This guy is making all movies worse.

[@Ducksaregreat]

My dumbass said 16 😭

[@just_mdd4]

My man is a visionary! 🤯☠️

[@trulyrandompersonage]

lisan-al-gaib?

[@SOR-05]

@@trulyrandompersonage as written 🤯

[@trulyrandompersonage]

@@SOR-05 under the blue sea or something 🙀😧

[@CKsilver]

it is the best answer

[@laddyboi5628]

It's the kind of film that thinks it's a genius and yet teaches you exactly NOTHING about life

[@Cahrssomething]

Honestly you could just watch two of those “ADVICE YOU NEED TO HEAR OR YOU WILL DIE IN HIGHSCHOOL” videos back to back.

[@ironicockxssleep64290]

It's just aesthetically pleasing, not an art at all

[@doofusboy7054]

Is it meant to teach anything tho? It’s just something about life and for me at least it hits

[@trixsisdead]

@@ironicockxssleep64290 its so gross looking to me. like how many films actually have that sort for look? quite a few but not the films that stand out as art. so this is to me super unpleasing to look at, literally uncomfortable, it feels cheap.

[@TheVoiceofTheProphetElizer]

Just like Donnie Darko.

[@DantesDive]

Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure - David Lynch

[@AbrasiousProductions]

now there's a genius❣

[@tanghoannam7387]

Bold of him to assume I can even catch fish

[@delq]

Bold of him to assume i can catch

[@Orangeutan.]

bro wtf is this comment 🤡🤡🤡

[@harishzepp]

bold of him to assume I can fish

[@BrandonFishback]

It's basically what you would expect from a teenager with a good budget. They have strong feelings about the world but don't have any real world experience to draw from so when they try to say something about it, it just comes out incoherent.

[@baratobenito]

woof, this is the perfect comment on this short. I thought the vid was a bit harsh on the guy.

[@jjjjjjj111]

great way to put it

[@wh4t2]

this is so real

[@morgan.arthur15]

A movie about that would be better.

[@derdennisw22]

isn't it then a successful way of telling the story since it exactly catches that failing attempt to make the world coherent by not being able to?

[@thepeero9670]

i don't think this guy likes this movie.

[@luka557p]

I dont either

[@w.jebediah]

I thought he was going to say he liked the movie but he did not do that

[@WhiskerProductions60149]

ya think?

[@chris1549]

Absolutely no idea what you mean

[@myself2noone]

I think we're too harsh on pretention. At least it shows a desire to be deep. Like a child learning to walk the first stepts are going to be failures, but that's how you learn.

[@Jo-sx8yi]

man

[@chryssdale5747]

woman

[@gurpartapsinghdhillon8399]

Middleman

[@shhlbnrys]

Exactly. It is how you learn. But the fact that rich daddy’s money boy is getting a hollywood feature is the crazy part thats making the pill very hard to swallow.

[@fireball43]

@@shhlbnrys I mean, I have no problem with that. That kid making the backrooms movie came from a somewhat privileged background, but he seems really humble and there’s genuine talent there. Wesley’s just throwing every gen z stereotype and playlist into a blender and seeing what sticks.

[@yopro_20]

Actually yes, you did guess my number correct.

[@purpleboy4949]

Most common number people pick

[@supercalifragilisticex]

​@@purpleboy4949fr, 7 is the luckiest number

[@crzvm1lk]

ooh you gotta give it that hawk tuah spit on that shit

[@thetriathigamer1544]

Loser

[@oscar1081]

@@crzvm1lk log off for the night please

[@606films9]

A rich boy, using mommy and daddy's money to make a shortfilm from his rich college using a quote from Karl Marx is absolutely mind boggling

[@3n3j0t4]

☠️☠️

[@Gastemaz]

It would be good if he had class consciousness but he uses Karl's message just to be

[@Gastemaz]

"disruptive"

[@lirich0]

Karl Marx isn’t actually very disruptive, his quotes come up in the same philosophy class as the quotes of Nietzsche. It’s no coincidence Wesley quotes both philosophers, it’s cause he’s trying to sound like he took a philosophy class but he’s the type of guy who can’t tell the difference between nihilism and existentialism. He’s trying to use Marx in a philosophical context while avoiding all the socioeconomic connotations but it clearly isn’t landing.

[@silverprimus321boi9]

I'd argue it's perfect, and encapsulates the comedy. Buncha pretentious hippies that think they're some genius, citing a lazy bastard of a philosopher who was also a bored rich kid.

[@Faded._]

KZbin algorithm gonna go wild on this one💀

[@kevinthomas728]

Just commenting so that when this does blow up that I can read all the new comments. You're right though, this is going to take off. It's an interesting opinion.

[@lisaanimi]

Here because algorithm

[@seannathanielsalvador459]

A Comment for the algorithm!

[@rusty1253]

here because... why am i here ?

[@tacotuttle]

It’s smart, because people who dislike the film will be finally happy to see a community agreeing with them, and people who like he film will be unhappy about the take and get intrigued

[@cowboy2006]

This feels like when greg heffley rants.

[@dapooty9810]

U can call this a rant, but he makes rather truthful points-the film simply isn’t good, it tries to be deep and poetic but falls flat on its face

[@cowboy2006]

@@dapooty9810 I agree. The video makes good points.

[@Blockidk-i1n]

Don't insult greg like that

[@cowboy2006]

@@Blockidk-i1n bro what are you talking about greg heffley sucks

[@breezedoodles]

@@dapooty9810You can also say the same for this video though he never actually takes the time to explain his points just moves on to the next with graphics and cutaways despite him criticizing Wang for doing the same. Neither this video nor Nothing but everything are deep or correct or anything I don’t agree with this video despite not caring for the film simply because West is just way too far up inside his own ass to realize he’s no different than Wang and is just jealous that Wang got an audience for something he doesn’t deem deserving of it

[@importantperson6843]

I thought I was the only one 😭it just feels like a cheap disney movie from the early 2010's.

[@lirich0]

It tries to use philosophical quotes but clearly Wesley has never taken a philosophy class. It’s trying to be a weird mish mash of edgy existentialism, absurdism, and nihilism and so it just falls short of everything, giving it nothing redeemable.

[@cre3pinhotm]

@@lirich0 thats the point, read the last 10 words of ur comment

[@otterpng]

Yeah his movie is mid asf and he defo does not deserve thr recognition he got

[@sckmindfrud]

its like if a disney character who's never had any significant struggles in life was asked to write a deep, moving script but all he could come up with was "i feel like my parents don't understand me and growing up sucks and thinking about death is scary and I'm the first person ever to have these thoughts"

[@blinkingfishfullstop]

@@cre3pinhotm still shouldn't be dickrode to oblivion

[@ABoeing-]

I get your points, but the level of hating feels weird. This video feels a lot more pretentious then the one being targeted for it.

[@nikoandroman]

Fr, I agree with a lot of his points but it gets to a point were it feels pretentious

[@thehermionegrangerr]

These type of videos always feel kind of strange to me because of that

[@RetroAspect829]

I feel like the reason he is so harsh is because KZbin keeps shoving the original video down everyone's throats. Like I know, I've seen the video pop up at least 1 or 2 times a month for no reason.

[@ElmoTisWTFexe]

Fr

[@windowdresser1643]

Check the discrepancy in the numbers. He wont be ranting this way if that video wasnt so ubiquitous. Some people have can get overinflated egos and it needs to be tackled one way.

[@RomanEskimo]

I remeber watching this short film, and at first I thought it was interesting. But when I really tried dissecting it I realized how vapid and pretentious it was. Cliche scenarios with no meaning. All it takes nowadays to make a successful film is a big budget and buzz words, and then 1 dimensional Tiktok users will watch it.

[@yappertee]

fr

[@gooby_pls]

It is super pretentious :^)

[@Lemminboy7]

this comment is also pretty pretentious

[@Elriuhilu]

Wait, are you talking about Garden State?

[@Orangeutan.]

@@Lemminboy7bro you cant just say pretentious cause you dont like it, the word actually means something

[@georgeelliott6953]

The irony is, I'm not sure what you were trying to say either.

[@georgeelliott6953]

But I haven't seen this movie 🤷

[@estebucks]

It’s a reasonable critique, an honest review. He pointed out what should’ve been obvious, and it’s how self absorbed the film making is and that it doesn’t really have anything to say. If his last section wasn’t clear enough, we need to be more critical of what we call cinema. It doesn’t mean you can’t like it or you can’t derive any sort of positive feeling towards it. But for the seemingly dying species, the people that still care about “good movies” (because honestly, truth is objective in pictures too. although it sounds rude to say and a may be perceived as snobby, you may like a movie with your entire heart but if it’s bad then it’s bad.) we have to fight back against this epidemic. Simple really

[@georgeelliott6953]

@estebucks You're right, that's all straightforward and understood. I guess I need to watch the movie to see why it specifically exemplifies this. Why/what this movie. Or could we replace it with anything and keep the argument unchanged? That was the point behind my dick comment. What specifically is this nothingness we are critiquing vis a vis *this* movie and what it's made of (more than its vibe, annoying director and undeserved success).

[@myself2noone]

​@@estebucksSo sniffing his own farts. Got it.

[@silverprimus321boi9]

The comedy of making a video that's equally as pretentious as said thing you're mocking for being pretentious. Really, all you needed was a clear cut approach, discuss your points and then deliver humor when appropriate.

[@Tiemurillo]

I can imagine Brian griffin liking this “movie”.

[@orangejacket4551]

Definitely

[@case3177]

That's hilarious because I can only imagine Brian Griffin being the one to make this video

[@bark2540]

are we thinking of the same brian griffin? the dog?

[@Tiemurillo]

@@bark2540 yes

[@Tiemurillo]

@@case3177 brian would act like its peak fiction

[@anprimchungus261]

Wang actually just ripped off perks of being a wallflower shamelessly and that video of that guy shitting on his school during his valedictorian speech. It actually makes my balls shrivel up it’s so corny

[@chasecarter7421]

Especially how everyone in the scene is hyping him up and thinks it’s awesome. Irl, you would get laughed out of the building

[@Kaanavsomaiya]

im sorry perks of being a wallflower was such a fucking shit book

[@Blockidk-i1n]

I don't know if I wanna watch that now either lmao

[@i_al_ss]

the car scene is a blatant rip off lmao

[@sigurdjuulstrup6938]

​@@Blockidk-i1nyou should, it's really great

[@im_man27]

The whole self awareness line makes me cringe so hard

[@KLMPK1XB]

second hand embarrassment ig

[@Blockidk-i1n]

The whole fucking film does lmao

[@monkii5258]

that line legitimately sounds like how I thought I was smart in the 9th grade before going to sleep lmao can't believe a harvard student uses it unironically

[@Kevin-z4i]

Glad im not the only one. It felt like a fake deep film made by a high schooler to impress teachers and college admissions committees, like the representation of high schoolers and the humor genuinely felt like a gen x portraying gen z. I was surprised when I found out wang is 20 . It felt extremely adolescent, like a 15 year old thinking about life for the first time "woah uncertainty"

[@Kaanavsomaiya]

but to be fair "woah uncertainty" is how teenagers view life (im a teenager and i am also very uncertain), so in that sense it is realistic but yeah i get your point about it just being kind of an unoffensive filler film to boost his career

[@ChimFilms]

True cause it’s supposed to feel deep but just because it’s not actually accurate to philosophy doesn’t really matter because teenagers have these thoughts all the time. It’s not really about anything and it feels messy but in a way we are ‘interrupting’ and coming in without context so as the film goes on you can feel. As for ‘rich boy’, he is doing what every film maker does - make a film and stick it on KZbin. Except this time it went viral and also he had a bit of money behind it but he’s done what he can. But I suppose what money can’t buy is a good story and that’s what’s missing

[@shum8104]

obviously, its supposed to be from a teenager's perspective.

[@TimotheeChalamet-jk5yg]

Bro I hate movies like this. It’s always so obvious that they’re trying to be all high and mighty, then they feed it down our throats like that horrible piece of garbage they gave us was actually genius. Especially with meaningless cinematography like they always use pretty pictures instead of actual thought out cinematography. Even after all that people always end up eating all up.

[@connie_a]

I notice they always feel the need to shove in corny inspirational music, because how else would the trite monologue written in that "WE always think x, WE always do y" manner resonate with us? It's the most uncreative, smug, quite frankly BORING shit I can think of... and they do it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

[@AbrasiousProductions]

then you'd hate Breathless (1960) as much as I do

[@tirefish]

@@connie_a And the inspirational music is made for christian moms and Schools to use to "inspire" and "motivate" us

[@SheyFiles]

It's easy to make something beautiful look good on camera, all the "ugly" things in the movie were surface level so that they could still be presented beautifully. I barely realized the raccoon had JUST been run over. He talks about death in the movie but even the major conception of it (with his uncle) is an allusion!

[@Ishan8047]

"it's about everything, except, when you make something about everything, it's about nothing" is the perfect way to describe this movie. I thought I was wrong when I didn't really get anything out of it and I looked at the comments and saw everybody saying it captured their life perfectly. (and I was the target demographic as a senior in high school about to graduate) Also I know for a fact that this movie had insane funding behind it because one of my friends, Hadrian Lynn, put crazy amounts of money into it as an executive producer. He had no part in the actual process of making the film besides paying for whatever they wanted to do. I do think it was a cool idea, and it's important for the future of Hollywood, but it didn't land for me the way it did for a lot of other people.

[@3n3j0t4]

I have a strong suspicion that the guy who made the short film used his parents’ credit card to either view bot or pay for nice comments

[@juiceereal]

@@3n3j0t4nah most likely people who can’t think critically and view everything superficially

[@noname-ed2un]

Bro i felt the exact way. Like at a point in thime i wasn't even focusing on the video. Just reading the comments and trying to see how i could relate to it. At a point in time I had to start taking he video back cause of how much i missed searching though the comments and my mind for relatability

[@Aspenarchive]

Just checked Wang’s channel, he literally ran a campaign to fundraise his film, no daddys money bruh

[@nopro4467]

Guys, we agreed that fact checking is not allowed!

[@TR1xui0]

bro this guy just hating on a film... almost as if he can do better

[@StellaByLuna]

You have a lot of good points here, but the way you talk about them really rubs me the wrong way. So many of your points and opinions are left just completely unsubstantiated or unjustified. Takes that im not convinced by: "Get a life if you start your movie by talking to the audience" What is wrong with that? You say it as if it's self evident but it really requires justification. Without that this isnt a critique, it's just hating. "Karl marx quote bad" Again, why? Im not trying to argue it was good (though i do think it was a fine choice) i just want you to not assume the things you have an immediate negative reaction to are things that other people will have immediate negative reactions to "Why does it matter that the principal is trying to silence him if the movie is about personal discovery" Now i havent seen the movie, but i can think of a number of possible answers to this question: maybe the principal represents the antithesis of the movie, maybe it increases the stakes in a compelling way, it doesnt matter for my point if the movie doesnt say those things though, my point is you cant say "the movie isnt about personal discovery because the principal is trying to silence him" that just doesnt logic "It's a tiktok template" Do you mean this literally? Im guessing not, but I dont really get what you mean then. "He's not doing anything wrong" I dont believe you when you say this. It seems like you see this film as part of the problem. "These arent the filmmakers that are being highlighted though" you've only given us one example of this happening so im not convinced "Because if we dont do it, it could mean the death of cinema" EXPLAIN WHY IM BEGGING YOU thats such a massive claim to not substantiate at all I think the main problem with leaving your claims unexamined like this is it only attracts an audience who already agrees with you, but its also doing them a disservice because you could be inviting them to examine their own ideas but instead youre just validating them. I hope this didnt come across too mean, I like your presentation style and i did find some parts really insightful, I do genuinely want to see you improve

[@thehermionegrangerr]

Cinemasins ahh video

[@makmak3081]

the death of cinema line just tied off the chapter which argued that hollywood is looking for inoffensive and marketable art that tries to relate to everyone. This trend degrades the art form, because innovative, unique, and passionate projects are far less encouraged.

[@oaos154]

Good comment

[@scrumptioushumanbeing2268]

I personally do think that the principal trying to silence him can undermine the message, but I think it wasn't Wesley Wangs intention to undermine the message. It is a pretty logical reaction if a student is having a crazy meltdown on stage, to get him off stage immidiatly, so Wesley added that scene because that seemed logical.

[@Kaanavsomaiya]

@@scrumptioushumanbeing2268 yea thats what i thought like dude it doesnt always have to have some meaning central to the film's theme it can just be realistic

[@DavidK-wg8wz]

okay so the movie isnt great yea, I kinda had to turn in off halfway cause it is pretty cringe but this honestly isnt that fair of a criticism for a 17 year old to produce this is legit impressive and yea he had the money but for him to go out there and organize everyone and everything should be applauded not put down like this, also dude you cant visually compare a sophomoric short to literally some of the best movies every made like come on

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@DavidK-wg8wz you know what, fair enough about the comparisons. I should have found some student films to compare it to. I might put something together about that

[@Lady_Vengeance]

But West did mention specifically A) an amateur film he watched as part of a film festival and drew comparisons there as well, and B) the short films made by other indie film directors to secure financing for their first Hollywood film (Whiplash, &c). So he did attack it from that angle. Also this dude's film got picked up to be produced as a Hollywood film so drawing comparison to other Hollywood filmmakers' first-time efforts is absolutely valid.

[@DavidK-wg8wz]

@@Lady_Vengeance it is somewhat valid but he is comparing it to the best of the best Whiplash is an insane example when it's considered the most successful feature out of sundance ever along with Nolan's Memento, not to mention the fact that Damien chazelle alr directed a feature before that short

[@AbrasiousProductions]

it infuriates me that artistically inept philistines are given a budget, actors and equipment to fulfill nothing while genuine creatives like me and others are left with nothing but yearning..

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@Lady_Vengeance please no AI 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Unreal 5 cool tho

[@presidentdredd]

To be honest with you dude, I agree with a lot of the points you’re making, but you are just being way too rude and a lot of the criticism doesn’t feel constructive and you could do it without all the insults and negativity and special effects. Sure he might’ve been rich and might’ve had wealthy parents, but he was also extremely young which is far more important. Literally all of us who have ever written before have made “bad art” when testing the waters. We can’t just demean this persons life experiences because they made “bad art” at such a young age. I looked at some of the stuff I made while being 15, at 17 and cringed at it and said “wow I was such a dumb kid”, but at 19, I love the fact that I sat down to make it. And saying that this guy is going to ruin movies and make them worse, well, that’s not true, no one can do that - art persists no matter what. Good luck with doing KZbin, this is meant to be constructive criticism, I don’t mean to demean you, but this felt really pretentious even though I basically agree with you on everything.

[@JaydenVarghese]

EXACTLY BRO YOU’RE SO RIGHT

[@ChimFilms]

Even if the film was ‘trying to be something it’s not’, all the films we make as kids feel like Hollywood when we are making then

[@zaidlacksalastname4905]

Difference is this is being made into a feature film and 6 million people already watched it. The point is that the success of artistically weak movies could threaten the art form. He doesn't actually hate the kid

[@gonzo96]

bro shut up

[@jomama7210]

this isnt your 15 year old work dude, this is a rich harvard kid who has made movies for years making this garbage lmfao

[@HammerWarington]

Why is 11 not an impressive age exactly? Do you expect someone to start making films from birth to be impressed? What is an impressive age to start anyway? If i started making films at 15 does that make my projects bad because i am too old or something? It just seems like you dislike how successful wesley's film is and are finding things to point out for no reason at all.

[@Zembie1]

Fr I was so surprised when he said that its “not impressive”

[@gvhrvyr]

bro hatin so much

[@suorinnz7604]

@@Zembie1 hes a rich "indie filmmaker" its not that impressive if you have the money to do it

[@HammerWarington]

@@suorinnz7604 exept the fact that being rich has nothing to do with this. There was a fundraiser for the short film which ended up being around 40000 which was used to film. Yes, the film is high budget but it doesn't allow the guy in the video to whip out random facts about wesley that have nothing to do with the film, seam very insecure imo.

[@HaydenFilen]

@@suorinnz7604 does that diminish his talent? No, so stop being a loser and hating someone over jealousy. Grow up and realize that some people are lucky enough to be born into wealth and that's not their fucking fault. Christ, you're the shallow one.

[@JohnAidenWhite]

You realize you yourself are being kind of pretentious in your rant about how pretentious this movie is. Like your whole argument is that the movie is, at its core, invalid. And I really don’t like that. It’s art. all stories should be welcome. It’s a really charming and entertaining and well shot movie. I really don’t like this weird film guy circle of toxicity where we feel the need to take each other down. It’s a collaborative industry when you go for another guy’s throat it makes you look bad.

[@JaydenVarghese]

You’re so real for this man, completely agree

[@presidentdredd]

@@JohnAidenWhite Agreed

[@wiiplaya25]

are we not allowed to criticize? Yes I agree with your comment on art however from a logical standpoint, when it comes to the substance of the film, it's very one-sided and rightfully so. I honestly could forgive ALL of this nonsense if Wesley didn't ACT like an arrogant artist. There is a public interview where he claims HIS script is "perfect" AND that EVERYONE he showed this to "CRIED". The audacity. He blocked most negative reviews on Letterboxd. What does all of that say about him? You can't box all negative feedback into toxic.

[@ProcyonNite]

@@wiiplaya25 Can you please (I'm sorry for this) provide a source? Also, these are some pretty big claims. I doubt you have proof of him blocking negative reviews.

[@Someone-bm1ov]

you don't understand it's not that he is being toxic by commentating and explaining modern movies's flaws i know what you're thinking because i've seen people like you many times before on youtube, any sort of negative feedback about anything on youtube is immediately seen as "negativty" and negativity = bad in your mind. Now I understand your point, a lot of people recently are putting down modern movies, and it can be seen as "negativity", but what you fail to understand is that these people are doing it for the greater good, i'll explain, there were always bad movies, but if this trend of pretentious, self absorbed movies that lack any meaning continues, soon it's gonna be all that's left, but of course, you don't see that as a bad thing, you simply don't care if these movies lack any meaning because you are completely fine with mindless entertainment [aka tiktok] hence why he called this movie a movie for tiktok users. you like this new aesthetic, but these "weird film guys" [in your own words] don't. In short these "weird film guys" are not being toxic for the sake of it or negative for the sake of it, they just care about the future and the direction cinema goes, they know if it keeps going that way soon there will be no interesting and intellectual movies left, but then again you don't mind having mindless entertainment infecting all cinema like the plague.

[@brandonfly4611]

This criticism is so nitpicky and vague. You tell us that the film has 'nothing to say', but refuse to elaborate on this beyond 'too much montage' and 'a 5 second shot with the principal'. The montage thing is a valid criricism, but has absolutely no baring on the pointlessness you describe. Same thing for the cinematography. You call it lackluster and soulless (not exact words), but refuse to give any reasons for this. You dont analyse it or anything. And to top it all off, you have the audacity to back up this amateur criticism by telling over 6 million people that they are 'wrong' and you are right. Whole thing screams 'this rich guy made a movie that and I could've done better so now im salty.'

[@PointingouttheObvious]

yeah i was kinda feeling the same thing. The criticisms were not really landing especially since i haven't seen the original film.

[@mythic_Tisiphone]

Exactly

[@sebastienchen7160]

Yup. I was ready for him to rip into the movie but ironically he also didnt really say much this whole video either

[@joepreinders4110]

why all this hate man, i get that it's not a good movie but it's a project by a college student who made it when he was 19. Of course it's not gonna be a masterpiece, plus it was uploaded for free on youtube and the production is all done by his close circle. Don't expect him to immediately make a masterpiece when he is still so young and has so little experience in the industry

[@kaaaputnik]

I mean I guess most of the critique comes from the fact that if you're that young and inexperienced at telling bearable stories, you should be cutting your teeth on low-budget projects within your skill level as an independent, and cranking out experiments to learn and find your feet first. Before throwing thousands of dollars at an incredibly elaborate (for a student) production for something that might not even be good, which is sort of an indication that you have a much bigger safety net and a lot more unearned confidence than most people trying to break into the industry from the bottom up

[@zelven6109]

Thats literally the point he is making, the lack of judgement by comparison is why modern art or filmmaking is often oversaturated. You need to learn how to accept harshness especially on young ones who are still fluidly intelligent. Sometimes Hate is Necessary. Speaking of judgement by comparison, do you know another young indie filmmaker who did not go to harvard and is mostly built on zero budget AND i'd argue triumphs over wesley wang? Kane Pixels.

[@windigocollector3240]

nice try diddy

[@joepreinders4110]

@@zelven6109 yeah that's a fair argument, thanks brah

[@scrumptioushumanbeing2268]

​@@zelven6109How is that the point he is making? Hate is NEVER necessary! Feedback and constructive criticism is critical for improving your filmmaking skills, not giving poorly explained criticism that is way to hostile

[@7monolith]

the movie should be called nothing

[@nachosniewolnosci3147]

Nothing Nowhere All At Once

[@TehPlaylistSpartan]

Nothing but Trouble

[@SlinkySilver672]

nothing except nothing

[@Gj15XD]

Nothing except Money

[@Vanious]

@@Gj15XDLMAOO

[@elongatedsedation324]

Just as he calls the movie pretentious, I find this video to be quite hypocritical and slightly worse in essence. It just seems like Wang is just some young guy trying to make a movie, and this video decides to just completely shit on all his efforts because... He's rich and people liked his short film? Only to top it off with some half-assed idea that other people deserve the popularity and success he got, it just comes off as INCREDIBLY pretentious. Sure, it's a bad movie. So what? He literally states "It's a small indie movie, why am I giving it a hard time?" And his only answer being: The creator has a fuckton of money. So, he has money, why do people think that's a problem? Is it bad that he lives a good life with a lot of opportunities? Is it bad that he has parents supportive of his interests? Is it bad that he's even pursuing his passions despite the fact that he's not very good at what he does? Is he just supposed to not have any sort of dream or interest because he has the means to pursue it at a high level where he just isn't yet? Sure, it's crude, poorly written, and comes off as pretentious, but as another comment stated, it's at least a sign that someone's trying to make something with more substance, it's not even actively detrimental regardless of how much this video and the title want it to be. This video also understands that his popularity is the result of a larger issue with Hollywood movies and consumers, and it brings up the question of whether or not he's just supposed to not play the system as it's supposed to be played, only to completely throw it in the water and still make the entire video just to say: Fuck this guy in specific for making a mediocre movie and being chosen by the system. The more I think about it the less it makes sense to make this video just to trash on this one guy for being both rich and finding success in the cinema industry. He could have very well made a video tackling what he finds to be the problem with the Hollywood and industry and its consumers, while using Wang and his film as one example of the problem, but instead he decided to target this one person for seemingly no reason other than spite and envy for being lucky enough to succeed in the unfair system.

[@luka557p]

The point your trying to make about the creator being pretentious, but THIS video is more pretentious is so convoluted. The whole point of indie filmmaking is to create something with essence with what the filmmaker has. Now put a rich prep boy with a practically unlimited budget and connections into the position to try and make an “indie film”. This idea of having a super rich kid make a deeper meaning film is so ironic because the same people who delve into these kinds of works are the complete opposite of high worth individuals. This is no different from rich kids pretending to be hippies, at best it’s mocking an art form.

[@General_Komrade]

This comment deserves to be pinned. If Westfilms is brave enough to pin your comment then my respect will 📈📈📈. In the meantime, I agree with all of your points. I could tell that something was off while watching the video, in how brutally he was tearing down the filmmaker, and you just clarified exactly what I was feeling. Thanks!

[@thatgingerdude8666]

although i agree that he is kinda taking it far and i almost want to dislike this video just cus it does seem over dramatic- i have to admit that rich kid did post this on the internet after all, whats on the internet will be held under scrutiny. if this video was about how fame money and shit makes people, instead of "how bad" the movie was id be more interested. this just seems like a moist meter by some guy i dont care about about some other guy i also dont care about. :P

[@theunfunnyjokester]

i second this

[@jirden]

I love how you progressively shit on this movie and its director a little bit more intensely with each new paragraph lol

[@Stender_]

This guy is making all video essays worse.

[@giantpinkcat]

"This rich teenager is the one being pretentious with his short film. Luckily I'm a KZbinr so I can't possibly be anywhere near as pretentious!"

[@JamesScott-ty8mf]

The guy’s right about the short film but lowkey seems jealous of Wesley

[@primecity1095]

Yeah exactly what I was thinking hahaha I'm so split here

[@confusedpozole406]

I mean can you blame him? If I had they money that guy has I would’ve made sure to make something good with it, not flush it down the toilet.

[@sourrlemons]

@@confusedpozole406 he ran a funding campaign to fund the movie

[@eebbaa5560]

@@confusedpozole406 infantile take lol. you think if this guy had a hollywood budget he'd make a good movie? he can't even properly write a ten minute youtube video. i watched the video that he's shitting on, and it sucked, but this guy is somehow more annoying. he's clearly jealous and it's dubious at best whether or not he has any right to be.

[@acex222]

Doesn't Ferris Bueller's Day Off, one of the best films of all time, open with Ferris Bueller talking directly to the audience?

[@nikoandroman]

Thought exactly the same thing

[@theunfunnyjokester]

uploader of this vid is equally pretentious

[@nikoandroman]

@@theunfunnyjokester Exactly

[@picklejar2574]

@@theunfunnyjokester pretntious is a stupid thing anyway honestly, but this video is so much worse in terms of being "pretentious"

[@sixxxav]

no shot you think that’s one of the best movies of all time lmao

[@noah-tl1gv]

this is mad harsh dawg, especially since most of your critique comes from what i think is just a fundamental misunderstanding of what the film is trying to say. also like yea it sucks that he has more resources than others and has an advantage because of that, but would you rather he just doesnt use them? if you and your neighbor are trying to dig two holes, should you throw away your shovel because he's doing it with his hands? he has the resources, he has the connections, why should he have to purposely hold himself back from utilizing them? ngl bro, i think this one just wasn't your audience man. like yea, to you the 'tiktok music' seems cringe (for the record, i think it is too), but for people who are in that community who like that music and like the cringe edits and take meaning from them, its entirely different. from our perspective, its all kinda pretentious and cringe, but you gotta remember that to them, it speaks to a thought or emotion that they feel strongly about, its totally different. i think bottom line is that if it really did suck as much as you make it out to be, then why would people be so positive about it? like the average person isnt stupid, and assuming they arent watching it with the same amount of attention you did is kinda just rude bro. its clear from the comments that the film spoke strongly to them, and i think thats proof enough that its doing something that others have missed.

[@HaydenFilen]

agreed

[@NitroLemons]

Yeah pretty much. In a perfect world everyone would have the access to the gear necessary, but unfortunately it's not the case. Getting hung up on who "deserves" good equipment/personnel is kind of meaningless because until everyone has access, there will always be someone that feels "undeserving" of those resources. Although to be fair using vast resources to essentially overpolish an indie movie does feel like kind of a waste.

[@lamptowel]

why r we calling lorde tiktok music man melodrama is a good album

[@jomama7210]

"misunderstanding of what the film is trying to say" the movie isnt saying anything, this is the problem, people such as yourselves are creating meaning from thin air to try and explain away garbage

[@PicturesUpYT]

the capcut template comparison is the best way you could have summarized what’s been bothering me about the movie this whole time

[@0Riyos0]

Imagine hating this hard on a teen's short film. My brother in Christ, go touch some grass

[@ZachUEFN]

fr he acting like it’s terrible

[@dustie_zw]

Imagine hating someone’s movie because they have rich parents 😭😭

[@maadkid]

Did you watch the video?

[@dustie_zw]

@@maadkid yes I did. Did you? Literally starts it by shitting on the fact that Wang went to Harvard and his parents were rich and that the movie was made with a shit tone of money 🤦🏾‍♂️ Like ok so what’s the problem with that…he used the resources available to him, he made a movie 701k people liked it 😂

[@keyan1219]

@@dustie_zwhey have you considered not being stupid

[@maadkid]

@@dustie_zw I'm pretty sure he mentioned it's to imply it's a pretentious nothing burger that only came into existence cause of his privilege, which happens fairly often with rich kids(look up boby misner), even tho there are great artist that came with wealth( billie eilish, the strokes, jack Quaid ) some are just in the spot light cause of daddy's money.

[@hbtwov8227]

you're not listening

[@lol-qy9sw]

this is the "nothing, except everything" of documentary videos.

[@sairevanth2616]

One problem: it doesn't have an idea. The short film just wanders everywhere, it has no concrete idealogy that it wants to convey. Like that product which is given for free that you actually try and then if you like it you can buy it, but sometimes that product is cheap and just seems pretentious, that there is no actual use from that product. This short film is like that product, it has no meaning or utility.

[@DanPurcell]

I think dumping on this guy and talking about how bad you think his movie is feels like a pointless exercise that almost deliberately(?) feels rooted in some sort of jealousy that this guy got a film deal from his work and you didn't tbh, though I do agree with your regarding the scenes from other short film, that's weird and not good lol. I also agree that the film comes off as pretentious, but what are teens if not self-involved and pretentious, thinking that they're better than what came before them? I think that's the point of the exercise in the film, especially if it's a thesis film as most reports seem to indicate. A teenage life is a life undefined, with the expectation of needing to define it for yourself being thrust upon you when it comes to graduation and moving off "into the world on your own." Now I'm not saying that this guy isn't saying anything, I assume he is since he's a filmmaker, but the movie functions in my eyes like a tone poem, allowing people to fill the images with their own meaning and life, letting the narrative be "their narrative." I think you're right in saying it's TikTok-inspired, because what is TikTok if not a series of "POV: You're doing [insert thing here]" videos designed for you to fill in the gaps of what's missing with your own experience. If that's the case, the composition of shots and choices made to jump between narrative and cinema verite feel like sensible choices for a short like this. But I think not knowing what you want to "say" should be expected of young filmmakers? Most of my short films in college were half-baked in narrative composition, even though I thought I had something worth saying. It's only now in my 30s that I'm getting a much better grasp on my storytelling ability and seamlessly weaving both form and emotion together into something cohesive. I would also argue that the best film school kids didn't know what they wanted to say until they had a few solid features under their belt. Very rarely have I ever found any thesis film that has an incredible story that takes me on a ride from start to finish (one of the few exceptions in my eyes being BriTANick's "The Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses," genuinely can't believe that's a thesis film). As we are want to say nowadays "Let him cook" and get back to us in 10 years when he's got a couple features under his belt, he may have a better sense of identity as an artist (and also, I hope you do the same when you've got some features under YOUR belt!). I would compel you to not focus on what you hate about things on your channel (even though the algos favor contrarianism and controversy nowadays) and instead take the time and energy and channel it into what you love about the medium of video and film and channel it into meaningful work. We've only got so much time here on this planet as artists - avoid dunking on others and let our own work speak for itself, even long after we're gone. Or you could ignore me entirely, I'm just a rando observer commenting on your video, what could I ever know about your life lol

[@axel3689]

t's just a youtube movie made by a spoiled brat, who thinks everybody can go the rich schools he goes to and shits on everyone who don't have the privilege to "just make memories bro". And then again, it's just a youtube movie whose audience is children who grew up on tiktok. I don't think it's worth making a 12 minute video on.

[@HaydenFilen]

Agreed 100%

[@baratobenito]

my thoughts. this dude sounds like he has personal beef w wesley, I hope he doesnt see this vid

[@chocolatepopsicle5834]

@@axel3689 why do we hate on rich people for no reason man

[@edmontronic4422]

I think someone’s a little angry they didn’t get signed by a big hollywood director

[@HaydenFilen]

fr

[@southernstargazer2006]

The mf went to Harvard and his parents are filthy rich, why are you so butthurt lmao.

[@southernstargazer2006]

Notice how you resorted to “oh well you’re just jealous!” Because you don’t want to engage with the points the guy brings up in the video. I don’t even agree with all of the video, but his assessment on this film is correct in my opinion.

[@edmontronic4422]

@@southernstargazer2006 I didn’t bother watching the whole video lol. I watched the beginning, and didn’t care for the rest.

[@southernstargazer2006]

@@edmontronic4422 lmao so you didn’t even watch the video and you still made a generalized assumption about it that is completely false.

[@Goobserl]

Thank you for saying something about this. I was so confused when I watched this short film. It was such a nothing burger of nothingness. And ALL the comments loved it. Thank you for proving that I am not insane.

[@Cabbageboy]

I agree, I wanted to see some actual in depth takes that weren't just glazing. Letterboxd has some genuine honest reviews about the short film tho, both good and bad.

[@magiccheese8362]

if Wesley Wang has no haters, this guy is dead

[@takeabreak7787]

Watching Westfilms hating on this random ass guy I've never heard about in my life for making shallow films. Like you went through the entire process of Watching his films, reading the endless sea of comments, wrote this entire script, made 3D animations to illustrate it and then edited the entire video very well. The lengths we'll go to call people out is crazy. Very entertaining and your editing gets better with each video

[@WestfilmsCo]

After the explosion of hate comments on the last video this is a nice change of pace lol

[@takeabreak7787]

​@@WestfilmsCoI didn't get to fully watch the last video so I don't know what they're talking about. But I do admit that some jokes on your other videos did come off as trying to provocate people for no reason.

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@takeabreak7787 welp it is what it is

[@takeabreak7787]

@@WestfilmsCo facts. There will always be people who get mad at whatever you say regardless, so it doesn't make sense to try to adjust to everyone, just be true to yourself, for being true to one's self is the definition of being based.

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@takeabreak7787 real

[@2doorcamry]

You rely on the same strategy as big filmmakers. You make the video personal to yourself and passion but not too personal by sprinkling in a bit of memes and comedic editing style. That is a comfortable pillow to fall back on, and it displays a lack of self confidence and lack of a stronger sense of self besides just being against the movie.

[@Tomohasen]

Beautifully put.

[@WestfilmsCo]

OUTDATED: The movie recently got taken down, I’m guessing because of all the copyrighted music in it. If that music was being used legally tho, it should probably go up again soon. Hopefully it goes back up, because no matter what I think of the movie I still think companies being able to abuse the youtube copyright system is bullshit.

[@WestfilmsCo]

@yellingfrog9351 make your own opinion, but you know, it would be pretty cool if you watched my video too

[@its_fabled]

@yellingfrog9351 It's up again.

[@bigryinthestu]

damn bro i don't even need to watch this video to now understand you just a cynical little boy seething with jealousy and anger. That's not what an artists does, so maybe find something else to spend your time doing. Fake ass people need to stay far away from this industry, unlike Wesley Wang, who clearly wrote something from the soul.

[@bigryinthestu]

@yellingfrog9351 if you let a guy with 4k subscribers tell you that this movie isn't good simply because he's seething with jealousy and hating himself for being a hater not a leader then you need to go to therapy because i promise you this guy has no fucking clue what he is talking about

[@crispybaboy]

facts

[@Pan05]

I completely disagree. No matter how hated a movie is by "critics" or other filmmakers, it doesn't matter at all. What truly matters is if people like it and enjoy watching it. And if they do, it's a success.

[@pmc4life]

Exactly. Having the sort of insecure mindset this guy has is just so unhealthy

[@alexanderfarjadi9765]

Amen to this. It's ok to like an imperfect movie.

[@bzipoli]

it doesn't make it good. 1 billion people might like something or 1 fella or no one might. popularity makes no difference if something its good or not substance does this doesn't mean you have to like this or that, you like what you like

[@MendelDanzo]

@@pmc4lifeya I might hate this short film but this guy is bringing no good points and just seems jealous

[@hairohukosu433]

I dont know man I think truth in art counts for something

[@jackdalluge]

i don’t like this film in particular bc it was submitted into a high school film festival which i was also in and he took the biggest award for the night and didn’t even show up! also everyone else at the festival did not have big budgets like that so it all felt extremely unfair!

[@sourrlemons]

You realize he ran a funding campaign to get the funding right?

[@michaelwilson134]

it’s easy to criticize the man in the arena 🤷‍♂️

[@charliebreitenmoser696]

this guy does a lot of yapping for ripping on a indie movie💀

[@Someone-bm1ov]

At least he makes an actual point meanwhile this movie makes no point. And you mean an indian movie not an indie movie

[@midnight2808]

@@Someone-bm1ov he means indie. Indie means that it is done independently.

[@lylekress4433]

Yea the movie is pretentious and an obvious “I’m 14 and this is deep” film. But you know what else is pretentious? Claiming you know better than all the people that enjoyed the movie about what makes a movie good, and saying they are all stupid and wrong.

[@AesthetixVB]

I hope the algorithm picks this video up because, honestly have a bone to pick with these rich nepo kids lol. Money doesn’t buy you creativity, passion, or experience. This movie is the equivalent of a gift box with nothing inside, looks pretty, holds nothing of value. Dude is challenging nothing, says nothing, and overall appears to be just a shallow attempt at being “deep” in a **greatly** assisted film. Don’t get me wrong, not all nepo babies are bad, but damn most are just cruising on being mediocre and we praise them for it because they have wealth and connections to other talented people. Compared to the kids who make great thought provoking art despite their poor circumstances. Humility is severely lacking in a lot of these so called artists and directors who focus only on the aesthetics of a movie rather than the meaning and reason behind all this effort.

[@canti7951]

I find this so conflicting because on one hand, I agree. But what got me thinking is when a friend of mine found this to be profound and genuinely felt for this film enough to share it to me. He wasn't a sheltered kid at all, I'd even say he's the complete opposite. To me, it's conflicting bc I've also come to support this idea that taste predominantly comes from class. As such, some differences in taste may be attributed to class division, and it makes sense. The only thing that "saved" my taste from mediocrity is the internet (and piracy lol), if I only watched tv in our 3rd world country that only produces slop for the lowest common denominator and I didn't have access to other cultures and so called high brow stuff, my taste would have been stuck forever, following trends, no sense of media critique whatsoever. While it truly is wealthy people who usually make this mediocre garbage, they end up resonating with the so called everyman. On the other hand, it's also kinda exploitative? Idk but I reaaally hate it and I think this is core to the question of "should we really let people enjoy things?". I'm conflicted but tbh my answer would still be leaning on 'no'.

[@fL0p]

​@@canti7951 Don't worry, that bit where you go '{...}if I only watched tv in our 3rd world country that only produces slop for the lowest common denominator and I didn't have access to other cultures and so called high brow stuff, my taste would have been stuck forever, following trends{...}'_ holds up in 1st world countries as well, particularly here in Spain (even if we're more a 1.5 tier than a straight one since we behave like we want to be poor and pretend like the opposite) where cinema has been dreadfully mistreated since its very early days by having a movie economy fixated strongly enough on having it easy and that measn EVERYTHING IS DUBBED, no questions asked. Of course, original title gets "adapted" in 95% of foreign movies and still baffingly keeps doing it in the weirdest and most confusing way ever -English title won't result in the nearest neighbour of a direct translation or just the direct translation but in a handful of releases, for instance. And if it can spawn a new name or denominator for something it will, just so you can't refer to a good movie by both its original and the title for the Spain release and make your interlocutor associate both so next time he hears its original name he knows what I'm talking about. Blockbusters and easy-money makers get to benefit from this not being always the case (there are a lot of recently inverse trends for what has been the norm for decades, take for instance MCU and other comic based trash flicks where the superhero/squad/central figure cannot be translated into a Spanish variant e.g. Spiderman/Batman/WonderWoman or Top Gun/Mission Impossible which are the first ones popping into mind... these ones respect the original series names and then translate the distinctive episodic denominator part. Or titles like 'Tenet' where it wouldn't get translated so it keeps being easy to reference, or the strange status that Inception has, in which half of the people I've spoken with about the movie would refer to it by said name, and the rest would only know after remarking 'Origen', the adapted title. And like I tried to make clear before, we're not a country in which Original Version consumption is precisely popular...

[@dashielcockrill998]

You can think it’s a bad film all you want but what did Wesley Wang do wrong? He was lucky enough to be born into resources and used them to make a bad film. Sure other people should be getting more credit than him but they aren’t. Not his fault for following his passion and trying to make a movie

[@scrumptioushumanbeing2268]

Do you realize that these nepo kids are actual people? It feels to me like you forget that. They are their own person with their own dreams, aspirations and vision. But only because they are rich we should actively hate on them for making a bad movie?

[@noname-ed2un]

​@@dashielcockrill998 exactly. This comments feel lik their just hating on him. Like sure the movie was not the best, but that's not a reason to be hateful

[@timewarpdrive77]

This is pretentious

[@Someone-bm1ov]

Care to elaborate?

[@breezedoodles]

@@Someone-bm1ov There’s a lot of other comments which help explain why it’s so pretentious but as I’ve read so many of these comments my personal opinion is that yeah the short film was shallow and even if it doesn’t mean much it has a meaning it’s not well developed but as the video itself says cinema isn’t trying to be deep this at least did. Secondly the creator is just a kid and Westfilm’s here just seems spiteful and clouded in his own judgment he’s only been replying to people agreeing with him and he also never even fully explains his own points every single one of his critiques lack substance and depth and are by definition shallow. I didn’t care all that much for the film I loved the visuals but that was about where my care stopped but not liking a film doesn’t give validation to posting a 12 minute video to shit on a film made by a kid who’s too young to have ever had any real cinema experience. Not only does West come off as just a hater trying to sound smart and use critique as a shield to be a hater he doesn’t even do that good of a job at it he hides the lack of substance with fancy editing and graphics the same thing he criticizes Nothing but everything for. I came here to understand why people would care enough to dislike the film instead of just ignoring it and my personal opinion on that so far is people are just in echo chambers of themselves trying to be the smartest and put those younger and less experienced down.

[@mohammadjadallah9813]

@@breezedoodles summed everything up perfectly. Like how do people have this much energy to hate on someone.

[@muffinsquid9244]

division 1 hating, i respect it

[@jayyzee5708]

Its literally not as bad as you make it out to be

[@LeahDada]

It’s okay, it’s visually pleasing but that’s it

[@leonarddavies-garner7218]

Wesley Wang is 20 years old. You really went deep into why we should hate and discourage a filmmaker that is still at the very beginning of his journey. This obsession with someone who seems to have success with what he does, without having earned it in the eyes of others is really what I consider "tHe DeAtH oF cInEmA"

[@tacticalnuggets4464]

no wang represents the bland corporate sludge thats being pushed out by hollywood. Its just stupid to see mediocre filmmakers being overrepresented because they have rich parents while actually talented indie filmmakers aren't noticed

[@leonarddavies-garner7218]

@@tacticalnuggets4464 I don't agree with that either. If you didn't enjoy Nothing Except Everything that's one thing, but claiming that this 20 year old filmmaker represents what is wrong with modern Hollywood is a bit far fetched in my opinion. I understand why people don't like this short film, what I don't understand is the need to discourage young filmmakers (regardless of their background), when there is obviously still so much room to grow. complaining is so easy, why not point out the possibilities of improvement and actually allow a young filmmaker to be better going forward? Sidenote: Looking for just "Short Film" on KZbin I found both this one and countless other indie short films. So if you know how to look for them, you will find unique stories made by creative minds everywhere.

[@leonarddavies-garner7218]

@@tacticalnuggets4464 I don't agree with that at all. Not liking Nothing Except Everything is one thing and totally valid, but claiming that one young filmmaker somehow represents what is wrong with modern Hollywood seems a bit far fetched. I understand why people don't like the film, what I don't understand is why instead of pointing out the possibilities of improvement people are instead hating and ranting about an indie filmmaker who is 20 years old and who still has his best work ahead of him. I think that is a toxic way to look at the matter regardless of Wesley Wang's background. Let people make films, fail at it and improve going forward. And if you want to see more indie films by smaller creators, I found both this short film and many more with much smaller budgets by just looking for "Short film" on KZbin.

[@eebbaa5560]

@@tacticalnuggets4464 the actual talented indie filmmakers in question

[@CanStandMor14]

the movie feels like a post from r/im14andthisisdeep

[@oddguys178]

It was amazingly filmed, but had no story, no life, it was nothing except expensive

[@partydowntown]

So nothing that Wesley Wang should be venomously hated over yeah?

[@wiiplaya25]

@@partydowntown He claims in one interview that his script is the "perfect representation of his generation". So you're not wrong but Wesley carries himself in an arrogant manner. That's at least my problem with him.

[@noamgreenberg8417]

Ny friends said this movie changed his life so watched it and it was so shallow and cringe i couldn't believe it Thanks for talking about this its really important for people to understand films on a deeper level

[@Kevin-z4i]

what could someone possibly take from this movie that would be life changing like holy fuck do people not think about anything before its showed to them in a capcut edit format

[@canti7951]

I remember watching a yt video called something like "Your Life is A Lie" and 13 year old me thought it was the most profound shit ever. Yeah it was cringe, even teetering on being right wing propaganda but it legit pushed me to become more inquisitive and think more deeply about the world. Ironically, that vid have pushed me into philosophy and more leftist ideas. Point is, everyone has that ""profound""" media that may act as a gateway for actual profound stuff, cause yknow, people don't start out as already media literate. Ig it's just kinda cringe to see college students still be in this phase.

[@Kevin-z4i]

@@canti7951 I had a similar experience to you with media when I was younger, but mine was probably worse which is maybe why im so cynical about this. Looking up "how to make friends in high school" on reddit when I was 14 sent me down the red pill/ alt right pipeline and I didn't fully leave it till I was 17. The red pill stuff also weirdly got me into philosophy/spirituality so I was this insufferable misogynistic asshole kid while also meditating daily and consuming media about "inner peace" at the same time. But similar to you I quickly became leftist after leaving that The fact that wang is 20 and is only one year younger than me is what really gets me lol + the comments that are like "im 45 and this brought me to tears and changed my life" which I PRAY aren't actually 45 year olds

[@jakehate]

Your criticisms boil down to "pretentious and rich". This video did not deserve to be made.

[@AxTechs]

This is coming from someone who works full time as a dp, mostly in the commercial space, but still, I may have a slightly different view than you. Ironically I think you got the concept perfectly, you just didn’t like it. No, it’s not the greatest thing of all time, but it’s much better than other $40k ish budget shorts. I love how he combined both a KZbin style intro and editing style with, what to me at least, was a story that actually felt like it had some truth behind it. Is it the best short ever, hell no, but stylistically it’s a different, less polished approach than most films I’ve seen go for. It’s not trying to push a cinematographic style, and to be honest the DI and technical side is horrible, the super 8 footage (which is actual super 8 and not a filter) isn’t even transformed out of cineon and into rec 709, let alone 2383. But just to say, this crew may be decent in size, but no one on this production is an Oscar winning PD, DP, sound mixer or anything like that. A lot of it he did do himself, and even if he got that funding via family, I don’t care, I don’t think that should tarnish the final product. I don’t know if this film is on IMDb or Letterboxd, but I’d rate it like a 5/10, 2.5/5 It’s watchable, it’s entertaining, and at the end of the day, not every film needs to be a Prisoners or a Social Network, every now and then I want to go to the cinema and watch an Annie, or Journey 2

[@fireball43]

I hated the movie, but this whole thing is just a case of envy. People wouldn't care about another bad student film even if it's from some rich Harvard kid, but this one has major views. That's it. He's a privileged guy getting attention on a mediocre product, but there's plenty of that in Hollywood. He just posted it on a channel with his name on it. Wesley's everything a lot of people hate about the industry and he's this singular thing people can dump their hatred on, valid as they may be.

[@DavidK-wg8wz]

It's an impressive feat for a teenager fs and the thing is this could've been a lot worse In terms of technical and the money aspects, I did some digging and the DP is semi-pro and is owner operator of alexa mini Wesley Wang comes from a pretty affluent family in Cali and alot of his circle also happens to have money, so if you have access to these resources as a very young filmmaker then it's a great thing that youre taking advantage of it (and the right thing) I'm telling you right now, alot of this vitriol is stemming from jealousy, dude like wtf what did you accomplish in high school? Alot of kids that even come from money waste it doing drugs or pointless shit, Wesley put himself out there by submitting and getting selected to high profile festivals and even getting recognition from Hollywood all before he hit 20. As for the film itself yea some of it is pretty cringe but only because most of us as filmmakers have wrote something pretty similar in the past, the naiveté and the pretension kinda defines our youth like it's pretty normal

[@suorinnz7604]

@@DavidK-wg8wz not a impressive feat if you have money tbh, anything can be done with money is this society....

[@DavidK-wg8wz]

@@suorinnz7604 you cant buy creativity, drive, or initiative If you have money you can be the laziest kid in the world but this kid chose not to be so good on him

[@wiiplaya25]

@@fireball43 yeah you're kinda right. I want to make films of my own and I'll admit I'd die to have his resources. So maybe he'll make something better?

[@salavette]

As someone who loved this movie, I feel like the lack of a consistent cinematic lens, the pointlessness, etc. was what made it so special. It's about how the transition from adolescence to adulthood includes reconciling and integrating all the pointless, confusing, random parts of life (the number 7, romance, Uncle Fred storyline, etc.) and understanding how they affect you and that even if they don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things because they don't impact the world or "do" anything, they mean something to you, and that's enough. It isn't about a specific person or storyline or idea because it represents how confusing life is, how strange it is to enter a world as a grown-up and have to piece together every part of your life, to understand your path and your storyline when no one fits perfectly into a storyline. It doesn't have to be about "something" to be meaningful; that's the point. It's nothing, (it has no real effect on the world/other's lives), except everything (it is everything the main character is and has experienced). Growing up is situating yourself in the world around you and finding your way. I especially loved the ending montage which showed all the random scenes from childhood/the world/the present, because so much is happening all the time and it's crazy to think that none of it really means anything. It doesn't really matter that he's valedictorian, standing on top of that stage. It doesn't really matter that his uncle killed himself. Nothing really matters, the world keeps turning at the end of the day. Also as for the "sitcom writing" and the "TikTok music", in my opinion, nothing is more pretentious than putting down a piece of art just because it isn't perceived as the pinnacle of cinema. This film was made for teenagers who relate and connect to those songs more than "real" pieces of music, whatever that means, and "sitcom" writing works because people can understand it! I don't really understand the issue with using popular songs from TikTok, or popular media in general. The songs are good, the writing makes sense, and as a teenager myself, I really related to it. It wasn't made to be "good" or have a consistent plot, it was made to connect to actual teens. And that's everything.

[@aidenpadilla2012]

I agree. When I initially watched it, I felt like something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Some of it felt like a really amateur short film which is often hard to avoid so I didn't think much about that, but something was definitely off. You explain it perfectly, this short film is void of substance. It was 12 minutes of conversations that didn't add anything and interesting montages. Honestly, I really liked the montages. If this film was purely those montages I would see the potential for a feature film but the narrative and characters are so hindered by such a lack of depth. I truly came away from that short with the thought "ok? and?" It's an unfortunate blunder of potential that confused me for a while. This video is so simple and straight to the point about all of it. You've explained it extremely well. Thank you.

[@cyriledet4363]

The tone of your "critique" reads as a mixture of jealousy, envy and annoyance. 1. Yes, the movie is pretentious. The writer/director was in his final year of high school. It presents as deep because adolescence is a long process of grasping for depth (see: The Fault in Our Stars, 13 Reasons Why etc.) Not a new concept. 2. The point of the movie is that teenagers don't have anything figured out and there's a sense of dread that comes with that. The movie is aware of this, and comments on it while showing the optimism of high schoolers despite the state of the world (the montage at the end where all the kids talk about their thoughts on the future) 3. A rich person using a Karl Marx quote may be ironic, but Marxism is not exclusive to the poor. If anything, upper class people using resources to highlight the plight of the working class is a net good to society. 4. The "TikTok songs" you're referencing are largely popular alt songs from that 2013 - 2018 era of "alt/indie" music. It tracks with the demographic making it, and the intended audience. 5. This video isn't a critique of the film. It''s 12 minutes of you complaining. You seem older than your teen years, so it's worrying that your best performing video in this site on one where you bitch about the (heavily funded, yes) hard work of someone far younger than you. The issue isn't you not liking the film, but the fact that your takes on it are poisoned by this apparent and innate annoyance you have for someone you don't know because he's rich and made a very okay film. You seem to long for the financial freedom to make high-budget mistakes with little risk (as do we all), and this longing has turned to annoyance at someone for making work that you deem sub-par with the opportunity you wish you had. The creator might be deleting bad reviews, well he's a teenager. Let him reckon with his ego in time. To close, a quote from John Adams (one of the leaders of the American Revolution): "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain." My advice, spend less time talking about what you hate and more time talking about what you want to see more of in this world. Also if you delete this comment you're a bitch. Thanks

[@OrenjiMura]

This comment seems like its from a emotional stance instead of a intelligent one which is ironic

[@Jamer6765]

it seems like this comment is made out of a place of you being a fucking simpleton, who is offended since they thought that this corporatized movies was pretty good and now sees that they might be wrong, but instead of admitting and admitting your a simpleton you dig yourself deeper to void coming to terms with that, very anti-intellectual

[@poobb_]

@@OrenjiMura he is right, and the creator of this video was definitely speaking on an emotional stance too

[@CoolScratcher]

I was one of the "Tiktok kids" who found this movie and fell in love with it. I have a glowing comment on that video myself. I'm pretty ashamed of it after watching this and reading the Letterboxd reviews. I'm sixteeen. I'm a child. It shouldn't be a surprise that I'm going to have shallow opinions, but it is. The more you know. Everything you said rung true, and it genuinely made me feel a little sad since I want to go into film eventually - and if I can't see a bad film for what it is, how will I ever know if my own films are any good? Thank you for opening my eyes... and maybe I'll learn to think critically for once. If anyone has recs for short films that are ACTUALLY good, please let me know. Awesome video, you have gained a subscriber :) Edit: thanks for the comments, seeing this just now. Will check out the recommended films!

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@CoolScratcher you shouldn’t feel bad about enjoying it, the movie is trying to get you to do that. I bet you could make something much better than Nothing Except Everything (even though that’s a pretty low bar lol)

[@kaaaputnik]

"Island In Between" by S. Leo Chiang here on youtube is a really incredible 18-minute short film that's basically the opposite of Nothing Except Everything: really grounded, down to earth, unpretentious and honest. It helps that it's a documentary, but it's told unconventionally - it's practically hypnotic, and a lot of the skills you need to make a documentary, like, actually engaging to watch carry over to making fiction. About wanting to go into film - a lot of us here in the comments are in the same boat as you. I was in the same place you are 3 years ago, and for what it's worth, I'd say you don't have to worry too much about not being able to evaluate your own films' quality. Taste is a skill, and you develop it with time and practice. You're pretty much always gonna be leapfrogging over where your taste was a few months ago - it shouldn't discourage you, it's a sign you're getting better! Artists call it the taste/skill gap. Just stay thinking. Consume more than film - read books, poetry, music, painting, dance, whatever, it can all contribute to your artistic understanding of the world and your taste. Stay curious and tinker in your spare time - do small experiments within your budget level as an independent, and take what you learn from them to the next experiment, and don't hold them to such a high standard, treat them like learning exercises. You'll do alright 👍

[@berijap4229]

Please remember that something being "good" is subjective. Successful directors create shite movies too, so don't feel too bad on yourself. Just try the best you can and if it's good, good if it's bad then make it better.

[@baratobenito]

I’m 17 and I think you should learn to form your own opinions. This youtuber seems like a pretentious dick. When making this vid he wanted everyone to feel bad for ever liking the short and personally insulted the dude that made it. Nothing woulda stopped him from insulting anything you and I woulda directed and posted either. He said it himself, “11 isn’t an impressive age.” He’s doubling down cause he realized he made you feel bad, and he’s gonna double down when the original director sees this vid and realizes his words mean can really affect people. Make what you want. Don’t listen to this guy. Don’t let guys like this make you feel bad about yourself.

[@defauItpfp]

chilllll crakka 😭

[@colebaumann9850]

your video was even more pointless. his film was pointless, sure. but you hating it this bad is out of some sort of insecurity you have about it.

[@Coppersfatty]

Im sorry 638 subs????? This quality video is way to impressive for that small ass number!

[@sandrohernandez4401]

Im sorry 638 subs????? This quality video is way to impressive for that small ass number!

[@purgelmao5300]

The subs grew that quickly!? Good for him!

[@AwesomeTingle]

the writing "gets the point across?" I thought you said there was no point

[@Zembie1]

12 minutes of yap, maybe hate on big greedy corporations instead of a kid who likes making movies

[@jacklw9]

Literally zero correlation, also this ain't a kid, it's an adult man with rich parents

[@user-kr4fz4fr8j]

Cool. However, you are 14.

[@HaydenFilen]

​@@jacklw9 he produced it when he was 17. Give him a break and go make something better yourself

[@HaydenFilen]

@@user-kr4fz4fr8j Incredible comeback dude it's almost like you took it right from the film you're getting pressed about

[@nfdhje38743m]

@@HaydenFilen If I was studying and practicing cinematography at 17 and produced something of this level, I wouldn't publish anything until I've grown as a filmmaker. This is the equivalent of a beginner ambient producer aimlessly spamming bandcamp releases in hopes of getting picked up by some label, except here they have a professional studio, numerous collaborators, and the best equipment. He still couldn't make anything unique and cohesive.

[@Sam-fk3of]

Subscribed solely because of the cowboy bebop and hotline Miami music. You got taste my friend

[@arch523]

Get a life dude, and stop hating on other people's work. This is just pathetic 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@bluemare64]

I totally agree with the last part, "almost every single one of the movies I see has a genuine passion that seeps through". Movies these days are so obsessed with making everything look nice and almost never have a distinct purpose. I prefer older movies because they're simple and distilled, where they're not even trying to prove a point, it's the passion they have to just tell a story.

[@grouchycouchys5289]

Funny typo at 1:34 found. Grammar police strikes again 👮

[@JackTRMusic]

honestly money doesn’t really hinder your ability to express art literally just pay 50 extras buy out a block pay a crew and production staff and distribution

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@JackTRMusic oh yeah i forgot about that

[@FahimAhmed-xj9lq]

This video just made me wanna check the movie out to see what all the fuss is about lol. Your level of hatred for it seems a little blown up, especially since we're talking about a 20-year old who is making his first foray into his passion. Sure it may or may not be as bad as you say, but I wouldn't say he's "making all movies worse"

[@iwantmybed3090]

genuinely shocked at this view count, I could have sworn this was in the 100ks! As one of those 6.8 million who initially watched it and also found it extremely shallow, this critique was a breath of fresh air, keep it up mate great stuff x

[@rafiq.ibayev]

I think the main reason people liked it that much is because it's posted on youtube. I mean we don't see such high budget cinematic short films made exclusively for social media, not a film festival. And the audience being mostly teenagers who haven't watched many movies compared to short-form content, it felt like something different. Just a theory

[@blockshift758]

This movie is like a bunch of stock videos stitched together.

[@Mr_Chunk]

When I head Max Payne's theme at 8:10 I was completely stunlocked from whatever game I was playing and sent back to my childhood. Very nice to have this moment in the middle of an amazing video.

[@fedamist1450]

I feel like you made this video not from a place of true criticism, but jealousy. It seems like since he reached a larger level of success than you, that you are upset. Art is allowed to be pretentious and pointless, and being generic is not indicative of poor quality. You also provide little to no sources for your claims. You seem to be angry at the fact that the movie is a product of its time. Ironically none of your points end up providing any substance. Please take a deeper look at yourself, this is very sad.

[@kachiggamybigga9481]

🤡

[@Menon9767]

When I watched it for the first time, it felt like everything, except nothing

[@durdle3260]

Everything you're saying is true but I think you're overreacting, people still like good films, if it turns out his feature is a mindless slop he wont succeed no matter how rich he is. This victim mentality of he's rich so he'll obviously succeed is a losing one. Sure his short wasn't oscar worthy but he catered to an audience and it worked, sometimes you have to do what works to do what you want.

[@no_one2197]

Seven is my favorite number. I was born in 1997. And I don't want to give too much personal info but that number is present in so many important things in my life is insane. Nice video btw

[@randomplaylistshere6616]

Wether it’s the worst price of shit on earth or something that deserves all the awards in the world I can’t deny the fact that watching it for the first time at 1 in the morning made me feel something

[@LifeofNickYT]

About a year ago I submitted a short film I was really proud of the the All American High School Film Festival. It got in, and, it being my second festival, I expected it to get a big audience where people would look at the work and form their own opinions about it. Instead, in the theater was me, my dad, a friend of mine, and about 6 other people in the huge AMC theater. Because this film festival prioritized films like this. My film didn't win an award, and I honestly didn't expect it to. But I did hope it would, that is until I saw this. My theory is the motivation behind this film isn't even to be a great film, it's to win awards and bring Wesley into the spotlight for major productions. It's designed, in its camerawork and craft not to be good per se, but to be unbeatable by anyone like me, who used my film class' cameras and actors who were my friends. No surprise, this film won. I'm not mad that it beat my film, I honestly don't even think it was in the same tier as the best of fest award winners. But it beat out a lot of others, others that showed excellent camerawork, storytelling, and craft. Nothing, except everything is a film designed to impress and nothing else.

[@sensid-iwnl-5201]

It's like one step away from a Dhar Mann video

[@sweetcheeses]

I don’t like this criticism. Hated the movie but this criticism is somehow worse. Of course a 17 year old won’t measure up to Better Call Saul

[@hoyboy6150]

I totally agree. A lot of people in the comments are talking about how the movie is actually really good and how his points are bad and therefore the movie is good, but some poorly articulated or crafted arguments against a movie doesn't make it good lol

[@cuyaCT]

hello sir, i mean no disrespect towards you as a person, but i felt that this video felt more like hate than an actual critique. sorry but if you think this guy is the reason cinema is crashing down, i believe that to be quite an exaggerated message. you were right on the money that tiktok and social media is at cause for cinema not having as many eyes as it used to, but i disagree that this film is a tiktok template. cinema is dying cuz of billions of other tiktoks and social media content that have wayyyyy more views and attention. its dying cuz 100m people would rather flock to youtube to watch mr. beast. it’s dying cuz streaming platforms only want to create using IP, and residuals aren’t given despite many views. it’s not cuz some rich kid made a video that got 7 million views. how could he be a big factor in all of this? 7 million is nothing in this generation. this movie cost $40,000, which is more than the average short film budget ($5,000-$30,000). maybe his parents funded a lot of it. so what? the world is built on nepotism. is he supposed to make a film that’s not as expensive? i’ve worked on so many short films that were made with $40,000, and they were bad short films, but the fact that it was $40,000 meant that they could pay me. and that’s much better for me in this industry than working on a $10,000 short film that won’t. your critique on the content within the film is your own opinion, i have no judgement on how you feel cuz everyone can like or dislike what they enjoy. but when you talked about the industry, i felt that this video was off the mark when blaming a kid to be a part of the problem.

[@kaydotnet]

go off

[@spriteguy777]

The commenter disagrees with the video's harsh critique of the film, arguing that social media and streaming platforms are the real culprits behind the decline of cinema.

[@cuyaCT]

@@spriteguy777 i acknowledged he said this and was right on the money about that point-but where his argument is wrong is by blaming this short film to be a huge example as one of the products of the decline of cinema. part of his reasoning was because this film had a bigger budget than most short films. as someone working in the industry, i argued that these type of projects keep the industry working more than the other culprits, such as social media and streaming, cuz we are able to get paid. his film budget is not an anomaly, as many people try to work on independent narratives that will pay us. even indie feature films are self made more expensively in terms of a pound for pound ratio. and films that have budgets are able to pay us, who work on sets. i have no issue with his critique of the films content and disliking its message-but that alone doesn’t make it a bigger factor than others for the decline of cinema. and to blame this short film for that is just wrong.

[@liamcox7057]

I love how a lot of the comments are praising the line "You'll never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory" despite it being an old Dr. Seuss line

[@SnivTen]

Starts with the Postal 2 map music and then has a part from the ( 8:00 ) Max Payne 3 soundtrack, and then ends with a track from Hotline Miami. Pure kino. Subbed just for that alone.

[@Silver4Hire]

Map muzak slaps so hard

[@shrimponthebobby]

While i understand the point you are trying to make and agree w some points, this video is REALLY the reason why the movie industry is so bad rn. Everyone thinks that they have the greatest perspective about what is or isnt a good movie, hating on any movie that receives high recognition, just to appear like they have taste to other film nerds. Sure the kid is privileged and definitely does not deserve this praise for being an amazing director, but who the fuck cares. If he made something that made people feel something, thats something to appreciate in and of itself. You wonder why people are so afraid to make a movie nowadays and its because every pretentious film major is going to criticize anything if it isnt shot like clockwork orange or doesnt have scorsese level writing. I wont be surprised if i get hate on this comment since most people in this comment section are everything im describing. Just a bunch of film bros who think that they have the greatest perspective on what makes a good movie, when in reality im sure 90% of you would end up making something that other film bros would call horrible. I think the bigger argument to be made about the film is how the narrative around the director is that he was this random kid who just made a movie, when in reality hes a privileged rich kid who had an entire team to help him make said movie, and thus should not receive such individual praise.

[@nfdhje38743m]

well, these "pretentious film majors" would also be wrong considering clockwork orange isn't really groundbreaking visually and scorsese's writing suffers greatly from stuff like aimless story narratives (goodfellas) and blatant immature ripoff conmanship (after hours).

[@jerjerz21]

It felt like a speedrun of every coming-of-age film there is 😂

[@secretchannel8800]

"A movie with hard work, passion talent & effort entertainment from a small team should Get the audience Not the ones who try to make it for the marketing or a mix of appeal greed" - (just a 2 paragraph quote I made.) Also note: "I hope that stop motion child animator gets a better success filmmaking career!"

[@Geoooooooooo]

this video is infinitely more pretentious than the movie ever could be

[@PabloDiaz-lm2it]

I don't know if I find you prentetious or if I like your content, and I think that's a good line to teeter. At multiple points throughout this video I was critical of you and what you were saying and now I'm just neutral. What a funny rollercoaster of emotions you had me go through. I'll subscribe not out of pure backing but out of

[@yoda536]

My friends and I have an in-joke where we use the word ‘euphoric’ to describe things like Wang’s films. It’s feeling itself to the point of masturbation. I totally agree with your critiques, great video. Btw, I’m working on a script for a Hotline Miami inspired short film. It differs greatly from the story and lore of the games, but holds the basic premise and aesthetic - and not to mention the killer soundtrack. I’ve kind of hit creative bedrock with it and it’s been collecting dust for a few months. If the concept sounds interesting to you maybe I could shoot you a draft?

[@WestfilmsCo]

@@yoda536 yeah, I’d love to take look at it! Email me at [e-mail]

[@yoda536]

@@WestfilmsCo Thanks for getting back to me! Re-reading it there are a few edits I wanna make. I’ll send it through in a few days

[@finn049]

Hotline Miami mentioned 🗣🗣🔥🔥

[@thetriathigamer1544]

Peakline Miami

[@salsasnake76]

"Do you like hurting other people?" 🗣🗣🐔🐔🔥🔥

[@SeaAycheEyeEye]

I'm gonna hate on this movie just cause the comments are so upset about it being criticized lol

[@RizzlyBear444]

real shit 💀

[@Ryan-nh1tl]

I love the inclusion of cowboy bebop music in your video. The moment the drums kicked in I was like wait- I know this song!

[@GeorgeOfGeorge]

While I loved Everything Everywhere All At Once, it definitely inspired a wave of copycats who’ll try to replicate the same unique modern energy it had despite not having anything to say, such as this. They forget that the point of a film is to say something, this short said nothing.