JT'S FILM REVIEW! - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

Okay, how do I begin to describe "Everything Everywhere All at Once"? It's a black comedy sci-fi fantasy time traveling multiverse film and even that doesn't begin to describe the anarchy found within. The movie opens with Michelle Yeoh's Evelyn Wang, a down on her luck laundromat owner with a sensitive husband Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) and a misunderstood daughter ironically named Joy (Stephanie Hsu) that has to also deal with a tax auditor named Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis).

While at the IRS building meeting with Deirdre, Waymond suddenly becomes possessed by a completely different person. This person is actually Waymond from another Universe and he has come to warn her that there is a terrible entity making its way throughout the Multiverse. In the Alphaverse that this Waymond comes from, it turns out that Alpha Evelyn is the one who discovered how to jump to the various Universes and now Evelyn in the present Universe may be the only one who can stop this evil from destroying everything... everywhere... all at once.

Now, this is simply the best way that I could sum up the movie without giving too much away. It's a movie that simply has to be experienced to be believed. This is a movie that most studios would have probably turned away but this is A24 here and they definitely don't mind taking chances on movies that are quite bizarre.

The movie is mainly a showcase for Yeoh who gets to show off an incredible range as an actor. Of course, she also gets to show off her killer choreography that made her an action icon in the 1990s. With all of the wacky things that happen in this movie (and there are plenty of wacky things that happen), the true heart of the story surrounds Evelyn and her family so Yeoh has a lot of emotional weight to carry on her shoulders in addition to all the action.

Thankfully, though, she doesn't have to carry the weight of the story alone. As I mentioned before, at the heart of this otherworldly story is a family. Quan is an actor who had largely retired after his child acting days in films such as "The Goonies" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". I really wish he hadn't retired because he is absolutely phenomenal as Waymond.

He is a big part of the heart of this movie and he also has great chemistry with Yeoh. Together, they both gave award worthy performances. In the primary Universe of the movie, Quan gives Waymond the sensitivity and unabashed kindness that makes you root for him. Waymond from the Alphaverse is a genuine badass though he doesn't give up that kindness that defines the character.

Then there is Curtis as the droll IRS auditor Deirdre. She is a great supporting actress in this movie and both a genuine threat and genuinely funny when the script calls for it. You can tell that Curtis is having a great time playing a character that she's not used to playing and she nails it.

With all the chaos that ensues in this movie, it could have easily gone way over-the-top and been way too confusing for the average viewer. Thankfully, the filmmakers avoid falling completely off the cliff and manage to tie together everything that they present to the audience.

At the end of the day, what we have here is a rather unique film that stands on its own with a solid message about family relationships and a broader look at themes such as the meaning of life, particularly nihilism. It is a slam bang film that has the true heart of an art film. "Everything Everywhere" is also a movie that shows just how talented Yeoh is as an actress and it was great that Quan also returned and I truly hope that this leads to more roles for the actor so that his talents are never wasted again.

5/5 Stars

REVIEW! - 'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent'

Here is a movie that has no business actually working yet it does. For anyone who doesn't know, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" sees Nicholas Cage playing Nick Cage, a fictionalized version of himself. In the movie, Cage is trying to find his next big hit and his career has always taken priority over his family life.

His ex-wife Olivia (Sharon Horgan) can't stand his self-absorbed ego and his daughter Addy (Lily Sheen) feels that he just wants to turn her into another version of him. Meanwhile, his agent Richard Fink (Neil Patrick Harris) is trying to get Cage whatever work he can get him. This includes a $1 million offer to head to an island in order to be a guest of honor at the birthday party for Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal).

While Cage initially heads out to the island reluctantly, the two characters quickly bond over their love of movies. Unfortunately, two CIA officers tell Cage that Javi might be a dangerous arms dealer that has just kidnapped the daughter of the president in Javi's country. Cage now finds himself trying to figure out if Javi has any dark secrets and whether or not he can find the kidnapped girl.

The movie sounds utterly absurd and that's because it is, yet somehow this strange plot works. Whether Cage is accidentally poisoning himself or he's going on an LSD trip with Javi, you find yourself laughing most of the way through the movie. The first thing to note is that the movie never makes fun of Nicholas Cage.

His version of Nick Cage may be a parody of the real man, but none of it comes off as mean and we're definitely laughing with Cage rather than laughing at Cage. If anything, the movie is a well done celebration of Cage's eclectic career and I found that after watching the movie, I kind of wanted to have a Nick Cage marathon.

Another thing that helps this movie is that the performances are top notch all around. Another standout performance beyond Cage is Pascal as Javi. His chemistry with Cage as they have several wild misadventures and touching scenes is undeniable. If their relationship didn't work, then the whole movie would have fallen apart and Pascal's performance is another reminder of why he is one of my favorite actors these days.

The movie has several funny moments, but it also has some genuinely fun action while it reminds us just how awesome Cage is as an actor. With a career that has gone on as long as Cage's has, he's definitely had his ups and his downs. Along with this film and "Pig" from last year, Cage is definitely having an upswing in his later career that I hope continues if this clever action/comedy has anything to say about it.

5/5 Stars

THE GEEKLY RETRO REVIEW - 'Street Fighter' (1994)

Back in the 1990s, Hollywood had an idea to take video game properties, observe only the bare bones of what those games were about, and make something in live action that no one really wanted. In 1993, "Super Mario Bros: The Movie" came out barely resembling the brightly colored games they were based on and it was completely panned by critics. It was the start of a curse where video game adaptations usually didn't turn out good aside from a few notable exceptions.

A year after "Super Mario Bros.", two video game adaptations came out. The first one, "Double Dragon", was somehow worse than "Super Mario Bros." and was quickly forgotten. The second film in 1994 was "Street Fighter", a film very loosely based on "Street Fighter II", a fighting game that was not only popular but was also the first fighting game that brought the genre into the mainstream for gamers.

The story for the movie seems to suggest that writer and director Steven E. de Souza (of "Die Hard" fame) had only played the game a few times, saw the basic story, and just ran with it in a completely different direction. In the movie, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Guile, a special forces operative that is trying to take down General M. Bison, a madman bent on taking over the world through the control of the fictional nation, Shadaloo. Guild must enlist the aide of a group of allies to complete his mission of taking down M. Bison once and for all.

Now, to be clear off the bat, "Street Fighter" is not a good film. It's bad and there is no getting around that. However, unlike both "Double Dragon" and "Super Mario Bros.", there is a weird sort of charm to the movie. While it may be bad, it is immensely watchable for reasons I can't fully explain. Perhaps, it falls under that infamous category, "It's so bad, it's good."

The movie could also be helped by Raul Julia as Bison. This would, sadly, by Julia's final performance but he seems to relish the role of Bison. In this absurd film, Julia knows that the movie is campy and runs with it, playing Bison with a sense of the sinister but also with a dark sense of humor.

The rest of the cast also isn't that bad. Van Damme, an action star at the height of his powers at the time, also seems to be having fun with the material. In addition to him, Ming-Na Wen, an actress that would later go on to gain wide span fan admiration for her role in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", does a pretty good job as Chun-Li, a character that is seeking revenge against M. Bison.

Beyond the decent performances, though, you can tell that this movie was made on a budget. Hollywood may have wanted to adapt video games at the time, but they definitely didn't want to put much money on that bet. The sets look cheap, certain actors (*cough* Kylie Minogue *cough*) are horribly miscast, and for a film called "Street Fighter", there's not much street fighting goin on.

The fact is that the film's campy nature along with various other flaws will mean that the movie is not for everyone. Yet, if there are fans of cheesy B movies that are only below average adaptations of their video game source material, then this movie may provide the campy, over-the-top fun that you've been looking for.

2 1/2 Stars