Tag Archives: Sean Baker

#243 Favorite Film, 2024 Films, Best Feature- Independent Spirit Award Winners, Best Picture Oscar Winners, Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Karren Karagulian, Mark Eidelstein, Mikey Madison, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, Sean Baker, Top 250 Films, Yura Borisov

Anora-2024

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Anora-2024

Director Sean Baker

Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yura Borisov

Top 250 Films #243

Scott’s Review #1,450

Reviewed November 3, 2024

Grade: A

Anora (2024) is one of the boldest films I’ve seen in some time and is my favorite Sean Baker film so far. Tangerine (2015) and The Florida Project (2017) are also great works.

Those planning to see the film should do homework and learn what Baker films are about. He frequently directs independent feature films about the lives of marginalized people, especially immigrants and sex workers.

Baker’s films are dirty, dark, and outrageous.

Because Anora has received awards buzz and is classified as a romantic comedy, the audience at my showing seemed slightly overwhelmed by its raw nature. While there are comedic moments, they are shrouded in darkness, and I don’t think my audience quite knew how to respond.

Some cover art captured the main couple, played by Mickey Madison and Mark Eidelstein, happily dancing and depicted them with the caption ‘a modern day Cinderella story’. This is misleading to the gritty nature of the story.

Madison plays Ani (Anora), an exotic dancer and part-time sex worker at a swanky Manhattan strip club. She lives in a Russian section of Brooklyn. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets and impulsively marries Vanya (Mark Eidelstein), the childlike son of a Russian billionaire.

When Vanya’s godfather and parents catch wind of the union, they send their henchmen to annul the marriage, setting off a wild chase through the streets of New York. Vanya flees the scene, and the others must find him.

Madison is brilliant. Known for a small role as Susan Atkins in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and a role in one version of Scream (2022), the young actress comes on as gangbusters.

Her character is tricky. We only know she lives with her older sister, and their mother lives in Florida with her boyfriend. Presumably, her father is absent, and she has had to find work to support herself. She is brassy, savvy, and intelligent. Most importantly, the audience roots for her.

Madison has an aura surrounding her, and she believably plays loving and hysterical with ease. Ani wants love but is also intelligent enough to know love doesn’t come easy and has a price. Madison channels each emotion with seeming ease.

Baker has become a favorite director of mine. He also writes, produces, and edits most of his projects. Although his films are not easy to watch, that’s what I like about them.

His films take marginalized or dismissed groups and provide representation.

Another standout is Russian actor Yura Borisov. Since Ani is the only character worth rooting for, Borisov’s character, Igor, slowly becomes a fan favorite. Assumed to be a henchman, he begins to care for Ani and strive to do the right thing amid chaos.

Borisov provides Igor with warmth and kindness in a world of chaos. I yearned to know more about the character. How did he get to be where he is? Did he need to escape Russia any way he could?

It’s hard to like the other characters, and I wouldn’t say I enjoyed quite a few, especially the wealthier ones. I yearned to leap across the aisles and smack Vanya, his mother, and one stripper who is Ani’s rival.

This caused me to react viscerally to the film and think about my emotions after it ended. Anyone who appreciates good cinema knows that the longer you think about it, the better it is.

Towards the end, Baker incorporates satisfying moments of Ani standing up for herself, especially against Vanya and his mother. This only reaffirmed the passion of her character. Even in despair, Ani remains tough and refuses to be mistreated by anyone.

My favorite sequence is at the end, during a January snowstorm in Brooklyn. A tender moment occurs between Ani and Igor where the writing, cinematography, and camera angles are beautiful.

Anora (2024) is recommended for fans of Baker’s work. He successfully and carefully weaves an emotional and raw tale of adventure, romance, desperation, and the haves versus the have-nots.

Oscar Nominations: 5 wins-Best Picture (won), Best Director-Sean Baker (won), Best Actress-Mikey Madison (won), Best Supporting Actor-Yura Borisov, Best Original Screenplay (won), Best Film Editing (won)

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 3 wins-Best Feature-(won), Best Director-Sean Baker-(won), Best Lead Performance-Mikey Madison-(won), Best Supporting Performance-Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian

2021 Films, Bree Elrod, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Sean Baker, Simon Rex, Suzanna Son

Red Rocket-2021

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Red Rocket-2021

Director Sean Baker

Starring Simon Rex, Suzanna Son

Scott’s Review #1,277

Reviewed July 15, 2022

Grade: A-

Sean Baker has become a director I am intrigued by. Firmly planted in the independent circuit, recent films like Tangerine (2015) and The Florida Project (2017) offer a slice-of-life look at troubled or otherwise forgotten or discarded groups of people.

His works are fascinating and humanistic, admittedly skewing darker or daring avenues like the transgender community, the homeless, or, in the case of Red Rocket (2021), a former male porn star.

And while his characters may not always be likable, they are complex, requiring exploration and consideration.

There are also enough butts, boobs, and fornicating to remind us what the subject matter at hand is.

Baker has an incredible way of providing depth to the people considered dregs of society and a voice with a story to tell. He treats them like human beings, oftentimes using real people who are non-actors in pivotal roles.

This elevates the authenticity and realism to new heights, successfully getting his audience to empathize with the characters and see them as living beings with fears, thoughts, and emotions.

Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) is a charismatic con man and washed-up porn star who returns to rural southeast Texas to shack up with his depressed and estranged wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod).

He plots his triumphant return to Los Angeles and the porn industry after meeting a teenager named Strawberry (Suzanna Son) who works at the local donut shop. They connect and plot ways to escape their depressing small-town existence and enter the adult film world.

Like other Baker films, the city of Los Angeles is portrayed as a place of grandeur, where the characters’ lives are expected to improve. Mikey and Strawberry feel their destiny lies outside of the daily doldrums of their surroundings, and they are convinced their lives will change.

Red Rocket is a film about longing for a better life and being frustrated with the present. That’s a message many audiences can connect with.

Even though Rex and Son are successful with their lead roles, it’s the supporting characters who I found even more interesting. I liked Mikey and Strawberry, but never loved them together. What interested me was Mikey’s relationships with other characters.

Lexi and her mother are fascinating characters. It’s mentioned that before Mikey returned to town, Lexi would meet men on Craigslist to pay the rent. Along with her mother, Lil (Brenda Deiss), who smokes pot to ease some health pain, they exist in a dilapidated house.

Their neighbors, a black family, sell drugs to make ends meet and appear to do alright for themselves, respected around town.

I love how there is small-town harmony and the neighbors seem fond of each other, united with pleasantries. There’s a sense of having one’s back, and there is no mention of racism.

I adore these surface characters and long to know more about their stories. Of course, since Mikey and Strawberry are the core characters, there is not enough time to go into much detail.

Baker provides political overtones about American life that are both noticeable and depressing. News clips of former President Donald Trump boasting and pandering to his blue-collar base are included in various scenes.

A ‘Make America Great’ fixture covers the side of a building.

These points are oxymorons of what the characters’ lives are and always will be. They are poor and stuck, clinging to a false hope instilled in them by a crooked salesman turned politician who promised to make their lives great.

It’s heartbreaking and scary in its realism, and Baker makes his point clear without having to hammer it over the heads of the audience.

Red Rocket (2021) makes it a solid trifecta for Baker and his earlier works. With a sometimes brutal depiction of small-town life in poverty, he shows there is always hope and heart despite the many obstacles that many people continue to face.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Male Lead-Simon Rex (won), Best Supporting Female-Suzanna Son

2017 Films, Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Caleb Landry Jones, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Sean Baker, Willem Dafoe

The Florida Project-2017

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The Florida Project-2017

Director Sean Baker

Starring Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince

Scott’s Review #730

Reviewed February 28, 2017

Grade: A

Incorporating a realism and authenticity rarely found in mainstream films, the 2017 independent drama film The Florida Project offers the viewer a glimpse into the underbelly of society, largely from a child’s perspective.

We meet a group of poverty-stricken folks residing in a crummy hotel outside of Disney World.

Shot almost entirely on location, the film is humorous, dramatic, pathetic, and compelling—a must-see. The balance between a child’s carefree outlook and the real-life adult reality is key.

Director Sean Baker, famous for the ground-breaking and brilliant transgender-themed indie from 2015, does it again with a gritty flavored location shot feast of a story involving the welfare-stricken, prostitute-laden Floridians holing up at a cheap motel.

The plot follows six-year-old Moonee, played by Brooklynn Prince, as she and her problem-prone mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite), attempt to avoid trouble and the police.

They while away the hot summer months, pandering and stealing from tourists as Halley dabbles in prostitution after failing to get a job at a nearby Waffle House.

In addition to Moonee and Halley, other prominent characters rounding out the hotel community are Bobby Hicks (Willem Dafoe), who manages the Magic Castle Motel, and is the father figure and voice of reason to the others, Ashley, Halley’s friend, Jancey, and Scooty, friends of Moonee’s.

The group holds a special bond since they are all barely existing on limited funds in a world laden with drugs, violence, and various unsavory characters.

With initial thoughts of an R-rated Little Rascals, the early scenes involve only the children as they create juvenile pranks including car spitting, bed jumping, and more serious mischief like setting fire to abandoned condos.

All non-actors, the child scenes are genuinely brilliant, and enough praise cannot go to little Brooklynn Prince, the sweet yet precocious six-year-old central child character.

The film’s final scene involving this treasured little girl is heart-wrenching and poignant, as the scene is fraught with raw emotion on the part of Prince.

Dafoe is brilliant in the role of Bobby and the actor chooses a character he does not often play. Frequently playing villains, he shines as a good man attempting to keep things together in an evil world.

On the lookout for child predators and the police, he watches out for the kids, as he sadly knows their lives will only get worse as they grow into teenagers and adults, sure to experience misery or tragic lives.

The most successful and riveting component of The Florida Project is the honest portrayal of the characters and the gritty, realism the viewer experiences.

The fact that Baker shot the film entirely on location is immeasurable and key to the story.

In a slice-of-life way, we are brought into this world for the duration of the film and learn the inner workings of the hotel, the streets, and the hotel parking lots. We live the characters’ lives and feel their struggles and small triumphs.

Most importantly, we empathize with their hopelessness—they are basically stuck, with little hope of finding a better life.

To avoid a complete downer of a film, Baker incorporates a few humorous moments, mainly the light and fun scenes between Halley and Moonee. As they dance around in their hotel room or outside on the hotel lawn as an unexpected downpour erupts, the close bond between mother and child is apparent.

The boisterous trio of kids also breaks up the monotonous adult tension of the other characters as they frolic and play without a care in the world.

The adults versus kids outlook is apparent.

Surely one of the best films of 2017, The Florida Project examines a forgotten and depressing segment of the American population and provides a sobering reality of the world in modern times.

With the Trump era in full swing, this film’s release is timely in American history and gives a sobering look at the United States in general.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor-Willem Dafoe

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Feature, Best Director-Sean Baker

2015 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, James Ransone, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, LGBTQ+ Drama, LGBTQ+ Films, Mya Taylor, Sean Baker

Tangerine-2015

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Tangerine-2015

Director Sean Baker

Starring Mya Taylor, Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, James Ransone

Scott’s Review #301

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Reviewed December 17, 2015

Grade: A

On the rare occasion that I am lucky and privileged enough to stumble upon a gem like Tangerine (2015), it reaffirms my faith in film and creative filmmakers in general.

Here is a universal lesson- it does not require oodles of money to make a great film. This film was shot with three smartphones!!

It takes talent and creativity.

Tangerine is a groundbreaking film- the first (that I am aware of anyway) to feature transgender actresses at the forefront of the feature.

The film has been honored with multiple Independent Spirit Award nominations.

Shot documentary style, with grittiness and a frenetic pace, while mixing in unique styles of music (hip hop to classic) as the musical score (a child-like tune begins the film), Tangerine is unique from both a story perspective and a visual style.

The film’s first scene begins with two transgender sex workers- Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra, having a conversation in a coffee shop. Sin-Dee has just been released from jail and learns that her boyfriend, and pimp, Chester (James Ransone), has been cheating on her.

It is Christmas Eve.

The film explores Sin-Dee’s rage and subsequent search all over Los Angeles for Chester, and the girl he has been with. She vows revenge on them both.

However, beyond this story point, the heart of the film is of loneliness and isolation that most of the characters (trans and otherwise), share, in one form or another.

Interspersed with the Sin-Dee story, are stories involving Alexandra’s feud with a “john”, and her pursuit of a singing career.

Another interesting story is that of a straight male, Razmik, an Armenian cab driver who is enamored with transgender sex workers.

This may sound bizarre or too out there for some, but Razmik’s story is quite tender and compelling. He has a wife, child, and other relatives and is the breadwinner. He is also very conflicted. He does not “use” the sex workers, but rather cares for them and admires them.

I found all three principal characters interesting in different ways- Sin-Dee and Alex are over-the-top, yet sensitive. While Sin-Dee is aggressive and vengeful, Alex is the kinder of the two and the more sensible and rational.

She is a sex worker but aspires for more out of life. Razmik is even more interesting- does he have a fetish? Is he shameful for spending money on prostitutes while supporting a wife and child?

All of the characters are victimized in one form or another and all are dysfunctional- at the same time, they are all weirdly likable.

I witnessed moments of Quentin Tarantino’s film style coming across the screen- most notably in the coffee-shop scenes (the beginning and final scenes) as all hell breaks loose, and the characters delve into all sorts of crazy behavior.

Tangerine is a sweet tale about friendship too.

It is a memorable and powerful film experience.

In the end, all the characters are hurting, living such sad lives, especially since the time is present-day Christmas Eve, which might make this film sound depressing, but it is not.

I found it almost uplifting in a way.

Tangerine (2015) is a completely original, groundbreaking film that I hope will be remembered and appreciated fifty years from now.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Feature, Best Director-Sean Baker, Best Female Lead-Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Best Supporting Female-Mya Taylor (won), Piaget Producers Award