everything everywhere all at once

TCB Debriefing 5/19-6/1: Hacks/Hannah Einbinder, JFL, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Fantasmas, Ali Clayton, Ali Siddiq, Clare O’Kane, Paul Scheer/June Diane Raphael, Am I OK?, Make Some Noise, Ren Faire, Jenny Zigrino, The Undervale, Steph Curry, Aubrey Plaza/Joe Wengert, Laid, Steve Carell

1. Well, everything is coming up Hacks (and, by extension, Hannah Einbinder). Coming hot off the heels of a blisteringly hot 3rd season, Hacks, has been renewed for a fourth season (Zaslav allowed a good creative decision to happen?). On top of that, Hannah Einbinder’s very first comedy special, Everything Must Go, just released its first special and set the premiere date of Jun. 13th on Max. Taped live at LA’s El Rey Theatre, it truly was something marvelous, especially as a goddamn debut special (the ingenuity, poise, and sharpness would make one believe this is far past her first hour special). Take a gander with the trailer for Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go here.

2. Just For Laughs indeed has filed for bankruptcy protections in Canada as they were operating with millions of dollar of debt to their name. They have begun the sale of select assets to ensure they stay afloat, which still sounds uncertain (THR).

3. Maybe you didn’t get to see Everything Everywhere All at Once in theaters (or at all for some ungodly reason), but thankfully, you’ll have a chance to see the Oscar Best Picture Winner in IMAX come August (Indiewire).

4. While Los Espookys is long gone, Julio Torres is finally on the track he should be on with nothing but accolades for Problemista and more magically real, beautifully funny absurdity with his HBO series, Fantasmas. Take a gander at what he has up his ethereal sleeves with the trailer here, then look out for it’s premiere on HBO/Max come next week on Jun. 7th.

5. Ali Clayton has arrived. She has done so in quite the fashion too with her debut album, Country Queer, that dives deep into discovering herself and her queer identity being from the South. Clayton’s drawl, warmth contrasted with her candor and vividly colorful writing is one of the best ways to kick off Pride this June. Please enjoy and listen to Country Queer now, fresh off the presses from Blonde Medicine here.

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6. It’s a rare feat to tell a story over the course of an hour and it be so thoroughly engaging that it makes for a captivating special, especially when it’s a hilarious take on your journey through the criminal justice system here in the U.S. of A. Ali Siddiq has not only achieved said feat, but done a hat trick with part 3 of Domino Effect, which might be the first legit comedy special trilogy that is narratively tied altogether. Siddiq’s poise and uncanny ability to find the comedy gold in his time going to prison are so solid that you kind of don’t notice the special is almost 90 minutes long. Please enjoy Domino Effect Part 3: First Day of School, now on YouTube, here.

7. Clare O’Kane is yet another shining example of someone who did write at SNL and has yet to show off their true potential in comedy (Tim Robinson anyone?). Fresh off Eugene Mirman‘s Pretty Good Friends Records, Clare’s sophomore album, Everything I know how to do, maintains a delightfully bubbly spirit while wading into the deep end of many personal anecdotes about polyamory, pansexuality, rejected SNL sketch pitches, sharp feet, and more often with Clare’s ironically silly flourishes. You can and should listen to Everything I know how to do here.

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8. Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael are taking the next step in their ascent as a comedy power couple by co-hosting an awards show, The Humanitas Prizes, this year in September (Variety).

9. Speaking of comedy power couples, Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne are co-directing their first feature together, Am I OK?, that seems like it’s probably taking a lot of cues from early on in their relationship with a sort of lost Dakota Johnson finding that she might be into women after having nothing but misfires in dating men. See how close they come to real life with the trailer here, then look for it on Max come Jun. 6th.

10. Dropout might have gameshows better figured out than GSN as you can see with the season 3 trailer of Make Some Noise. This game show in particular has such a beautifully simple game, but gets many of the world’s very best improvisers to twist and contort the show into some Dropout magic.

11. Ren Faire, a doc coming to HBO seems like King of Kong, but for one particular Ren Faire in Texas. See for yourself in the trailer here, then look for it on HBO/Max come this Sunday, June 2nd.

12. A good amount of the country will have a chance to see the amazing Jenny Zigrino live coming up and a good amount of the country should not miss out.

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13. CBS’ Ghosts will have some competition at Netflix with The Undervale (not to mention that it will have the guiding hand of Dan Harmon as a producer) (Variety).

14. Let’s see if Steph Curry can best LeBron and Space Jam: A New Legacy with GOAT, Steph’s animated sports comedy feature (THR).

15. There’s more animated comedy worth keeping track with an animated series order for Joe Wengert and Aubrey Plaza‘s Kevin that follows a cat that wants to not live with humans anymore (THR). Not sure whether Joe or Aubrey (or someone else) would voice the cat, but either of them would be the perfect voice for an wonderfully anti-human cat.

16. The Stephanie Hsu comedy Laid that follows the mystery of formers lovers all strangely dying has gotten a stacked supporting cast now featuring John Early, Chloe Fineman, David Denman, and Andre Hyland (Deadline).

17.. Steve Carrell will be returning to a comedy series that ISN’T the revival of The Office, but, instead, takes him to a college campus with the producing hands of Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses (Deadline).

18. We’ll leave you with this: Sorry for taking so long. Turns out that running a theater while running a bureau is a lot of work.

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once Wins Everything (Almost) at Oscars and Let’s Hope Movies Get the Message

March 13, 2023

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everything everywhere all at once, oscars

There’s a lot to be celebrated for the amount of Asian representation that Daniels’ brilliant Everything, Everywhere, All at Once so gloriously illuminates after capping a masterful awards season run with 7 Oscar wins including Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Directing, and, of course, Best Picture. They won every category they were nominated in except for one, Best Song. In fact, there’s a lot to be celebrated for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once becoming the most decorated movie to come out in 2022.

It’s an an original movie (and an indie one at that) that proved to be an undeniable box office hit (though not at the magnitude of Top Gun: Maverick… yet?). Heading out of lockdown, the fate of original movies on the big screen seemed grim, but, as fate would have it, the movie that wrapped principal photography the day before COVID-19 was announced as global pandemic would be the perfect balance of escape, maximalism, absurdism, and family tenderness that would capture the hearts and minds of audiences around the globe. With populist movies such as Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick looming large as appointed saviors of the movie industry and finding their way into the Best Picture category at The Oscars, one could only wonder how many more cinematic universes would be treated to had either of them won. We’re still going to very much be subject to the MCU, DCEU, Fast & Furious, Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, Mission Impossible, James Bond, Star Wars, and yes, probably Top Gun, but there’s a glimmer of hope in the sheen of A24’s landmark 2022 that included not only Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, but also the acclaimed/nominated/award winning Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and The Whale. The independent spirit is still alive and well, so long as audiences keep watching those films after being let down by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Also, not enough is said for Everything Everywhere All at Once being a comedy and, very likely, the wackiest movie that has every won a Best Picture Oscar. The entire pantheon of Best Picture winners that can be categorized, even somewhat, as comedies include such classics as It Happened One Night, Annie Hall, Gigi, Birdman, and The Artist. None of them had a multi-verse or hot dog fingers or numerous sex toy jokes or glue-on googly-eyes on rocks, just a sampling of the magical soup in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. The most “out-there” movie to win Best Picture before this year might be The Shape of Water, a noir-thriller romance where a woman falls in love with a fish god. The mash-up of sincerity and slapstick revelry is something that hasn’t really graced the Academy’s consideration, but this historic win (apparently, more above-the-line wins than any other movie in Oscars history) might just be the shake-up/sign that things for one of cinema’s oldest institutions is maybe catching up with the times.

More so than probably anything else that came out last year, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once should be a testament to the artistry in comedy and let’s hope no one ever forgets that anywhere, ever again.

Everything Everywhere All at Once Leads in Nominations at Upcoming Spirit Awards

November 23, 2022

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Though there is mult-versal travel and plenty of sight gags involving dildos and butt plugs and hot dog fingers, Everything Everywhere All at Once, in our minds, still remains as one of the best of the films recent memory, comedy or otherwise. As something that started off as an indie release on top of being a trippy genre-bending comedy, there usually would be little hope for any sort of recognition for the oncoming awards season. The Daniels’ tour-de-force fortunately is poised to overcome such stigma that fall out of the typical historical drama fare that normally gets all the awards attention.

The nominations for Film Independent’s Spirit Awards, the indie cousin to the Oscars, were announced yesterday and Everything Everywhere All at Once garnered 8 nominations including Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Lead Performance, and Best Supporting Performance. Normally, comedic fare gets more of a fair shake at the Spirit Awards, but it’s a rarity to see a full length comedy feature get seeded as the front runner.

We shall only see if those nods of recognition will actually play into the sort of awards win that the Daniels deserve on Mar. 4th, 2023 when the actual Spirit Awards take place. In the meantime, you can peruse the full list of Spirit Awards nominees here including nominations for other comedies Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul, Catherine Called Birdy, and Funny Pages.

Pick of the Day: Everything Everywhere All at Once, with directors Daniels (in LA) 12/6

November 15, 2022

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daniels, everything everywhere all at once, hammer museum

Last year, we were all graced with the brilliant sci-fi, mind bending, genre defying, multiversal comedy known as Everything Everywhere All At Once from the Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). It’s truly a testament to the power of originality and that there is still hope out there for comedy reaching both audiences far and wide and being a critical darling, worthy of all the awards.

Simply put, it’s one of the best movies of the 21st century even though we’re barely through a fifth of it.

With that in mind, you might want to catch a very special, exclusive screening of Everything Everywhere All At Once next month at the Hammer Museum in West LA where both Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert will be in person having a conversation about their landmark film.

This must-see screening is set for Tues. Dec. 6th at 7:30PM and tickets are only $20. This will be worth not being able to use your AMC A-List subscription. Go get tickets here now while you still can.

If Any Major Movie Awards Want to Progress Upwards, Everything Everywhere All at Once Better Get a Bunch of Nominations/Wins

March 31, 2022

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daniels, everything everywhere all at once, jamie lee curtis, ke huy quan, michelle yeoh, stephanie hsu

When Swiss Army Man came out in 2016, lots of buzz swirled around the concept of Daniel Radcliffe playing a somewhat animated corpse that could propel himself across a body of water via farting. It was such the focus of any discussion of Swiss Army Man that Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s tender message about self-love and belief might have gotten drowned out by, well, farts.

That said, that would prove a good blueprint for Daniels (the moniker by which Kwan and Scheinert go with as a duo) as to do something, arguably, more ambitious with an arguably wilder story that happens to include a parallel universe where everyone has hot dog fingers. That movie would be the brilliant, delightfully bonkers, strangely sweet opus Everything Everywhere All at Once.

There are so many multitudes of facets to the story of the movie itself (that’s what happens when dealing with the multiverse) that it’s somehow even more ridiculous than last year’s demented fairy tale Cannes Palme D’or winner Titane. Any attempt at a detailed explanation of Michelle Yeoh trying to save her family and all of the multiverse via some sort of Sense8-ish ability might take away from the visceral experience of seeing the Daniels’ maximalist vision about staying present and loving people for who they are. We want you to truly have as much of that experience that those well worn movie review descriptors (captivating, engrossing, unlike anything you’ve seen before) always promise, but often come up short on.

Instead, we’ll say that there is a child like wonder that gets the exquisite touch and precision of seasoned filmmakers and visionaries, Daniels. There’s a hope and grandiose vision from them (expertly executed from the principal cast of Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis) that reminds of us of the sort unlimited potential of imagination that we personally had in film school, but was ultimately tempered by the many tightly fitted cogs that run Tinseltown. They achieve truly heartfelt moments that are accented by plastic googly eyes and the aforementioned hot dog fingers while jumping in and out of highly choreographed, intricate fight scenes. If you wonder what the magic of the movies looks like in 2022, this is it.

It’s almost as if Daniels threw everything at the wall and everything stuck because it was all worth keeping in. At almost 2 1/2 hours, the trip fantastic that Everything Everywhere All at Once takes you on will remind you why we go to the movies (even better than Nicole Kidman’s maudlin AMC theatrical pre-roll spot).

Lastly, awards season could take a great step forward if Everything Everywhere All at Once becomes a legitimate contender. Comedies, genre movies, and Asian representation are often severely lacking when it comes to major movie awards and, at this juncture right now, but this is more than just about optics. If Best Picture is supposed to really mean Best Picture, there shouldn’t be any tinge of the oft-satirized idea of “Oscar Bait” anymore.

We could go on and on about how the movie is an equally satisfying balance of genre and tone that has bits of Tarantino, Wong Kar Wai, Airplane, but, truly, it’s something to behold for yourself (hopefully, in a movie theater). Everything Everywhere All at Once is playing in select theaters and expanding this weekend to major U.S. cities and then theaters everywhere starting Apr. 8th.