User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. It's hard to imagine a better choice for opening night of the 4th annual Oak Cliff Film Festival. After all, this year's theme is the "No Wave Movement" of the late 1970's, and writer/director Sean Baker's most recent film (and a Sundance favorite) is the perfect complement. Co-written with Chris Bergoch and filmed entirely on iPhone 5s' (with cinematic apps), this gritty, no-frills film spotlights real problems of real people on a real day … on the real streets of Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Personally, I haven't seen many (ok, any) films that focus on two transgender prostitutes (both, persons of color). However, the exciting thing is that the story pays little attention to the vocation of Sin-Dee and Alexandra, and is more a story of friendship, heartbreak, and the sub-cultures that make up a particular community of the L.A. area. This is not the glitzy/celebrity side of Hollywood, but rather the underbelly of a melting pot city where the paths of transgender streetwalkers and Armenian cab drivers intersect.

Sin-Dee (Kiki Kitana Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Mya Taylor) are opposite personality types, but clearly good friends as they chat while splitting a donut in the opening scene. We quickly learn that Sin-Dee is fresh out of jail after serving 28 days, and she doesn't react well to Alexandra's news that their pimp (and Sin-Dee's boyfriend) Chester (James Ransone) has been cheating with a "natural" woman (played by a very talented Mickey O'Hagan) while she was incarcerated. A woman scorned provides the energy of the film as Sin-Dee tracks down this mysterious girl whose name starts with a "D". It also provides new meaning for dragging someone all over town (kudos to Ms O'Hagan for the physicality and bruises).

The sassy banter is filled with brutal put-downs and smart-ass comebacks, as the three actresses play off each other as if loaded with short-fused fireworks. The story with taxi driver Razmik (Karren Karagulian) shows a family man drawn like a magnet to the world of Sin-Dee and Alexandra … he even finds a reason to skip out on Christmas Eve dinner with his family. His mother-in-law Ashken (Alla Tumanian) is most suspicious of his activities, and that leads to the frenetic and hilarious confrontation at Donut Time.

Many individual scenes are funny, while others are tension-filled. There is even a scene in Razmik's cab featuring veteran actor Clu Gulager ("The Virginian"), and Armenian celebrity Arsen Grigoryan plays another taxi driver. The acting throughout is strong and humanistic, and the iPhone photography is shocking in its depth and range … we would never suspect the "equipment" being used. This approach allowed for the organic feel of the street – think of Banksy making a movie … clandestine with no sets (or permits). Baker's style is reminiscent of John Waters and John Cassavetes, and that's quite a compliment. The film also features the pitch perfect description of Los Angeles: "a beautifully wrapped lie".

Right up front let me tell you this is not an easy film to watch. It is vulgar, raw, painful and shocking at times. It is, however, going to stand for some time as this generation's example of how to write a story, tell a story, and create characters that are not only believable, but memorable. Tangerine, the gift we get on Christmas in America, is a story about people who live in constant chaos, in an unsafe and harsh America where not everyone get's sterling silver from the man in the North pole. It is a visually stunning achievement and reminds us that those of us who make art are first and foremost storytellers. Bravo to those who were brave enough to produce, act in and make this story come to our movie screens. Watch out Hollywood, the next generation of artists making movies has arrived.

A fabulous character study, gritty slice of life, walk on the wild side comedy . . . any variety of possible descriptions come to mind.

But no matter how one tries to frame this uniquely crafted work, despite its very low production budget (this entire movie was filmed with iPhones?), it's still surprisingly entertaining.

I could try to encapsulate the drama (and yes, drama, as in on the street, way over the edge drama) between the two main characters, and the meandering ill fated adventures that sprout up along the way, but actually, better that you simply watch and experience for yourself.

No spoilers, not even a hint . . . but what I will suggest here, the time spent to watch this will not be wasted.

Kudos to a very clever bit of street drama compressed into a simple but engaging journey into and through a collection of lives that are all too real out in certain sections of town, which in this case happens to be West Hollywood.

This was just a complete free for all! I didn't know about this film until watching The Florida Project. This was moving in just the same way. I liked these people and I disliked these people. I was fully invested. Point being, I cared about them as PEOPLE. I saw Starlet as well a while ago, but it didn't grab me like this and Florida. More, please.

I saw this Premiere at Sundance 2015. This is what a Sundance film should be. You start watching at a distance. The subject matter of prostitutes, pimps, drugs, sex, homosexuality and gender roles is foreign to most and even repulsive to some. But that's the beauty. It draws you in...you start to care about the characters, you start to laugh with them. You then admire their pluck. You feel their frustration, sadness and even shame. Then you identify with it. Then, eventually, you admire it. Finally, what you see are human beings with the same, or even better, values that you have. The music is cutting edge street sound that propels you along the LA sidewalks and, combined with the colors of the film (i.e. tangerine), it pulls you into the brash and jolting life on some of the worse streets of LA. The power of the film is that, in powerful ways, that street community seems a better home than you have in safe suburbia. This is what indie film should be.....it takes a different subject matter, perhaps something disturbing, draws you in and changes the way you view the world. Forever. Not just during the course of a film festival.

Even better, this film was shot entirely on three iPhone 5s. At the Premiere, the audience audibly gasped when this fact rolled on screen during the credits. Another thing an indie film should do...change the way you look at how films can be made. (I'm actually going to try to make a film this summer...seriously).

This film should have won the Sundance NEXT award....and probably would have if it was not by audience vote. This is not mainstream..it is an independent film. This film will change your life.

P.S. Both female leads were powerful and legitimate, in every sense of that word. But Kiki Kitana Rodriguez has screen presence and karma enough to fill Dodger Stadium one hundred times over. I could watch her for yours, and hope we all have a chance to do so again.

Aside from being a thoroughly enjoyable film, "Tangerine" has the remarkable distinction of being shot entirely on an iPhone 5S. How such a feat was accomplished is beyond me for while it does appear to be a low budget piece it looks fantastic. Furthermore, maybe because of the unique film techniques, it feels very real, like you were just tagging along for the duration.

The story takes place over the course of about 12 hours, following the lives of two transgender prostitutes on Christmas Eve. Sin-dee has just been released from jail, and her best friend Alexandra lets slip that her boyfriend/pimp picked up with another women while she was away. This sets Sin-dee off on a rampage as she scours the L.A. streets looking for the new girl and her cheating man. The story weaves from Sin-dee's quest, to Alexandra picking up a few tricks throughout the day, and subtly follows a cab driver who has a thing for Sin-dee, while his family works out his proclivities. Through all of this, the film is not condescending, preachy, or insensitive to anyone. It is brutally honest, hilarious at times, realistic, even touching and sad.

I loved this movie. From the colorful characters to the perfect pacing to the creative cinematography, "Tangerine" is one film every lover of cinema should watch at least once. Oh, and a super soundtrack! I hope to add it to the collection one day.

The first thing everyone always says about Tangerine is that it's shot on iPhones. That is true. IPhone 5's, three of them, with an added lens and a stabilising gimble. It's not a gimmick though. Take that fact away and this is still an impressive film. Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is a transgendered prostitute, who's just found out that her pimp boyfriend Chester (James Ransome) is cheating on her. Taking to the sunkissed and dirty streets of LA, she's on a mission with friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor) to sort Chester and Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan) the girl he's cheating with out. Although cut conventionally, a lot of it feels very real, honest, unscripted. The choice of kit will certainly help with this, but it doesn't feel cheap. Apparently it's Christmas Eve and Alexandra is planning an event. A event Sin-Dee needs to be at, but her somewhat aggressive sleuthing is getting in the way. Christmas in LA looks weird to me, not a hint of snow and certainly not the way this film is graded. Everything is bathed in burnt orange... hence the name. I want to like it more than I do, maybe because I admire what it's trying to do and how it's doing it, but it's not an easy watch. It plods a little in places, despite the larger than life characters and a pulsating score and Sin-Dee isn't the easiest character to like. That said, although I wouldn't categorise this as enjoyable, it's still an interesting film. Funny, bleak and chaotic.

My friend put me on to this, with no mention at all of what it was about... so totally unexpected. What I really liked about Tangerine is that it didn't pull its punches. None of the main characters are 100% hero or villain... everyone is sad/funny/cruel/kind at some point. I can't say I'd want to hang out with ANYONE in this movie... but they're all presented as complex characters, people, which is great.

I can see why John Waters liked it, it does remind me a bit of his earlier films with their various crazed characters in crazed worlds... though Tangerine feels much more real and gritty than any of those Waters films, which were heavy with fantasy.

Anyway, it's excellent... I hope it garners a huge following and we start getting more films like this and less superhero trash.

Glad to see the theater packed for this one. The way it was shot feels like a documentary, but the raw subject matter and unpolished acting were in-your-face in the best ways. There's no time to judge these fast-moving, trans-gendered prostitutes, and why would you? Everything's f***ed up. Family people are not what they seem, everyone's motivations are unique, people are desperate for acceptance, affection and enough money to make it to the next day. They play the hands they're dealt, like all of us, spinning around and around, trying to get answers and making stupid mistakes along the way. In the end, it's still a friendship movie, not a package with a shiny, redeeming bow. Sick of safe, sanitized, statistical NPR? Here's your movie.

This is a very engaging small film, with the production quality and feel of something like Kevin Smiths Clerks. (In fact there are scenes based around a Donut shop that will definitely take you to the Askewniverse)

With the rise of the structured-reality series, this type of dramatic slice of life filming ends up seeming much more 'real' despite, I assume, being script driven.

Initially comprehending a sentence of the high energy trans sex worker LA slang is somewhat tricky, but the motivations of the ensemble soon work themselves out, and by the final scenes, the audience is fully engaged emotionally.

This was a nice reminder of the golden age of Indie films of the eighties and nineties, which the comic book invasion has not fully defeated.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why this film is on so many "Best of 2015" lists (assuming of course that putting it on those lists wasn't just some sort of misguided feint at artistic affirmative action -- and, yes, I realize I speak blasphemy). One of the most ham-handed and poorly realized films I've seen in years. The acting is amateurish, but not in the way that is charming. Rather, it's amateurish in that way that makes you cringe. The dialogue is dreadful, and the plot is essentially non-existent. Many, many issues are depicted, but none of them is explored because, in fact, this is a film entirely without insight. I know Tangerine is a first of sorts: a film about a certain kind of trans life and with trans actors, but I cannot for the life of me understand what makes it a good movie, never mind one of the best. It took us two nights to finish watching this film (and it only lasts 88 minutes), and we only persisted because of all the rave reviews. You could save yourself the trouble and not miss much.

Covering a day in the lives of two trans sex workers, Tangerine is an offbeat surprise that's hilarious, heartwarming & heartbreaking, is bursting with energy & style from start to finish, and offers an unusual glimpse into Los Angeles' sex-trade subculture. As unconventional in content as it is in the way it's shot, this is one comedy that defies everything in its path.

The story of Tangerine unfolds on Christmas Eve and follows two trans sex workers who are also best friends. One of them is Alexandra who's inviting friends all over the town to attend the gig she has secured for the night. The other is Sin-Dee Rella who just tears through the town to find her pimp boyfriend after learning that he cheated on her while she was locked up.

Written & directed by Sean S. Baker, Tangerine is crafted with rigour & passion and shatters many filmmaking norms over the course of its runtime. Filmed entirely on iPhone with more enhancements coming from easily available apps, the film gleams with colour filters & warm palette that gives it a distinctive look. And although the first act requires some getting used to, it only gets funnier as the plot progresses.

While the primary focus is on Sin-Dee & Alexandra, the subplots related to other characters connected to these two are also interesting in their own ways. The film also breaks tradition in the casting department by employing two transgender actresses in the given roles & both of them deliver fantastic performances, with Mya Taylor playing her character in a balanced manner while Kitana Kiki Rodrigues going full crazy as Sin-Dee.

On an overall scale, Tangerine is an inventive, distinctive & hysterical piece of indie cinema that allows its audience to settle down in the first act after which it instantly changes gears, gets more wild & vibrant with every passing minute, goes absolutely bonkers in its final act when all its different threads combine together to form a single whole, and finally concludes with a touching ode to friendship. In a sentence, Tangerine works because its heart is at the right place. Definitely worth a shot.

It took me 8 years and 2 weeks to finally watch the whole movie but I finally got there. I'm not a fan of poor to non existent scripts that stretch one sentence into supposed movies. This slice of life focused mainly on one character seeking to confront her pimp/boyfriend. It included to small side stories to attempt to keep your focus. The side story of the other sex worker could have been sadder if we knew anything about her (sindee). The cheating husbands story was good as it was because from all of them had a the entertainment factor that kept you actually wanting to know the outcome of his story. The main story was shallow, sad, and frankly very boring.

Overall there was no depth and nothing was actually show to shine light on any topic they decided to show. It took me so long to watch because it was hard to find on streaming services I managed to get access to and when I did find it I always stoped 10-20 minutes in. Yikes. But hey I can say it was worth a watch if you absolutely have nothing to watch (but do something to keep you entertained because this will make your mind want to wander).

Sean Baker's 2015 film "Tangerine" is an absolute gem. It's fiction but it could be fact as we get a glimpse of the seamier side of LA on Christmas Eve as Baker follows a couple of transgender hookers aound, one of whom is looking for her unfaithful boyfriend. Then there's the Armenian cabdriver just looking for what, in less enlightened times, might have been called, 'a chick with a dick'. It's funny but mostly it's sad and, as one of the hookers, has in Mya Taylor, a real find. It's not an easy watch but it established Baker as a director of considerable promise, a promise effortlessly fulfilled with "The Florida Project", making him one of the most exciting talents in the independent section right now.

Some odd filmmaking choices in the first third of the movie hamper the tempo and immersiveness which is partially fixed in the final act.

The movie is at its weakest when establishing and following the character of Sin-Dee while she is on her warpath. The strange angles & loud dubstep music really make it difficult to establish a connection to a character that is not very sympathetic in the first place.

However when the camera follows her friend Alexandra or Razmik, it's essentially a different, far superior film, which really encapsulates the experience of these marginalised groups of people and shows us their struggles in a sympathetic way (which is the director's specialty if his masterpiece The Florida Project is any indicator).

Liked: -some characters -the culmination and ending

Disliked: -the odd filter choice, especially since it's filmed in a location that has what seems to be the ideal lighting for the aesthetic the filmmakers are going for -Sin-Dee's portion of the film

6.5

Really liked 2012's 'Starlet', so 2015's 'Tangerine' was definitely going to be seen. Just in case anybody is wondering what my incentive was for seeing the films, it's for getting acquainted with director Sean Baker's work before seeing his recently released film 'The Florida Project'.

Found myself liking 'Tangerine' even more. A few parts are still a little forced and written and resolved somewhat too neatly, but there is not much to criticise a film that is a little texturally richer and more intimate in detail than to 'Starlet'. Like with 'Starlet', the faults are fairly minor and are eclipsed by everything else that is done right. 'Tangerine' is most interesting for its unique visual style and using real life transgenders for actors, but despite how this sounds this is not a gimmick film and has much more to it than that.

Visually, it won't appeal to all, some may find it amateurish. With me though, the shot entirely on three iPhones look was surprisingly naturalistic and added a high-voltage intensity and realism to a story that is often confrontational in manner. The music has some nice atmosphere too.

Like with 'Starlet', 'Tangerine' really stands out in the writing, with a great balance of funny comedy, charming warmth, understated sweetness and touching drama. The story likewise, it really made me feel warm inside, it made me laugh, it surprised me, it charmed me and it moved me. There is some explicitness and some vulgarity, but it felt raw and any shock drama just added another layer to the drama. The Christmas fairy-tale feel that is at times adopted is not sugary, if anything it's got a lot of attitude which was surprising in a good way.

Once again, Baker's direction is adroit and he paces everything beautifully. Would go as far to say that his direction is even better and more comfortable here than it is in 'Starlet', it's richer, more intimate and more detailed.

'Tangerine's' acting is not quite as good as 'Starlet's', but it is still surprisingly very good. Especially from Mya Taylor who fully succeeds in making her character come over as a real-life person with strengths and flaws rather than a caricature or stereotype.

Altogether, a very good film, very different to 'Starlet' but has many of what made that film as impressive as it was. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Tangerine is the independent film of the year, and it's very obvious to see why. It was completely filmed on an iPhone. That's right, the same things that we use everyday, almost at ever hour of the day, made this movie. Guess what? An iPhone can make a really good movie. This is a groundbreaking moment for cinema. This opens the door to thousands of independent filmmakers who don't have the finances to make a great looking feature. It doesn't matter anymore. Anyone can make a great movie. Anyone can tell a great story. These are the golden ages, my friends.

But what of the movie? What makes it so great? It's a down and dirty Christmas story about two trans-gendered prostitutes in the middle of a love triangle between a white-trash pimp and an Armenian cab driver (who tragically is a family man). The two main characters of the film come across as loud and largely obnoxious, but you grow to kind of like them. They are proud to be walking the streets, and selling their bodies. Had these characters appeared in an early John Waters film, they might've been able to eclipse Divine. Speaking of Waters, this whole movie really reminded me of his work, and it's no wonder he placed it on his year-end list.

The Armenian cab driver is by far the most fascinating part. You just feel so bad for his family, and so bad for him. As his addiction unfolds right before their eyes, you just want to roll up in a ball and cringe.

This movie is not without it's flaws, but it's also not without it's incredible moments. Just when I think i've seen everything from "Tangerine", the end sucker-punches me from behind. This film has many, many tricks up it's sleeve. It's a great, but very dark, comedy. Your 2015 movie list is truly not complete without seeing this.

"Tangerine" is easily one of if not the biggest pleasant surprises of the past movie year. At first, I didn't think I was going to be able to get into the film's vibe. Watching a couple of transvestite prostitutes with depressing lives charging around L.A. throwing tantrums and telling everyone what's what isn't fun for very long, and it seemed that that's all the film would be. But as it develops, and the characters start to develop with it, I sort of fell in love with the movie and even with the people in it who did nothing but annoy me at first.

As "Tangerine" moves along, the lives of the principal characters cease to seem quite so depressing. They're sad, certainly, and between disease, drugs, and thugs, they're almost certain to come to a bad and quite possibly early end. But what "Tangerine" gets just right -- and what makes it so much more than a goof at the expense of a bunch of caricatures we can feel superior to because we're so much more fortunate than -- is that it respects its characters and its characters respect themselves. There's a certain dignity in the way the characters embodied by Katana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor go about their lives completely true to who they are. They don't apologize or ask for sympathy. This is what prevents their lives from being depressing. They and the people around them live on the fringes of a society that doesn't know what to do with people it can't easily label, so they create their own place in it. And in the character of the outwardly conventional cab driver who's smitten with the "girls" and the world they come from, the movie suggests that there are many out there who force themselves into categories that don't completely fit them and admire the kind of freedom in which those who don't conform live, even as they would likely condemn them for their behavior.

And I would be remiss if I didn't also mention as part of this review that the movie is at times uproariously funny.

Grade: A+

Believe me, TANGERINE will soon be enshrined in the film history as the first universally-acclaimed feature shot entirely with iPhone, a potent testimony that film now has entered into a new era, where literally everyone who owns a cellphone can be a film-maker, whether the upcoming surplus will rejuvenate the vitality of this art form or swamp us with too many jerry-built indie-trashes, one thing is certain, the change is inevitable, and TANGERINE is the lucky landmark.

Another distinctive feat of indie geek Sean Baker's fifth feature is its protagonists, adheres to his interest in lower-class objects, TANGERINE is about street trans-hustlers in L.A., a sub-cultural blind-spot for most audience. The plot sets on the Christmas Eve and revolves around two young black trans-prostitutes, Sin-Dee (Rodriguez) and Alexandra (Taylor), the former is newly released from jail for covering up her pimp-boyfriend Chester (Ransone), only to discover from the latter that Chester has been hooked up with a white tart Dinah (O'Hagan) during her one-month long prison time. A hot-headed Sin-Dee resolves to find Dinah and Chester, questions them face-to- face. Alexandra is tagged along at first, but soon parts company since she has an important gig to attend, she is trying to be a singer. Eventually they meet again in the night but things will go haywire, their friendship must endure the test of an ugly truth.

In Baker's book, Sin-Dee and Alexandra constitute a duet of love and dream, two things we cherish the most, but become so unattainable for their line-of-business, yet, even in the dimmest corner, there are anomalies like these two, on the surface, Sin-Dee is a crude spitfire, unrealistically naive, and unpleasantly aggressive, whereas Alexandra is less emotional, more elusive, yet, her manly side can effortlessly roar with lighter when she engages in a relentless grapple with a stingy client; but deep inside, they are two ordinary souls trying to fight for their lives, neither dishearten nor delusional, life may be hard for them, but their friendship bonds them together, a touching ending where both take off their wigs and reveal their biological appearance, that moment, a heartfelt understanding transcends all their exterior forms, no matter how singular they are, just as two tender human beings, they deserve our compassion and respect, it is a masterstroke rising from this gimmicky fare.

A less-enticing sub-plot is about a trans-addicted taxi driver Razmik (Karagulian), an Armenian immigrant, a closeted-family man, who is obsessed with Sin-Dee and his secret will be disclosed by his hell-bent mother-in-law Ashken (Tumanian) on the Christmas Eve in the Donut Time. Novelty-wise, it is nothing we haven't seen here, but Razmik's predilection is a head-scratcher to be categorised.

Under the natural Californian light and the hazy halo of streetlight, the cheap outlook surprisingly aligns with the narrative, Taylor and Rodriguez both shine in their contrasting (drama queen Vs. ladylike decency) but mesmerising performances, especially Taylor, whose rendition of "TOYLAND" is simply phenomenal. Also I must name-check James Ransone, whose riffraff sleaziness is right on the nose. Heading towards the awards season, hopefully this critic-darling can stir some ripples in injecting a certain fresh air into the conservative Academy systems, even if it doesn't, it has already achieved something extraordinary in its own sphere, one of the most topical film of 2015, is beyond any doubt.

Apart from a pretty decent and modern soundtrack, there is very little to like about this film. The film has a plot and content that would make any Sundance film-festival fan drool at how "edgy" and "raw" it is. It's got hookers, drugs, and Hollywood sleaze (because who knew that Hollywood could be so decadent?). The characters are neither funny nor interesting. They are, however, played by quite talented actors who are actually themselves trans-gender. I'am so totally bemused as to why this film is so well acclaimed. If it is only acclaimed because of having play trans-gender people play trans-gender people and for some reason that makes the film automatically good, then I must say, the bar is being set considerably low.