Be interested to hear reviews of this movie from the SPs on this board if you see it. Potential best picture nominees and some podcasts have it as a favorite to win the Oscar for best picture. Anora. Story of a Brooklyn Sex Worker who marries the son of a Russian Oligarch. Fantasy scenario would be to be in a movie theater in Montreal and all the SPs of Merb walk in to watch it together and then discuss the movie with the audience in a QnA after the film. One review I read was titled Hollywood redefining sex work.
Ask us anything part 3
- Thread starter LC18
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I went to see it last friday, and I was in the VIP section and an anonymous person bought me drinks LOL. I actually really liked it, I like this filmmaker a lot. I thought it was really sad in a lot of ways tho
Agreed. I remember a review on here where the guy was bragging about being super loud right next to the door, hearing the girl's neighbors in the hallway and going even harder because of it because being heard turned him on.
I thought it was disrespectful and downright rude considering he wasn't the one risking eviction.
It's extremely disrespectful honestly, and it could also get him in trouble. If somebody started being this loud on purpose with me I would never see him again, and it would ruin the session.
I was listening to a movie podcast about Anora today. Sean Baker the filmmaker? Have to look up what else he has done. I do remember Mikey Madison's character in the Manson Family in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the reboot of the Scream movies.I went to see it last friday, and I was in the VIP section and an anonymous person bought me drinks LOL. I actually really liked it, I like this filmmaker a lot. I thought it was really sad in a lot of ways tho
Most of his movies I saw involve sex workers or are about some form of sex work. I wondered about the ethics of that and why he is so interested in this topic, but he is a great film maker honestly...
I don't know if ethics is the right word. Adrian Lyne did many movies about sex and infidelity after gaining prominence with Flashdance. He did Lolita, Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful, 9 and a half weeks, Indecent Proposal just to name a few. I think there might have been some other topics at well but he was known for examining movies of this genre of forbidden sex.
Like Scorcese with mob movies although his career has a wider breadth of topics.
Oliver Stone did a trilogy of movies on the Vietnam War that he served in.
Your art will tend to follow what you know best. Sean Baker is from New Jersey, and maybe he partook in the services of a NYC sex worker when he was younger or is just fascinated by that lifestyle. People on this board are fascinated by SPs and sex in film sells although maybe not as much as before with the prevalence of porn on the internet.
If there is one complaint I have about some of the reviews I have read or listened to on Anora, it is the idea that every sex worker is waiting for their knight in shining armor to marry them and rescue them from their life and they do sex work because they are struggling to make ends meet. This is such an outdated trope. There are SWs who are thriving and live a very adventurous and eclectic lifestyle.
Anyways, whatever his reason for delving so much into this genre of film, if the experience gained from past movies he made leads to a masterpiece, I am all for it. If it is just gratuitous crap then who cares. Sounds like he has done something special though with this film.
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It's because he sees escorts himself.....or did before he recently got married
I understand why that would be bothering you, but you have to go see the movie to judge it. It's not about someone finding her knight in shining armour, quite the opposite lol. That's not what actually ends up happening at all. The character is also very young, and there is commentary on social class and how people want to get out of the situation that they are in. I don't blame a young stripper for wanting to marry a rich attractive guy her age and not have to work again in that industry honestly.. but that isn't what happens in the movie. Anora is an average young woman like other girls her age who wants to have fun and believes in fairy tales. You can't blame her for believing what is being promised to her.
Makes sense. but not all his movies are about escorts. Anora is a stripper. He made a movie about an aging male porn actor. In the Florida Project the mom is a stripper. The only movie he made with a character who is explicitly an escort is Tangerine. My criticism of his movies are that they are really disconnected from his own personal reality...
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Do you know what the totality of his personal reality is? In any event I don't know how much this really matters. I really like the films of Quentin Tarantino, but their only connection to his own reality is that he grew up a fan of Blaxploitation and Grindhouse cinema of the 1970s. He is about the same age as me so I get it, but others who watch his films and didn't live through the 1970s might not understand. I wouldn't say that his movies are connected to his own personal reality in any other way. He just has a really good imagination - which is an important asset for any director.
Spoiler alert Luna!! lol. I am not saying the movie is saying that, I am saying reviewers talk about this idea. Some have said could Pretty Woman be made today or is Anora the 2024 equivalent. I am going to try to find sometime this week to see it. The initial release in USA was only 6 theaters and each theater did over 100k in box office. So be interested to see what it gets in a wider release and as word of mouth and marketing spreads.
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I'm sorry about that! But I really disagree with this comparison between Pretty Woman and Anora.. Although I understand why to an extent.. but as someone who has worked in the sex industry for a bit of time now, I know that sex workers often encounter very wealthy people, and certain situations can occur as a result of this. These 2 situations are presented very differently tho
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I do not. And I don't like Quentin Tarantino's use of racial slurs in some movies. Don't care if he was a fan of blaxploitation, which is a genre that is questionable in itself.
Interestingly, Sean Baker used a former Toronto Escort as a consultant on this movie. Andrea Werhun was a consultant and the author of a book from 2018 called Modern Whore that the lead actress, Mikey Madison read. Andrea Werhun also appeared in the Canadian Movie Paying For It based on the comic strip book that Lena mentioned someplace in this board. So lot of Canadian connections with Anora. Anora won the coveted Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival back in May. So I think it definitely deserves a viewing. Hope to see it soon.
exclaim.ca
A Toronto Sex Worker Brought "Truthful" Insight to 'Anora' │ Exclaim!
Canadian former escort Andrea Werhun served as a consultant on the film and "added so many incredible, realistic little details to what it's like to be a sex worker and a stripper"
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I have absolutely no experience with stripping but from what I've heard there's a lot of overlap between being a stripper and being an escort! A lot of strippers do extras, and I've often heard girls say that when they worked at strip clubs they occasionally would take clients for escorting jobs after their shifts.Interestingly, Sean Baker used a former Toronto Escort as a consultant on this movie. Andrea Werhun was a consultant and the author of a book from 2018 called Modern Whore that the lead actress, Mikey Madison read. Andrea Werhun also appeared in the Canadian Movie Paying For It based on the comic strip book that Lena mentioned someplace in this board. So lot of Canadian connections with Anora. Anora won the coveted Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival back in May. So I think it definitely deserves a viewing. Hope to see it soon.
A Toronto Sex Worker Brought "Truthful" Insight to 'Anora' │ Exclaim!
Canadian former escort Andrea Werhun served as a consultant on the film and "added so many incredible, realistic little details to what it's like to be a sex worker and a stripper"
A few escorts I know also strip or have been strippers before.I am sure that happens sometimes. A stripper meeting a client afterward. I personally wouldn't want to do that because I just think an escort is going to be a better experience overall. I have nothing to base that on obviously but, if a person comes over after a shift of dancing, how much energy will they have for sex?I have absolutely no experience with stripping but from what I've heard there's a lot of overlap between being a stripper and being an escort! A lot of strippers do extras, and I've often heard girls say that when they worked at strip clubs they occasionally would take clients for escorting jobs after their shifts.
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