Watch the Criterion Closet video by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (aka the Daniels) have been indie film darlings for years thanks to their work on films like Swiss Army Man and The Death of Dick Long. But the massive success of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” propelled her into the stratosphere. The A24 film had a long theatrical run and became the highest-grossing indie film of 2022 before earning 11 Oscar nominations last month. The film’s success not only earned the Daniels a place among awards season contenders, but also an invitation to another of the film industry’s elite institutions: the Criterion Closet.

In a new video released by Criterion, the two filmmakers stopped by the legendary closet to pick out a selection of their favorite Criterion Blu-rays. Her tastes spanned a variety of genres, but the video offers a specific look at the types of films that inspired her unique style.

Scheinert began by selecting Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy box set, which included “Before Sunrise”, “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight”.

“These films changed my life,” said Scheinert. “Last year I also attended a film festival where I got up and watched ‘Before Sunrise’ before the sun came up and then watched ‘Before Sunset’ before dinner and then we waited until midnight and watched ‘Before Midnight’.”

Kwan cited Jackie Chan’s “Police Story” films as two of his favorites with particular sentimental value.

“My father and his whole family speak the language of the old Hong Kong kung fu movies,” said Kwan. “‘Police Story’ 1 and 2 was way too violent for me as a kid, but I really loved it… We did ‘Everything Everywhere’ because kung fu movies are in the blood.”

After strolling down memories of his childhood fascination with Godzilla, Scheinert teased that there could be a kaiju movie in the Daniels’ future.

“As a kid, I was obsessed with ‘Godzilla’ movies. Just knowing that it’s a man in a suit smashing toys blew my mind,” said Scheinert. “I still say sometimes that’s the genre I’m interested in – a monster movie, but only when it comes to costumes and miniatures.”

Watch the video of Daniels’ Criterion Closet below.

✨ Daniels’ Closet Picks ✨ Before racking up eleven Oscar nominations for EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE AT ONCE, the writing and directing duo @dunkwun and Daniel Scheinert (aka @Daniels) made a beeline for our film closet to see their eclectic tastes! pic.twitter.com/URrMhMrpVn

— Criteria Collection (@Criterion) February 3, 2023

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