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“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
First of all, I apologize for my lack of movie reviews. I have large flower gardens and their demands this time of year keeps me out of the theatre.
But I’m back in action and I was dying to see the acclaimed “Everything Everywhere.” Yes, while it is a great work of cinematic art, its unnecessary length led to some tedious repetitive scenes.
However, Michele Yeoh gives a dazzling performance as the owner of a laundromat that has serious tax problems. On top of that, her husband (Ke Huy Quan) has served her with divorce papers while her teenage daughter (Stephanie Hsu) shows up at home with a girl she is dating.
Trouble ensues. As Yeoh confronts the nasty tax investigator played in sterling fashion by Jamie Lee Curtis, her husband invokes superpowers from the universe and they start a trip that defines the film.
Let me just say that our married couple start a journey through time where they relieve moments that define their lives. This is the best part of the film as you watch them question decisions that are experienced by most of us.
But what I found to be the most fun flowing from the film were the special effects. You watch our couple become transformed into Kung Fu experts who repeatedly are forced to engage in battles with authorities. In particular, watch for the athletic performance of Brian Le who plays a police officer villain.
This is one of those rare enjoyable films that leaves you wishing it would find a way to end. You will probably be like me as you sit murmuring, “End this thing and don’t spoil its pleasure.”
Gun violence
How can we sit silent while gun violence destroys the image of our country?
More to the point, we are the only nation on earth where thousands of its citizens are gunned down each year.
The phrase “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” has become a figment of our imagination.
Four young Black girls were recently shot on Indianapolis’ downtown canal as 10 Black citizens were killed in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. Now 19 elementary students and two teachers are killed at a Texas school.
The collective response from our elected leaders, particularly Republicans, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”
I spent one year teaching the fifth grade in 1969 at a public school here in Indianapolis. All of the kids were African-American and I was the only white male teacher. I am haunted by the nightmare that parents in Texas must be living as they are forced to bury their children.
The fact remains that we need to have a gun control policy that ends this violence. AR-15 rifles should be banned. No one should be able to buy them. How can we stand silently by and permit an 18-year-old kid to do so as seen in New York and Texas?
Guns don’t protect our safety, they threaten it. If weapons were banned at the NRA convention where Donald Trump spoke, then they should be banned everywhere to ensure the safety of our grandparents and school kids.
As a first step to solve this problem, let’s remember that the Second Amendment was written at a time where all guns were one-shot muzzleloaders. Let’s make it legal to carry such weapons in memory of our Founding Fathers and ban all other weapons.
After all, if guns that had to be reloaded after one shot helped George Washington lead us to victory in the Revolutionary War, then let us follow his lead in finding domestic safety today.
It’s time to remember that we Americans are brothers and sisters regardless of the color of our skin.•
Robert Hammerle practices criminal law in Indianapolis. When he is not in the courtroom or the office, Bob can likely be found at one of his favorite movie theaters preparing to review the latest films. To read more of his reviews, visit www.bigmouthbobs.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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