Everything Everywhere All at Once, eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, released

Everything Everywhere All at Once Released: March 11, 2022 Studio: IAC Films, Gozie AGBO, Year of the Rat, Ley Line Entertainment Genre: drama/absurdist comedy Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 77.19 Worldwide: 143.40 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert Screenwriting: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis Review: Evelyn Quan Wang (Yeoh) delivers “a stellar performance” LB as a Chinese-American immigrant who runs a laundromat with her husband, Waymond (Quan). Amidst the stress of enduring an IRS audit and her husband trying to serve her divorce papers, Evelyn “discovers that she must connect with parallel versions of herself to prevent a powerful being from destroying the multiverse.” WK “She carries an incredibly complex story without missing a beat.” LB It is “a carefully crafted film, with one of the tightest screenplays you will ever encounter…Nothing you see is a throwaway line, or visual gag.” LB It is “a beautiful story of finding purpose and overcoming intergenerational trauma.” LB In addition to Wang, “amazing work is also done by the rest of the cast, especially Ke Huy Quan as Waymond Wang…and Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang (Evelyn’s daughter).” LB The movie “explores philosophical themes such as existentialism, nihilism, surrealism, and absurdism, as well as themes such as neurodivergence, depression, generational trauma, and Asian American identity.” WK Wikipedia.org says the film incorporates elements from multiple genres, including “surreal comedy, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts films, immigrant narrative, and animation.” WK It was also inspired by several sources, including the video game Everything, the children’s book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and contemporary scholars such as philosopher Mary-Jane Rubenstein. WK Sources: LB LayeredButter.com review by Rodrigo Cokting WK Wikipedia.org

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 7: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (Quan), Best Supporting Actress (Curtis), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing Nominations: 11: Best Supporting Actress (Hsu), Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Costume Design First posted 2/26/2025.

Nomadland, the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, released

Nomadland Released: September 11, 2020 Studio: Highwayman, Hear/Say Productions, Cor Cordium Productions, Searchlight Pictures Genre: drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 3.70 Worldwide: 39.46 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Chloé Zhao Screenwriting: Chloé Zhao Starring: Frances McDormand Review: Frances McDormand stars “as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad” WK in this “docu-fictional hybrid” GN based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. The movie captures a sad “a new phenomenon: America’s 60- and 70-something generation whose economic future was shattered by the 2008 crash. They are grey-haired middle-class strivers reduced to poverty who can’t afford to retire but can’t afford to work while maintaining a home. So they have become nomads, a new American tribe roaming the country in camper vans in which they sleep, looking for seasonal work.” GN However, the movie also shows “that, along with the hardship and the heartache, there is also serenity in this way of life, even a kind of euphoria – without the burdens of a house and possessions you can have a glorious and very American freedom in the lost tradition of Emerson and Twain.” GN The movie was written, produced, directed, and edited by Chloé Zhao. She became only the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Director and the first Asian woman. She was also the first to be nominated in four categories in a single year. Sources: GN The Guardian movie review by Peter Bradshaw WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3. Best Picture, Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (McDormand) Nominations: 6. Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography First posted 3/1/2025.