Transvestite hooker Sin-Dee Rella gets out of jail. Her friend fellow sex worker Alexandra reveals that her pimp boyfriend Chester has another girl. She goes off looking for Chester and his whore Dinah. Razmik is a cabbie looking for sex with a tranny. He's missing dinner with his conservative Armenian family. When he hears that Sin-Dee is back, he starts looking for her.

This is technically superior when considering its low budget production. Sin-Dee's fierce walks with the pumping music is terrific. Her dragging Dinah around has a tense fun. Razmik getting a girl instead of a tranny is hilarious to me. There is plenty to applaud but I don't find the epic quest to find her boyfriend that compelling. There is a limited amount of tension. It feels like Sin-Dee strutting down the road. It looks more fierce than what's actually happening. There are some good work and I hoped for more compelling writing.

I saw this film mentioned on Film 2015, and then it was one of the newest entries in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it looked and sounded like a really interesting film, especially how it was made, so I had to watch it. Basically Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is a transgender prostitute who has just been released from a 28-day prison sentence, it is Christmas Eve and she meets with her fellow transgender prostitute and friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor) in a donut shop in Hollywood. During their conversation, Alexandra accidentally reveals that Sin-Dee's boyfriend and pimp Chester (James Ransone) has been cheating on her with a woman of cisgender (their gender identity corresponds with their biological sex). Sin-Dee is angry and storms out to search the neighbourhood for Chester and the woman, while Alexandra hands out flyers for her evening musical performance, she also argues with a client who refuses to pay for business, the police break up this argument. Armenian cab driver Razmik (Karren Karagulian) is regularly looking for sex workers, he picks up a prostitute, but ejects her when discovering she is not transgender, he later meets Alexandra who gives him fellatio in a car wash, he then returns home for Christmas dinner with the family. Sin-Dee finds the woman she is looking for, Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan),at a motel brothel, she drags her around town to continue searching for Chester, Dinah continually taunts her along the way, but they stop to watch Alexandra at the venue to perform her music show, no other customers have arrived, it is a mostly empty bar. Razmik leaves his family to watch Alexandra's performance, claiming he is working, but he finds out he is too late, while he searches for Sin-Dee, Razmik's mother-in-law follows him. Sin-Dee, Alexandra and Dinah go to the donut shop, Chester arrives and a confrontation takes place, he insists Dinah means nothing to him, Razmik arrives, followed by his mother-in-law, who calls his wife, Razmik's wife arrives with their infant daughter, and the arguing gets more heated, until the donut shop owner calls the police. Razmik and his family return home, Dinah walks back to the brothel, but there is no room for her, outside the donut shop Chester tells Sin-Dee he also slept with Alexandra, upset Sin-Dee leaves and tries to pick up clients, but she gets urine thrown on her verbal abuse, in the end Sin-Dee and Alexandra go to a laundry service to clean up, and they seem to make amends. Also starring Alla Tumanian as Ashken, Luiza Nersisyan as Yeva, Arsen Grigoryan as Karo, Ian Edwards as Nash, Clu Gulager as The Cherokee and Ana Foxx as Selena. Rodriguez and Taylor are fantastic as the almost mismatched two black transgender hookers striding up and down to resolve their issues, the script is full of murky and intimate subject matter, there are the odd icky and vulgar moments, but it is also very funny, the characters constantly calling each other "girl" and "bitch" for example, and it is surprisingly charming. But what makes this film really stand out, it is obviously a low-budget venture, and it was all shot with three iPhone 5s smartphones, giving the film both depth in its observation and a reality show kind of feel, it should be mentioned also that the title relates to the colour of the Los Angeles sky at sunset, overall it is a most engaging and enjoyable comedy drama. Very good!

Tangerine: Directed by Sean Baker and written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch

I decided to check this movie as I'm interested in The Florida Project. I have not had the chance to see that movie but have never seen any of this director's work. The reviews mention to see Tangerine if you can as well.

I really shouldn't have though. This movie tried to bring little bits of humanity to characters who typically don't have that. Those moments are few and far between. For me, it was like spending 90 minutes in the company of folks who frequent the store I work at. These people grate my nerves constantly and I have a hard time feeling for people like this who put themselves in bad situations. You might be able to mock them for a bit of a laugh.

This is a day in the life type of film where you're spending time with two transgender prostitutes who are best friends, one is preparing to performance in her own show and the other is fresh out of jail looking for the woman she believes is cheating with her boyfriend/pimp. Yeah sounds like wonderful people but there are still human beings. They have fears. They feel betrayal just like anyone else. I did like this aspect of the movie. I warmed up to these impulsive chaotic people. But it is rough going.

This was shot on Iphones and it shows. It's impressive in that it didn't make me motion sick but a lot of the scenes had a fish eye appearance to it. Everything also had an orange tint to it. That might just be the sun itself in these scenes but it worked for this movie.

The performances are fine. I found the characters obnoxious. It made sitting through the movie a slog. I hope The Florida Project is different and maybe I can warm up to the characters a little faster than I did here. This movie is not for everyone. I appreciate the quick pace of the editing and some of the camera work. I also appreciated what they were trying to do here. I give this film a C.