Crisp Criticism - "Tangerine", "Absolutely Anything", "Z for Zachariah", "Appropriate Behavior"

by

Julien Faddoul

Tangerine **

A transsexual prostitute tears through Los Angeles on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart. Meanwhile, her working girl cohort prepares for a music performance and a cab driver, a regular customer of theirs, tries to hide his sexual secrecy from his family.

Raw, droll comedy that connotes the works of Wong Kar-Wai, Pedro Almodovar and John Waters, with a simple plot and a fascinating set of characters. Notorious for being shot entirely on an iPhone 5S outfitted with an anamorphic lens adapter, there is clearly an enormous amount of cinematic expertise on display despite the film’s low budget. But its story strand of the Armenian cab driver feels frustratingly conventional and not as formative as the rest of its world.

d – Sean S. Baker

w – Sean S. Baker, Chris Bergoch

ph – Sean S. Baker, Radium Cheung

ed – Sean S. Baker

cos – Shih-Ching Tsou

p – Sean S. Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou, Darren Dean, Karrie Cox, Marcus Cox

Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O'Hagan, James Ransone

Absolutely Anything

A teacher experiences a series of mishaps after discovering he has magical powers.

The first film by its director in 20 years, this is a hideously unfunny mess with no one surviving the experience well.

d – Terry Jones

w – Gavin Scott, Terry Jones

ph – Peter Hannan

pd – James Acheson

m – George Fenton

ed – Julian Rodd

cos – James Acheson

p – Bill Jones, Ben Timlett

Cast: Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rob Riggle, Eddie Izzard, Joanna Lumley

Z for Zachariah **

In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors.

Overlong and, at times, rather old-fashioned post-apocalyptic romance with religious undertones that, despite its misguided motives, remains well acted and moving (with the latter being a result of the former).

d – Craig Zobel

w – Nissar Modi   (Based on the Novel by Robert C. O’Brien)

ph – Tim Orr

pd – Matthew Munn

m – Heather McIntosh

ed – Jane Rizzo

cos – Bob Buck

p – Sophia Lin, Tobey Maguire, Skuli Fr. Malmquist, Matthew Plouffe, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Thor Sigurjonsson

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine

Appropriate Behavior *

A Persian bisexual living in Brooklyn deals with pressure from her family and the remorse of recently breaking up with her girlfriend.

Experience is gained and one-liners are traded in a funny but not particularly compelling bisexual variation on Annie Hall.

wd – Desiree Akhavan

ph – Christopher Teague

pd – Miren Marañón

m – Josephine Wiggs

ed – Sara Shaw

cos – Sarah Maiorino

p – Cecilia Frugiuele

Cast: Desiree Akhavan, Rebecca Henderson, Halley Feiffer, Scott Adsit, Ryan Fitzsimmons, Anh Duong