Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

How did this movie ever get made? I have no idea, but I'm so glad it did.

The Daniels follow up their breakout film, the wildly inventive Swiss Army Man, with a movie that is not bound to a single place and time, and simply exists on its own terms. A laundromat owner gets caught up in the multiverse while attempting to do her taxes. What follows is a mind-bending journey into the unknown, which borrows liberally from martial arts movies, slapstick comedies, Marvel superheroes, Pixar, anime, Wong Kar-wai, Fight Club and The Matrix. One of the most fiercely original, beautiful, contemplative, wacky, irreverent, soul-purifying and consciousness-expanding movies I've ever seen. Not only the best to come out of 2022, but also of the past five years. 

Have I managed to do this film justice? Not even close.

6 googily eyes out of 6 (in the universe where 6-nutters exist)

The Fall Guy (2024)

An update on the '80s TV series of the same name, Ryan Gosling plays Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stunt double who suffers a career-ending injury and struggles to reclaim his earlier glory. When hired for a part on his bitter ex-girlfriend's film, he finds himself embroiled on a mission to track down the lead actor who has mysteriously disappeared. There's not a ton of surprises to be found here, but it's all very charming and jovial, and all the parts work well even though we've seen them all before. It's a perfectly acceptable action-comedy handled by two very capable leads. Employing minimal CGI, and a whole lot of practical stunt work and impressive choreography, it serves as a loving tribute to stunt performers, past and present.

3 cameos during the mid-credits out of 5

Dìdi (2024)

(Chinese: 弟弟; literally 'Younger Brother')

I'm not gonna lie. This movie made me feel really, really, really (really) down in the dumps afterwards. For so many reasons, I don't even know how to get into it. For example, because we're already making nostalgic coming-of-age movies about kids growing up in 2008 (I've never felt so old). But also for so many things I could both relate to and not relate to at all. 

Chris Wang is a 13-year-old who lives in California with his immigrant mother and teenage sister. He struggles to assimilate with American culture and cruel classmates who harbor prejudice towards him, while he attempts to win over the affections of his school crush, and generally making poor decisions along the way. I can of course relate to fucking everything up unintentionally with people and somehow always doing the wrong thing, no matter what.

It's a good movie, though; just hard for me to watch.

3 AIM conversations out of 5

The Wild Robot (2024)

Instantly bringing to mind the likes of The Iron Giant, WALL·E and Big Hero 6, a helpful protocol droid named Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) washes up on the shores of an uninhabited island. Without any humans to fulfill its design, Roz uses its advanced AI processes to translate the language of the woodland animals, as a newly hatched gosling "imprints" upon it and gives Roz newfound purpose. This uplifting family film looks gorgeous (it's CG, but almost has a traditional hand-painted quality), and its intention is in the right place, despite the familiarity of the plot.

3 broken transponders out of 5