Mikey Madison
#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN CINEPLEX RUN-OF-ENGAGEMENT PASSES TO SEE “ANORA”
Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Cineplex Run-of-Engagement Passes to see ANORA. This is our favourite Film of 2024 so far!
Synopsis:
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.
Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan
To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Tell us in the comments your City and tag 1 friend you’ll bring along with you. You can also enter via our X and IG accounts. Enter as many times as you like.
Rules and regulations here.
Elevation Pictures release ANORA October 25, 2024.
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
#TIFF24: DAY FOUR SIGHTINGS – ANGELINA JOLIE, CATE BLANCHETT, MIKEY MADISON, ALICIA VIKANDER, SYDNEY SWEENEY, ANA DE ARMAS, JUDE LAW, NICHOLAS HOULT, PAUL RUDD AND MORE
Cannot believe how great our day went and this will go down as the day we finally met the great Cate! So many new core memories created!
It was an explosive Day Four of TIFF ’24 including:
•Angelina Jolie at Premiere of WITHOUT BLOOD after being honoured at TIFF Tribute Awards Gala
•Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas at TIFF ’24 for EDEN.
•Sam Worthington at TIFF ’24 for RELAY
•Jude Law, Tye Sheridan, Teresa Palmer, Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett at TIFF ’24 for THE ORDER
•Malala at TIFF ’24 for LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN
•Alfonso Cuáron at TIFF ’24 for DISCLAIMER.
•Cate Blanchett being honoured at TIFF Tribute Awards tonight. Here with DISCLAIMER and RUMOURS
•Isabella Rosselini at TIFF ’24 for CONCLAVE
•Alicia Vikander and Himesh Patel at TIFF ’24 for THE ASSESSMENT
•Paul Rudd at TIFF ’24 for FRIENDSHIP
•Mikey Madison, Sean Baker, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov and Vache Tovmasyan of ANORA
•John David Washington and Malcolm Washington at TIFF ’24 for THE PIANO LESSON
See our Day Four highlights!
Angelina Jolie‘s exciting arrival with son Pax at WITHOUT BLOOD Premiere
Some highlights from Cate Blanchett’s In-Conversation:
@mrwillwong #TIFF24 : Cate Blanchett comments on her characters in TAR and CAROL at her in-conversation. #tiff #tiff2024 #torontointernationalfilmfestival #toronto #cateblanchett #lydiatar #carolmovie ♬ original sound – Mr. Will Wong
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
#TIFF24: “ANORA” REVIEW
By David Baldwin
Anora (Mikey Madison), or Ani as she prefers to be called, is a sex worker working at a New York gentlemen’s club. One evening, a guest requests a dancer who can speak Russian. Ani fits the bill and meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the charming, high-rolling son of a Russian oligarch. He is instantly enamoured by Ani and asks to spend more time with her outside of the club. They begin a transactional relationship which turns into marriage soon after. When Vanya’s parents find out, they are none too pleased.
Multi-hyphenate Writer/Director Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or for ANORA at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for a good reason – it is a magnificent film and one of the best of the year. Full stop.
The Filmmaker, whose previous films include Red Rocket and The Florida Project, has crafted a one-of-a-kind film that starts off like a romantic fever dream before evolving into a wildly intense ride akin to something the Safdie Brothers would make. It is a genuinely delirious pivot that Baker crafts beautifully and carefully, subverting expectations as he goes along. Everything that happens remains grounded in reality and never veers into the fantastical. That may disappoint some people, but it never feels disingenuous. His eye for realism extends into his depiction of sex work as well, not treating it or the strip club that factors into much of the film with the typical Hollywood glow-up. Instead, he avoids any voyeuristic gazes and depicts what it really looks like and more importantly, depicts it with the respect it deserves. Baker has long been a proponent of sex work and his inability to play into antiquated notions of it works to the Film’s benefit greatly.
All of this praise would be meaningless however without Madison, who gives a star-making performance as Ani. She is a whip-smart firecracker who speaks her mind (often profanely) and takes shit from absolutely no one. Madison infuses Ani with a ferocious energy that propels her through the entire film, only briefly hinting at the emotional interior underneath her warrior-hardened exterior. She is expressive in her pleasure with her profession and will gleefully and ravenously take down anyone who writes her off as a mere prostitute. Madison’s raw physicality and intimacy adds depth to the performance, as does the New York accent she uses to deliver every hilarious and devastating line. You hang on every moment of it, unable to look away for fear of missing out on another expressively brilliant layer she adds to Ani.
While all of the supporting players are great (Eydelshteyn’s Vanya and Yura Borisov’s Igor are the standouts), none of them can even dream of matching the strength of Madison’s performance. It is spectacular, must-see work that will stay with you long after the credits roll and will thankfully, ensure she will not be typecast as the villain who gets set on fire at the end ever again.
ANORA screens at TIFF’24:
Sunday, September 8 at 8:00PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre
Monday, September 9 at 8:30PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
#FIRSTLOOK: NEW REDBAND TRAILER FOR “ANORA”
After taking the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, we get a new redband trailer for Sean Baker‘s ANORA, coming to theatres this October via Elevation Pictures!
Synopsis:
Anora, a sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.
Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yuri Borisov
Written and directed by Sean Baker
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
#FIRSTLOOK: PALME D’OR WINNER “ANORA” TO BE RELEASED IN CANADA VIA ELEVATION PICTURES.
Elevation Pictures is thrilled to announce that ANORA, directed by Sean Baker and starring Mickey Madison, has won the Palme d’Or at the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival. The Film follows an exotic dancer’s challenging relationship with the son of a Russian oligarch.
The Canadian distributor also will release RUMOURS which premiered to raves, starring Alicia Vikander and Cate Blanchett. The Guy Maddin film centers on World leaders who meet at the G7, but get lost in the woods whilst trying to compose a joint statement on an unspecified global crisis. Beset by thick fog and menaced by undead bog bodies and a giant brain, they navigate the tortured passions between them.
For advertising opportunites please contact mrwill@mrwillwong.com