I'm still a sucker for trippy pulp. It's so bad right now that I've been contemplating the size of the universe, how it came to be, and all that kind of stuff.
Anyway, I came really, really close to watching this over the weekend. Next time I have the 2+ hours, I hope.
I saw EEAAO a few days ago. It was everything Roy describes, and it had the impact on me as it did on him. Roy , thanks for articulating the things I gained from the movie but I would never be able to express.
Great breakdown. I saw the film as a metaphor for Buddhism in a big way, that Evelyn (well, everyone) was navigating dharma and the way to make it work and 'get better' was to accept and love the people in your life, work with them instead of against them... a journey inward, if you will. Everything you need is already here if you recognize it. It's a great, great film and I invite everyone to experience it for themselves, even if you just have fun with all the eye candy and fantastic performances.
Jan 30, 2023·edited Jan 30, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso
This sounds so amazing! I was wondering if this was an MCU franchise piece & if so when my beloved Michelle Yeoh would get in on that action.
Also, assuming "[multi-]verse-jumping power of butt plugs" was not hyperbole on the part of our Esteemed Host, a screenwriter would really have to know how true this is -- of the right make & model, of course... :)
It is as good as the boss says it is. I saw it in an empty theater a year ago, when I had a free day after my flight got cancelled. Best choice of free-time investment I could have made under the circumstances. Would happily see it again (if it happens to rerun in another empty theater.)
I had to think long and hard (it's hard for me, anyway) about the acting. I was impressed by how each actor played the whole thing seriously, to keep it from devolving to cartoon, but not killing the deep comedy of the situation.* It works on multiple levels and the actors played true to the story. Kudos to them and the directors.
*I do not give a rat's patoot about multi-verses unless they are in good songs. This movie is less about that and more about the strength of dreams, the strength of humanity, and all that essential good stuff.
Jan 30, 2023·edited Jan 30, 2023Liked by Roy Edroso
I’m a little unclear whether you thought it was good or not? I tried to watch it with my wife because we don’t agree on much movie-wise and it seemed both well-reviewed and popular. But we agreed we didn’t like that and we only got about halfway through it. Seemed overwrought and not particularly well acted to me, though we did get a kick out of seeing James Hong.
On another sour note, I was looking forward to your annual reviews and planned to watch all the films in order to chat about them, but seeing the lineup there are only a few I think I can bring myself to watch. Oh well, I guess we’ll always have Fabelmans.
Roy Edroso, you know The Best and The Brightest was a foundational work for much of my political and cultural thought. How many times has it played out that so many Ivy League "geniuses" fuck up the world in ridiculously stupid ways? It was a short step from there to Chomsky.
Maybe I'd like the movie if I actually finished it, though the thought of a 15 minute battle scene makes me think, probably not. But no worries, it's just a movie, and I didn't even finish it, so who cares what I think. Not me, that's for sure. I am far more interested in what other people see in films, particularly you, this time of year.
Have you considered sharing the order you're going to review them? It would be interesting to have watched and thought about them before getting your take. Though as noted, my attitude this year is trending pretty sour. Really wish they would have included Nope and especially Decision to Leave, the latter of which I count as better than any of the actual nominees I have seen so far.
I heard Decision to Leave was good! Maybe I'll get to that on my own time. As for order, like everything else in my life it's catch as catch can -- as I get to them. But if I have advance warning I'll share it with you.
Michelle Yeoh doesn't deserve an Oscar so much as a Congressional Medal of Honor for putting herself through all that for our benefit. Saw it with my (adult) kids at what we used to call Graumann's Chinese Theater in gone-to-seed Hollywood, and was thrilled. I generally don't like the supposed praise that a movie "is a helluva ride," which to me usually means a bad script, crap characters, and lots of artificial goosing. But this WAS a helluva ride, made substantial by the solid characters, complete unpredictability, and (among other things) dazzling editing. As we left I said, "I'm surprised they're not STILL in the editing room, figuring it out."
Caught this over the weekend. Loved the mother-daughter melodrama, I'm a sucker for that stuff. Looking forward to Roy's other reviews, although I'm not watching Top Gun no matter what he says.
One of the things I like about movies is the way images wash over me. It's starts as just colored lights on a flat screen, but add motion and sound and sometimes it can be wonderful. I'd take that attitude to the TG show, I think. I don't care about the message one way or the other (I think I can resist the warmongering pretty well by now)...
The only movie we saw in a theater with our kids in the past year. We all loved it. Kids and I appreciated the LSD quality. Of course, the only story in the world is the hero's journey, so we all got that, too. Had fun with the "got what she wanted" vs. "got what she needed" vs. "both" vs. "neither" that defines all the variations of the only story in the world. Very thankful it wasn't in 3-D!
But one of the most beautiful moments in this movie (in a trippy and non-trippy way) was the universe with the pet rock/boulders, and the way the silence and vastness of those scenes resonated so loudly & profoundly in the hectic “helluva ride” parts of the film.
Based on this film alone ( the only one of theirs I’ve seen), I’d say that The Daniels are the naughty and deeply sincere Rimbaud of American blockbuster film. The Wachowskis and Spielberg and Cameron all fade into the background behind the vivid riot of innocence that this movie provides—so many Baudelaires and Verlaines and even Mallarmés falling short of the upstart Daniels & their insouciant and thrilling take on the feel-good of American film of our time.
Mr. Edroso, as usual, nails it. I didn't think the movie lived up to the hype, but nothing could. I really like that despite its classic storytelling foundation, it refused to hand-hold you through the story. You either trusted them and went for the ride, or didn't. Me, I love that shit.
I'm still a sucker for trippy pulp. It's so bad right now that I've been contemplating the size of the universe, how it came to be, and all that kind of stuff.
Anyway, I came really, really close to watching this over the weekend. Next time I have the 2+ hours, I hope.
Thanks Roy. I look forward to these every year.
Thanks, me too!
I saw EEAAO a few days ago. It was everything Roy describes, and it had the impact on me as it did on him. Roy , thanks for articulating the things I gained from the movie but I would never be able to express.
I, for one, would buy the sure to be a success, full color coffee table book "Edroso on Film" .
I really liked this movie! I found it delightful. Did you see it in a theatre?
Great review!
Completely agree on EDROSO ON FILM, but before that, he has to finish THE SPORK RIVER ANTHOLOGY
Man, I knew Roy before he went all commercial.
It used to be all about the commentary, man!
Great breakdown. I saw the film as a metaphor for Buddhism in a big way, that Evelyn (well, everyone) was navigating dharma and the way to make it work and 'get better' was to accept and love the people in your life, work with them instead of against them... a journey inward, if you will. Everything you need is already here if you recognize it. It's a great, great film and I invite everyone to experience it for themselves, even if you just have fun with all the eye candy and fantastic performances.
Sorry, OT, but the MSM is getting in on your Hardcore gig:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/technology/trump-truth-social-ads.html
Must have been a lot of work to make it so boring!
Respectability is such a lodestone!
Well, nobody does it like Edroso, but I did enjoy this bit at the end:
“Can you not vet the ads on Truth?” asked one user in a post directed at Mr. Trump. “I’ve been scammed more than once.”
Wasn't clear if they were counting the two votes for Trump.
This is what you get when your King Jesus is a crooked, one-jump-ahead-of-the-sheriff salesman.
Isn't clear if there's a difference.
First my sea monkeys died, and now these x-ray specs don't let me look under girls clothes!
This sounds so amazing! I was wondering if this was an MCU franchise piece & if so when my beloved Michelle Yeoh would get in on that action.
Also, assuming "[multi-]verse-jumping power of butt plugs" was not hyperbole on the part of our Esteemed Host, a screenwriter would really have to know how true this is -- of the right make & model, of course... :)
[ETA: speaking of respectability! <blushes>]
It is as good as the boss says it is. I saw it in an empty theater a year ago, when I had a free day after my flight got cancelled. Best choice of free-time investment I could have made under the circumstances. Would happily see it again (if it happens to rerun in another empty theater.)
I had to think long and hard (it's hard for me, anyway) about the acting. I was impressed by how each actor played the whole thing seriously, to keep it from devolving to cartoon, but not killing the deep comedy of the situation.* It works on multiple levels and the actors played true to the story. Kudos to them and the directors.
*I do not give a rat's patoot about multi-verses unless they are in good songs. This movie is less about that and more about the strength of dreams, the strength of humanity, and all that essential good stuff.
I’m a little unclear whether you thought it was good or not? I tried to watch it with my wife because we don’t agree on much movie-wise and it seemed both well-reviewed and popular. But we agreed we didn’t like that and we only got about halfway through it. Seemed overwrought and not particularly well acted to me, though we did get a kick out of seeing James Hong.
On another sour note, I was looking forward to your annual reviews and planned to watch all the films in order to chat about them, but seeing the lineup there are only a few I think I can bring myself to watch. Oh well, I guess we’ll always have Fabelmans.
I liked it! I even said "lovely"!
But, as Henry Kissinger told Harvey Pekar, intelligent men sometimes disagree. https://thebristolboard.tumblr.com/post/187974355303/original-art-for-the-kissinger-letter-by-harvey/amp
Roy Edroso, you know The Best and The Brightest was a foundational work for much of my political and cultural thought. How many times has it played out that so many Ivy League "geniuses" fuck up the world in ridiculously stupid ways? It was a short step from there to Chomsky.
Maybe I'd like the movie if I actually finished it, though the thought of a 15 minute battle scene makes me think, probably not. But no worries, it's just a movie, and I didn't even finish it, so who cares what I think. Not me, that's for sure. I am far more interested in what other people see in films, particularly you, this time of year.
Have you considered sharing the order you're going to review them? It would be interesting to have watched and thought about them before getting your take. Though as noted, my attitude this year is trending pretty sour. Really wish they would have included Nope and especially Decision to Leave, the latter of which I count as better than any of the actual nominees I have seen so far.
I heard Decision to Leave was good! Maybe I'll get to that on my own time. As for order, like everything else in my life it's catch as catch can -- as I get to them. But if I have advance warning I'll share it with you.
I just *adored* EEAAO, so I'm extra pleased Roy did too
Michelle Yeoh doesn't deserve an Oscar so much as a Congressional Medal of Honor for putting herself through all that for our benefit. Saw it with my (adult) kids at what we used to call Graumann's Chinese Theater in gone-to-seed Hollywood, and was thrilled. I generally don't like the supposed praise that a movie "is a helluva ride," which to me usually means a bad script, crap characters, and lots of artificial goosing. But this WAS a helluva ride, made substantial by the solid characters, complete unpredictability, and (among other things) dazzling editing. As we left I said, "I'm surprised they're not STILL in the editing room, figuring it out."
Caught this over the weekend. Loved the mother-daughter melodrama, I'm a sucker for that stuff. Looking forward to Roy's other reviews, although I'm not watching Top Gun no matter what he says.
One of the things I like about movies is the way images wash over me. It's starts as just colored lights on a flat screen, but add motion and sound and sometimes it can be wonderful. I'd take that attitude to the TG show, I think. I don't care about the message one way or the other (I think I can resist the warmongering pretty well by now)...
The only movie we saw in a theater with our kids in the past year. We all loved it. Kids and I appreciated the LSD quality. Of course, the only story in the world is the hero's journey, so we all got that, too. Had fun with the "got what she wanted" vs. "got what she needed" vs. "both" vs. "neither" that defines all the variations of the only story in the world. Very thankful it wasn't in 3-D!
But one of the most beautiful moments in this movie (in a trippy and non-trippy way) was the universe with the pet rock/boulders, and the way the silence and vastness of those scenes resonated so loudly & profoundly in the hectic “helluva ride” parts of the film.
Based on this film alone ( the only one of theirs I’ve seen), I’d say that The Daniels are the naughty and deeply sincere Rimbaud of American blockbuster film. The Wachowskis and Spielberg and Cameron all fade into the background behind the vivid riot of innocence that this movie provides—so many Baudelaires and Verlaines and even Mallarmés falling short of the upstart Daniels & their insouciant and thrilling take on the feel-good of American film of our time.
Mr. Edroso, as usual, nails it. I didn't think the movie lived up to the hype, but nothing could. I really like that despite its classic storytelling foundation, it refused to hand-hold you through the story. You either trusted them and went for the ride, or didn't. Me, I love that shit.
Good call.
Loved the movie. Period. Decided not to overthink anything and just enjoy it as it unfolded, and it was worth it!
Loved the movie. Period. Decided not to overthink anything and just enjoy it as it unfolded, and it was worth it!