Great review. I think my favorite thing about "Anora" was the way it pulls the rug out from under you at the end – you think you've been watching a screwball comedy this whole time when it was actually a tragedy, just everyday exploitation by the rich. That last scene is the most devastating thing I've seen this year.
No movie this year I'm as excited about as Anora. Red Rocket is the best comedy of the last few years, The Florida Project is the most devastating. Lubitsch and Wilder comparisons for this one? I'm in heaven.
Red Rocket is my favorite Baker, but I will always be amused that I saw it New Year's Day at the DC Angelika, where they show trailers for movies that did not get any release at all, including this inspirational Christian movie that is finally coming out in February THREE YEARS after I saw the trailer: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-unbreakable-boy/
I know people liked it, but the first Smile did one of those things I hate most in horror movies. Pretty much every scare was moments later negated with "it's all a hallucinations", to the point where every single time anything happened I expected a reveal a minute later negating most of it, and I was always right. You shouldn't have more than one "it was all just a dream" reveal or it loses effectiveness.
At least when Freddy kills someone in a dream, they stay dead.
First one left me cold too so doubt I’ll catch this one if it’s not a magical combination of streamer and a beer or four. It got repetitive and the smile got more and more ridiculous. Then it was of course our old pal trauma being the real villain and it made me long for horror movie villains that inflict rather than embody it.
This one adds the now-standard bad parent to the trauma stuff. Though, the trauma here is mainly from a really bad car crash and that's all handled well.
Haven't seen Smile but strong agree. There's a not-great Kiefer Sutherland movie called Mirrors that has stuck with me forever because of a bit where he saw some kind of horrible monster thing, looked away instinctively in fear, looked back and... it was still there. I marvel to this day.
Saw it yesterday, and the amount of Smile 2 that probably "didn't happen" is maybe 80% of the movie. Keith's review is right on. Naomi Scott was really good, though.
Finally saw ANORA and walked out even more impressed than I expected and I'm a Baker fan. This is a perfect review of it. The commentary on Pretty Woman, the Baker way of examining our current moment without sending mouthpiece characters in to tell you the point, his mix of 70s realism and screwball comedy. I never knew what angle this movie was going to come from all the way through the end. I find I subconsciously sidearm Cannes successes. Or at least give them a big "yeah, we'll see." I had less of that going in just because of past Bakers. I maybe like this even more just because it isn't one of those all-hype movie we tend to get out of the festivals. Thanks, as always, for your peerless analysis.
I immediately texted my pal in NY and urged him to see it, which he did a couple hours later. (I fully didn't expect him to take my recommendation to heart like that.) We fanned out about it last night in the way you do when you didn't expect something to be as good as it was. Still processing it.
In trademark style, I just caught up with ANORA last night and was a big fan. Seeing it post Oscars I knew to keep an eye on Igor, and Baker does a lot to suggest his importance early on. So many shots linger on him watching a situation unfold. Even the title - going with the full name rather than the nickname - makes clear in hindsight whose view of the situation and protagonist we're getting. Probably my favorite Baker although I need to catch up with his early stuff on criterion before it disappears.
"At times playing like a cross between Repulsion and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour"
This almost makes me want to watch Smile 2 -- almost!
Oh, it's not bad. I just found it unsatisfying. Others seem to have liked it more.
I'm curious if Scott has seen it, since he reviewed the first one positively, and whether his thoughts differ from yours at all
I have not, alas, though I am intrigued by it, particularly given the buzz around Naomi Scott's performance.
So excited for Anora. Love the directors work.
Here to second Scott's praise. Really good one.
Loved Anora so much on the festival circuit, but (as always) I questioned how it would fare after months of hype. So glad to see it’s got the juice!
*ANORA SPOILER ALERT*
Great review. I think my favorite thing about "Anora" was the way it pulls the rug out from under you at the end – you think you've been watching a screwball comedy this whole time when it was actually a tragedy, just everyday exploitation by the rich. That last scene is the most devastating thing I've seen this year.
Yeah, it's a killer. Let me encrypt the rest of my thoughts here (https://puretables.com/rot13-to-text): V guvax Onxre qbrf fhpu n svar wbo nyvtavat Nav jvgu Inaln'f zvaqref naq jvgu bgure jbexvat-pynff glcrf jub znxvat n yvivat freivat evpu xvqf yvxr uvz naq uvf snzvyl. Vg'f fhpu n urnegoernxvat fvghngvba sbe ure, orpnhfr fur gehyl oryvrirq ure zneevntr jnf erny, lrg fur vf hajvyyvat gb fubj gung xvaq bs ihyarenovyvgl va sebag bs nalbar. Gung fur pevrf ng gung zbzrag, jvgu gung crefba, vf whfg fb ornhgvshy. Yvxr n zbzrag bs fbyvqnevgl.
Rknpgyl, gung jnf jung V ybirq nobhg Vtbe'f punenpgre – ur'f frg hc nf pbzvp eryvrs, ohg ur'f bayl npgvat guvf jnl orpnhfr ur'f gur bayl bar jub haqrefgnaqf jung unccravat. Vg znxrf gur raqvat gung zhpu zber cbjreshy.
https://puretables.com/rot13-to-text
Jngpuvat vg, frrvat uvf yvggyr (bsgra haabgvprq) trfgherf bs xvaqarff naq flzcngul gbjneq ure, V xrcg guvaxvat "Fur'f zneevrq gb n obl, ohg ur'f fubjvat ure jung n zna pna or." Naq fur qbrfa'g frr n ybg bs gung, naq qbrfa'g erpbtavmr vg.
https://puretables.com/rot13-to-text
Also, I love this encryption tool! Very cool!
No movie this year I'm as excited about as Anora. Red Rocket is the best comedy of the last few years, The Florida Project is the most devastating. Lubitsch and Wilder comparisons for this one? I'm in heaven.
I gotta check out Red Rocket this week before Anora hits wide release!
Red Rocket is my favorite Baker, but I will always be amused that I saw it New Year's Day at the DC Angelika, where they show trailers for movies that did not get any release at all, including this inspirational Christian movie that is finally coming out in February THREE YEARS after I saw the trailer: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-unbreakable-boy/
Wow. A brittle bone disease AND autism?! In this economy?!
Like Mikey Saber, he's got an enduring grindset to survive!
I know people liked it, but the first Smile did one of those things I hate most in horror movies. Pretty much every scare was moments later negated with "it's all a hallucinations", to the point where every single time anything happened I expected a reveal a minute later negating most of it, and I was always right. You shouldn't have more than one "it was all just a dream" reveal or it loses effectiveness.
At least when Freddy kills someone in a dream, they stay dead.
First one left me cold too so doubt I’ll catch this one if it’s not a magical combination of streamer and a beer or four. It got repetitive and the smile got more and more ridiculous. Then it was of course our old pal trauma being the real villain and it made me long for horror movie villains that inflict rather than embody it.
This one adds the now-standard bad parent to the trauma stuff. Though, the trauma here is mainly from a really bad car crash and that's all handled well.
Haven't seen Smile but strong agree. There's a not-great Kiefer Sutherland movie called Mirrors that has stuck with me forever because of a bit where he saw some kind of horrible monster thing, looked away instinctively in fear, looked back and... it was still there. I marvel to this day.
Saw it yesterday, and the amount of Smile 2 that probably "didn't happen" is maybe 80% of the movie. Keith's review is right on. Naomi Scott was really good, though.
Finally saw ANORA and walked out even more impressed than I expected and I'm a Baker fan. This is a perfect review of it. The commentary on Pretty Woman, the Baker way of examining our current moment without sending mouthpiece characters in to tell you the point, his mix of 70s realism and screwball comedy. I never knew what angle this movie was going to come from all the way through the end. I find I subconsciously sidearm Cannes successes. Or at least give them a big "yeah, we'll see." I had less of that going in just because of past Bakers. I maybe like this even more just because it isn't one of those all-hype movie we tend to get out of the festivals. Thanks, as always, for your peerless analysis.
Thanks so much. I love this movie. Came out of the theater floating like a cartoon character sniffing a pie on a windowsill.
I immediately texted my pal in NY and urged him to see it, which he did a couple hours later. (I fully didn't expect him to take my recommendation to heart like that.) We fanned out about it last night in the way you do when you didn't expect something to be as good as it was. Still processing it.
In trademark style, I just caught up with ANORA last night and was a big fan. Seeing it post Oscars I knew to keep an eye on Igor, and Baker does a lot to suggest his importance early on. So many shots linger on him watching a situation unfold. Even the title - going with the full name rather than the nickname - makes clear in hindsight whose view of the situation and protagonist we're getting. Probably my favorite Baker although I need to catch up with his early stuff on criterion before it disappears.