Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards: My Pick

 by A.J. 

Best Pictures #95: The 95th Academy Awards 

The 95th Academy Awards for films released in 2022 were held on March 12, 2023. Unpopular changes like handing out awards for the technical categories before the start of the ceremony were done away with and this ceremony embraced that it would be long, to the betterment of the ceremony. There were no major incidents or controversies though, as ever, the In Memorium could have included more people. Highlights of the night included Ke Huy Quan’s win for Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All At Once, an appearance by the “real” Cocaine Bear, and the performance and win of “Naatu Naatu” for Best Original Song from the hyper-entertaining Indian film RRR. Host Jimmy Kimmel made several jokes about the previous year’s slapping incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock, but he took no low shots at the nominated movies. Recently the ceremony has taken an embarrassed, almost apologetic tone towards the nominated movies. This year felt like a real celebration of movies. 

As awards season rolled along and Everything Everywhere All At Once picked up more and more accolades, it suffered the same minor problem as Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water in 2017 in that its frontrunner status made it the conventional choice, though the movie is far from conventional. So, many of its wins did not come as total surprises, however, this did not stop the excitement of this sci-fi multiverse martial arts movie winning a total of 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. It is no overstatement to say that Everything Everywhere won big, picking up the most awards by a Best Picture winner since Slumdog Millionaire at the 2008 Oscars. The impressive tally of wins include: Best Picture, Director, Actress-Michelle Yeoh, Supporting Actress-Jaime Lee Curtis, Supporting Actor-Ke Huy Quan, Original Screenplay, and Editing. 

The flipside of Everything Everywhere winning big, along with the remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, which won 4 Oscars, is that films with multiple nominations like The Banshees of Inisherin (9), Elvis (8), The Fabelmans (7), and Tar (6) went home empty handed. Typically, the Academy spreads the wealth, but not this year. 

Everything Everywhere is a fun and exciting choice for Best Picture, a nice change from the last couple years in which the Academy has awarded Best Picture to films that were good but not very daring. For me, the Best Picture nominees of 2022 were a mostly great selection of films and I was torn about which film would be my choice, if I had a vote, because for the first time in a long while not one but two of my absolute favorite films of the year were nominated for Best Picture. On my personal list of the best of 2022, Top Gun: Maverick and The Fabelmans are tied for first place, but if I can only award one…

My Pick for Best Picture of 2022: Top Gun: Maverick

There are scenes in Top Gun: Maverick that do not advance the plot but are important because they grow the characters. This is not done through dramatic monologues or speeches or cheap tricks but in intimate person to person moments. These moments feel honest; they add humanity into an action movie, something that is not strictly necessary but greatly enhances the movie. Jennifer Connolly’s character Penny is a great addition, a real challenge for Maverick, since flying comes so easy to him. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is close enough to the character you remember, but a lot of time has passed and the screenplay and Tom Cruise are not afraid to show us a different, mature version of a familiar character. The scenes of the F-18s in action will always dazzle and they are more than pure spectacle because of the work the cast and crew put into every aspect of the movie. It is difficult to blend action and emotion but, here, every thrill and every heartfelt moment are well earned. I can’t wait to watch it again.

Best Pictures #93: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee: Everything Everywhere All At Once

by A.J.

Best Pictures #93: 2022 (95th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Everything Everywhere All At Once 

“You’ve been feeling it too, haven’t you? Something is off. Your clothes never wear as well the next day, your hair never falls in quite the same way…”

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a wild, weird, zany, outlandish, and thoroughly entertaining film. Its premise feels original but, more importantly, it lives up to the promise of its fun title. Part sci-fi, martial arts movie, action, comedy, family drama, and mid life crisis movie, co-writers and directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known together as The Daniels) crammed everything they could into their movie, and then squeezed in some more. The combination of over the type action, absurd sights, and a great cast led by Michelle Yeoh make Everything Everywhere All At Once one of the most memorable movies in years. 

Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, a woman dealing with the drudgery of running a laundromat, overly friendly customers, unfriendly customers, the growing gulf between her and her daughter, Joy (Stepahnie Hsu), who wants to include her girlfriend Becky in their Chinese New Year celebration, though this would not be taken well by Gong Gong (James Hong), Evelyn’s ailing father who has come from China to live with them. She also finds out that her well meaning but floundering husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), has just filed for divorce, and has to deal with a confusing tax audit by a grumpy IRS agent (Jaime Lee Curtis). As if this wasn’t enough to handle, it turns out the fate of every possible universe rests with her. 

In order to learn the skills she needs to fight the ultimate chaotic evil force out to destroy the multiverse, called Jobu Tupaki, Evelyn first has to learn how to “verse jump,” that is, to temporarily jump into a different version of herself from a different universe, pick up a special skill and jump back. If you have some trouble keeping track of which version of which character is where or the inner workings of the Alpha-verse and their technology, you’ll be in good company because it takes a while for Evelyn to accept and figure it all out herself. This might be the best thing about Evelyn as written by the Daniels and performed by Yeoh. She is a normal woman who has normal incredulous reactions to the outlandish and extraordinary things happening around her. In addition to believably handling all of the martial arts and action scenes, Yeoh handles the emotional scenes with the same expertise. A lot of the comedy comes from Evelyn’s confusion and attempts to explain everything to her versions of Waymond and Joy. 

The rest of the cast also does an excellent job playing the different versions of themselves and it is easy to keep track of who is which version just from the performances. Ke Huy Quan as average Waymond is so mild mannered he puts Clark Kent to shame, but he brims with self-assurance as the successful businessman version of Waymond, and he is a believable fighter as Waymond from the Alpha-verse. Stephanie Hsu is great as average Joy, dealing with heavy internal conflict about her mother, but she really gets to shine as the multiverse villain Jobu Tupaki, who has been driven beyond madness into sinister nihilism by experiencing all possible universes simultaneously.  

Perhaps the most important factor to the movie’s success and memorability is its willingness to be silly. Very, very silly indeed. There’s a universe where people literally have gigantic hot dogs for fingers; Evelyn misremembers Ratatouille and creates a universe with a cooking raccoon, voiced, briefly but perfectly, by Randy Newman. There is a universe where she trains to fight with only her pinky finger. In one of the less outlandish universes Evelyn is an action movie star not unlike Michelle Yeoh. Evelyn wants to just stay in this universe instead of fighting an all powerful cosmic being (who wouldn't?). Of course, this embrace of the silly leads to some good comedy. All of this multiverse madness is so broad and random that there is bound to find something that matches your particular comedic taste. The action and fights are well choreographed and exciting. They seem spontaneous and frantic, which is what makes them so fun.

All of this incredible and ridiculous action is not mindless or self-serving. It expresses and reinforces the conflicts that average Evelyn is facing in her normal life. Almost all of the action takes place inside the IRS building, a budgetary convenience turned thematic point. Evelyn’s journey from believing that her daughter is possessed by some evil force to realizing that Jobu Tupaki really is just Joy is the most important thing about her journey through a real multiverse of madness. Beyond the visual and conceptual spectacle, Evelyn’s emotional journey, as portrayed by Yeoh, her relationship with Joy and Waymond, and her reflection on her life choices are what will give Everything Everywhere All At Once a lasting resonance.

Nominees: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, producers

Director: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Screenplay: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis

Production Companies: IAC Films, Gozie AGBO, Year of the Rat, Ley Line Entertainment

Distributor: A24

Release Date: March 25th, 2022

Total Nominations: 11, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actress-Michelle Yeoh; Director-Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert; Supporting Actress-Stephanie Hsu; Supporting Actress-Jamie Lee Curtis; Supporting Actor-Ke Huy Quan; Original Screenplay-Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert; Costume Design-Shirley Kurata; Editing-Paul Rogers; Original Score-Son Lux; Original Song-Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski for "This Is a Life"