Everything, Everywhere All at Once

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022)

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Rating: Q=7, P=6 / Can't Get Enough

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Philosophical

I've often thought about what my life could have been like IF I had gone away from home for college, IF I had not gone to Australia to study abroad, IF I had not met certain people, etc. And also about how the little, seemingly unimportant decisions could have made a difference, too: what IF I had walked one the other side of the street or chosen to put my socks on before my shirt... Everything, Everywhere All at Once is a fantastic voyage into this world of "what ifs" and it plays with the multiverse theme (which has kind of gotten out of hand recently) in a new way that I found refreshing and wonderful. This film is mesmerizing and chaotic and lightning fast. It is hilarious and poignant and beautiful. It is the perfect representation of what our human lives really feel like--a miraculous and ridiculous mess.

At the heart of this action-packed, fantasy sci-fi story, is reality. Evelyn and her family are real people with real problems, however mundane or typical. They live a noisy life that's pulled them apart and left them unhappy. In those moments of unhappiness, people wonder what they've missed or what they could have been in different circumstances or by making different decisions. If I had only done this I would be happier now... wrestling with these thoughts, diving head-first into the emotions can help bring us back. This film definitely leaps into our heads and pulls out the thoughts and daydreams right before our eyes. It's spectacular.

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Oscars 2023: The Nominations

It's that time of year again...The Oscar nominated films were released today! It's no longer an Oscar Dash for me, though, but I do hope to watch all the films eventually. And I do plan to post about each one, so watch for those throughout the year and beyond. And don't forget to watch the big even on March 12, 2023!

Here are the nominees for best picture:

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

 
The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

 

Tár

 

Top Gun: Maverick

Triangle of Sadness

Women Talking

Summer Magic, Revisited

Summer Magic (James Neilson, 1963)

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Rating: Q=5, P=5 / Average OJ

Scale 1=2, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=2

Comedy, Family, Coming of Age, Uplifting

I had only watched Summer Magic once and only really remembered some of the songs. This time watching was lovely--it was heartwarming to watch Burl Ives (as Osh Popum) and James Mathers (Peter) sing about caterpillars and see Michael J. Pollard (Digby) hide his adorable smiles when talking about venturing out of his small hometown. It's nice to live in a world with so much charm and light-heartedness for a few hours :)

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Pollyanna, Revisited

Pollyanna (David Swift, 1960)

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Rating: Q=5, P=6 / Average OJ

Scale 1=2, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3

Comedy, Family, Coming of Age, Uplifting

Winter tends to make me nostalgic and I like returning to uplifting Disney classics. So, I've been re-watching all the animated feature films in chronological order, throwing in a few live action favorites. It had been some time since watching Pollyanna, and I'm glad I decided to watch again. Such a lovely, cheerful story! And much funnier than I remembered it. Hayley Mills is charming, Agnes Moorehead's Mrs. Snow is hilarious, and the story is timeless and brings a tear to your eye. Worth watching every so often, especially when you need a reminder that life is precious and beautiful. Hope, good cheer, and love for your fellow human beings can absolutely change everything.

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