Anora

[+ PhileasFogg]

This was billed as the new "Pretty Woman".... nope.   It had some cute moments but took a very dark and depressing twist in the last 20 minutes (it's 2 hr and 20 mins long)    The end was so abrupt and depressing that I verbally exclaimed "oh $h!t" in a silent theatre.   

[samhexum]

6 minutes ago, PhileasFogg said:

This was billed as the new "Pretty Woman".... nope.   It had some cute moments but took a very dark and depressing twist in the last 20 minutes (it's 2 hr and 20 mins long)    The end was so abrupt and depressing that I verbally exclaimed "oh $h!t" in a silent theatre.   

One person agreed with you; one person disagreed.

[d.anders]

I thought the movie was a fun roller-coaster ride. Thought the performances were amazing. I found Mark Eydelshteyn oddly attractive, with a very sexy twink ass. Wish he would have done full frontal. His nude flip was impressive. I can see why this film is getting much critical praise and attention. I thought the ending was very touching, and totally unexpected. Mikey Madison's career will probably soar.

[d.anders]

I saw the movie for a second time. It's not as funny/shocking the second time, but I still laughed and enjoyed the crazy ride. The pacing and the performances are seriously close to pitch perfect. I had not realized that Toros and Garnick were at Vanya's New Year's Eve party, where they would have seen or encountered Ali. I also didn't realize how many hats Sean Baker wore. Not only did he write and direct, he's co-producer, casting agent, and he's the movie's editor. The movie is cast to perfection, and the editing is sharp as a tack. It's a very impressive film that is going to make a ton of money. Sean Baker is a major talent. The music in the movie is amazing also.

[BuffaloKyle]

A little gold statue told me it's the best picture of the year!

[Johnrom]

The Academy voters clearly loved this film. Won many awards tonight.  Brutalist seemed like a clear second by the Academy. Not much love for Conclave        (won best adapted screenplay) nor Bob Dylan. 

[BuffaloKyle]

Yeah, there are only so many awards so you'll always have films that end up getting a ton of nominations and not really winning anything. A Complete Unknown was the most nominated complete shutout. 8 noms, 0 wins. Timothee's other movie Dune: Part Two ended up with two wins! Emilia Perez had the most noms with 13 and only won 2. 

[Rod Hagen]

On 1/20/2025 at 4:35 AM, d.anders said:

I saw the movie for a second time. It's not as funny/shocking the second time, but I still laughed and enjoyed the crazy ride. The pacing and the performances are seriously close to pitch perfect. I had not realized that Toros and Garnick were at Vanya's New Year's Eve party, where they would have seen or encountered Ali. I also didn't realize how many hats Sean Baker wore. Not only did he write and direct, he's co-producer, casting agent, and he's the movie's editor. The movie is cast to perfection, and the editing is sharp as a tack. It's a very impressive film that is going to make a ton of money. Sean Baker is a major talent. The music in the movie is amazing also.

10 years ago I saw a screening of an earlier movie of his, Tangerine, at Arclight with a Q & A with him and one of the actresses afterward.  It was clear then that Sean does it all.  Good for him last night. He must be equal parts surprised and happy.

[+ EVdude]

I missed the boat on Anora. Even though it’s said to be loosely based on some real-life story, I just couldn’t buy into the whole sex worker marries spoiled Russian oligarch son plot line. The individual actors were all well cast and great but the whirlwind lover escapades and subsequent hunt didn’t translate for me. That said, I did enjoy the ambiguous ending which to me was more real-life than anything else in the movie. 

Another distraction was watching the movie on an airplane. Surprising that it was even a selection. I kept looking around fearing people thought I was watching porn. 

[d.anders]

2 hours ago, EVdude said:

I just couldn’t buy into the whole sex worker marries spoiled Russian oligarch son plot line.

And nobody could believe that Julia Roberts could play a Sunset Blvd hooker. Movies have been around for a very long time now, and most stories have been done over and over again. It's not easy to find perfect plot devices. Hollywood often lacks imagination. I see your point, because I found the wedding rush a bit hard to swallow. But the character was young, clearly impressed with the wealth, and she was having fun with her spoiled boy toy. It was a perfect storm of sex work that could lead to crazy behavior. I decided to go along for the ride, and see what happens. Yes, the ending was an unexpected dose of reality, a decision I thoroughly enjoyed, because it made her character more human than ever. You needed the hysteria to get there, and they successfully created that.

[Rod Hagen]

23 hours ago, d.anders said:

 But the character was young, clearly impressed with the wealth, and she was having fun with her spoiled boy toy. 

Also, keep in mind that while Anora was both compassionate and opportunistic, the perfect combination in a good sex worker, the young Russian man was a complete fucking idiot.  Like super stupid, like a dog or a horse or something. Yes, it's unrealistic to think of the stupid people we knew when we were that age doing something that reckless and fast.  For him all things are temporary and changeable, even marriage.  Today, young when combined with stupid (and money!) is at a whole new level of impulse and "flash".  When nothing matters, then nothing truly matters. Thank you Social Media.

Edited March 5 by Rod Hagen

[d.anders]

54 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

Yes, it's unrealistic to think of the stupid people we knew when we were that age doing something that reckless and fast.

Not so fast. I didn't know any Russian oligarchs but I knew a few people from my early 20's who made very stupid, reckless decisions that affected the rest of their lives. I think there are lots of people around who can relate. I'm curious to see how Anora does now that it won best picture. A lot of people have not seen the film yet.

[d.anders]

I've been watching some YouTube Anora interviews post Oscars. There are some good ones with Sean Baker, Mikey Madison, and Mark Eydelshteyn. Much to my surprise, Mark can barely speak English. I thought he was faking it in the movie, but his English is pretty iffy. Also, much to my surprise, he sent Sean Baker his audition tape and he filmed it in the nude. He said he knew there would be sex scenes, so before being asked, he decided to do the entire audition tape in the nude. Sean was a bit surprised by this, but then Mark got cast. So it worked. There are a few still shots on the internet from Mark's nude scene. It looks like he's quite hung for a small, skinny guy, and most likely uncut.

Too bad Sean didn't insist on full frontal. I'm sure Mark would have been OK with it. Also, Mark said the naked flip was his idea. He had asked Sean if he could try it, and Sean liked it.

It's also fun to see how different Mikey Madison is in real life. I was certain she was from Brooklyn after seeing the movie, but she's an L.A. native. She had vocal coaching for the Brighton Beach accent, and she got it down pitch perfect. She also trained for a month on pole dancing. It is amazing how well she did. She bought a pole on the internet and had her father install it in her home. I love hearing about how the soup was made.

[+ tassojunior]

The odd thing is that i think Baker's other movies, "Tangerine Dream" ,"Florida Project" and "Red Rocket" (over the hill male porn star) were much better and they got many Cannes prizes etc while he got zip Oscars for them. I guess they had to save face by giving him one this year. Also does anyone really believe a hooker married to a billionaire would give a divorce for $10,000? 

 https://youtu.be/57IlM5xaHvA

Edited April 19 by tassojunior

[Manhattan]

On 3/6/2025 at 8:34 PM, d.anders said:

I've been watching some YouTube Anora interviews post Oscars. There are some good ones with Sean Baker, Mikey Madison, and Mark Eydelshteyn. Much to my surprise, Mark can barely speak English. I thought he was faking it in the movie, but his English is pretty iffy. Also, much to my surprise, he sent Sean Baker his audition tape and he filmed it in the nude. He said he knew there would be sex scenes, so before being asked, he decided to do the entire audition tape in the nude. Sean was a bit surprised by this, but then Mark got cast. So it worked. There are a few still shots on the internet from Mark's nude scene. It looks like he's quite hung for a small, skinny guy, and most likely uncut.

Too bad Sean didn't insist on full frontal. I'm sure Mark would have been OK with it. Also, Mark said the naked flip was his idea. He had asked Sean if he could try it, and Sean liked it.

It's also fun to see how different Mikey Madison is in real life. I was certain she was from Brooklyn after seeing the movie, but she's an L.A. native. She had vocal coaching for the Brighton Beach accent, and she got it down pitch perfect. She also trained for a month on pole dancing. It is amazing how well she did. She bought a pole on the internet and had her father install it in her home. I love hearing about how the soup was made.

As a native New Yorker, I have to say that Mikey Madison did not get any kind of Brooklyn accent "pitch perfect". In fact it evoked a lot of laughter in the Brooklyn theater where I saw it. 
 

Trained for a month on pole dancing? Why? She danced exactly the way most young women do at any event where men are present. 
 

Hearing "how the soup was made" makes me wonder how much better the movie would have been if they had spent some time working on the acting or directing.