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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2016)
Page 8 January 6, 2016 Arts & ENTERTAINMENT Showdogs is a full service salon. We do baths, all over hair cuts, tooth brushing, nail trims, soft claws, flea treatments, mud baths, and ear cleaning. We also have health care and grooming products to keep your pet clean in between visits. Show Dogs Grooming Salon & Boutique 926 N. Lombard Portland, OR 97217 503-283-1177 Tuesday-Saturday 9am-7pm Monday 10am-4pm Yo dawg is gonna look like a show dawg and your kitty will be pretty. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (right) in “Tangerine.” photo Courtesy m agnolia p iCtures Gritty ‘Tangerine’ on My ‘Best of 2015’ List o PinionAted J udge by J udge d arleen o rtega 2015 has been lauded as a big year for films and television in- volving LGBTQ subjects -- with lots of awards buzz particularly for “The Danish Girl” (which I wrote about last week) and “Carol,” the extremely stylish 1950s lesbian love story starring the very fine Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. While I found much to admire in both those heavily art-directed, big-budget films ($15 million and $11 million, respectively), the queer story that will end up on my list of the 10 best films of the year is the far grittier “Tangerine,” which had its theatrical release in July and is now available on DVD and streaming. Made on a tiny budget of $100,000, “Tangerine” is the quintessentially Hollywood pic- ture. Shot entirely on iPhone 5s smartphones equipped with a spe- cial app and lens equipment, the story lives in a part of Hollywood just a short distance from the land of dreams we typically think of, but rarely featured or accorded such dignity and specificity, a world of sex workers and immi- grants and others at the margins. Decisions necessitated by budget limitations required of the film- makers ingenuity, flexibility, and humor very in-keeping with the qualities required of the two trans women of color at the center of this story, and the result is a brac- ingly realistic look at a commu- nity too few of us even begin to understand. Director Sean Baker – a self-described cisgender white male -- makes social realist films about outsiders, and if this picture is any indication, he approach- es those stories in the right way. Here, he set out to make a film about the unofficial red-light dis- trict of Hollywood, which was near his home but not part of his experience, and began by walking those very streets with his co-writ- er, Chris Bergoch, in search of a collaborator who could guide them into the world those streets contained. The two attracted mostly indifference and suspicion until they encountered Mya Taylor at the local LGBTQ center. She captured their attention, was in- trigued by their ideas for the film, and eventually introduced them to her friend Kitana Kiki Rodri- guez. Baker enlisted the two trans C ontinued on p age 14
