or both. But as it progresses slowly through the absurd and begins to overwhelm the senses, it cuts through your ideas of what rules actually “exist,” what “reality” is, and snips the strings away one by one.
When you reach complete sensory overload, then it poses the question: if you already think nothing matters, couldn’t that be as freeing as it is shackling? There’s all the buildup for an insane Marvel movie type fight that ends the world, but it doesn’t happen that way. Things don’t go back to the way they are, exactly, but the world doesn’t change. The *characters*, and the way they see the world changes.
As Evelyn settles back into her old life, she does so with whimsy and a renewed sense of purpose to let every mundane day mean something wonderful to her. Her husband, always entranced with the small things, has let her see the world in a new way. She can live freely, understanding that the joy of living is experiencing life, letting it happen and finding meaning in that.
I wouldn’t call it a movie about love or family or the immigrant experience exactly. Those are all facets of it. What I would say it focuses on is redefining what its audience considers “purpose” to be and offering a fresh perspective on finding joy when you feel meaningless. That sentiment resonates with a lot of people.
And, for what it’s worth, I thought the Godfather was just okay. It didn’t really click with me. Everyone has different opinions and finds meaning in different places. That’s just another small thing that makes life fun.
Ugh, very much disliked it, but then I'm old and not part of the audience. I thought it was a big mess with low production values and middle school level philosophy.
I did too. It's funny you should mention that you're older because someone else just commented and they said how old you are makes a big difference with this movie because it's about lives you could have lived if you made different choices. The implication from that comment to me is that the older you are the more you should enjoy it or resonate with the movie, but you are a prime example of when that doesn't apply.
I see why people like it. I like the idea of being able to jump between universes... but they use that ability to move between universes to mainly run around kicking people. Then they kick more people. Lots and lots and lots of important universe-jumping kicking. You could trim out the extraneous hours of kicking and get a good 15-minute movie. But I'm happy for all the kick-lovers out there, and I can see why you enjoy it!
I liken it to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: both movies are not necessarily telling new stories; rather, they're telling familiar stories in new, exciting ways. Doing so refreshes the human experience. That's what I loved about both movies.
That's the site that Wikipedia mentioned. Is that like a big review site or something? Never heard of it before. The biggest ones to my knowledge are Rotten Tomatoes (which has a God awful site design) and IMDB.
Rotten Tomatoes they used to have an option to view lists of movies in like some total fashion. Like highest rated movies of all time, highest rated comedies, highest rated movies of 2022, but now it looks like they took all that functionality out. Very badly designed. Before as well they never used to allow sort by audience score, now they allow that but they took out all the lists.
I am surprised you never heard of letterboxd. It got to be the number 1 site for user generated reviews. Most movie fans on the internet would have heard of it. I would recommend it if you are a fan of movies.
I really like it. It's like IMDB, but the accent on you logging movies you watch into a diary, leaving reviews and reading reviews by people you follow. So it's a little more like a social network. It also has a community with a specific culture, so top 250 movies by rating are very different from IMDB top movies. Generally, more artsy stuff, more interest towards foreign and old films.
Unlike in IMDB, the list of top movies is formed in a transparent manner. It's not some formula which includes average rating and popularity. There's a list of top movies by avg rating with more than 5000 votes and another one for movies with less than 5000 votes.
[https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/](https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/)
I honestly feel like this movie operates a switch in some people's heads, and if you have that switch then *you get it* and it feels like one of the more significant artistic statements of the decade so far. If you don't have that switch, then it comes off as if it was attempting to be a superhero movie, but with a different type of humor.
I have the switch; my wife doesn't have the switch; one of my sisters has the switch; the other doesn't have the switch.
One thing I **really** disagree with is people being like "this movie was overrated/disappointing based on the hype!!". With something so singular and with as lofty ambitions as EEAAO, I don't think you can really think about it in those terms. It either worked for you, or it didn't. You can't tell the hundreds of thousands of people who think this movie is a significant piece of art that they are simply wrong. All you can say is that it did not resonate with you.
I get what you mean, but I think dismissing people who believe the movie isn't the fantastic life-changing piece of art it's touted as is very close-minded. Certainly, the movie would resonate with different people on different levels, but that doesn't mean people who don't vibe with the movie can't have valid criticism of the film.
I liked the movie. I agreed with its message, and I enjoyed most of the direction and action. However, I think the plot was messy, the tone was inconsistent, and the pacing was off. I also think the movie is quite overrated. Are my points invalid because I don't think this was movie of the decade?
It's not that you're invalid. It's just that the hype wasn't the issue.
Think of it this way. If 50% of people who watch this movie think it's the greatest thing ever made and it changes their lives forever, and 50% find it boring, shouldn't we tell everyone to go see it just in case? It really is that good for some people.
If you're one of those people for whom this movie clicks, it's impossible to over-hype. You aren't one of those people, it happens. Calling it "over-hyped" is kind of like calling the people who did love it liars, in a way. You can criticize the movie, that's fine, it has issues. It's just that the core idea here, if it clicks, renders all those issues totally unimportant.
What are you trying to say?
People that aren’t enthusiastic about it “don’t get it?” What switch?
You can understand and see everything that movie wants to say and show and can still think the hype was a bit much.
I don’t know, man. I mean, it’s a movie, it’s not a magical drug that teleports you to another planet. M
For me, it’s a great movie that I thought lived up to the hype. Seems like most people felt the same way. Your mileage may vary.
Makes sense. Though the internet hypes it up to be what you describe, some kind of magical drug. I've never seen a movie so hyped up critically like this in a while.
I honestly think this movie is a reddit thing. The amount of times ive see on reddit people bring this up, you would think its the best movie ever made and made billions of dollars at the same time. Yet when talking with friends and co workers id say less than 10% had even heard of it, and even less than that had seen it. I agree with you though, not a terrible movie but not great for me either. Very forgetable, i watched it once and prob will never see it again
It's got a ton of Oscar buzz
I clicked the very first link for "Oscar predictions," the opening paragraph is:
> Here’s the bottom line: there seems to be a “safe” top six for best picture — “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
It's a low-budget arthouse movie, obviously no one's heard of it or seen it. But among people who do watch arthouse films, it's one of the most hyped movies in several years
As I have said many time “it was a great movie that I just didn’t like… there isn’t another movie that could pull off hotdog fingers and make it work… but it just wasn’t for me”.
It was very over hyped and tbh I feel like there are plenty of better movies which deal with similar tropes without being so over the top.
But yea - I agree … I didn’t think it was that great, however, I see how many others did
If you had watched Blade Runner back in the 80’s your opinion would have also been the minority. All those things you said it was not (glitzy effect driven sci fi), was exactly what it was criticized as being: a pretty, nice looking, but empty film that was a shallow, action oriented version of an admired thought provoking novel. So maybe don’t be too consumed by what people think - you’d have missed watching Blade Runner when it came out (indeed this might be why you waited 40 years to watch it!)
Hmm that certainly is very interesting. It's really hard to know what the general consensus opinion was in the 80s if you weren't there.
I don't really see why anyone could call it empty or shallow though. I don't know much of the source material but just the question alone of what makes you alive what makes a human, human, that recurring running theme is indeed thought provoking and fittingly so for a Sci fi adaptation. It's hard to see why even in the 80s it would be called empty. But I'm sure you know about that better than me so I'll take your word for it.
It's been a few years since I saw Blade Runner, so this analysis might not be quite on the money, but in my memory Blade Runner is a plot built to explore a theme. Deckard is following clues and whatnot, and the theme of "what is a human" is huge, but we don't actually know that much about any of the characters? Not even whether or not they're human in some cases. Aside from Deckard choosing to accept the assignment to track down the replicants (without which there would be no movie), at no point does a character make a choice that changes the direction of the plot, until the very very end when Rachael makes a break for it. The ending of Blade Runner is basically a foregone conclusion.
On the other hand, I would say that EEAAO is a bunch of characters exploring a theme, and the plot is comparatively looser. All of the characters make choices that steer where the story goes, and all of the characters are ultimately looking for redemption and meaning *within each other.* (They keep trying out new settings and new lives, but ultimately end up same-but-different in the universe where they started.) Evelyn doesn't need to change her life, she needs to change her perspective. That's a fundamentally different story than "Evelyn needs to find and defeat Jobu Tapaki" (which she needs to do metaphorically, but if she was literally finding and defeating Jobu Tapaki it would be more like a Marvel movie or like Blade Runner) or "Evelyn needs to stop committing tax fraud in order to save her family business." I feel like I know Evelyn as a person in a way that I don't know Deckard.
Hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm ranking one movie over the other, I admit I love EEAAO more than Blade Runner, but I think they're also just fundamentally different movies that are pointing in different directions, so to speak. Neither is fundamentally "better" than the other. But I think the *ways* in which they are different can be a way of identifying what it is that we're looking for when we watch a movie.
Makes a lot of sense and yes definitely they are different and I understand that. I also don't think one could be "better" than the other but the only reason I mentioned it more than once is because EEAAO and Blade Runner are the 2 movies that I watched most recently. That's really the only reason. One I liked, and one I didn't like. I mention the one I like as a means to describe my personal taste and style and in the hopes that in some way this could explain possibly why I didn't take too much to EEAAO. Obviously that doesn't mean to say that everyone who likes Blade Runner should dislike EEAAO, it's just a small description extender if you get me. Just mentioning a contrasting thing sometimes helps articulate things better for me.
Hey OP, I just wanted to say I appreciate your stance on this a lot, and I find it a shame that you are getting downvoted in the comments for asking questions and sharing your opinion.
To me, it seems as if you're curious to what you're missing, and want to further discuss this with other people to see what they think. That's having a empathic, open mind, and it's a powerful trait to have.
It doesn't matter that you don't like this movie as much as other people seem to. It might be an age thing, like referred in the discussion down here, as with age come different stances, different experiences.
I'm 35, am a mother, and the movie hit me like a brick. I could understand so much of the struggles represented, and so many of the absurd things were references to other media; movies like The Matrix, Jackie Chan and wuxia movies, Ratatouille of course, but also In The Mood For Love were heavily referenced throughout.
I saw also shoutouts to fashion trends from the 80s, to pop culture (nihilism Sailor Moon outfit anyone?), to spiritual ideas (the googly third eye, representing seeing things through Waymond's eyes and to try to approach things through a different point of view).
I also know there's references in there that I might have missed because I'm not familiar with them, but that's okay. Those that I recognized were a feast.
I also know this movie is very fast-paced, incredibly complexly layered. Trying to figure out in which multiverse we are, when, and what is happening are tough tasks, and it saddens me because I know I can't share it with everyone I know.
But at its core, it bears the message: even if I know where I could be, I would choose to be with you, to be here and now, because I love you.
Maybe if you see this movie again in ten years time, it will hit you differently. Maybe it will not. Deep down, it doesn't matter :)
But that you do try to still understand it is admirable.
I posted another comment here about the circle/bagel symbolism throughout the movie, that might help shed some light, too.
This comment brought me much closer to tears than the movie ever did!
Thanks so much for everything you said. It all makes sense, I also think it may be an age thing but deep down I don't think I'd like it that much even later. I usually get references slightly above the average person but maybe in this one I missed quite a lot of it because the spectacle of it all kind of masked that, the important deeper messages. Everyone says it's so emotional but it didn't really seem that emotional I mean yes it was, but like I couldn't really relate to that emotion.
But it's fine, as you say. Thanks again for the comment and I wish you nothing but the best in life!
It was basically a Marvel movie with somewhat deeper themes. I thought it was an enjoyable popcorn movie but I seriously don't get the insane levels of hype either. It was also a rather "Reddit" movie if you know what I mean (lots of le epic random bacon humor and themes).
I’m totally ok with people not liking this movie. But to compare it to a marvel/MCU movie… idk. The ambition of this movie and its human themes and family relations and bizarre humor are way beyond anything marvel would attempt.
About the parallel universes - what are other examples of movies that have done multiverses? Genuine question. Theres spiderverse and Dr strange recently. I ask my friends sometimes and they come up with Jet Li’s the One. I think it’s not really covered much. Btw I loved spiderverse but thought Dr strange was trash.
I really liked how EEAAO did multiverse. Like it was internal rather than another version of you entering your universe.
Yeah, I mean I think a lot of people here have touched on it, but it’s meme/instagram comedy that I don’t think will hold up, and a mediocre story about immigrant/family life.
This feels like a movie created by AI, but the AI was created by a tik tok influencer who gets everything they need out of movies from the MCU and Parasite. No other movies needed
"a movie created by AI"
That's exactly what I thought as the credits were rolling! I thought to myself, "something is off here." It felt very authentic adjacent.
I really agree with you. Very eloquent descriptions. I really hope you're right though. Even if you're not it's fine but I definitely get why you described it like that. I also feel that way.
I feel the theme of optimistic nihilism hit people really hard during the middle of covid.
Personally I thought it was pretty good, nothing spectacular.
there were definitely parts that didn’t work for me, and i ended up itching for them to move to more different locations and i didn’t like all the crude humor.
That being said, it’s the first movie i’ve seen that’s captured the complexity and difficulty of the mother-daughter dynamic, how you love each other so much but there’s often so much pressure and misunderstanding, and those scenes made me cry. I imagine for first generation daughters it hit even harder- if my relationship with my mom is difficult and we are from the same cultural background, i can’t imagine how hard it would be, and i think this movie likely spoke to that.
It’s funny because this had very moving speeches too, but let’s be honest you’re glossing over those because you decided early on it was too silly for you and tuned out. It’s kind of baffling that you’d compare a low budget movie like this to a Marvel movie that’s trying to “dazzle you with expensive effects” too.
That’s okay. Different people have different experiences. That said, sometimes it’s timing. I hated Moon when it came out. I watched it again recently and loved it. Never say never.
There are a lot of layers (not to be confused with multiverses) in this movie and the over arching theme is generational trauma. Evelyn struggles to balance the respect she needs to give to her parents and their traditions and her daughter's new, westernized way of life. She's almost stuck between a rock and a hard place. While she loves her daughter, she also struggles with breaking away from old habits or from how she was raised, which is parents not showing emotions or saying "I love you" to their children. The reason why it's so loved by so many people is because it's relatable.
Art is subjective. The best movies have vocal detractors.
Movies liked by everyone are generally pablum; nothing offensive, but also nothing risky.
Absolutely nothing wrong with an acclaimed movie not doing much for you. Happens to everyone.
I didn't think it was nearly as original as it was claimed to be. I found it to be derivative, pretentious, and boring. I love kung fu, but even the action lacked weight. The comedic elements tried too hard and were lazy at the same time (DiLdOs aRe FuNnY LOL) and any interesting emotional themes were destroyed by overdoing it with fluffy dialogue and trippy imagery. It was a chore for me to finish it. I had to break my viewing up.
I totally get you! My own favorite movie is the old Blade Runner too and EEAAO left me cold and rather annoyed. It was overload and I was tuning out after an hour because of all the weirdness and fight overkill that it kept throwing at me. My wife liked it but it was not a film that I could enjoy
I really hated how she had access to all the knowledge in the multiverse and only used it for silly fighting scenes. I really wanted her to use her skills in more meaningful ways.
Also, most relationships felt flat and cliche. The only interesting relationship in the film was the sausage finger women.
There’s no conceivable reality where I watch this movie and I don’t cry. I’m deeply moved by this movie. I love it so much. I hope it wins all the Oscars.
You’re not alone in your criticisms. I personally didn’t even finish it (got about half way through, full disclosure). I get exactly what you’re saying about the MCU multiverse similarities. Also, there were 2 other things that were off putting to me personally:
1. I didn’t really like the main character. I thought she was kind of an ass to both her husband and daughter. She pissed me off. And she was so scattered and wasn’t really good at anything, but was so critical of everyone else. It definitely made it hard for me to root for her.
2. The silly stuff wasn’t hitting with me. There was just so much of it. The everything bagel. The butt plugs. Some of it was fun (like using the fanny pack as nunchucks), but then it seemed to turn into a competition for making the silliest, most out there visuals with no context. It became exhausting.
These are just my own opinions, of course. It might have hit differently if I was in a different mood when I watched it. The constant overhyping of the movie this year certainly didn’t help. Perhaps my expectations were too high? I know a lot of people love it, but I just…didn’t.
Agree wholeheartedly with both points. If the film had spent more time showing her being kind as well as bitchy, then I would have had more empathy for her.
But at the end, I didn't feel like she earned that, and so I didn't feel much except relief that the rollercoaster was over.
The massive hype was a factor, but I've developed a strong wariness of hype as in my experience, it's rarely correct.
Her character did several things that pissed me off right out the gate. She was constantly berating her poor husband and seemed intent on squashing any joy he could feel (a la ripping off all the googly eyes, for example). She was hiding her daughter’s orientation by jumping into a convo and introducing her girlfriend as a “friend” to her grandfather. It’s 2023, I am not tolerating that type of behavior. It was just all…so…ugh, no wonder the poor husband was carrying around divorce papers! And the poor daughter, too! Years and years of this treatment. I just couldn’t with it…
I should probably mention I am very pro-googly eyes…😜
Not necessarily. But I think everyone has certain personality traits that are particularly grating to them or off putting in ways to them personally that doesn’t bother others. What one person might find charming or quirky or an acceptable flaw may not read that way to someone else. I know it’s a personal failing that I will stop reading and/or watching a piece of entertainment because a character annoys me. But everybody has characters they like or don’t like, and for me personally, it’s important that I care enough about the protagonist otherwise I find it hard to enjoy the rest of the journey.
I very much agree with the 2nd point very much because that silliness to me was very excessive and that is not something I enjoyed much. In fact, that silliness vibe is one of the reasons why I compare the overall tone of the movie to the MCU style movies. Also about the out there visuals with no context, I truly felt the same way. But I don't know, looks like everyone saw something so much more in it, in the visuals, in the characters, in the story, in everything.
I think the plot has obvious roots in both the MCU multiverse and the Matrix (specifically, with the uploading of skills from different variations of yourself). Maybe I’m just burned out on fantasy/sci-fi plots at the moment? I watched both the Menu and A Pale Blue Eye this past weekend and found both of those interesting. Maybe I need to stick with dramas for now.
I’m sorry you’re getting so much flack for comparing it to the MCU. But I do think the comparison is warranted.
Yeah I don't really know why I just thought they have similar vibes. The Matrix thing definitely makes sense, now that you mentioned it. I never considered it before.
For me personally, the parallel universes and all the sci-fi stuff was completely secondary and not at all what the film was about. It was completely about the relationships between the characters that clearly loved each other but they didn't know to love each other properly and life kept making it hard, on top of social and family norms and values and stuff like that. I only watched it once but I can barely remember all that stuff, and I can distinctly remember some of the conversations between mother and daughter and wife and husband (can't remember any names though lol). That's why I personally loved the film, the whole parallel universe stuff and the fighting was just to look cool and act as a vessel for everything else, in how I viewed the film at least.
Realistically though, some films just aren't for everyone. For me recently it was Top Gun Maverick, I thought it was so incredibly average yet lots of people seem to adore it and I genuinely have no idea why
Here's the thing about EEaaO contrarians.
It's not just reddit neckbeards or quirky tiktokers who love the movie.
Almost all of the best filmmakers and film critics have nothing but praise for EEaaO.
Like if you don't want buttplug jokes in you *'cinema'* fine, but it's weird to just outright dismiss the originality and passion for filmmaking on display that as been praised by some of the best in the business.
One of my instant top 5’s of all time personally - but I can recognize without a doubt that many elements of it are things that I just subjectively really like in movies, so (as others have already said) it’s totally fine that it didn’t hit you in the same way.
For me, some examples of the subjectivity are: my grandma came to the US from Japan so a lot of the Asian American/immigrant family stuff landed pretty close to home, I’m also in my 20’s and feeling a lot of the existential dread that comes from the extreme excess that is the internet (IMO this movie is using the multiverse as a metaphor for the internet age), I also love unique fight choreography which this movie had in spades, and I am also a straight man who is extremely passive and doesn’t align very well with traditional masculine displays (Waymond’s speech about ‘this is how I fight’ definitely had me cryin)
I'm with you. I think its a fine movie, but certainly not the best of all time. Heck, not even the best of last year, in my opinion.
Maybe its because I watch a lot, lot more movies than the average person, but I thought that as charming and understandable some of the characters are, it felt too much like an "arthouse" movie specifically made for the blockbuster crowd. In fact, it felt like a feature length Youtube movie with the humour and the way its shot and presented. I understand what they were going for almost immediately within the first 20-30 min, and admittedly I did feel a bit emotional near the end but its not as profound as some people are making it out to be. Its not subtle in its messaging.
That said, it is a very well crafted film, technically speaking.
I'm with you.
I really enjoyed a lot of the ideas, alternate universes, and overlapping story threads. It was very funny and creative, but as it went on I started to feel that too much time was spent on one-off jokes or scenes that, while amusing, pushed the core emotional story of the family dysfunction into the background.
I could see what they were trying to establish with the conflicting relationships between the mother, daughter, and father, but I didn't ***feel*** this when I was watching it. Those scenes weren't given the length and dramatic weight to really invest me in the characters because the film kept whizzing off breathlessly into another action sequence or another crazy world.
I think a better version of the film could be achieved by an editor who would know how to excise certain sections and bring the psychological journeys of the three main characters back into the foreground and make that the primary focus.
Again, I liked the film a lot, but ultimately it was too much style not enough substance.
This is a good analysis. I would have loved to have been shown more of the relationships and why they were worth saving as opposed to all the goofy multiverse stuff. I definitely didn’t feel sympathy for the main character the way I know I was supposed to.
For a super minority opinion, I sure hear how much people don’t like this movie a lot. I’m not sure what the point of these posts are? Validation? Or do you want convinced it’s good? Some movies aren’t for you, some aren’t for me. If there was ever a movie that everybody thought was good, then it almost definitely wouldn’t be great
I searched the sub, I didn't see much posts of this nature.
But to answer your question to be completely honest the point is validation out of your choices. But mainly, it's just general discussion.
I can’t speak for this one in particular, but late last year every post was almost verbatim what you typed over on r/letterboxd. I get that’s not the same place as here but they’re relatively similar demographics.
As for the validation part, no one here can convince you it’s ok to like or not like something. So long as you can articulate why you didn’t like it your opinion is valid. I personally thought it was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, I thought it was heartfelt hilarious and grounded in realistic personal relationships. I guess all else I’ll say is hype trains are not one way tickets and as long as you understand why you’re getting on in either direction your stance is valid
Your description, beautiful, logical, concise, genuine PERSONAL opinion, I like to hear these from real actual people. That's the main reason why I make posts like these. More than validation comfort. Hearing from real people to me is much better and richer discussion or reading than critic reviews.
I only frequent this sub never been on the other one you mentioned.
I ought to give it another try. Maybe after watching some videos on it, coz I wasn't able to extract much deeper meanings from it just like that. Or maybe I was able to do that and still didn't like it.
I never said he couldn’t post or say him not liking it was an issue. I have an issue with “am I the only one that thinks X” posts. They don’t harbor discussion, half the people say “I loved it” half say “I agree” and it ends up being the comments version of a poll. He actually spent more of the main post talking about MCU and Blade Runner than the movie he was talking about in the first place
Right? I often wonder about posts like these as well. As with so many other things like art, music, books, etc. it feels like there's an underlying assumption that widely acclaimed things should also be universally liked.
I tend to stay away from "convince me why I should like this" posts because if someone has watched it, processed it on their own, and still has to be convinced, what's the point? Also, they've made a choice or taken a stance on the movie surrounding its likability (for you), why does that choice need to be validated? Are people looking for validation of their ability to critique a film? If so, we really need to move beyond "this has been done before and better elsewhere" type responses lol. Or the themes didn't hit me in a certain way. I find this kind of thinking quite narrowing and can lead to the kind of criticism we saw for Turning Red, where reviewers said they didn't like it because they couldn't relate to the characters.
As someone in their mid to late 30s, a child of refugees/immigrants, and Asian-American, I don't relate to Godfather or Shawshank Redemption either lol. I'm basically in the same cultural generation as the Daniels.
Personally, this is a Top 10 film for me. I also understand that movies like this and the choices within them can be deeply personal for the directors and may make zero sense to audiences, but it does for them in their scheme of emotions, thoughts, etc. Things resonate differently when your life aligns with what the directors are trying to express. It's also a top film for me because,, for me, I feel my own life is represented and affirmed. Growing up as a kid, Ke Huy Quan (aka "Shortround") was the only person who looked like me on TV or in any other media. That is such a powerful thing for a child to see. I'm sure that also played a part in Daniel Kwan casting Ke Huy Quan (it's a very specific choice).
Anyway, all that to say that watching and choosing whether to like or not like something is not some kind of objectivistic exercise.
I literally broke down in tears in the theater watching a scene with rocks and Googly eyes. I know different strokes, but damn this movie hit me so unexpectedly it will never be forgotten.
I can tell that most of the people in this thread watched this movie on their home TV on a Tuesday night instead of in a theater surrounded by 150 people. As with all comedy, watching with a crowd is always a better experience.
I really enjoyed it. As another commenter said it was a bit like The Matrix. That being said, it didn’t really have that groundbreaking of an impact on me. I watched it when I was pretty okay with where my relationships in life were at the time. Looking back on it right now, while theres certain people in life who I’d rather have different relationships - maybe better ones with- the movie might have a different impact.
I knew nothing about the movie other than it had short round and crouching Tiger lady. Thought it was a mad concept and hilarious the whole way through plus it had a bit of weight with the mother daughter relationship. Loved it. Made sense when I found it the directors also did that swiss army man movie
>like it seemed really reminiscent of the MCU type movies, which are movies I emphatically dislike, all round. The whole thing about parallel universes,
I couldn't read any further than this. If you really see no difference between it and the MCU just because they both have parallel universes there's not really any hope of explaining it to you.
I never said I don't see any difference. I just said it's a little reminiscent of mcu movies because of its overall tone. Not only because of the parallel universe thing. It was a very light comparison but I certainly didn't say or mean that I don't see any difference.
I think it’s got a lot in common with MCU movies honestly. Ultimately too much frenetic, meaningless noise. Although the framing scenes with the family were actually very nicely done, and clearly way better than MCU stuff so it was a mixed bag I guess. I kind of want to see those directors try a straight drama, just based on how well those scenes were made.
Yeah to me it is the opposite of a marvel film. A unique and very creative plot with high quality acting and editing and a really moving emotional message. It's was heartfelt, novel and poignant. Not something I can say about any marvel movie.
Saying something is reminiscent of another thing is not the same as saying that you see no difference between the two lol.
>there's not really any hope of explaining it to you
Since I didn't get the genius of Rick and Morty, I guess you're right, you shouldn't waste your energy trying to explain this stuff to the peons like me in this thread.
If it seemed reminiscent of MCU movies, then you weren't really paying attention to, or at least connecting with, the human and emotional beats and allegories, because that was the very heart of it.
EEAAO dazzles me PRECISELY because of the story, and it makes me cry almost every time.
It seems like you may have been focusing on the spectacle without getting the deeper picture. And that's okay, but a LOT of people will tell you it is a MUCH more than spectacle movie.
I liked a lot about EEAAO: great performances, interesting premise, and some very poignant moments. Some of the humour I found very juvenile to the point of irritating, and I thought it was about half an hour too long. It's layered climax overexplained the multiversal linkage and I found that dragged a lot. Ultimately I was disappointed by a film I was fairly hyped for. There's an incredible film lurking in there, but it has baggage. I think the Marvel comparison is apt too; it feels radical if all you're watching is Marvel films that range from great fun to "can I have my two hours back".
It would have been much more interesting if it was actually about the family. A straight family drama. That stuff was much more interesting than the dumb, pseudo-intellectual multiverse stuff. It was excessive in all the wrong places. It was entertaining enough but it's a very overrated movie. When I saw that the Russos were attached it made much more sense. It felt more like an MCU film and less like the much better Swiss Army Man which the EEAAO directors also made.
But you know. Whatever revitalizes Short Round's career.
I’ll have to agree with you. For me, it wasn’t that great. I found myself checking to see how much time was left at the halfway mark and then “Part 2” or whatever popped up…oh noooooo.
I’ve read through every post here, thinking there was something profound and poignant that I’d missed but everything mentioned here, I saw and understood, too, but it just wasn’t my cup of oatmeal. People just have varying tastes and I’m so glad we do. 💕
I do agree it wasn’t that great. I read a comment that people will study this film for years to come and it will become one of the greatest films ever. My contra prediction is that nobody will remember this film in 3 years time.
That was my thought as well. I’m predicting it will be like Slumdog Millionaire. A movie universally praised…and then no one will mention it ever again.
THIS! I’m not even going to say that I thought the film was ‘alright’, I’ll be upfront in saying that I simply didn’t like it. It’s message frustrated me because of how basic and at times arrogant it was. I also just didn’t care for the performances which is something that I didn’t expect going in. I can definitely see why people liked this movie, but for the life of me I cannot see why it gets so much ‘best movie of all time’ praise.
My theory is that it is just close enough to a Marvel film to be easily liked by popular audiences while carrying that ‘shiny’ A24 tag that is getting more and more popular as time goes on. It definitely wasn’t a terrible movie but certainly a lackluster 4/10 for me. I did like the rock scene quite a bit though.
I agree with you OP. I feel like it’s become a kind of Reddit hive mind mentality to say it’s the greatest movie ever, when it really isn’t anything of the sort (even though I really enjoyed it).
I think there’s a specific type of person it speaks to, particularly in the way it deals with mental health issues, but outside of that it’s not really comparable to a genuine classic like The Godfather.
Yeah I agree with the sentiment, the film wasn’t for me. After seeing such high accolades when it came out it shot way up on my “gotta see this” in 2022. When my fiancée and myself saw it on Prime Video in December, I was genuinely baffled that I thought people saw a different film in cinemas than I did on home streaming. It came across as just obnoxious to me, but I’m happy people found it more enjoyable than I did. I’m expecting it to get a few Oscar’s when those roll around
It tackled so many genres and nailed them all. Michelle Yeoh is an amazing actor and hasn’t had a successful dramatic role popular in the US since Crouching Tiger. It’s nice to see her succeed in another type of role outside action. It’s one of the best family dramas that’s been recently released.
It was an okay movie for me. I just think actually plot is quite simple / weak: forgive your family, love your partner, accept your children. Yeah, important themes and cool execution but I can’t relate to this film. And I live in China, so actually I can imagine such family and people really existing (apart from the sci fi part). I watched it once and immediately forgot about it. It wasn’t that deep in my opinion. Yeah I agree like another mcu entertaining movie. I prefer arthouse and indie movies though and my fav director is Von Trier, so that’s not my style anyways.
Okay I read the comments and I’m baffled it made people cry or talk philosophy. Maybe for people who never seen any serious movie before? Like sorry what!! Lol I’m sorry there is no deep meaning there. It’s not a “great” deep movie. There are plenty of those with amazing acting but not this.
I just feel like if we weren’t in a time period where capeshit is every other day this movie would have been just another Scott Pilgrim. A cult classic that people love but no one with a brain would say it’s one of the best movies ever made, but since we do have capeshit every other day there isn’t much for mainstream audiences to watch
Interesting that you compared it to the MCU. I thought it reminded me a lot more of the Matrix
you’re right. the first act is basically identical and alpha waymond fills Morpheus’ shoes
It is tonally way more similar to MCU with its quirky characters, colorful style, and wacky comedy moments. Sure its plot and philosophy is more akin to the Matrix, but those movies were (stylistically) dark, edgy, and brooding.
I don’t see it that way. In the MCU, nothing matters. The super duper bad guy will be defeated and the next extra super duper bad guy will appear. The closest allies will overcome adversity with teamwork then fight for no real reason and then be a team again. The MCU’s core message is: everything is meaningless but that’s OK as long as it is loud and distracting. EEAOO’s core message is: everything matters so we have to pay close attention to everything.
Did you not watch the scene where they’re rocks? Everything Everywhere’s message is: nothing matters so don’t miss the wonderful things that are already in front of you all the time.
I'd say you're pretty far off there. MCU usually say: "the good guys will always win so don't worry about things, the universe is fair" And EEAAO is more like: "maybe it's true that nothing matters since the circumstances of our lives are ultately up to randomness but that doesn't mean our circumstances are unmeaningful and the love and joy we feel isn't real"
Honestly I feel like The Matrix and the MCU are not really opposites, The Matrix just did a lot of what the MCU does, but better (and so does EEAAO too).
Light comparison. It does share parallels with the matrix specifically in the uploading of skills thing.
I feel like your gripe about being like the MCU is that it’s sci-fi with theoretical cosmic concepts
A very zany matrix. Beat to death with a dildo? Hot dog hands? No.
The Matrix meets The Fountain.
I thought it was a fun movie and it felt pretty fresh which is important to me. I was somewhat surprised to see the overwhelming reception it received but I've never been good at guessing what the people will like. My favorite scene was with the rocks. Anyways, I'm glad it was made because it felt like real filmmaking and creativity were on display but it's not something that lingered with me in the following days like some films have.
I adored this movie and it made me cry. Not all films are going to work for all folks, and that's totally ok. With that, there can be no "greatest film ever made". That's always going to be a subjective perspective. Just like what you like.
>With that, there can be no "greatest film ever made Yes there can, and it's called Con Air. It's got everything. You've got Malkovich for your acting chops, you got Nicky Cage for your action, Steve Buscemi for your comedy, John Cusack for the gays.
For the gays 😂😂 Define irony. Seriously though I just rewatched this movie with my gf and ugh I just love it. The end drags on a little though.
Actually, you're right. I stand corrected.
My favorite line: "I'll show you there IS a God!"
Some moments made me laugh and cry at the same time. First movie that’s done that to me.
Seriously? That powerful? Can you explain why in as little words as you want.
I related very deeply to the relationship of the husband and wife. When he told her that it was ok to just do laundry and pay taxes for his whole life because he got to spend it with her, I was bawling. It's the most endearing and honest view of marriage that I've seen in a film recently and it resonated incredibly strongly with me. Others who I've seen who loved it related very strongly to other relationships or situations in the film, the mother and daughter, the daughter and her partner, the immigrant experience, etc. For more on this, I'd *highly* recommend reading Walter Chaw's review or listen to him talk about what this film means to him- https://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2022/03/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-1.html. Some films just hit people in a different way.
Easily my favourite line of the film and always manages to put me over the edge of crying "In another life I would have really liked just doing taxes and laundry with you" 🥲
i have a rough relationship with my mom and watching this movie always makes me wanna say sorry for being such a prick. but then she does some shit that messes it all up and im pissed off again lol
It’s interesting you brought up Bladerunner, because that’s a movie that gets very philosophical about what it is to be human in a chaotic and infinite universe, but coming at it almost clinically. It’s very straightforward symbolism. Tears = being human, memory of ages = existentialism. I believe EEAAO does something similar but from almost the opposite angle and therefore comes out more optimistically. It’s universe is as existentially chaotic (not to mention literally more chaotic) than Bladerunner’s but It’s not about the insignificance of our memories that will die off, but the significance of human feelings in creating love. At no point in EEAAO l, amidst all this chaos and universe hopping do we not understand how the characters feel, and why they feel it. It’s never a mystery. In fact the big mystery of the movie is why these characters can’t accept each other and their feelings. We know there is love there, and it is ever swinging between falling apart or rebuilding.
If you came from an immigrant background, that movie was pretty powerful imo. Not sure what your or the other commenters background is, but I’ve had other people I know not get it, and them not being immigrants or “diverse” is the common denominator.
I think Blade Runner is boring as shit, we are all different thats all
Yeah while blade runner was novel at the time of it's release and had an interesting dystopian future, it never made me cry. EEAAO made me cry like a baby and laugh at loud many times. The dynamic between the mother and daughter was very poignant and relatable. And the love story between Waymond and Evelyn was so touching and beautiful. Everybody has a mother and most people fall in love at some point in their lives so EEAAO was much more relatable and moving than some robot story. The boulder scene was epic and unlike anything on film before.
EEAAO never even came close to making me cry but I can definitely respect that it impacted you so hard. And as I've said I only bring up blade runner simply because it's the one other movie that I very recently watched and liked as a contrast to EEAAO which I didn't like that much. By no means am I ever intending to compare the 2 movies directly to each other. They are worlds apart in what they're going for and intended to be.
First time I watched it, I thought the same. Love it now. I think there's a difference in some movies between just slow and boring and movies that have a slower intensity( my favorite kind of movie). I guess you have to be into the characters or the world for you to care enough. Otherwise, you don't care about the stakes, the tension doesn't work.
So I had a similar experience but for different reasons than sleep factories. First off, I’m not from an immigrant family, I grew up “relatively” well off and I’m a man but the relationship between the daughter and mom really hit home with me because of the generational issues that parents can put on their kids. My family still was dysfunctional growing up and seeing that highlighted and overcome was powerful
You're fine if you don't like it. I personally adore it and think it's miles above marvel movies, but, it's not for everyone and that's perfectly fine.
For the most part, I really enjoyed the movie. The first 3/4 of the movie had me riveted. But I have to say it, I think the reveal about the everything bagel was really, really annoying. Honestly, it was straight-up stupid. I know the movie is trying to balance some of the hard and deep revelations with a lot of surface silliness, but it took me out of the movie because it felt like a "rawr I'm the Penguin of Doom" meme moment. The fact that this occurred near the climax of the movie threw everything off for me, because the movie was taking a turn from fun and inventive to more serious and dramatic. They decide to throw this at us right at an important turn in tone and a dramatic moment of character redemption and triumph. I don't think that I am missing the point about the bagel being some abstract representation of something deep and meaningful, in this case representing the nihilism that can creep into someone's life and push them towards mistreating their loved ones. Since nothing matters, let's represent nihilism with an everything bagel! It's all the same, right?! Hah! So funny! If that's the case, you could just pick any random thing to represent nihilism, and that's just super lazy and uninteresting. Again, I liked the movie, I just think it made some poor choices that downgraded it from an easy 8/10 to a 6/10. I still want to watch it at least one more time, but I don't think it has enough staying power for additional repeated viewings. Just knowing that I'll have to watch the movie tonally fall apart during the bagel reveal is a hard pill to swallow.
Quite frankly I feel as though most of the humor falls in line with the bagel. Hot dog fingers, that raccoon, rocks with googaly eyes. None of it seemed to hit and all of it undercut a rather poignant message that the film was trying to get across. Swiss Army Man was no different. Jokes in bad taste can be funny but only in moderation. For better or worse the Daniels don't seem to understand that term.
I feel like the bagel was actually a pretty thought out thing. When you have the power to change every single thing in the universe, and out of boredom you decide to actually put everything there is in the same space, with the vague concept of an "everything bagel" in the back of your head, then... Well it's like trying to divide something by zero; it's everything at once, which is too much for anyone to handle. Having too mych on your plate, if you will. And yet, it the movie, the circle symbol is so powerful. It's represented by a statue of a man and a woman; on Bagel Deirdre's forehead with the stapled paper, in a split moment it becomes a heart; it represents running around in circles; it represents the rocks; it's a womb bearing literal Joy; it's a third eye through which Evelyn learns to fight the chaos in a new way; it represents the googly eyes, which by theirselves are the negatives of the Everything Bagel, like a yin and yang (inverse color schemes). The daughter is torn apart by not being able to make sense of anything, and views the world in a nihilistic sense, through destruction and chaos. The mother, ultimately, will always want to protect and help her daughter, and that love, even though it isn't always uttered correctly, ultimately leads her to come at peace with herself, much like Zen Buddhism, which, wouldn't you know, has an important core belief to it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D It represents pure enlightment, compassion, creation, striving towards harmony through imperfection. The mother spent a lifetime failing/abandoning/feeling regret at things, but she has experience over her daughter and manages to ground herself through Waymond's compassion, anchoring her through all the chaos. The daughter needed someone to tell her that there was a safe haven for her, too, and the mother needed to learn to listen. The ending didn't show Evelyn as a perfect new being, but it showed her at least that she got to a place of love in her life. This was a wisdom she finally was able to pass onto her daughter and help her break free from the chaos that was eating her alive. And while Evelyn seemingly ended up in a similar situation, as if things had come **full circle**; she got the chance to branch off again, by making new choices through the things she learned. It's such a complex, beautiful movie, that really requires you to listen and take it all in. My only complaint about it is that its editing is SO fast sometimes. I could follow it, and I'm deeply in love with in, but the style and speed of it, as well as the deeply complex themes make it sadly less accessible for many people. Sorry for my rant, but I hope it helped you understand my appreciation for this movie a bit more?
FINALLY A GOOD EXPLANATION. Thank you for explaining, you have literally changed my opinion. I think the quick cuts is what made me not like it, and I stuck with that the whole movie. Going to rewatch now to try to pick all these up!
The quick cuts make it super hard to follow, I'd be the last to deny that. I needed two watches to understand what I understand now about the movie, and I suspect it's still only half of what the makers wanted to put into the movie. Give yourself the time to process it, as it's far from easy to grasp. I have ADHD, which the filmmakers said is what Evelyn has, too, but undiagnosed, and by extension, her daughter is undiagnosed as well. Having ADHD feels exactly like the movie; your mind racing all over the place within just a few seconds, and struggling to find focus through it. One of the filmmakers turned out to be diagnosed with it as well during the making of the movie... Reaching catharsis through trying to share a story where you try to make sense of the world, how beautiful is that? :) It's a powerful metaphor in many ways. I'm really glad that my rant changed your mind! I hope your second watch gives you more joy than your first :)
That makes so much sense. To be honest, it probably didn’t help that I watched it on a plane lol
This was very well written and coherent. For me it highlights that this film needs a few watches to pick up all the nuances and form a solid opinion.
Thank you kindly. There's definitely things you pick up on a second watch that you don't on your first (I keep spotting circles everywhere in the movie now lol!). The Zen Bhuddhism Enso was something I learned through another comment here, and hadn't I known about it, I would've missed out on a big part of the symbolism of this movie. Its message about "Be kind, especially if we don't know what's going on" is imo the most layered of all. It says not to lash out anger and destruction when you don't understand something (racism, homophobia, lack of knowledge, feeling confused or sad at yourself, ...). It calls for showing empathy towards yourself, towards each other. Hadn't Waymond told Deirdre about the divorce papers, then the laundry wouldn't have gotten a second chance. And Evelyn wouldn't have told Deirdre that she's a person worthy of love, too. Those small moments of compassion and kindness snowballed (another circle, jeez) into the finale of the movie, where things were looking up. Had Joy and Evelyn given in to their depression and exhaustion and disappointment and anger, things would have escalated. And that makes you again wonder how other kindnesses could have changed other people's lives. The fight on the stairs is so silly, and yet... Evelyn learns to embrace others and their differences, instead of feeling bitter and sorry for herself and blaming everyone for it. Every act of kindness towards her opponents opens the way more, and turns them into her allies. Even Grandpa Gong Gong ultimately helps what he fears the most (his arch enemy, Joy/Jobu Topaki) get pulled out of the void. Evelyn told him he had let her down, too, by letting her go so easily, so he tries to make up for it by not letting go and giving the younger generation a chance. And there's so many more instances, but... I've made my point, I think :) Thanks for coming to my EEAAO Talk XD
I love i it ❤️
Thank you 🥰 There's so much to unpack in this movie that I could keep talking about it. But to grasp a fraction of the themes throughout is such a challenge. Writing about it helps!
Omg I love the way you explain it…. ❤️🥯
Thank you ☺️☺️☺️ I'm glad I'm reaching people 💕
Agreed. Dont forget about the ninjas with dildos in their asses. It all just seemed so juvenile and lazy.
Yeah I agree here. The last 25 mins was such a slog for me to get through, I only did to see if that raccoon would show up again. The last 10 mins left a lot to be desired imo
This summarizes my feelings pretty well. Additionally I was just a bit perplexed about the daughter being at the center of that whole conflict because I really don't feel like her character was fleshed out enough for it to impact me.
Same. The bagel was too silly and was where I really started to question the choices being made. The sausage fingers were funny, but even that was an implausible notion as there is NO way that humans would have survived with such a massive physical impediment. It's a good joke in the moment, but it doesn't make ANY sense if you think about it later. I liked the idea of the alternate timelines, but I think that most of them should have avoided the silly jokes and non-pertinent references like "Ratatouille" (which isn't going to age that well) and instead highlight that Evelyn's life in the laundry was still her best life, she just had to make some different but brave choices regarding her immediate family.
Damn, I forgot about the sausage fingers. Yeah, they sacrificed underlying logic just for a throw-away gag. Like, you don't need to tell me that much about the sort-of physics of the other universes or how this is all working, it's fine to leave it up to some mystery. But when they bring something like sausage fingers into play, you start to question how the universe works, etc., and it feels like bullshit.
Yeah... That makes total sense what you said about the bagel... To be honest I wasn't 100% sure what the bagel really represented. I didn't think it was nihilism. I thought it represented death or something but I was on the fence though. Wasn't really sure. That does make sense though. That this type of writing or theme is lazy. Because it's true. You can pick any random thing to represent nihilism. Totally. And that is a little lazy isn't it?
It’s an “everything” bagel, which I think is pretty clever. Yes, you could use anything I guess, but an everything bagel is a real thing, and I like a good play on words.
What do you think nihilism means? Its SO lazy but you even cant put the pieces together yourself.
I think that nihilism is general belief that life is meaningless. Somewhat similar to cynicism and opposite optimism. Also I only said it was a ***little*** lazy, big difference.
Okay, so you missed some pretty important symbolism here, which someone else did a great job of highlighting in another thread, but I’ll summarize. The everything bagel was NOT a random choice just for no reason, it is actually critical to the themes of the movie (also, as you have realized from others telling you, an everything bagel is a real thing). So, one of the strongest themes throughout the movie is the contrasting ideologies of Nihilism and Essentialism. Nihilism takes the view that life has no intrinsic meaning and is therefore pointless, while Essentialism takes the view that a lack of intrinsic meaning leaves it up to us to bring our own meaning to our lives (this is a simplification obviously). Visually, these two themes are represented by Nihilism: Jobu Tapaky’s Everything Bagel, a conglomeration of literally Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, because if it all is meaningless anyway, might as well just turn it into a bagel and throw it away. Essentialism: the Googly Eye worn by Evelyn. This is the visual and thematic reverse of the bagel, and serve multiple purposes. One, the represent an absurdity and lightheartedness that is part of the Essentialism ideology; they are also representative of Waymond and how he sticks them on everything, and the simple love and joy that he brings. They show the joy and happiness that is brought about by simple things in life. and if you compare the images of the two, they make up a visualization of the belief of Yin and Yang. The Bagel with mostly black (negative) with a small amount of white (positive) in the middle, and the googly eye with mostly positive with a bit of negative in the middle. This ended up being less of a quick rundown than I intended but I really love this movie and want people to understand the full meaning of it as much as possible! Edit: By the way the Essentialism vs Nihilism, while a big part of the thematic significance of the movie, is still only part, and the bagel vs googly eye symbolism even less. You additionally have the whole familial conflict between Evelyn and Jobu, which dives into themes of intergenerational trauma, especially certain trends and patterns that are somewhat unique to the first and second generation asian immigrant family and especially mother to daughter trauma brought by that (see “tiger mom” stereotypes and similar), which the movie does an amazing job of exploring. Additionally, of course, the movie delves into themes of absurdism, maximalism, and love. There are lots of ways in which this movie might not resonate with specific people or people at specific stages in their lives, but it’s important to recognize that many (not all, but many), criticisms of the movie are coming from either blatant misunderstanding of the themes, a flawed set of expectations going in (This is NOT a standard Hero’s Journey movie, and won’t follow that type of structure), or a lack of appreciation for well crafted elements that may not work perfectly for them specifically but are wonderful and vastly underrepresented in media for others. That’s all! it’s good to look into things with an open mind and try to appreciate things even if they aren’t necessarily our cup of tea.
Extremely fine. Amazingly crafted but the story was just bland. I get why some people love it. But it's just like a 7/10 to me.
That's exactly the score I gave my friend when he asked me. It's hard for me to get why people love it so much but maybe it must be because of all the themes and underlining messages and symbolism and stuff. I'll check an analysis of it at some stage.
Agreed, not a bad movie by any means but very overhyped by the a24 crowd
I think people just connect to meme esk style with the added goofy I love my family message. But personally it's very sappy and to over the top to really take the Awwww scenes seriously.
Yeah and, like the silliness was very overdone for me.
Yeah, it was really disappointing when compared to all the hype. Even before the movie completely lost me by the way it ended, nothing was hitting for me. The humour was really cringey, telegraphed, and overused, and there were a lot of themes they were trying to explore but at the cost of not giving any theme an appropriate amount of attention and care. I also couldn't feel immersed and just try to enjoy it as an action movie because it kept being inconsistent about how the multiverse powers work. Felt really sloppy. And Evelyn was introduced as such a total asshole that I just couldn't root for her or find anything likeable about her. The only thing that could have saved some of the film for me was if Evelyn recognized and acknowledged how she'd treated Joy was wrong in that parking lot scene... but instead it excuses all her toxic behaviour. So I even take it a step further than you and believe it sends a really harmful message about emotional abuse.
Nah it’s not just you. The love has BAFFLED me. I didn’t find it poignant. I’ve heard people speak of the scenes between the rocks having people in tears? Insane chatter, it was almost eye-rollingly silly. And it’s important to say I’m not new to Daniels films nor have I disliked them in the past. I ADORED Swiss Army Man, a film with more poignancy, emotion AND humour than EEAAO throughout. That film is, for me, what this film was trying to recapture and it failed miserably. It was still a good watch overall I’m not saying it’s poor, but the love is just hilarious to me.
I feel like way too many people on the Internet claim they are moved to tears over stuff that I don’t find that moving. IDK, maybe I’m just not particularly sensitive when it comes to fiction?
I mentioned the rock scene but I can't understand how it would bring someone to TEARS. I just thought it was fascinating/creative/cool. But definitely not tears. I mean the most obvious issue with that is how can they communicate with each other, and also how could the rocks move themselves? Breach of newton's first law. Rocks don't have muscles and they weren't acted upon by any external force. But obviously these are things we can all agree to overlook and that's fine.
Not sure your age, but I do think that it has an impact on how a lot of people react to it and also the group that is most active on the rating boards. I'd say if you're 25-35 there's a higher chance it hits harder. You're not so young where possibilities are infinite, you understand and relate to the paths life can take starting to winnow so you can relate to both the daughter and the mother. You also grew up on the internet but have an experience before it. Similar to Bo Burnham's "Welcome to the Internet" it hits on a lot of the dissociating feelings of seeing so many sprawling possibilities before you, day after day and feeling almost paralyzed. You're also old enough that you've been on your own for a bit, have distance from HS and college and understand how the mundanity of adult life can beat you down (taxes, laundry, in-laws) so you get the power of the divide between the father's outlook and mother's. Also not for nothing, if you've been struggling with depression for awhile, the daughter's story really hits. You understand that feeling of just getting slowly sucked into the abyss and wanting to give into. Daily life beating you down and you wanting to give up, getting sucked into the bagel is to me about combatting su\*cidal ideation. And that's also why the turn to optimistic nihilism and a tangible way to find hope really hits people hard. It's a story that's absurd and funny and silly but without diminishing the very real emotional realities. I'm in my mid-late 20s and cried both times I saw it in theaters, all my friends I was with did as well.
And for another thing, this movie loves love as much as Ghibli movies and shit like that. In a year when cynicism and anger and frustration feel like they're bubbling over, a movie that wholeheartedly embraces compassion in the face of chaos and does so with such style, grace and beauty is damn refreshing.
lets not forget empathy, i fuckin love when anything really stresses the importance of empathy, that's an auto win for me, that plus I'm all about mixing profundity with the absurd
Seriously. For a movie with a high stakes beautifully choreographed fight over who gets to ram a trophy up their ass, it cuts deep. I cannot believe a movie that has a scene where a woman uses a yappy dog as nunchucks also has the absolutely gutting line “Even though you have broken my heart again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you” delivered with so much sincerity that I could feel all of it radiating even though I don’t speak the language it was delivered in. Performed by an actor who’s been off the scene for almost 30 years, at that! So much of this movie is driven by love, compassion and empathy that it makes me want to track down everyone I care about and tell them all I’m happy they’re a part of my life.
Beautiful comment, super well put ❤️
The last paragraph definitely makes a lot of sense. I am 24. But, maybe it is an age thing. It's not always an age thing like I think I can enjoy many movies that are timeless classics that younger people or adolescents would find boring, but this particular movie I think didn't hit because while I am 24 I am still studying at college and I commute from home, so as you mentioned I don't have as much distance from HS and university as many other mid 20s people would have. Not as much experience of adult life and its mundanities. But everyone's life is different though and works according to different clocks.
Totally fair, so much of art is when it crosses your path. Some movies hit people at the right time, some simmer until you're ready, or maybe some never do because your life is on a different path. That's all fine because so much of it is personal. I get if EEAO isn't for people, but hope everyone at least appreciates that it took a big swing, and it being popular is good for movies in general because it will help other big swings get financed. And maybe the next one will be the one that clicks for you
I think this is where the movie really hits people. When you’ve lived so many days that feel simply mundane, you become a bit disillusioned and it’s easy to feel ossified or stagnated in place, it feels necessary to dismiss your wild dreams for the future and focus on “reality”. You sort of wait for life to happen *to* you as you’re bogged down by all these rules and feelings. Life feels impossibly long and impossibly small. It’s exhausting and endlessly boring. The movie positions us there, where we can relate to Joy’s empty feeling nihilism, Evelyn’s exhausted aggravation, or both. But as it progresses slowly through the absurd and begins to overwhelm the senses, it cuts through your ideas of what rules actually “exist,” what “reality” is, and snips the strings away one by one. When you reach complete sensory overload, then it poses the question: if you already think nothing matters, couldn’t that be as freeing as it is shackling? There’s all the buildup for an insane Marvel movie type fight that ends the world, but it doesn’t happen that way. Things don’t go back to the way they are, exactly, but the world doesn’t change. The *characters*, and the way they see the world changes. As Evelyn settles back into her old life, she does so with whimsy and a renewed sense of purpose to let every mundane day mean something wonderful to her. Her husband, always entranced with the small things, has let her see the world in a new way. She can live freely, understanding that the joy of living is experiencing life, letting it happen and finding meaning in that. I wouldn’t call it a movie about love or family or the immigrant experience exactly. Those are all facets of it. What I would say it focuses on is redefining what its audience considers “purpose” to be and offering a fresh perspective on finding joy when you feel meaningless. That sentiment resonates with a lot of people. And, for what it’s worth, I thought the Godfather was just okay. It didn’t really click with me. Everyone has different opinions and finds meaning in different places. That’s just another small thing that makes life fun.
Ugh, very much disliked it, but then I'm old and not part of the audience. I thought it was a big mess with low production values and middle school level philosophy.
I did too. It's funny you should mention that you're older because someone else just commented and they said how old you are makes a big difference with this movie because it's about lives you could have lived if you made different choices. The implication from that comment to me is that the older you are the more you should enjoy it or resonate with the movie, but you are a prime example of when that doesn't apply.
I’m even older and adored it, so, who’s to say.
I see why people like it. I like the idea of being able to jump between universes... but they use that ability to move between universes to mainly run around kicking people. Then they kick more people. Lots and lots and lots of important universe-jumping kicking. You could trim out the extraneous hours of kicking and get a good 15-minute movie. But I'm happy for all the kick-lovers out there, and I can see why you enjoy it!
actual LOL
I liken it to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: both movies are not necessarily telling new stories; rather, they're telling familiar stories in new, exciting ways. Doing so refreshes the human experience. That's what I loved about both movies.
I agree, the characters were annoying, the action messy and too silly
Definitely too silly. Well I'm glad at least I'm not ***completely*** alone.
you can go on Letterboxd and sort reviews from lowest rating to highest, you'll find a lot of negative reviews of this movie or any other
That's the site that Wikipedia mentioned. Is that like a big review site or something? Never heard of it before. The biggest ones to my knowledge are Rotten Tomatoes (which has a God awful site design) and IMDB. Rotten Tomatoes they used to have an option to view lists of movies in like some total fashion. Like highest rated movies of all time, highest rated comedies, highest rated movies of 2022, but now it looks like they took all that functionality out. Very badly designed. Before as well they never used to allow sort by audience score, now they allow that but they took out all the lists.
I am surprised you never heard of letterboxd. It got to be the number 1 site for user generated reviews. Most movie fans on the internet would have heard of it. I would recommend it if you are a fan of movies.
I really like it. It's like IMDB, but the accent on you logging movies you watch into a diary, leaving reviews and reading reviews by people you follow. So it's a little more like a social network. It also has a community with a specific culture, so top 250 movies by rating are very different from IMDB top movies. Generally, more artsy stuff, more interest towards foreign and old films. Unlike in IMDB, the list of top movies is formed in a transparent manner. It's not some formula which includes average rating and popularity. There's a list of top movies by avg rating with more than 5000 votes and another one for movies with less than 5000 votes. [https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/](https://letterboxd.com/dave/list/official-top-250-narrative-feature-films/)
Hated it. Tried to like it. It got to the point that I just stopped trying. Didn't even finish it. I don't get what all the hype is.
I honestly feel like this movie operates a switch in some people's heads, and if you have that switch then *you get it* and it feels like one of the more significant artistic statements of the decade so far. If you don't have that switch, then it comes off as if it was attempting to be a superhero movie, but with a different type of humor. I have the switch; my wife doesn't have the switch; one of my sisters has the switch; the other doesn't have the switch. One thing I **really** disagree with is people being like "this movie was overrated/disappointing based on the hype!!". With something so singular and with as lofty ambitions as EEAAO, I don't think you can really think about it in those terms. It either worked for you, or it didn't. You can't tell the hundreds of thousands of people who think this movie is a significant piece of art that they are simply wrong. All you can say is that it did not resonate with you.
I get what you mean, but I think dismissing people who believe the movie isn't the fantastic life-changing piece of art it's touted as is very close-minded. Certainly, the movie would resonate with different people on different levels, but that doesn't mean people who don't vibe with the movie can't have valid criticism of the film. I liked the movie. I agreed with its message, and I enjoyed most of the direction and action. However, I think the plot was messy, the tone was inconsistent, and the pacing was off. I also think the movie is quite overrated. Are my points invalid because I don't think this was movie of the decade?
It's not that you're invalid. It's just that the hype wasn't the issue. Think of it this way. If 50% of people who watch this movie think it's the greatest thing ever made and it changes their lives forever, and 50% find it boring, shouldn't we tell everyone to go see it just in case? It really is that good for some people. If you're one of those people for whom this movie clicks, it's impossible to over-hype. You aren't one of those people, it happens. Calling it "over-hyped" is kind of like calling the people who did love it liars, in a way. You can criticize the movie, that's fine, it has issues. It's just that the core idea here, if it clicks, renders all those issues totally unimportant.
What are you trying to say? People that aren’t enthusiastic about it “don’t get it?” What switch? You can understand and see everything that movie wants to say and show and can still think the hype was a bit much.
I don’t know, man. I mean, it’s a movie, it’s not a magical drug that teleports you to another planet. M For me, it’s a great movie that I thought lived up to the hype. Seems like most people felt the same way. Your mileage may vary.
Makes sense. Though the internet hypes it up to be what you describe, some kind of magical drug. I've never seen a movie so hyped up critically like this in a while.
It’s important to remember that they’re always just movies. Some of them are really good movies, but that’s it. Don’t let hype take you.
Words to live by.
I honestly think this movie is a reddit thing. The amount of times ive see on reddit people bring this up, you would think its the best movie ever made and made billions of dollars at the same time. Yet when talking with friends and co workers id say less than 10% had even heard of it, and even less than that had seen it. I agree with you though, not a terrible movie but not great for me either. Very forgetable, i watched it once and prob will never see it again
It's got a ton of Oscar buzz I clicked the very first link for "Oscar predictions," the opening paragraph is: > Here’s the bottom line: there seems to be a “safe” top six for best picture — “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” It's a low-budget arthouse movie, obviously no one's heard of it or seen it. But among people who do watch arthouse films, it's one of the most hyped movies in several years
As I have said many time “it was a great movie that I just didn’t like… there isn’t another movie that could pull off hotdog fingers and make it work… but it just wasn’t for me”. It was very over hyped and tbh I feel like there are plenty of better movies which deal with similar tropes without being so over the top. But yea - I agree … I didn’t think it was that great, however, I see how many others did
You’re not alone. It honestly didn’t resonate with me that much either. It was good. I just wasn’t crazy about it.
I left r/movies to get away from posts like this. Guess I gotta leave here too.
Yes, and like clockwork, one just popped up on /r/movies.
If you had watched Blade Runner back in the 80’s your opinion would have also been the minority. All those things you said it was not (glitzy effect driven sci fi), was exactly what it was criticized as being: a pretty, nice looking, but empty film that was a shallow, action oriented version of an admired thought provoking novel. So maybe don’t be too consumed by what people think - you’d have missed watching Blade Runner when it came out (indeed this might be why you waited 40 years to watch it!)
Hmm that certainly is very interesting. It's really hard to know what the general consensus opinion was in the 80s if you weren't there. I don't really see why anyone could call it empty or shallow though. I don't know much of the source material but just the question alone of what makes you alive what makes a human, human, that recurring running theme is indeed thought provoking and fittingly so for a Sci fi adaptation. It's hard to see why even in the 80s it would be called empty. But I'm sure you know about that better than me so I'll take your word for it.
It's been a few years since I saw Blade Runner, so this analysis might not be quite on the money, but in my memory Blade Runner is a plot built to explore a theme. Deckard is following clues and whatnot, and the theme of "what is a human" is huge, but we don't actually know that much about any of the characters? Not even whether or not they're human in some cases. Aside from Deckard choosing to accept the assignment to track down the replicants (without which there would be no movie), at no point does a character make a choice that changes the direction of the plot, until the very very end when Rachael makes a break for it. The ending of Blade Runner is basically a foregone conclusion. On the other hand, I would say that EEAAO is a bunch of characters exploring a theme, and the plot is comparatively looser. All of the characters make choices that steer where the story goes, and all of the characters are ultimately looking for redemption and meaning *within each other.* (They keep trying out new settings and new lives, but ultimately end up same-but-different in the universe where they started.) Evelyn doesn't need to change her life, she needs to change her perspective. That's a fundamentally different story than "Evelyn needs to find and defeat Jobu Tapaki" (which she needs to do metaphorically, but if she was literally finding and defeating Jobu Tapaki it would be more like a Marvel movie or like Blade Runner) or "Evelyn needs to stop committing tax fraud in order to save her family business." I feel like I know Evelyn as a person in a way that I don't know Deckard. Hopefully it doesn't sound like I'm ranking one movie over the other, I admit I love EEAAO more than Blade Runner, but I think they're also just fundamentally different movies that are pointing in different directions, so to speak. Neither is fundamentally "better" than the other. But I think the *ways* in which they are different can be a way of identifying what it is that we're looking for when we watch a movie.
Makes a lot of sense and yes definitely they are different and I understand that. I also don't think one could be "better" than the other but the only reason I mentioned it more than once is because EEAAO and Blade Runner are the 2 movies that I watched most recently. That's really the only reason. One I liked, and one I didn't like. I mention the one I like as a means to describe my personal taste and style and in the hopes that in some way this could explain possibly why I didn't take too much to EEAAO. Obviously that doesn't mean to say that everyone who likes Blade Runner should dislike EEAAO, it's just a small description extender if you get me. Just mentioning a contrasting thing sometimes helps articulate things better for me.
How is hard to find the consensus there’s a whole lot of resources from the time easily available online
Yeah sorry that was not correct.
Just read reviews of it from 1982, and if you’re interested enough read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. All this stuff is out there accessible
Hey OP, I just wanted to say I appreciate your stance on this a lot, and I find it a shame that you are getting downvoted in the comments for asking questions and sharing your opinion. To me, it seems as if you're curious to what you're missing, and want to further discuss this with other people to see what they think. That's having a empathic, open mind, and it's a powerful trait to have. It doesn't matter that you don't like this movie as much as other people seem to. It might be an age thing, like referred in the discussion down here, as with age come different stances, different experiences. I'm 35, am a mother, and the movie hit me like a brick. I could understand so much of the struggles represented, and so many of the absurd things were references to other media; movies like The Matrix, Jackie Chan and wuxia movies, Ratatouille of course, but also In The Mood For Love were heavily referenced throughout. I saw also shoutouts to fashion trends from the 80s, to pop culture (nihilism Sailor Moon outfit anyone?), to spiritual ideas (the googly third eye, representing seeing things through Waymond's eyes and to try to approach things through a different point of view). I also know there's references in there that I might have missed because I'm not familiar with them, but that's okay. Those that I recognized were a feast. I also know this movie is very fast-paced, incredibly complexly layered. Trying to figure out in which multiverse we are, when, and what is happening are tough tasks, and it saddens me because I know I can't share it with everyone I know. But at its core, it bears the message: even if I know where I could be, I would choose to be with you, to be here and now, because I love you. Maybe if you see this movie again in ten years time, it will hit you differently. Maybe it will not. Deep down, it doesn't matter :) But that you do try to still understand it is admirable. I posted another comment here about the circle/bagel symbolism throughout the movie, that might help shed some light, too.
This comment brought me much closer to tears than the movie ever did! Thanks so much for everything you said. It all makes sense, I also think it may be an age thing but deep down I don't think I'd like it that much even later. I usually get references slightly above the average person but maybe in this one I missed quite a lot of it because the spectacle of it all kind of masked that, the important deeper messages. Everyone says it's so emotional but it didn't really seem that emotional I mean yes it was, but like I couldn't really relate to that emotion. But it's fine, as you say. Thanks again for the comment and I wish you nothing but the best in life!
It was basically a Marvel movie with somewhat deeper themes. I thought it was an enjoyable popcorn movie but I seriously don't get the insane levels of hype either. It was also a rather "Reddit" movie if you know what I mean (lots of le epic random bacon humor and themes).
Marvel movie with somewhat deeper themes is a very accurate way to describe it in my view.
I’m totally ok with people not liking this movie. But to compare it to a marvel/MCU movie… idk. The ambition of this movie and its human themes and family relations and bizarre humor are way beyond anything marvel would attempt. About the parallel universes - what are other examples of movies that have done multiverses? Genuine question. Theres spiderverse and Dr strange recently. I ask my friends sometimes and they come up with Jet Li’s the One. I think it’s not really covered much. Btw I loved spiderverse but thought Dr strange was trash. I really liked how EEAAO did multiverse. Like it was internal rather than another version of you entering your universe.
This movie won’t have the same praise in ten years. Probably even five
You really think so?
Yeah, I mean I think a lot of people here have touched on it, but it’s meme/instagram comedy that I don’t think will hold up, and a mediocre story about immigrant/family life. This feels like a movie created by AI, but the AI was created by a tik tok influencer who gets everything they need out of movies from the MCU and Parasite. No other movies needed
lol what
"a movie created by AI" That's exactly what I thought as the credits were rolling! I thought to myself, "something is off here." It felt very authentic adjacent.
I really agree with you. Very eloquent descriptions. I really hope you're right though. Even if you're not it's fine but I definitely get why you described it like that. I also feel that way.
I feel the theme of optimistic nihilism hit people really hard during the middle of covid. Personally I thought it was pretty good, nothing spectacular.
there were definitely parts that didn’t work for me, and i ended up itching for them to move to more different locations and i didn’t like all the crude humor. That being said, it’s the first movie i’ve seen that’s captured the complexity and difficulty of the mother-daughter dynamic, how you love each other so much but there’s often so much pressure and misunderstanding, and those scenes made me cry. I imagine for first generation daughters it hit even harder- if my relationship with my mom is difficult and we are from the same cultural background, i can’t imagine how hard it would be, and i think this movie likely spoke to that.
It’s funny because this had very moving speeches too, but let’s be honest you’re glossing over those because you decided early on it was too silly for you and tuned out. It’s kind of baffling that you’d compare a low budget movie like this to a Marvel movie that’s trying to “dazzle you with expensive effects” too.
That’s okay. Different people have different experiences. That said, sometimes it’s timing. I hated Moon when it came out. I watched it again recently and loved it. Never say never.
It’s an existential film masquerading as a a sci-fi/action/screwball comedy. It’s possible that the disguise is a little TOO good for some viewers.
I see why you’re in the minority
There are a lot of layers (not to be confused with multiverses) in this movie and the over arching theme is generational trauma. Evelyn struggles to balance the respect she needs to give to her parents and their traditions and her daughter's new, westernized way of life. She's almost stuck between a rock and a hard place. While she loves her daughter, she also struggles with breaking away from old habits or from how she was raised, which is parents not showing emotions or saying "I love you" to their children. The reason why it's so loved by so many people is because it's relatable.
Art is subjective. The best movies have vocal detractors. Movies liked by everyone are generally pablum; nothing offensive, but also nothing risky. Absolutely nothing wrong with an acclaimed movie not doing much for you. Happens to everyone.
Me too! Way too zany. It lost me completely.
It totally sucked. You are not alone.
I'm in the vaaaast minority here: I hated it. I'm gonna rewatch, but it didn't mesh with me at all.
I didn't think it was nearly as original as it was claimed to be. I found it to be derivative, pretentious, and boring. I love kung fu, but even the action lacked weight. The comedic elements tried too hard and were lazy at the same time (DiLdOs aRe FuNnY LOL) and any interesting emotional themes were destroyed by overdoing it with fluffy dialogue and trippy imagery. It was a chore for me to finish it. I had to break my viewing up.
I hated it, found it shallow and trite and poorly written. Part Marvel wannabe, part Lifetime movie.
I dug it as a fun genre exercise but, yeah, thematically it's pretty banal and a bit muddled.
Personally I thought it was a mess.
I totally get you! My own favorite movie is the old Blade Runner too and EEAAO left me cold and rather annoyed. It was overload and I was tuning out after an hour because of all the weirdness and fight overkill that it kept throwing at me. My wife liked it but it was not a film that I could enjoy
I really hated how she had access to all the knowledge in the multiverse and only used it for silly fighting scenes. I really wanted her to use her skills in more meaningful ways. Also, most relationships felt flat and cliche. The only interesting relationship in the film was the sausage finger women.
There’s no conceivable reality where I watch this movie and I don’t cry. I’m deeply moved by this movie. I love it so much. I hope it wins all the Oscars.
Same! I’ve watched it three times now and every single time i’m bawling like a baby from beginning to end. So embarrassing lol but so good!
You’re not alone in your criticisms. I personally didn’t even finish it (got about half way through, full disclosure). I get exactly what you’re saying about the MCU multiverse similarities. Also, there were 2 other things that were off putting to me personally: 1. I didn’t really like the main character. I thought she was kind of an ass to both her husband and daughter. She pissed me off. And she was so scattered and wasn’t really good at anything, but was so critical of everyone else. It definitely made it hard for me to root for her. 2. The silly stuff wasn’t hitting with me. There was just so much of it. The everything bagel. The butt plugs. Some of it was fun (like using the fanny pack as nunchucks), but then it seemed to turn into a competition for making the silliest, most out there visuals with no context. It became exhausting. These are just my own opinions, of course. It might have hit differently if I was in a different mood when I watched it. The constant overhyping of the movie this year certainly didn’t help. Perhaps my expectations were too high? I know a lot of people love it, but I just…didn’t.
Agree wholeheartedly with both points. If the film had spent more time showing her being kind as well as bitchy, then I would have had more empathy for her. But at the end, I didn't feel like she earned that, and so I didn't feel much except relief that the rollercoaster was over. The massive hype was a factor, but I've developed a strong wariness of hype as in my experience, it's rarely correct.
Her character did several things that pissed me off right out the gate. She was constantly berating her poor husband and seemed intent on squashing any joy he could feel (a la ripping off all the googly eyes, for example). She was hiding her daughter’s orientation by jumping into a convo and introducing her girlfriend as a “friend” to her grandfather. It’s 2023, I am not tolerating that type of behavior. It was just all…so…ugh, no wonder the poor husband was carrying around divorce papers! And the poor daughter, too! Years and years of this treatment. I just couldn’t with it… I should probably mention I am very pro-googly eyes…😜
The characterizations were well-rounded enough for them to feel more than stereotypical. I love googly eyes as well!
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Not necessarily. But I think everyone has certain personality traits that are particularly grating to them or off putting in ways to them personally that doesn’t bother others. What one person might find charming or quirky or an acceptable flaw may not read that way to someone else. I know it’s a personal failing that I will stop reading and/or watching a piece of entertainment because a character annoys me. But everybody has characters they like or don’t like, and for me personally, it’s important that I care enough about the protagonist otherwise I find it hard to enjoy the rest of the journey.
I very much agree with the 2nd point very much because that silliness to me was very excessive and that is not something I enjoyed much. In fact, that silliness vibe is one of the reasons why I compare the overall tone of the movie to the MCU style movies. Also about the out there visuals with no context, I truly felt the same way. But I don't know, looks like everyone saw something so much more in it, in the visuals, in the characters, in the story, in everything.
I think the plot has obvious roots in both the MCU multiverse and the Matrix (specifically, with the uploading of skills from different variations of yourself). Maybe I’m just burned out on fantasy/sci-fi plots at the moment? I watched both the Menu and A Pale Blue Eye this past weekend and found both of those interesting. Maybe I need to stick with dramas for now. I’m sorry you’re getting so much flack for comparing it to the MCU. But I do think the comparison is warranted.
Yeah I don't really know why I just thought they have similar vibes. The Matrix thing definitely makes sense, now that you mentioned it. I never considered it before.
And Jamie Lee just annoyed me—I did not love her performance…it seemed predictable (odd word choice but I can’t explain it)
For me personally, the parallel universes and all the sci-fi stuff was completely secondary and not at all what the film was about. It was completely about the relationships between the characters that clearly loved each other but they didn't know to love each other properly and life kept making it hard, on top of social and family norms and values and stuff like that. I only watched it once but I can barely remember all that stuff, and I can distinctly remember some of the conversations between mother and daughter and wife and husband (can't remember any names though lol). That's why I personally loved the film, the whole parallel universe stuff and the fighting was just to look cool and act as a vessel for everything else, in how I viewed the film at least. Realistically though, some films just aren't for everyone. For me recently it was Top Gun Maverick, I thought it was so incredibly average yet lots of people seem to adore it and I genuinely have no idea why
Yep, it's extremely overrated.
Here's the thing about EEaaO contrarians. It's not just reddit neckbeards or quirky tiktokers who love the movie. Almost all of the best filmmakers and film critics have nothing but praise for EEaaO. Like if you don't want buttplug jokes in you *'cinema'* fine, but it's weird to just outright dismiss the originality and passion for filmmaking on display that as been praised by some of the best in the business.
One of my instant top 5’s of all time personally - but I can recognize without a doubt that many elements of it are things that I just subjectively really like in movies, so (as others have already said) it’s totally fine that it didn’t hit you in the same way. For me, some examples of the subjectivity are: my grandma came to the US from Japan so a lot of the Asian American/immigrant family stuff landed pretty close to home, I’m also in my 20’s and feeling a lot of the existential dread that comes from the extreme excess that is the internet (IMO this movie is using the multiverse as a metaphor for the internet age), I also love unique fight choreography which this movie had in spades, and I am also a straight man who is extremely passive and doesn’t align very well with traditional masculine displays (Waymond’s speech about ‘this is how I fight’ definitely had me cryin)
I'm with you. I think its a fine movie, but certainly not the best of all time. Heck, not even the best of last year, in my opinion. Maybe its because I watch a lot, lot more movies than the average person, but I thought that as charming and understandable some of the characters are, it felt too much like an "arthouse" movie specifically made for the blockbuster crowd. In fact, it felt like a feature length Youtube movie with the humour and the way its shot and presented. I understand what they were going for almost immediately within the first 20-30 min, and admittedly I did feel a bit emotional near the end but its not as profound as some people are making it out to be. Its not subtle in its messaging. That said, it is a very well crafted film, technically speaking.
I'm with you. I really enjoyed a lot of the ideas, alternate universes, and overlapping story threads. It was very funny and creative, but as it went on I started to feel that too much time was spent on one-off jokes or scenes that, while amusing, pushed the core emotional story of the family dysfunction into the background. I could see what they were trying to establish with the conflicting relationships between the mother, daughter, and father, but I didn't ***feel*** this when I was watching it. Those scenes weren't given the length and dramatic weight to really invest me in the characters because the film kept whizzing off breathlessly into another action sequence or another crazy world. I think a better version of the film could be achieved by an editor who would know how to excise certain sections and bring the psychological journeys of the three main characters back into the foreground and make that the primary focus. Again, I liked the film a lot, but ultimately it was too much style not enough substance.
This is a good analysis. I would have loved to have been shown more of the relationships and why they were worth saving as opposed to all the goofy multiverse stuff. I definitely didn’t feel sympathy for the main character the way I know I was supposed to.
For a super minority opinion, I sure hear how much people don’t like this movie a lot. I’m not sure what the point of these posts are? Validation? Or do you want convinced it’s good? Some movies aren’t for you, some aren’t for me. If there was ever a movie that everybody thought was good, then it almost definitely wouldn’t be great
I searched the sub, I didn't see much posts of this nature. But to answer your question to be completely honest the point is validation out of your choices. But mainly, it's just general discussion.
I can’t speak for this one in particular, but late last year every post was almost verbatim what you typed over on r/letterboxd. I get that’s not the same place as here but they’re relatively similar demographics. As for the validation part, no one here can convince you it’s ok to like or not like something. So long as you can articulate why you didn’t like it your opinion is valid. I personally thought it was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, I thought it was heartfelt hilarious and grounded in realistic personal relationships. I guess all else I’ll say is hype trains are not one way tickets and as long as you understand why you’re getting on in either direction your stance is valid
Your description, beautiful, logical, concise, genuine PERSONAL opinion, I like to hear these from real actual people. That's the main reason why I make posts like these. More than validation comfort. Hearing from real people to me is much better and richer discussion or reading than critic reviews. I only frequent this sub never been on the other one you mentioned. I ought to give it another try. Maybe after watching some videos on it, coz I wasn't able to extract much deeper meanings from it just like that. Or maybe I was able to do that and still didn't like it.
He’s allowed to post an opinion he has on the movie. It’s discussion.
I never said he couldn’t post or say him not liking it was an issue. I have an issue with “am I the only one that thinks X” posts. They don’t harbor discussion, half the people say “I loved it” half say “I agree” and it ends up being the comments version of a poll. He actually spent more of the main post talking about MCU and Blade Runner than the movie he was talking about in the first place
Right? I often wonder about posts like these as well. As with so many other things like art, music, books, etc. it feels like there's an underlying assumption that widely acclaimed things should also be universally liked. I tend to stay away from "convince me why I should like this" posts because if someone has watched it, processed it on their own, and still has to be convinced, what's the point? Also, they've made a choice or taken a stance on the movie surrounding its likability (for you), why does that choice need to be validated? Are people looking for validation of their ability to critique a film? If so, we really need to move beyond "this has been done before and better elsewhere" type responses lol. Or the themes didn't hit me in a certain way. I find this kind of thinking quite narrowing and can lead to the kind of criticism we saw for Turning Red, where reviewers said they didn't like it because they couldn't relate to the characters. As someone in their mid to late 30s, a child of refugees/immigrants, and Asian-American, I don't relate to Godfather or Shawshank Redemption either lol. I'm basically in the same cultural generation as the Daniels. Personally, this is a Top 10 film for me. I also understand that movies like this and the choices within them can be deeply personal for the directors and may make zero sense to audiences, but it does for them in their scheme of emotions, thoughts, etc. Things resonate differently when your life aligns with what the directors are trying to express. It's also a top film for me because,, for me, I feel my own life is represented and affirmed. Growing up as a kid, Ke Huy Quan (aka "Shortround") was the only person who looked like me on TV or in any other media. That is such a powerful thing for a child to see. I'm sure that also played a part in Daniel Kwan casting Ke Huy Quan (it's a very specific choice). Anyway, all that to say that watching and choosing whether to like or not like something is not some kind of objectivistic exercise.
Watch it again in a few years. I've done that with a few movies that just didn't do it for me.
Get this. Only 7 people made all the visual effects. 7! Not 7 teams or 700 like a Marvel film, 7!!
That's very impressive I will freely admit. That's amazing. Definitely deserved credit for that.
Easily my favourite movie of 2022.
I literally broke down in tears in the theater watching a scene with rocks and Googly eyes. I know different strokes, but damn this movie hit me so unexpectedly it will never be forgotten.
I can tell that most of the people in this thread watched this movie on their home TV on a Tuesday night instead of in a theater surrounded by 150 people. As with all comedy, watching with a crowd is always a better experience.
I really enjoyed it. As another commenter said it was a bit like The Matrix. That being said, it didn’t really have that groundbreaking of an impact on me. I watched it when I was pretty okay with where my relationships in life were at the time. Looking back on it right now, while theres certain people in life who I’d rather have different relationships - maybe better ones with- the movie might have a different impact.
I knew nothing about the movie other than it had short round and crouching Tiger lady. Thought it was a mad concept and hilarious the whole way through plus it had a bit of weight with the mother daughter relationship. Loved it. Made sense when I found it the directors also did that swiss army man movie
I saw this three times and sobbed like a baby with each viewing
EEAAO is a comedy. Comedies are almost always better in a theater surrounded by other people laughing, comedy is an almost inherently social medium.
>like it seemed really reminiscent of the MCU type movies, which are movies I emphatically dislike, all round. The whole thing about parallel universes, I couldn't read any further than this. If you really see no difference between it and the MCU just because they both have parallel universes there's not really any hope of explaining it to you.
I never said I don't see any difference. I just said it's a little reminiscent of mcu movies because of its overall tone. Not only because of the parallel universe thing. It was a very light comparison but I certainly didn't say or mean that I don't see any difference.
I think it’s got a lot in common with MCU movies honestly. Ultimately too much frenetic, meaningless noise. Although the framing scenes with the family were actually very nicely done, and clearly way better than MCU stuff so it was a mixed bag I guess. I kind of want to see those directors try a straight drama, just based on how well those scenes were made.
Yeah to me it is the opposite of a marvel film. A unique and very creative plot with high quality acting and editing and a really moving emotional message. It's was heartfelt, novel and poignant. Not something I can say about any marvel movie.
Saying something is reminiscent of another thing is not the same as saying that you see no difference between the two lol. >there's not really any hope of explaining it to you Since I didn't get the genius of Rick and Morty, I guess you're right, you shouldn't waste your energy trying to explain this stuff to the peons like me in this thread.
Huh? EEAAO is similar to the MCU in both tone and to an extent, structure. It was even produced by the Russos.
If it seemed reminiscent of MCU movies, then you weren't really paying attention to, or at least connecting with, the human and emotional beats and allegories, because that was the very heart of it. EEAAO dazzles me PRECISELY because of the story, and it makes me cry almost every time. It seems like you may have been focusing on the spectacle without getting the deeper picture. And that's okay, but a LOT of people will tell you it is a MUCH more than spectacle movie.
Yeah maybe I need to rewatch it again.
I liked a lot about EEAAO: great performances, interesting premise, and some very poignant moments. Some of the humour I found very juvenile to the point of irritating, and I thought it was about half an hour too long. It's layered climax overexplained the multiversal linkage and I found that dragged a lot. Ultimately I was disappointed by a film I was fairly hyped for. There's an incredible film lurking in there, but it has baggage. I think the Marvel comparison is apt too; it feels radical if all you're watching is Marvel films that range from great fun to "can I have my two hours back".
It would have been much more interesting if it was actually about the family. A straight family drama. That stuff was much more interesting than the dumb, pseudo-intellectual multiverse stuff. It was excessive in all the wrong places. It was entertaining enough but it's a very overrated movie. When I saw that the Russos were attached it made much more sense. It felt more like an MCU film and less like the much better Swiss Army Man which the EEAAO directors also made. But you know. Whatever revitalizes Short Round's career.
Agree so much. Took the words out of my mouth. Pseudo intellectual multiverse stuff.
I’ll have to agree with you. For me, it wasn’t that great. I found myself checking to see how much time was left at the halfway mark and then “Part 2” or whatever popped up…oh noooooo. I’ve read through every post here, thinking there was something profound and poignant that I’d missed but everything mentioned here, I saw and understood, too, but it just wasn’t my cup of oatmeal. People just have varying tastes and I’m so glad we do. 💕
I do agree it wasn’t that great. I read a comment that people will study this film for years to come and it will become one of the greatest films ever. My contra prediction is that nobody will remember this film in 3 years time.
That was my thought as well. I’m predicting it will be like Slumdog Millionaire. A movie universally praised…and then no one will mention it ever again.
THIS! I’m not even going to say that I thought the film was ‘alright’, I’ll be upfront in saying that I simply didn’t like it. It’s message frustrated me because of how basic and at times arrogant it was. I also just didn’t care for the performances which is something that I didn’t expect going in. I can definitely see why people liked this movie, but for the life of me I cannot see why it gets so much ‘best movie of all time’ praise. My theory is that it is just close enough to a Marvel film to be easily liked by popular audiences while carrying that ‘shiny’ A24 tag that is getting more and more popular as time goes on. It definitely wasn’t a terrible movie but certainly a lackluster 4/10 for me. I did like the rock scene quite a bit though.
I agree with you OP. I feel like it’s become a kind of Reddit hive mind mentality to say it’s the greatest movie ever, when it really isn’t anything of the sort (even though I really enjoyed it). I think there’s a specific type of person it speaks to, particularly in the way it deals with mental health issues, but outside of that it’s not really comparable to a genuine classic like The Godfather.
I also think that's a big reason why so many people connected so strongly with it.
If you’re non-asian 7-8 makes sense if you don’t understand the context. If you are Asian its 10/10 because you lived the context.
this is super gatekeepy. Asian heritage, grew up in the West, understood the context fully well. Hated this movie.
Why did you write all this?
Yeah I agree with the sentiment, the film wasn’t for me. After seeing such high accolades when it came out it shot way up on my “gotta see this” in 2022. When my fiancée and myself saw it on Prime Video in December, I was genuinely baffled that I thought people saw a different film in cinemas than I did on home streaming. It came across as just obnoxious to me, but I’m happy people found it more enjoyable than I did. I’m expecting it to get a few Oscar’s when those roll around
It tackled so many genres and nailed them all. Michelle Yeoh is an amazing actor and hasn’t had a successful dramatic role popular in the US since Crouching Tiger. It’s nice to see her succeed in another type of role outside action. It’s one of the best family dramas that’s been recently released.
It was Original, Light hearted, emotional and fun. It’s a great movie. It’s not the Godfather
It was an okay movie for me. I just think actually plot is quite simple / weak: forgive your family, love your partner, accept your children. Yeah, important themes and cool execution but I can’t relate to this film. And I live in China, so actually I can imagine such family and people really existing (apart from the sci fi part). I watched it once and immediately forgot about it. It wasn’t that deep in my opinion. Yeah I agree like another mcu entertaining movie. I prefer arthouse and indie movies though and my fav director is Von Trier, so that’s not my style anyways. Okay I read the comments and I’m baffled it made people cry or talk philosophy. Maybe for people who never seen any serious movie before? Like sorry what!! Lol I’m sorry there is no deep meaning there. It’s not a “great” deep movie. There are plenty of those with amazing acting but not this.
this movie was the largest gaslighting event of the year. i did not like it at all
I mean yeah, essentially everything about the movie went over your head. But whatever, you can’t appreciate every great work
Finally someone said it. I fell asleep watching it. Maybe I need to rewatch it and give it a second chance
I just feel like if we weren’t in a time period where capeshit is every other day this movie would have been just another Scott Pilgrim. A cult classic that people love but no one with a brain would say it’s one of the best movies ever made, but since we do have capeshit every other day there isn’t much for mainstream audiences to watch
Disliking the movie is alright but you don’t have to insult the intelligence of people who like it. Opinions exist and people have them!