"Everything Everywhere All at Once" -- Analysis of Opening Scene -- a Professor's Perspective

Please support this channel -- consider giving $10, $5, even $1. That's because this video has been been demonetized, as well as blocked in Austria and Germany (by the copyright holder A24 Vobile), even though I tried hard to make it not infringe on copyright law. I therefore made nothing from this video, and it would greatly help if you subscribed to my Substack below at least for free. Thank you.
Substack -- please subscribe to support this channel: learningaboutmovies.substack....
Please follow me on Twitter for video releases and reviews: / drjoshmatthews
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/joshmatthews/
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @learningaboutmovies
Understanding Movies 101 Course: joshmatthews.org/learn-more-a...
The Great Movies Series: joshmatthews.org/what-makes-t...
Comprehensive List of the Great Movies Series: joshmatthews.org/what-makes-t...
Movie Cliches Series -- Video Playlist: • Why Pianos Transform C...
The Great Directors Series -- Playlist: • Werner Herzog's 10 Gre...
Shot for Shot Analyses: • Understanding Movies 1...
Great Science-Fiction Movie List: joshmatthews.org/great-scienc...
Other Movie Lists: joshmatthews.org/topics/movie...
Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[@requestnearby]

13:45 - Something that hit me when you mentioned Joy staring at the laundry machine (and also the audience) is that the actual actor is staring at another black O... the camera! Maybe this is a 5th wall break, I'm not sure, but the added layer is interesting because the entire movie can be seen from that angle as well. Actors spend countless hours rehearsing and re-shooting for the Everything Donut, a cycle which transcends the film!?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

this is fantastic -- I have been looking for shots in various movies where the audience is implicated in the action or thematic material. This would indeed be one of those! She's also staring into another multiverse, our own. And yes, we/the camera/the frame are the O.

[@CribNotes]

Hey, Josh I've got plenty of unique Everything Everywhere All At Once analysis for you. Looking at all the bagels spinning in the laundromat, did you notice the one that was "out of order" had googly eyes on it?

[@drdavid1963]

Great analysis, Josh. This must have taken some time. I am one who is unconvinced by the praise heaped on it. though this has helped me appreciate its depth. The trouble always comes later in the movie when the sheer volume of images and situations being thrust upon us is too much for my middle-aged perspective. I admit I could be wrong. It's my son's favourite movie and we have many debates about it. It's an intriguing movie no doubt and it's due a rewatch or two or more.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. For sure, something like "The Lego Movie" is an inspiration here, and that manic style has yet to be time-tested on different human perceptions. I don't know whether this movie will last 100 years or if future audiences, not as attention-deprived, will be able to take it. I also have my limits, as I've admitted in commentary on the Spiderverse movies.

[@CribNotes]

The first time I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once, I could only watch 20 minutes at a time. It was too much for my brain. When I finally finished I was like, "Meh...." but I LOVED the soundtrack so I went to see it on the big screen. That's when the whole movie clicked into place in my mind and blew me out of my chair. Wow. Today, it's one of my favorite films.

[@CcJjGg_]

I definitely ask that question, why bother? .. I've tried this movie twice , I may again since this analysis.. I stay tuned in through first half then it feels like it becomes another marvel movie or something

[@RaymondHng]

23:34 That figure is Budai (Chinese: 布袋). The name "Budai" literally means "cloth sack", and refers to the bag he is usually depicted carrying as he wanders aimlessly. His jolly nature, humorous personality, and eccentric lifestyle distinguish him from most Buddhist masters or figures. He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, hence his nickname in Chinese, the *"Laughing Buddha".* Budai is traditionally depicted as overweight and having a huge stomach (possibly a symbol of abundance or forgiveness) and many stories surrounding Budai involve his love of food and drink. Because of this, he is also referred to as the *"Fat Buddha",* especially in the Western world.

[@RaymondHng]

There's actually three spoken languages used in the film: English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Evelyn is the only one who is trilingual. She speaks English with her daughter, Joy, Mandarin with her husband, Waymond, and Cantonese with her father, Gong Gong. Joy attempts to speak Mandarin with her grandfather, Gong Gong. But Cantonese is the only spoken language he understands. Furthermore, he speaks the Toisan variety of Cantonese which is mutually intelligible to an extent with Hong Kong Cantonese, but is mutually unintelliglble with Mandarin. Toisan is spoken mainly in the rural areas of Canton (Guangdong) province which is where Gong Gong is probably from instead of the city.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you, very helpful

[@cruddddddddddddddd]

Good stuff

[@bluehorizon9547]

Multiverse is absolutely real btw. Every world allowed by the laws of physics exists out there.

[@thisisnotafantrailer4083]

Not a fan of the movie but this analysis was great. Thank you.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

you're welcome

[@CribNotes]

Everything Everywhere All At Once gets better each time you watch it. First time I could only watch twenty minutes at a time. Too much for my brain. I saw it the second time at the theater and it blew me out of my seat.

[@thywen7756]

Hi, Josh, I was wondering why I can't find American Beauty(1999) in your list of movies on letterboxd, I was really curious what you thought about it.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I haven't seen it since it came out, and so I need to rewatch to even remember it. I will do this when I get to 1999. Currently watching in 1993, so it might take about a year.

[@thywen7756]

@@LearningaboutMovies Oh I see, you do you 😄 I just watched it a few days ago and I'm obsessed with it, it's one of the most perfect films I have ever seen in my entire life, it won back in 1999 the best picture and best director against Fight Club and The Green Mile, Magnolia, The Sixth sense, and it only has 8.3 on IMDB just because of Kevin Spacey controversy, I went back with wayback machine and it stood at a 8.8 back in 2004.

[@dfsdh432v9]

metrix + Musk, if Neo and jim carrey were chinese lady.

[@pvacaesar2942]

This was one of the worst films I've ever seen. An hour too long.

[@CribNotes]

I noticed that too but not an hour too long. Fifteen less minutes would have cleaned it up nicely. 30 seconds shaved off here and there. I think the directors might have been afraid to make the movie move any faster, know what I mean? First time I watched the movie, I was like "Meh...." Now after seeing it about ten times, it's on my top ten list.

[@pvacaesar2942]

@@CribNotes It just felt like they spent all their money on the music video styled cut aways then had to pad the rest out with filler, the final third of the movie was just the same point hammered over and over again.

[@CribNotes]

@@pvacaesar2942 Hey you don't have to like it. It's not for everybody but there's a ton of stuff going on in the structure of that movie. I'm guessing you only saw it once? I didn't think much of the film the first time I saw it but I loved the soundtrack to I went to see it on the big cinema screen amd the whole thing clicked into place in my head and blew me out of my chair. One of my all time favorites now after watching it maybe ten times.