they were like the hot thing on the block when the album came out in 2011. a band that sounded like all the 90’s favs of dinosaur jr and the like. i was really into them too and even saw them on that tour. then the singer/primary songwriter quit at the height of their momentum kinda unexpectedly. the band trudged on after that but the magic was gone. glad to see the guy landed on his feet. was absolutely shocked to see him up there.
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Ah! I didn’t realize you had a history with the band. That’s cool. They sure do have the 90’s alternative pop hooks that I like.
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you just know they had Cillian present Best Actor instead of Emma Stone bc Emma is funny enough to follow through on the makeout bit 
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oh i loved this album at the time. i did not know he moved into film scoring!
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Me neither I literally did the cereal guy meme when I saw him step on stage lol
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fine. If no one else is gonna make out with him I’ll take one for the team…
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hot take: I like The Oscars
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if anora has no haters then i am dead. i am not surprised that it won but let the record show that i am annoyed!
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I haven’t seen it nor followed the discourse. I will still likely see it but I also want to hear the hater’s take.
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I haven’t seen it either. I love Tangerine so I’m somewhat pleased that the man who made Tangerine got some recognition for his work, but the predominant narrative I’ve heard is that each subsequent film he’s made (The Florida Project, Red Rocket, Anora) is weaker than the last
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short version: i think it is about anora as a generalized image of “sex worker,” not anora as a specific character, and in doing so leans on several cinematic tropes about sex work without complicating them. i further think that this approach leads to a final scene that many have found moving and interesting, but i found condescending in the extreme and to me seemed to betray something very conservative at the heart of sean baker’s entire project. it retroactively made me like tangerine less!
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you’re right he sucks. The characters he wants to “destigmatize” are all totally stupid and childish in his films. ‘You’re amazed that they exist” - Pulp that’s where he lands on this
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Thanks for explaining, I’ll keep that in mind if I ever watch it. I’ve said it before but I found the Florida project (the only movie of his I’ve seen) to be both moving and authentic without being condescending. I was hoping that’d be the case with his others.
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First “POV”, now this…
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The other thing about Anora is that it’s a comedy - the audience in my theater was hooting and hollering the whole movie after the first half hour or so. It is funny and you are definitely supposed to laugh out loud at times, but the comedy comes at the expense of Anora and her dignity. You do observe that others laughing when you aren’t. It kind of took me out of the experience a bit, I think it would probably be better watched privately, though Baker apparently specifically called out how important seeing it in a theater is. So I don’t know what to make of that.
It’s not inherently bad to make the film’s humor at the expense of a unsophisticated character, but when we ultimately just get a surface level reading of her character (or are meant to stereotype her as @humblepopstar mentioned), it feels like it’s missing something. Mikey Madison’s performance is the only thing that gives Anora the sense of depth or humanity that the whole thing hinges upon. The film ultimately isn’t trying to say that much - it’s more about putting you into a wacky situation and if you happen to humanize the characters that’s great but it’s not necessarily by design.
I think because Baker’s films are edited with a sense of rhythm and pacing it wants you not think too hard about any one moment until it gets paid off. Tangerine did it too where it was very aggressive throughout and tries to push past sloppy or ugly or mean-spirited moments while reassuring you that “it’s realer this way” (despite tons of contrivances) or that the underclass of society is vulgar and the movie is just holding up a mirror to that. I don’t buy it, and I don’t think Baker has much interesting insight. Instead it feels like it’s there to be a mechanism for building tension but catharsis isn’t always earned. Not everything gets resolved, and it doesn’t feel like it’s intentional or trying to say anything when things go unresolved. A lot of how you feel about Anora will come down to how you feel about the ending.
I’m the first to say I don’t need social issues or marginalized characters handled delicately and the stories are often more interesting when it’s messy (I’m on record as loving Emilia Perez after all), but I feel like this was just an ok movie that was elevated in a pretty weak year for ‘best picture’ style movies, and the critical reception makes it perceived more meaningful then it is at heart.
But I guess that’s the problem with all Best Picture movies, calling it that all of a sudden gives any winner momentous expectations, when it’s really just it’s own thing.
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nickel boys deserved better
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