Everything Everywhere All at Once

 

Everything Everywhere All at Once (Amazon Prime)

If you have any drugs left over from the 70’s stashed in your sock draw this is the time to use them. The film is chaotic, the scenes are not sequential. It’s like a Chinese Matrix, but without the pretense. Characters shift  between different parallel universes, called the Alphaverse. In these realities there are alpha versions of themselves. This movie has a little bit of everything for everyone. There is a racoon sushi chef, people with hot dogs for fingers, kung fu, butt plugs (used offensively), google eyes, an everything bagel as a black hole and talking boulders.

The movie starts with Evelyn, played by Michelle Yeoh, and her husband Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan (Quan played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies) at the IRS office audited by aggressive agent played by Jamie Lee Curtis. It is from here the characters start shifting between realities. Contributing to the turmoil, Evelyn’s demanding father, played by the prodigious James Hong (he has 650 film credits) arrived from Hong Kong and her daughter Joy, played by Stefanie Hsu, is trying to introduce her girlfriend to the family. Though out the movie these characters take on different personas. This film does not take itself seriously and some of the fight scenes are hilarious. Yeoh and Hsu give endearing performances and Jamie Lee Curtis in a fat suit and a platinum wig stolen from Andy Warhol’s closet is over the top.

Putting aside all the chaos this is a story about relationships and of what could have been. The alternate realities give expression to different paths. Relationships are with a mother accepting a daughter, dealing with an aging demanding father and a husband reluctantly serving divorce papers to his unsuspecting wife. This movie is different but worthwhile. At the reduced price of $5.99 how can you go wrong.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

 

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

It was pretty good, better than I expected. This is not a Kung Fu movie per se, although there is a lot of Kung Fu fighting. The fighting is in slowmo Kung Fu like Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger and not like Bruce Lee’s bone crushing blows. The story was not entirely set in a mystical Chinese landscape,  San Francisco streets were prevalent. With Marvel movies there is humorous banter provided by Awafina with her delightful Queens accent. The plot is pretty straight forward with a son/father conflict with a bit of Oedipus Rex sprinkled in. The evil guys are mythical Chinese creatures like the ones in the Chinese New Year’s street parade.

The protagonist , Shang-Chi, is played by Simu Lu a Canadian actor. He is affable akin to Jackie Chan. He does a fine job and I am sure we will see him the sequel (another Marvel tradition). Awafina has a supporting role as Shang-Chi’s friend, but not girlfriend. This uncomplication makes the film lighter and you can concentrate on the fighting. The perennial Michelle Yeoh plays Sheng-Chi’s aunt. She was a leading character in Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger and her presence gives the film credibility. Ben Kingsley reprises his role as Trevor Slattery as the Mandarin from Iron Man 3, another Marvel linkage. He gives a humorous performance. Special effects are a major part of the film.