Half of the Daniels, directors and writers of Everything Everywhere All At Once, have come under fire for their comments about Malcolm X.
Daniel Scheinert, who directed the Oscar-nominated film starring Daniel Kwan, has come under fire after calling the 1992 Spike Lee biopic a “detective movie”. Apparently, the Oscar nominee upset some people when he talked about the film during Daniels’ appearance on The Criterion Collection’s Closet Picks.
Picking up the film to highlight it, Scheinert said, “I have a problem with films based on true stories. It scares me, like bad journalism, that screenwriters can manipulate facts. barrier and I think: ‘It’s okay, it’s incredible'”.
“Love And Mercy” is one, as is Malcolm X. It’s a fascinating detective saga, perhaps my favorite crime movie. It shocked me when I saw it a year ago. I’m a huge Spike Lee fan as a writer and director, and a huge Spike Lee fan as an actor. He’s very good in this movie, and in Do the Right Thing, of course.”
Closet Picks is a web series in which celebrities (actors, directors, etc.) are invited to a room full of DVDs and Blu-rays. The guest or guests choose the items they want to take home and explain their choice to the camera.
However, some moviegoers weren’t overly impressed with Scheinert’s comments about the film, leading to backlash.
Some Twitter users reacted by mocking the director, with one writing: “Malcolm X like a crime saga. What a performance. lol [sic]”.
Another blasted him, tweeting: “Remember that good directors of good films can also, like so many artists, be strangely ignorant. Loved everything, everywhere, all at once, but what’s your name Malcolm X a “detective movie”? lmao [sic]”.
Another added: “EVERYTHING EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE Director Daniel Scheinert picks up Spike Lee’s MALCOLM X in his Criterion Closet video and calls it his ‘favorite crime movie’. Come on man [sic]”.
However, others have argued against this explanation. One wrote: “The Daniel is a goofball, but Malcolm X’s first act is literally just a detective saga, and much of the rest of the film retains elements of it. It also ceases to d ‘be a musical for a few minutes at a time.’ principle, because Spike is a genius [sic]”.
Another tweeted: “Its hilarious people act like one of the Daniels is racist for calling Malcolm X a crime movie. Like it’s not but there’s gangsters in it y’all got a lot too much free time lol [sic] “.