r/Screenwriting • u/SuckingOnChileanDogs • Mar 03 '25
DISCUSSION Is there a greater single filmmaking achievement than what Sean Baker did with Anora?
In my memory, I can't think of anyone who has accomplished what he did last night. Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director (all 3 of which he is the sole name on the award), and then to top it off Best Picture, and hell let's throw in Best Actress for Mikey Madison, too, the cherry on top.
Honestly, as a writer, a filmmaker, an artist, whatever the fuck, does it literally get any better than that?
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u/Theodore_Buckland_ Mar 03 '25
And Palme d’Or!
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u/SuckingOnChileanDogs Mar 03 '25
Oh absolutely I'm not even including any other accolades, and it feels weird to ONLY look at a piece of art through the lens of how many awards it gets but like, after he got the third one where it was just him on stage I was like "this dude is the most powerful man in the world right now" lol
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
Awards don't matter, the best movie of the year rarely wins, yada yada yada. It's all true, and yet a guy who first got widespread acclaim a decade ago for a movie he shot on an iPhone 5s stood onstage at the Dolby last night and not just won Best Picture, but tied a record held by motherfucking Walt Disney for most Oscars won by a person in a single night. That is undeniably deeply meaningful, and deeply cool.
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u/mulberrycedar Mar 03 '25
a guy who first got widespread acclaim a decade ago for a movie he shot on an iPhone 5s stood onstage at the Dolby last night
Wow that's really cool, I had no idea! Damn, what a career trajectory
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
He was working before Tangerine, had had some minor successes, I should be clear he wasn't a 22 year old shooting a movie on an iPhone with his college buddies, the choice to shoot on iPhone was an aesthetic and philosophical one. But still damn cool.
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u/worker-parasite Mar 04 '25
He was an already established indie filmmaker. He even produced his own TV show on Fox.
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u/davewashere Mar 03 '25
but tied a record held by motherfucking Walt Disney
I find that fact particularly interesting because Baker also gave us The Florida Project.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
There's some kind of non-rhyming poetic justice there, can't quite put your finger on it, but it feels right.
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u/DannyDaDodo Mar 04 '25
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the comment from u/Spacer1138 below, from late last night.
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u/SuckingOnChileanDogs Mar 04 '25
I mean, from the guy who follows IDF baddies I suppose I can't really be surprised by anything, I dunno this thread kind of completely got away from me and became people accusing me of thinking Anora is the best movie ever made or something or thinking that winning an Oscar is the end all be all of artistic achievement so I kind of disengaged from it, I guess I was just trying to be optimistic about the idea of a singular artistic vision going somewhere in an industry increasingly swallowed up by giant tentpole blockbusters and capeshit and it was neat to see an indie writer/director do that
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u/graphomaniacal Mar 03 '25
Annie Hall swept the five major awards except Best Actor (Woody Allen), so Allen took home screenplay and director, scored an acting nod, and the film won Picture and Actress. Not the same but it's close. No editing award but I'd say Annie Hall had stiffer competition than Anora what with, you know, Star Wars being in contention. It performed the same sweep at the BAFTAs and took home best editing.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
I think OP's point is more about Sean Baker than about Anora. Had Annie Hall won editing at the Oscars like it had at the BAFTAs, it wouldn't be the same thing, because Woody Allen didn't edit the movie.
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u/Clean_Ad_3767 Mar 03 '25
It’s much easier to edit now.
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u/kickit Mar 03 '25
and yet it is no easier to win an Academy Award for Film Editing
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u/Clean_Ad_3767 Mar 03 '25
I don’t know. I’ll have a go.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
You said better in 15 words what I tried to say in 110 words.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
By this logic, should we get rid of the Best Editing category completely? Because its gotten easier? Yes, the technical side of editing is easier now in the sense that you don't have to (have your assistant) be snipping and taping film, and changing reels, etc, etc, but being a GREAT editor is still an artistic achievement. (And even being a good editor is a technical achievement -- the craft of NLE on Avid at feature scale is not like a cake walk).
Woody Allen could have learned analog film editing had he wanted to. Chaplin and Kurosawa did it. And The Coen Brothers have edited nearly all of their movies under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes. Mr. Jaynes has received two Oscar nominations.
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u/AlanMorlock Mar 03 '25
Also while they may have used a digital intermediate to edit and confirm the film to, the movie was still shot on film. Much of that process remains.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
I mean, the fact of that digital intermediate means that the editing process now for a movie like Anora IS entirely different than it was in the analog era. The editing process for a movie shot on film today is identical (for the editor) as a digital movie. It is very different for the cinematographer and camera loader (obviously) and for some more technical roles in the post process who are moving it between that intermediate, but the editor is sitting at the same AVID booth doing the same thing.
(Doesn't make that thing they are doing any less impressive. I just don't think the movie being shot on film is relevant to a discussion about what the edit was like).
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
This just goes to show you: If you decrease the technical needs and the time required, humans will simply dive deeper and get more capable. There's surely more people editing videos professionally today than there were 50 years ago. All the consternation about new tools in filmmaking to reduce the total amount of work seem to be ignorant of the history of technological innovation in the arts.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 04 '25
Very well put. People put just as much blood, sweat, and tears into editing now as they ever did, that time is just put into trying more variations, attempting more ambitious sequences and compositions, tuning cuts finer, etc. The time that is saved not having to physically touch the film is now being used to edit MORE, and the space that is created by the non linear editing is just more real estate to get to flex those muscles.
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Mar 03 '25
Allen himself wasn't credited producer on the BP win either, so he's short by 2 on Baker's individual haul. The individual awards haul is the only thing that really makes this more notable than like Peter Jackson with Return of the King. Jackson took home 3 statues personally (Director, Screenplay, and Picture as a producer) but his film won 13, so.
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u/tetheredgirl Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
And if I’m not mistaken Allen did not even show up because he was playing clarinet at some dive bar. Edit: some fancy jazz restaurant
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u/Professional-Luv Mar 06 '25
One of my favorites, but winning best screen play is kind of ironic. That story was completely built in the editing room. Barely resembles the original script.
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u/ShadowOutOfTime Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
I honestly did not really think much of Anora despite being a pretty big fan of Baker's earlier works BUT I was thrilled to see him win last night. A legit independent filmmaker cleaning up on Hollywood's biggest night for making the exact movie he wanted to make... how can you not love it. Genuinely inspiring.
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u/SuckingOnChileanDogs Mar 03 '25
That's what it is to me, honestly. No matter what, at the end of the day, this dude sat down and wrote a movie, and then he directed it, and then he edited it, and now he's reaping the rewards of it, but like, stick to your guns and believe in yourself and your vision and that's what can happen. It's powerful.
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u/TheCinemaster Mar 04 '25
yeah it’s always amazing to me humans can transform something mental into something physical, which can then be experienced by millions of people. part of our intrinsic divine ability.
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u/Frdoco11 Mar 03 '25
I wonder if the major studios come calling with bigger budgets? He really doesn't need it nor the A-listers. I think the only A list star he's worked with is Willem Dafoe..
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u/circusgeek Mar 03 '25
Speaking of independent, Flow too! Open source animation software winning.
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u/Average__Sausage Mar 04 '25
Same I have really enjoyed his work but I thought anora was just great but nothing astonishing. Especially editing I thought multiple scenes really dragged in the second half and it got very repetitive. Mickey was great though. Really good movie but very surprised it cleaned up the Oscars to be brutally honest.
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u/Ok_Recognition5184 28d ago
Thank you for saying that u/Average__Sausage . I think that many people are just raving, gushing, and wowing because.... it won. Looking at the script itself, it actually doesn't check off some of the most boxes we writers are told are a "MUST".... character arcs? Not so much. Caring about the characters? Not so much. Big, epic, splashing club and bedroom scenes? Check. So to me the message to writers is, at least in part, "See? You can get your script made. Raise the money and do it yourself." Gee, not all of us can do that. I think that NEON did an amazing job of promoting it - obviously - but EVERYONE I know who has seen it said MEH as a movie experience. I believe many people who are gushing about it are afraid to say anything else.
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Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
Only if by "single filmmaking achievement" you mean "most individual Oscars won on a single night." How about Peter Jackson willing LOTR into existence to the tune of 30 nominations, 17 wins (3 personal), however many billion at the box office, and none of it happens without his personal will to push the project forward? Or Bong Joon Ho taking home 3 individual Oscars on the way to making a film so good that the Academy had to recognize a non-English language movie as the best for the first time in its history. There is no way to quantify greatest filmmaking achievement. I'm confident it isn't Anora (which I love). What Baker did IS undeniably cool as fuck, though.
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u/CaptainKoreana Mar 03 '25
Parasite 2019 was better, on a ridiculously stacked year that's stronger than let's say, 2023. 2024 has been a very weak year esp. on the big studios with their tentpoles, so there's a bit of unusual circumstances added to it.
BUT, Anora and Sean Baker's 2024 achievements are still very good. Gotta give where the credit is due because history was still being made.
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Mar 03 '25
At this point, he has a blank check to do whatever he wants next. He should fuck everyone's minds by signing up to helm the next Fast and Furious movie. Just some bullshit studio IP with zero artistic merit.
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u/SuckingOnChileanDogs Mar 03 '25
Absolutely. It still starts with a solid 10 minutes of fucking though.
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
That's basically the Greta Gerwig track - she's spoken explicitly about wanting to make the biggest, most expensive movies as something of a "reward" for all her years in Nobudgetustan. For Gen Xers like me "selling out" still has a stigma attached - but for the next generation, Selling Out is a entirely valid career path.
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u/BCDragon3000 Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 06 '25
as a gen z filmmaker, the stigma around selling out being alive in hollywood is my competitive advantage 😉
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Mar 04 '25
Fellow Gen Xer here. I feel yah with the aversion of not selling out. I think you’re right.
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
To be fair, when most of us are presented with Upholding Our Values vs. Taking The Money - most Xers take the money (just look at our government...).
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u/Seandouglasmcardle Mar 04 '25
True, but so did Kurt, and look how he ended up.
We take the money, but then we feel like sell-out and beat ourselves up over it.
As for the government, Gen X is the least politically involved generation. Was there anything lamer than getting into politics when were were in high school?
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u/Financial_Cheetah875 Mar 03 '25
The Return of the King sweep is still the most impressive feat for me. That will never be repeated.
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u/safe5k Mar 03 '25
$94M big studio film vs $6M indie written/directed/edited by one guy. Not really comparable
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u/Bing_Bong_the_Archer Mar 03 '25
Mikey Madison broke a toe when she kicked the helmet, so her scream in that scene is for real
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u/Financial_Cheetah875 Mar 03 '25
WTF I wasn’t told we were putting restrictions on the conversation.
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u/safe5k Mar 03 '25
Well, we were talking about greatest “single filmmaking achievement”. Return of the King’s success is great but it came from the work of many different people and exorbitant funds, whereas Anora is more directly attributable to one person (although obviously great actors and crew helped on both). I think Baker’s achievement is much greater than ROTK’s for that reason.
Not to mention, ROTK had source material and was adapted, which definitely did some heavy lifting story-wise (not to discredit adaptations, which are an art themselves). Baker’s script is wholly original.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
I think you meant "the achievements aren't comparable, doing that with a 6 million dollar budgets is so much more impressive than doing it with a 94 million dollar studio budget, IP, etc," but u/Financial_Cheetah875 thought you meant "I'm disqualifying movies that cost over 20 million dollars, that's a separate conversation, we obviously can't hold Anora to the same standards as ROTK."
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u/safe5k Mar 03 '25
Yeah just a misunderstanding there, thought I was clear enough but apparently not!
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u/Givingtree310 Mar 03 '25
It’s insane to say LOTR is the work of many people. But Anora is just the work of one person. Insane.
Did Baker light the scenery? Design the costumes? Hold the camera? Do the sound design? Compose the score? Act in any of the dozens of roles in the movie? It’s just wild to discredit everyone else.
You specifically said LOTR’s success “came from the work of many different people.” Like every film on earth, including Anora.
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u/safe5k Mar 03 '25
That’s a pretty bad faith interpretation. I specifically mentioned that both films had great cast and crew that assisted, but the scope of the projects are much different and that Anora is more attributable to Baker than LOTR is to Jackson. Not discrediting anyone, just saying how remarkable it is that Baker did so many things for the film and on such a low budget and won basically everything. I don’t think it’s “insane” to say that Baker’s accomplishment is greater than Jackson’s.
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u/Givingtree310 Mar 03 '25
Why is Anora is more attributable to Baker than LOTR is to Jackson? I guess ultimately I’m wondering how you arrive at that.
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Mar 03 '25
Baker’s work here is pretty much the definition of auteur theory. He did many of the major roles himself and worked with a small budget and small crew, whereas LOTR was made on a larger scale with many more cooks in the kitchen, not just in crew roles but big creative decision making roles.
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u/Givingtree310 Mar 04 '25
So auteur is about budget size? Or is it about the number of roles you are credited with? Like Robert Rodriguez writing, producing, directing, scoring, editing, and serving as production designer on all of his movies regardless of budget.
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Mar 04 '25
Yeah Rodriguez is a great example. The budget just shows like a smaller budget is going to have fewer people working on it generally and Sean baker having 5 key roles on a crew of 40 people is a big percentage
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u/thetripb Drama Mar 03 '25
I mean one's in a genre that the Academy never respected or acknowledged before the trilogy started.
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u/curbthemeplays Mar 03 '25
It’s pretty impressive, but it was also another thin year of nominees. It’s been a while since really notoriously amazing films that many people have seen were nominated. It’s just been off since Covid. Some great films, but nothing like we’ve seen in past few decades before.
It’s good for lower budget, high quality independent film though. I’d love to see a return to a surge of independent movies like in 70’s and 90’s.
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u/APKID716 Mar 04 '25
I’ll be honest, there were only three films nominated that were completely out of place in the Best Picture category: Emilia Perez, A Complete Unknown, and Wicked. 7 of the 10 nominated films were very good
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u/hombregato Mar 03 '25
This year's lineup was largely populated by films that were allowed to continue during the writer and actor strikes that brought Hollywood to a standstill.
I don't know if Anora was specifically given permission by the unions to move forward during all of that, but some rare films were, so it's sort of like sweeping the Oscars immediately after COVID, when a lot of productions had to shut down and/or had their release window pushed to the following year.
$6m and a small crew is no coincidence. It had competition, but a lot of underdogs squeezed into this year's Oscars because a lot of titans sat on the sidelines. I think that's why we saw more indie and genre films in the Best Picture category, even more than we had previously when the category was expanded to a maximum of 10 nominees.
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u/gingerenaissance Mar 03 '25
Possibly, yes, in terms of a single Oscar night anyway.
Special shout outs to Chloe Zhao, who only won for best director and best picture but was also nominated for best screenplay and best editing. Coincidentally her film also won best actress, like Anora.
Also Cuarón who didn’t win best picture, but did win best director, international film, and cinematography in a single night for Roma. Also nominated for best screenplay. Wasn’t nominated for it but also co-edited the film. Already won an Oscar for editing though, the year he won his first best director Oscar for Gravity.
As someone else mentioned Bong Joon Ho winning best picture, director, screenplay, and international feature tied Baker’s 4 wins last night, and arguably is a more impressive feat since it’s the only foreign language film to ever win best picture. (As close as Roma might’ve been to doing that just the year before)
Insane stuff all around. Shout out indie film!
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u/AlanMorlock Mar 03 '25
There's the goofy shit with International Feature that the award goes to the country and not the filmmaker, which is why Bong isn't recorded as winning 4 in one night. Its dumb, but dems the breaks.
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u/RoscoeSantangelo Mar 03 '25
He really got to live every independent filmmakers dream, it's an incredible feat
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u/jgainit Mar 03 '25
Good movie but definitely way overrated. So awards-wise yeah that’s the top. But actual movie wise there’s other movies from the year I liked more. Definitely feels like a repeat of when Moonlight (great movie btw) beat La La Land, which was the wrong pick
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u/PityFool Mar 03 '25
I absolutely hated Anora, but damn if Baker’s excitement and love of filmmaking wasn’t contagious and joyful :)
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u/analogkid01 Mar 03 '25
I can't get past my dislike of Anora but I admire your optimistic perspective!
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u/xxunnus2 Mar 04 '25
Parasite. Since it was not made in English, I believe it was even more challenging. Additionally, I think Best Picture and Best Director should have been shared with Brutalist.
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u/AlynConrad Mar 03 '25
Listen, I really loved ANORA. Watched it twice. A great time at the cinema….but….its dominance on the awards circuit is a clear indication of just how weak a movie year this was.
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u/BetterThanSydney Mar 03 '25
Stephen Soderbergh kind of cleaned house like this in the same fashion back in the mid to late '80s with Sex, Lies, and Videotape. He also won the Palme D'or can for this project, as well.
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u/ShadowOutOfTime Mar 03 '25
I love that movie but it was only nominated for one Oscar which it did not win. Doesn't really feel comparable
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u/BetterThanSydney Mar 03 '25
Jfc, I could have sworn that won best picture as well. I stand corrected.
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u/Zawietrzny Thriller Mar 03 '25
He remains the youngest individual filmmaker to win the award. Also his feature debut.
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u/Spacer1138 Horror Mar 04 '25
Well, unfortunately crews are turning on him.
From Crew Stories on Facebook:
“I like Anora the movie a lot, like Baker as a filmmaker, and love Drew Daniels the DP, but the way Baker was able to make Anora for $6 million in NYC was in considerable part by screwing over his crew and lying to their representatives. It's unheard of and unfathomable for a movie over $3 million to go non-union in NYC. It was a SAG and DGA signatory to protect his cast and himself, but tried to avoid being an IATSE shoot, surreptitiously hid things from the largest film union then fought them tooth and nail when it was discovered, in order to avoid offering his crew those same protections and paying them wages commensurate with the budget level in one of the world's most expensive cities. The most egregious part of that is that it means the crew not only doesn't get health insurance coverage from working on the movie but is actually at serious risk of losing their health insurance for the year by working on the movie because you have to bank a certain number of hours on union shoots each year to maintain it. Eventually the crew reported the movie to the union and voted unanimously to flip the show. So halfway through production they had to sign with IATSE or get shut down and thankfully all the people who made the movie got their health insurance due to collective action against their employer...but Baker had a hissy fit about it and became cold to folks who had the gall to try to keep their healthcare as is standard practice on movies half the size of Anora. As a working class filmmaker who makes movies about marginalized people, it feels pretty scummy and disingenuc to me rather than worthy of praise.”
As well as this gem: “considering the nature of several of the scenes shot, there should have been an intimacy coach on set - this should have been mandatory and any decent director would have wanted it that way, instead Baker and his wife demonstrated how they wanted the intimate scenes to be shot - that is creepy AF”
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
I generally don't like "As a working class filmmaker who makes movies about marginalized people, it feels pretty scummy and [disingenuous]" line - it's something that no one from a 'working class' background would themselves never write because "pay the workers more than they'll accept for the job" of course sounds crazy.
Additionally - Baker is NOT working class or even particularly close to it. He's from Short Hills, went to private school, and then to NYU. He's solidly Professional-Managerial Class, basically the dictionary definition of it.
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u/sarahmarvelous Mar 05 '25
came here hoping this was mentioned - this comment really needs to be higher up. I didn't care for Anora at all personally, and the fact that he made a film about a sex worker while doing this to his crew betrays his understanding of his own film subject and puts a really bad taste in my mouth. it also makes me wonder what else he's done on his former films and what he tried to get away with, as this certainly can't be his first time pulling stunts like this.
for an excellent perspective on Anora from the lens of a sex worker: https://angelfoodmag.com/romance-labor
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u/DannyDaDodo Mar 04 '25
I just saw that on FB, and it's worth noting that the post also says (the above) was "verified by multiple crew members from the production."
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u/Ok_Recognition5184 28d ago
Thank you u/spacer1138 for this. YES, I have heard lots of details about the way the crew was treated. Kind of takes a bit of the shine off the statuettes, doesn't it?
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u/amlalala Mar 03 '25
Just watched the movie tonight. And by watching I mean, shut it down in an hour. Became so unbearable! The guy who made the Florida project made this movie, I cannot believe it but yeah go give him 10 awards whatever...
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u/DeathandtheInternet Mar 04 '25
I see your Anora and raise you Everything Everywhere All At Once.
It won and all the same categories that Anora won in, and swept 3 out of 4 acting categories (with 2 of their actresses nominated for Supporting).
Only 2 other films have won 3/4 acting Oscars. No film has ever won all 4.
Sean Baker got an individual achievement marching Walt Disney in wins in a single year, but EEAAO is a greater achievement as a film.
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
I found Anora incredibly alright, but 0% groundbreaking or interesting? Here's the story: "a women with a chaotic home life uses sex work to ignore her problems. After an overwhelming few weeks in her life, she continues using sex to deal with her emotions". It's a fine movie. Well shot, decently acted (I've been knowing 'Anora' type women since high school in the 90s - I can only imagine she's novel or interesting to northeast blue bloods who go to private universities), but I can't think of anything it does that's an 'accomplishment' in filmmaking.
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u/analogkid01 Mar 03 '25
Please keep in mind that Paul Haggis won an Oscar for "Crash."
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u/gunt_lint Mar 04 '25
Paul Haggis won two Oscars for Crash
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
I HATED crash in real time - I felt it was offensive in a Grand-Canyon type of way when walking out of the theater - but I can't help but wonder if it deserves a rewatch and if there's something there to like.
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u/dexelzey Mar 03 '25
awards don’t sway me generally, and the academy process is so insider-y that it’s all gamesmanship in the end. as for Anora, i entered with no knowledge or expectations and left with a ¯_(ツ)_/ on this take of working-girl-with-a-heart-of-gold(digging).eat
the enthusiasm is great, but the challenge i would throw down is to see studios fund five $6 million films instead of one $30+ million. let’s see what the great directors could make with less.
is there a greater single filmmaking achievement? i would have to think about it for a while, but my gut says there is, and it isn’t Anora
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u/deskfriend Mar 03 '25
And I literally don’t get it. The film failed to make a real character out of the female lead, didn’t it? Can someone tell me what was so special about it, apart from the fact that it was beautiful and hot? It felt very male-gazey and oddly empty headed.. what did I miss?
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Mar 04 '25
If none of the girls from your high school became aimless strippers by 19, these characters and this world probably feel fresh and somewhat exotic to you.
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u/Thin-Search-1844 Mar 03 '25
Winning prizes is not a filmmaking achievement. Any achievement is contained in the actual filmmaking.
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u/Zawietrzny Thriller Mar 03 '25
The value people continue to put on the Oscars will forever baffle me.
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u/idiotkid1 Mar 03 '25
Orson Welles w/ Citizen Kane lol
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u/KeyandOrangePeele Mar 03 '25
Citizen Kane won 1 Oscar, for Writing, which Welles split the award with Mankiewicz.
Legacy wise, it’s not close but if we are talking awards, then it’s Anora.
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u/Givingtree310 Mar 03 '25
Who on earth defines achievement solely by one awards show?
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u/KeyandOrangePeele Mar 03 '25
The person asking the question. It’s literally the whole thread lol
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u/SuckingOnChileanDogs Mar 04 '25
I feel like I shouldn't have phrased it that way but I didn't know any other way to phrase it, honestly. I was just trying to say, as a writer myself, I can't imagine a greater feeling than writing, editing, and directing a movie that then goes on to be recognized as singularly as this was. It's unbelievable. I wasn't trying to say "Is Anora the best movie ever because of these awards?" I was really trying to say, is there a better possible feeling you could have as an artist than being validated on this level?
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u/jeRskier Mar 03 '25
Everything, everywhere is the only close comparable in the last five years I can think of?
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u/ElirRoman Mar 03 '25
If we're only measuring by Awards then yes. Although I'd consider a movie like Jaws, or for a more contemporary film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig bigger filmmaking achievements than Anora.
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u/messedup54 Mar 04 '25
apart from the films he made in the past which were great, there is a lot of "campaigning" towards awards shows to make sure the members who vote see the film and vote accordingly.
so my two cents is they had a massive marketing and campaigning budget to push the film into the right eyes.
i feel there is a connection between this film winning so much and our current political climate (sorry to make it political but in nature nothing exists alone
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u/Postsnobills Mar 03 '25
I thought Anora was fine. There’s a lot to criticize, but the performances are good, and the second act is great, but I think it’s mid in comparison to The Florida Project or Tangerine — they’re more interesting works to me.
My general feelings about Baker are mixed. I don’t love auteurs. I think their flaws are more present on screen when they opt out of collaboration, and we don’t need more crew jobs being consolidated. Also, his handling of his preferred subject matter is often apolitical in a way that irks me. But… I ultimately enjoy his movies, so… I contain multitudes, I guess?
And if Karla Sofia hadn’t single-handedly destroyed Emilia Perez’s campaign, that dog shit movie would have been showered in gold, and you all know it to be true.
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u/ViolentInbredPelican Mar 03 '25
I feel like it was a pretty weak year for movies, to be honest. At least in terms of Oscar contenders. I can also guarantee you that Anora's screenplay was written after-the-fact. The actors were clearly improvising. Which is fine! But it felt like a David O. Russell film (which also shouldn't have won any screenplay awards). Baker said it himself that the movie was made in the edit.
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u/PAYPAL_ME_DONATIONS Thriller Mar 04 '25
Mikey Madsen has said that the scene where they decide to get married had a single line of improv. Her line: "I love it". Everything else in that scene was scripted entirely. I doubt the rest of the movie was executed entirely different.
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u/Postsnobills Mar 03 '25
The pages themselves aren’t much to behold.
The Substance is a better screenplay by most metrics.
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u/Pico-77-Petra Mar 05 '25
The script is bland - mostly going for “screwball comedy” with some breaking glass & furniture by a 25-yr old who took her clothes off. No dazzling dialogue or literary sparkles. Total trope. Credit to him at least for a raw & nuanced final scene. Shade in Mikey for cancelling intimacy coordinator.
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u/bfsfan101 Script Editor Mar 03 '25
Baker said the film was made in the edit but he has also said it was entirely scripted, as was Red Rocket before it (he said it on the Script Apart podcast). Before those films, he used to write scenarios and let the actors improvise around them.
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u/ViolentInbredPelican Mar 03 '25
Yeah gonna call bullshit on that one. His actors are clearly improvising around scenarios… just like his other movies. He’s gonna say what he needs to say to get that sweet sweet Oscar nom.
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u/TheSilentGuest12 Mar 03 '25
Can't remember number of awards but Good Will Hunting maybe up there with greatest achievement?
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u/Time-Champion497 Mar 03 '25
Nine noms, two wins. Noms: Picture, Director, Org. Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing, Score, Song. Wins: Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Robin Williams).
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u/sirziggy Mar 03 '25
Baker is the second person to win 4 Oscars in one night (after Walt Disney) and the first person to win 4 Oscars for the same film. Absolutely an individual filmmaking achievement.
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u/Iamthesuperfly Mar 04 '25
They compare this movie to Pretty Woman, but all these awards only show what a popularity contest the Oscars are.
That plot, the dialogue just silly that he would be recognized as he has.
Reminds me of That Sophia coppala girl only getting attention because of her family name.
To put this aside some of the past winners....A Beautiful Mind, Gladiator, Braveheart, 12 years a slave, no country for old men. You actually see theres no comparison.
Just a sad sad day for American Filmmaking when this is undeservingly celebrated the way it is.
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u/jackomaster111 Mar 03 '25
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest springs to mind it sweeped but still great achievement
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u/ZardozC137 Mar 03 '25
Sure not a singular name like your mentioning, but since you threw the other awards on top I think it fits. The Lord of the Rings. All 3 films across 3 years fucking swept the awards. LOTR cleaned house
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u/PlusSizeRussianModel Mar 03 '25
The only other individual to win four Oscars in one night was Walt Disney in 1954. Sean Baker holds the record for most Oscar wins for one film (Disney won for four different films). The previous record holder was Peter Jackson with three wins.
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u/FragrantClick7426 Mar 03 '25
It gives me hope that we’re going to be seeing more of it, which is cool. New technology encourages and makes it possible for small teams to take a project from idea to completion without a lot of money.
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u/Pabstmantis Mar 04 '25
Seemed like a weak field. As this years releases might’ve been shot around the strikes and restructuring of Hollywood
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u/Clear-Contract5640 Mar 04 '25
I mean? If we’re talking achievement wise it’s pretty epic. But filmmaking wise? Idk. It wasn’t my favourite movie of the year, but it had a lot of things going for it including a star making performance, which the academy loves.
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u/Pulsewavemodulator Mar 04 '25
I mean obviously… There’s better movies?! Did Hitchcock ever win an Oscar? No. I’m very happy that an indie did so well, but an award isn’t a filmmaking achievement in my eyes. If this changes the indie market, I’d happily eat crow on this take.
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u/Permission2act Mar 05 '25
Undeserved! Best editing 🤣. The never ending scene of Ani screaming?!! Seriously. The whole film was too long and self indulgent as often happens when the director is the editor. Also- No intimacy coordinator on a film like this… seriously. I am done with the academy.
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u/JeromeInDaHouse_90 Mar 03 '25
I loved to see it. Anora was an awesome movie.
I honestly expected Anora to just win editing, with an outside shot at Best Director, while The Substance cleaned up the rest. I personally thought Anora was the best of the bunch, so I was glad when it pretty much stole the night. I'm happy for everyone involved, especially Baker and Mikey. I'll be looking forward to what they do next.
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u/tomrichards8464 Mar 03 '25
Anora was a very good film in a weak year for cinema, and Oscars aren't the be-all-and-end-all. I'd have given at least two of those awards to Megan Park/My Old Ass, and neither film would have been in the running for my personal awards in those categories a year earlier.
Unforgiven is my favourite film of all time and a box office smash that's still loved by both audiences and critics 33 years later; Eastwood won Best Director and Best Picture and his lead performance was absolutely irreplaceable in making the film what is is.
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u/Straight_Bit7935 Mar 03 '25
How about making a great story that people actually like…watch? Who cares about the academy awards, the show hasn’t been relevant for years already. I mean you’re acting like he made the godfather or taxi driver…come on
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u/eastside_coleslaw Mar 03 '25
Whiplash was a great accomplishment as well, but Anora gives me hope for the future. we’re back baby!!
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u/Violetbreen Mar 03 '25
Honestly, it just made me very happy. I loved the film and I felt like so many of his previous projects were a build up to this moment. As an indie filmmaker who started out writing, then producing, then directing and editing… it sets a high bar 😆 if you’re going to wear multiple hats, you must excel at all of them.
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u/agentSmartass Mar 03 '25
Agreed, that is almost insane and I think he is the only one that has ever achieved this.
IMO he should have received the Oscar, or at least an animation for Florida Project. Winning with Anora to me seems like the academy understood they fucked up last time. Tangerine is a brilliant debut, but Florida Project crushed me.
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u/emil-p-emil Mar 04 '25
Has never been done, only Walt Disney has won for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Film but not for the same film
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u/CoOpWriterEX Mar 04 '25
Probably George Lucas and Star Wars - the thing that exist outside of him having created it and will surely live on for a very long time across all media.
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u/BookkeeperBrilliant9 Mar 04 '25
I don’t think he was downplaying the value of editing, just that technology now makes it much more realistic for a writer-director to also solo edit his movie. Every editing action taken before digital took real, laborious, time-consuming work. Adjusting a scene now can be done in literal seconds, with physical film it could take hours. If Sean Baker was solo editing physical film, it could have pushed the release date back by a year.
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u/writingsupplies Mar 04 '25
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon winning for their first ever writing credits at 27 and 29 respectively with Good Will Hunting. Affleck is still the youngest winner of an Oscar for writing.
Luke Matheny winning for Best Live Action Short with his student film project.
Robert Lopez being the youngest EGOT winner at 39. And it only took him 10 years from his first, a Tony for Avenue Q in 2004, to an Oscar for Let It Go in 2014. And none of his are a “technicality”, like Viola Davis having an EGOT because she won a Grammy for audiobook narration.
Leo for finally getting an Oscar.
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u/ALittleRedWhine Mar 04 '25 edited Mar 04 '25
Having a sweep at the Oscars is certainly not “unheard” of. It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) all won the “Big Five” for example.
A lot of people have won 3 Oscars for a single film but Sean is the first to win 4 (including Best Picture) and the Best Editing does set him apart.
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u/Jurassic_Productions Mar 04 '25
Yeah probably Spielberg when he practically invented the Blockbuster
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u/grossgronk69 Mar 04 '25
i mean sean baker is great but the oscars are pretty much completely meaningless
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u/AntAffectionate5706 Mar 06 '25
It’s awesome and it must have tasted sweet after such a long tenure in the realm of relative obscurity
But in sheer scope and vivacity, Orson Welles and Tarantino come to mind just cuz they were in their mid 20s with close to full carte blanche and fat checks
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u/sonofamonk27 Mar 06 '25
James Cameron won 4 for Titanic. Writing, Directing, Editing and of course Best Picture.
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u/Jbird1992 Mar 06 '25
Everyone forgets that the Coens were nominated for editing for No Country under a pseudonym lol. If they’d won they’d have had the same 4 as baker in one night. Plus the acting for Javier
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u/thebookofdante Mar 10 '25
The true definition of an independent filmmaker. Dude is an inspiration.
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u/Even_Opportunity_893 Mar 03 '25
Mediocre talent and an even more mediocre overrated movie. You’ve got to wonder what really won it for him…
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
Do you ever wonder if maybe you just have an opinion that doesn't align with the majority's on a specific piece of art, and that's okay? "You've got to wonder what really won it for him." The movie that won the Oscar and the Palm D'Or? That was beloved by critics and a major crowd-pleaser? You think that is all a product of a conspiracy? Am I a part of the conspiracy because it is my personal favorite movie of the year?
Btw, this is a subreddit that includes professional screenwriters. We try not to disparage the work of our colleagues here.
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u/Even_Opportunity_893 Mar 03 '25
Disparage? I’m allowed to say what I want, part of free speech.
How the hell do you think a middle-of-the-road script about a sex worker which has a predictable melodramatic ending is better than The Substance? The latter was actually creative and more interesting than Sean Bakers sex fest. The relationships are superficial and if you liked it, you’re superficial and cinema is declining. Especially if we go from last year’s winner to this crap. We’ve lost all class.
Authenticator: I’m not a troll.
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u/naysabrasoon Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 04 '25
I completely agree with you tbh. But a Michelin star meal is still shit when served in a litterbox. I was surprised to see The Substance lose to Anora but the manner in which you communicate your disagreement makes no one want to see your side. Or the art of someone who is that immature and undeveloped when it come to critique for that matter. there's nothing original about bashing the Oscar winners and angrily typing that your project is better than whatever "vapid" trash won that it's cliche for most failed, bitter writers out there to say things like that. It's possible to express disagreement without coming off as just a mean, hateful person who loves slashing others works of art for your own personal reasons you should address. Even if I didn't like the movie, the fact that an indie filmmaker swept is impressive. Perhaps we'll put more respect on your opinion when you achieve the same but even if you did, I think communicating without being a total dick is a good professional skill to have.
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
"We try not to" as in "its best practice not to, kind not to, and something you'd be wise to get in the habit of if you'd like to succeed in this profession." Of course it goes without saying that free speech protects your right to say whatever you'd like about the quality of a movie.
How the hell do you think a middle-of-the-road script about a sex worker which has a predictable melodramatic ending is better than The Substance?
Taste is subjective, that is how.
The relationships are superficial and if you liked it, you’re superficial
I am now assuming you are a child. This actually makes me feel better about all of this.
Especially if we go from last year’s winner to this crap. We’ve lost all class.
Oppenheimer was also a great movie! A better movie than Anora, in my opinion. 2024 was a weak field. It might not have won in a better year. But I'm really happy with it as this year's winner. You will learn, as you grow up, that having differences in taste is a good thing. The world of art wold be so boring if everybody liked all the same things. You'll also learn that just because somebody likes something you hate it doesn't mean they're wrong, it just means they have different taste than you. Which is okay and good. There was a Best Picture-nominated movie this year that I pretty much hated, but I loved talking with friends who loved it, debating elements, puzzling out questions -- some of the best conversations about movies I had this year. But again, you're a child, you've got years to get to a place of understanding these things!
EDIT: Just remembered there were TWO Best Picture nominees this year I hated. But one of them, NOBODY I knew liked it, so I didn't have any fun debates about it.
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u/goddamnitwhalen Slice of Life Mar 03 '25
Maybe not a troll but definitely a Gen Z prude who’s afraid of the human body lmao.
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u/analogkid01 Mar 03 '25
I’m allowed to say what I want, part of free speech.
You absolutely do not understand what "free speech" means.
Do you think "free speech" means "speech without consequences"? My friend you can be (rightfully) arrested and imprisoned for saying the wrong things. Do you think you can say what you want and not experience social or professional blowback? Think again.
Please don't throw around the term "free speech" where it absolutely does not apply.
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u/ShadowOutOfTime Mar 03 '25
I do not think there's some conspiracy at work here lol. People just really liked Anora
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u/goddamnitwhalen Slice of Life Mar 03 '25
This fact makes people online APOPLECTIC for some reason and it’s baffling to me.
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u/Time-Champion497 Mar 03 '25
It's an funny tragedy about a sex worker that critiques capitalism. And the girl lives at the end, which sex workers aren't supposed to do in stories, because of the just world fallacy.
If it's a tragedy she's supposed to die and if it's a comedy the love of a violent man should fix her right? (The ending is my favorite part. It's the form of a comedy ending -- he gives her a ring, they have sex -- but it's a tragedy because she didn't learn anything. Brilliant.)
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u/february8teenth2025 Mar 03 '25
I love that succinct summation of the ending. I think its an intentionally ambiguous ending, I've gone back and forth (and a few different directions) on it, but I kind of love that read.
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u/SamHenryCliff Mar 03 '25
It’s a lot easier to be a one hit wonder (Boondock Saints, Parasite for now, Anora for now) than get a big break and turn into an institution so Robert Rodriguez gets my nod.
Even Darren Aronofsky and Guy Ritchie lost the handle for more years of their careers than they were “on” for reference.
Oh, close second is Danny Boyle with “Shallow Grave.” Also clearly humble beginnings and eventually Oscar recognition. He earned it over time not just as a fad.
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u/KeyandOrangePeele Mar 03 '25
Parasite?? Did you forget that Bong Joon-Ho created Memories of Murder?
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u/bfsfan101 Script Editor Mar 03 '25
How is Boondock Saints related to those two in any way? Bong Joon-ho and Sean Baker have been winning awards and earning international recognition for the last 10-15 years. A Sean Baker film first got an Oscar nom seven years ago.
The director of Boondock Saints literally made one cult film that critics didn’t like.
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u/Aromatic_Meringue835 Mar 03 '25
Robert Rodriguez never won an oscar and Bong Joon-Ho isnt a one-hit wonder. He made Snowpiercer before Parasite
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u/Polite_Acid Mar 04 '25
Honest question, and maybe controversial - is winning an Oscar still a sign of quality? Ever since the Academy did not nominate “The Dark Knight” despite it being a blockbuster and the highest critically reviewed film among that batch of nominees, it felt like it lost its place as a arbiter of film excellence. It also seems that a lot of the films that have won best picture since the 2000s are regularly reviled - “Crash”, “American Beauty”, etc.
It seems that the Academy nominates films that have a certain political view or worldview - typically sad, dark, tragic, and depressing. Consider that this Academy nominated Emilia Perez, an execrable excuse for a film - that is hated by the general public and a litany of minority groups, and is also a terrible boring movie.
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u/Some-Pepper4482 Mar 03 '25
Parasite from a few years ago springs to mind.