Anora
“15, cash, up-front” -Anora
This is the type of movie that gets me excited for awards season. A movie that on the surface is a love story, but then trickles in a ton of different themes and surprises. It was marked as a ‘f*cked up Cinderella,” and the more I think about I can’t think of a more accurate description. A really original story that keeps you guessing constantly. You could maybe argue that it goes to some powerful shots, but the star of the entire movie goes without saying in my opinion. Mickey Madison is phenomenal and has to be the leading candidate for Actress of the Year. I will be amazed if anyone else can steal this, but crazier things have happened. As I do with most of my reviews, I am going to leave it very vague and just say that any cinema lover must see this film. The parts I loved about it came from going in blind, and I want you all to experience it that way too. Find time if you want to know about the film that is winning a lot of awards at the Oscars.
-J
The Cannes Film Festival has been on a roll lately, with their best film award, the Palm d’Or, selecting 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite (a ZEJ all-time favorite), Triangle of Sadness in 2022 (ZEJ’s #3 for 2022), and Anatomy of a Fall in 2023 (ZEJ’s #6 for 2023), so naturally the anticipation for Anora was quite high. And I will say definitively that Anora totally delivered, though it was not at all the movie I thought, given the one and only trailer I saw for it. I cannot delve into why that is without spoiling it, but suffice it to say that this movie is much deeper thematically than is apparent at the surface. Mikey Madison’s performance is so good I think it’s impossible to give it enough credit, but the supporting cast around her all just knock their smaller but crucial performances out of the park in a way that really makes this otherwise simple script and plot really sing. This is a lock for a Best Picture and acting nomination, and is probably the third best movie of the year, behind Hundreds of Beavers and Dune: Part Two. Must see.
-Z
