My review of Tangerine is up at IMDB

Here is my review of Sean Baker’s brilliant film, Tangerine, just posted on IMDB:

I saw Sean Baker’s new film, Tangerine, last night and am completely blown away by this film. The story centers on two trans sex workers in LA, but the main thing about this film is that it offers an honest, gritty, harsh, yet humorous look at the day-to-day realities of this particular world. Baker developed the script and the film with his two principal actresses, Mya Taylor and Kiki Rodriguez, whom he met on the street in LA. The result of their input, and Baker’s openness to learning about a world not his own, is a film that is both complex and realistic, powerful and honest. For once, all of the actors who portray trans characters are themselves trans, and the stories and portrayals of all the characters are honest and sympathetic to all — the sex workers, their customers, the taxi drivers, the families at home, even the pimp — blessedly free of glitz, pity, fetishizing, and condescension. The humor is as real as the drama — not farce or camp but the kind of gutsy humor that gets people through lives of ongoing crisis. Baker is aware of the politics and realities of trans lives, bringing this sensibility to the film without a trace of polemic. For a kicker, the low-budget film (a hit at Sundance) was filmed entirely with three iPhone 5s. One of the best films I’ve seen in a long, long time on all levels –message, acting, cinematography, heart, and soul. Don’t miss it!

For more information about Tangerine, see

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3824458/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Some great interviews with Sean Baker and Mya Taylor, as well as backstory about the making of Tangerine at:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/07/sean-baker-on-making-the-indie-hit-tangerine.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/tangerine-inside-the-transgender-revenge-comedy-of-the-year-20150710?page=3

http://www.hitfix.com/awards-campaign/meet-the-cast-of-tangerine-your-must-see-movie-of-the-summer

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/when-sean-baker-shot-tangerine-on-an-iphone-he-invented-a-new-cinema-exclusive-video-20150626

http://filmmakermagazine.com/94799-we-didnt-fictionalize-much-sean-baker-on-tangerine/

npr.org/2015/07/21/424966750/a-downtrodden-l-a-corner-inspires-comedy-and-friendship-in-tangerine.

Yes, I am over the moon about this film!