Oscar bet 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' may get upset, cautions director

Everything Everywhere All at Once co-directors Daniel Scheinert abd Dabuek Jwab

By most metrics, Everything Everywhere All at Once should win some of the major  Oscars at tonight's Academy Awards show but, one of the movie's directors cautioned fans about an upset.

“I know for many, this story and characters mean a lot so any slight towards the film feels like a personal attack,” posted Daniel Kwan on social media, “but lashing out does everyone a disservice.”

“No movie deserves to sweep, no matter how good it is, and I am rooting whole heartedly for my fellow nominees. Thank you for coming along with me on this wild ride, all of your support has meant the world to me,” continued Kwan, who shares directing duties with Daniel Scheinert.

The sci-fi film, set in a multitude of universes and featuring a largely Asian and Asian American cast, has been in an unprecedented roll leading up to Oscars night. Last weekend, for example, the film won all of its categories at the Indie Spirit Awards. the motion picture now holds the record for most wins in Indie Spirits history—a good sign as it heads into the Oscars.

It now has won more awards and accolades than any other film, chalking up 158 victories, beating out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which earned 101 major awards.

The film has its detractors. To some eyes, maybe EEAAO has won too many awards. Maybe some Academy voters are sick of hearing about the history of Asian and Asian American representation in the movies.

A series of tweets from Daniel Kwan, who is Daniel Scheinert who formed the directing team known collectively as The Daniels, seems to indicate that there may be a backlash against the film's unprecedented success. The idea of a single movie sweeping the Oscars bugs some Academy voters and there is that residue of the old guard who just don't "get" EEAAO.

In January, the unconventional film Everything Everywhere All at Once was nominated for 11 Oscars —including for Best Picture, Best Director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as the Daniels), Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis), and Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), best original screenplay, editing, score and costume —the most of any film this year.

Out of all the nominations, only EEAAO's Ke Huy Quan, who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, appears to be a lock after winning in almost all the different award shows leading up to the Academy Awards

Even Michelle Yeoh, who won the Screen Actors Guild Best Actress trophy for her role as the lead protagonist in EEAAO, is not a sure bet. 

Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett nominated for her over-the-top performance in Tar, has strong industry support among Academy voters, which despite recent efforts to include more members of color, is still dominated by older, white members.

Dark horse Andrea Riseborough is being pushed by some big Hollywood names for her role in the unglamorous role in To Leslie. Among her A-list fans are Edward Norton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Winslet

Still, Everything Everywhere All at Once's detractors have pointed out flaws. Some are upset by the idea of a sweep, advocating for films like White-dominated films Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin in categories like Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. Others have problems with the film’s alleged anti-Semitism, in which Jewish actress Jenny Slate plays a character named “Big Nose.”

In a recent New York Times interview, Stephanie Hsu, who played Yeoh's daughter in the movie and who herself is a contender in the Best Supporting Actress category, cautioned that AANHPIs shouldn't assume that film industry's long standing issues with racism and representation have been resolved, 

In the interview, the Asian Australian actress described being mistaken on the red carpet for Lana Condor, star of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," and a moment at a New York screening for "Everything Everywhere" when her Asian publicist was approached and praised for a performance he never gave.

"Listen, this ride is amazing, but that is real. We have not transcended this moment, right?" Hsu told the Times. "James Hong (who plays her grandfather in EEAAO) started acting at a time when people wouldn't even say his name, they would literally just call him 'Chinaman' and say 'Get on your mark.' Michelle waited almost 40 years for her first chance of being No. 1 on the call sheet, and Ke left acting for (nearly) 20 years. As successful as this film has been, the biggest fear on the other side is, 'What if this is my last chance?'"

In his cautionary note, Kwan couldn't resist a clapback against the Hollywood establishment critics. He signed off:

“P.S. to the people who hate the film with their entire being: I’m sorry we ruined cinema for you forever. I hope we can make it up to you on the next one <3”

TO  WATCH: The Hollywood Reporter has all the different ways and stations fans can watch, stream or record the 95th Academy Awards starting hours before the official telecast at 5 p.m. PDT.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Critics Choice Awards: Everything, Everywhere All At Once wins best picture

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The cast and some behind-the-scenes crew of Everything Everywhere All At Once accepted the Critics Choice award for Best Picture.

The awards season is heating up and it looks like Everything Everywhere All At Once is in a good position to contend for an Oscar on March 12.

The top prize for the LA Critics Choice award, Best Picture, went to Everything Everywhere All At Once, the adventures of a Chinese American immigrant through the multiverses. The film won the most awards and nominated for 14 categories  including Best Supporting Actor, which went to Ke Huy Quan, still beaming from his Golden Globe win. 

EEAAO's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert also won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.

So far the science fiction movie about a Chinese American immigrant woman's adventures in the multiverse. has won 215 awards and received 317 nominations as of January 17, according to IMDB.com.

The film's star, Michelle Yeoh, who played Evelyn Wang, a hard working laundromat owner was nominated for for Best Actress but lost out to Cate Blanchett for her role in Tor. These two actresses appear to be the frontrunners for an Oscar.

“This award is dedicated to my dad, a Taiwanese immigrant who worked himself into an early grave,” producer Jonathan Wang said as part of the cast’s Best Picture acceptance speech. “And this is really dedicated to the Evelyns, the Waymonds, the immigrant parents who would kill themselves for us immigrant children to give us a better life.”

In accepting the award for Best Picture, co-director Kwan thanked his mother for inspiring Yeoh's character of laundromat owner Evelyn Wang.

“This is dedicated to my mother, who not only inspired the movie, but was the first person to plant the seed in my head that I could be a director. She told me, maybe the first Asian American immigrant mother to tell her son to go to film school,” he said.

Kwan went on to thank all immigrant parents who worked hard so that his generation could pursue their dreams.

The adventure movie from India, RRR, won Best Foreign Language film. The song from the movie, "Natu Natu," won Best Song, the same award it won at the Golden Globes.

Pachinko, Apple-plus' dramatic multi-generational epic filmed mainly in Korean and Japanese, won Best Foreign Language Series.

Nominations for the Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 24. For a complete list Critics Choice winners, click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Hollywood Critics: Michelle Yeoh's movie 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' win best picture, best actress and more

Michelle Yeoh was chosen Best Actress by the Hollywood Critics Association.

A movie with a largely Asian American cast, Everything Everywhere All At Once, was the big winner of the Hollywood Critics Association's 5th Annual Midseason Awards.

For the first time in the HCA's five-year history, one film, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, took home the top prize in every category the film was nominated in.

The film took home the award in the following categories:

• Best Picture
• Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh
• Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan
• Best Supporting Actress for Stephanie Hsu
• Best Directing for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• Best Screenplay for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• Best Indie Film

“2022 has offered film lovers so many great films so far; however, Everything Everywhere All At Once has resonated with viewers in a way that so few indie films do,” notes HCA Founder Scott Menzel. 

“The Daniels have created a film that has become a pop culture sensation. So many of our members have fallen in love with this film, and that love, I believe, will only continue throughout the rest of the year,” said Menzel.

The HCA Midseason Awards celebrate the best films released in the first half of the calendar year. Each of the winners will receive an award which will be mailed to them directly in the next several weeks.

While Everything Everywhere All At Once won several major categories, the HCA celebrated other films. Searchlight’s Fresh starring Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones, took home the award for Best Horror Film, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis won Best Actor for Austin Butler, and Universal Pictures’ Nope took home Most Anticipated Film.

March 25 is a big day for increasing AAPI presence in North America

Some of the cast in the new series 'Pachinko.'

Today should be quite a day for all those interested in AANHPI representation in Hollywood. It's an unprecedented moment as four AANHPI-centric projects -- one feature  film, a documentary and two TV series -- are being launched Friday, March 25.

Pachinko

Topping the list of AANHPI-centric entertainment vehicles is the highly anticipated dramatic series, Pachinko, which follows the sweeping saga of a Korean family from its humble beginnings in a Korean village to wealth and power in the United States. 

The first season's eight episodes is the first series since 1980's adaptation of the best-selling Shogun to feature a largely Asian cast as lead protagonists. The series has the added potential of altering the AANHPI stereotype in North America -- at least, for a while -- as only a dramatic and emotional journey can accomplish by opening eyes and giving a broader three-dimensional perception  of Asians than usually presented in American media.

During the multi-generational story line, the series will be presented in Korean, Japanese and English, a first in US television history.

Based on the Min Jin Lee's best seller of the same title, the US production's first three episodes is available on Apple TV today finishing up on April 29.

RELATED: In 2022, Hollywood's doors creak open for AANHPI projects and actors

Poster for 'Everything, Everywhere All At Once starring Michelle Yeoh.

The other projects coming to America's living rooms today include:

Everything, Everywhere All At Once 

Co-directed by Asian Americans Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the feature film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure comedy about an exhausted Chinese American woman played by Michelle Yeoh, who can't seem to finish her taxes while being hurtled through multiple dimensions, some dominated by Asians. 

The cast includes Harry Shum Jr. (“Shadowhunters”), Stephanie Hsu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), Ke Huy Quan (“The Goonies”) and James Hong (“Blade Runner” and a host of other films). Early reviews say its the best work by the ageless Yeoh in her career.

The feature film will debut at select theaters.

An Indian Brit family will shake up 19th century London high society.

Bridgerton (Season 2) 

The surprise hit of 2020, Bridgerton is a romantic period piece which will take an unusual turn of events by changing its focus from the first season's romantic pair of Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page).

The story on 19th century social mores will focus on the oldest Bridgerton son, Jonathan and his love interest, Kate Sharma played by Simone Ashley. The Sharmas is an Indian Brit family making waves in Britain's high society. Expect a lot of sultry scenes and heavy breathing in the series based on the "Bridgerton" novels of Julia Quinn.

Producer Shonda Rhimes is keeping her vow to diversify her cast with the latest twist, which historically, could have happened since India had been an integral part of the British Empire.

Bridgerton will be available to binge on Netflix.

Olivia Rodrigo gets personal in the documentary about her first concert tour.

Sour. Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u: 

Can we get enough of Olivia Rodrigo? The Filipino American singer, songwriter is featured in a documentary about the making of her debut album "Sour." 

Olivia takes audiences on a familiar road trip from Salt Lake City, where she began writing her triple-platinum Geffen Records debut album “SOUR,” to Los Angeles. Along the way, Rodrigo recounts the memories of writing and creating her record-breaking debut album and shares her feelings as a young woman navigating a specific time in her life. 

Olivia's fans will love the documentary, a glorified video of the singer performing her hits in concert and in scenic areas of the West.

The artist comes across as genuine, a young woman barely a foot's length out of childhood, trying to figure life out. She talks about being a child actor, suffering a fear of failure, being overly critical with herself, and feeling inferior. She mentions the role her dad has played as a truth-teller for her. It would have been nice if the film had incorporated more of her family and friends, and some background to how she trains and improves her craft, to give viewers a more well-rounded view of the performer.

Through new live arrangements of her songs, intimate interviews and never-before-seen footage, audiences will follow her along on a cinematic journey exploring the story of “SOUR.” 

The documentary debuts on Disney+.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and tips from an AAPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.