Latest news with #Anora
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Singapore's sex workers tell their own stories in new literary anthology
The Missing Anthology: Stories From Singapore's Sex Workers was put together by co-editors Vanessa Ho (left), Raksha Mahtani (right) and nor, who is not in the photograph. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO SINGAPORE – A professional femme fatale who sees her career in solving economic inequality . A transgender woman leaves for Malaysia after national service and finds her community on the streets. A magical realist play in which two 'chickens' spill secrets into a condom. Sex workers are used to others telling their stories – from director Sean Baker's Academy Award-winning film Anora (2024) to the latest report on another police raid in Geylang. But a new literary anthology which puts the pen in their hands has thrown up a clutch of dreams, ideas, philosophies and fantasies – some violent, others funny. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Sex workers are having a moment, but is the discourse missing the mark?
Sex workers are having a moment, but is the discourse missing the mark? The internet is talking about sex workers. A lot. They were in the spotlight during Oscars season − "Anora" won five awards, including best picture − and OnlyFans stars are gaining popularity on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, becoming pseudo-celebrities in the week, the discourse reached new heights. On June 11, The Economist published a profile of controversial adult entertainer Bonnie Blue titled "Welcome to Bonnie Blue's Britain." The 26-year-old made headlines by staging a since-canceled "petting zoo" stunt to give male fans unfettered access to her. The move angered fellow OnlyFans creators, like Sophie Rain, and made headlines. So what's going on? Sex work is having a moment. But some sex workers, whether they work in strip clubs or as online adult content creators, feel their lived experiences all too often get ignored in the discourse. 'Sex work is work' has become a party line for progressive politics, says Marla Cruz, a 30-year-old sex worker. Signs with the phrase can be found at women's marches and bedazzled T-shirts. But Cruz, along with half a dozen sex workers and OnlyFans creators USA TODAY spoke to, say that while recognizing sex workers' labor is important, the spotlight belongs on the financial and legal barriers to their safety and agency, which they say requires a deeper understanding of their work. 'There are plenty of people who will destigmatize the concept that sex work is real work, which it is,' Cruz says. 'But just because you recognize that it's real work, that doesn't mean that you respect the worker behind it.' What health & wellness means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's Keeping It Together newsletter. Controversial OnlyFans stunts make 'a joke out of all of us' In December 2024, Lily Phillips made headlines for having sex with 100 men in 24 hours and documenting it for her OnlyFans. That documentary accumulated over 10 million views on YouTube and ignited passionate reactions. In January, Blue said she slept with 1,057 men in 12 hours. Rain, a Miami-based influencer with over 500K fans on OnlyFans and 20M followers across social media platforms, called out Blue for turning the platform into a 'clown show.' Rain is a member of the Bop House, a content creator mansion of eight Gen Z OnlyFans creators. Her posts toe the line between sensual and sexually suggestive but never involve full nudity. 'It's no longer women empowerment. It's shock value, and she's making a joke out of all of us. We built this space to take control of our bodies and make money on our terms,' Rain said in a statement. 'Brands don't take us seriously anymore. Media doesn't take us seriously. I'm tired of having to explain that not all of us are doing circus acts for clicks.' Adreena Winters, who has worked in the adult entertainment industry for over 15 years, starting with studio porn before transitioning to OnlyFans during COVID-19, also worries that customers will 'lose trust' in sex workers if these stunts are just tactics to garner media attention. Still, she hopes these larger conversations can continue the positive trend she's seen in dismantling stigma against sex workers. She attributes this 'big shift' to OnlyFans' presence in books, documentaries and mainstream music. Artists like Lily Allen and Cardi B have used the platform to promote their music or release exclusive content, and Bad Bunny's track "Te Mudaste," which mentions OnlyFans, landed on Billboard's Top 100. But Winters says the acceptance hasn't extended to other areas of sex work, such as studio porn. 'I feel like it is very OnlyFans related. OnlyFans is quite ambiguous, people don't just jump to the conclusion that you're doing hardcore porn,' she says, adding that there is also a 'ridiculous amount of stigma and discrimination in the business world.' Keily Blair, the chief executive of OnlyFans, told the Financial Times that one bank turned her down as a customer. Both Winters and Cruz have struggled to access banking tools in the U.K. and U.S., they say, with Winters resorting to 'obscure, online banks' after having her accounts closed. Sex workers frequently ask for advice on Reddit and exchange tips for setting up a bank account to process their OnlyFans earnings. And, FOSTA-SESTA, a U.S. law passed under President Donald Trump in 2018, attempted to shut down websites that facilitate sex trafficking, including the popular advertising platform Backpage, which had been taken down a few days prior by U.S. federal authorities. But sex workers say that in the process, it damaged an online infrastructure that helped keep them safe. A 2020 study of FOSTA's effects on sex workers showed it increased economic instability for about 72% of the study's participants, and nearly 34% reported an increase in violence from clients. Cruz argues that repealing SESTA-FOSTA, which 'goes hand-in-hand' with decriminalizing sex work, is a crucial step in improving their working conditions. OnlyFans and AI are impacting girls: This author wrote a book about it. Sex workers need worker protections, not just attention Cruz's introduction to sex work was as a sugar baby when she was 18 to help pay for college. After working an office job, she began stripping and offering "full-service," which includes exchanging sex for money. She's moved around the country. At one strip club, Cruz faced the 'worst working conditions' she'd ever experienced. In those moments, the least of her concerns was whether or not people saw her labor as 'real work.' While working as a stripper, she was strangled in the 'champagne room,' where clients would go for private services. When she turned to management, they encouraged her not to involve law enforcement. 'Whether or not somebody thinks what we're doing is normal is totally immaterial to whether or not we are safe at work,' she explains. 'I need an emergency button in the champagne room. I need a bouncer by the champagne room to be there if a customer is abusing me.' Online, some young female OnlyFans stars make their lives look aspirational. Rain's 'Bop House' squad has a combined following of nearly 90 million users across social media platforms. 'I wanna be like you when I get older,' one follower wrote under a video of the women dancing. "I need to join the bop house,' said another. But while Cruz has said committing to the industry was the best decision she has ever made, she doesn't encourage other women to follow in her footsteps. On 'Stripper Twitter,' an online community of in-person sex workers, they look out for each other. Part of the reason that community is so strong, Cruz says, is because they understand how 'difficult, lonely and isolating' the work can be. More: Online, young female OnlyFans stars make their lives look aspirational. Is it problematic? Sex workers want better representations of their lived experiences Cruz had been excited for the release of 'Anora,' but was disillusioned by the film. 'Anora' follows the whirlwind relationship between a 23-year-old stripper, Ani (Mikey Madison), and her client-turned-husband, Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. The romantic dramedy was marketed as a Cinderella story, and an early screening to an audience of sex workers, who clacked their heels in approval during the end credits, swiftly circulated on social media. When the film dominated awards season, other sex workers began expressing their disapproval. One of Cruz's biggest criticisms is that it depicted sex workers 'through the eyes of customers and consumers and not as workers performing labor,' which she calls a 'disrespect of our work.' To her, the film was a 'reminder' that the lived experiences of sex workers like herself, and the tensions between sex workers and consumers, will 'not be portrayed accurately' unless sex workers are in control of that portrayal from start to finish. ''Anora' embodies the dehumanizing consumer fantasy of a devoted worker who loves the consumer so much she does not conceive of her servitude as labor,' Cruz wrote of the film. In Mikey Madison's acceptance speech for best actress at the Oscars, Madison recognized the sex worker community: 'I see you. You deserve respect and human decency.' For Cruz, those sentiments fell flat. 'Advocacy for sex workers cannot be ambiguous,' she says. Instead of awards, she'd like to see real, tangible change.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Emily Mortimer Taps Alison Oliver & Yura Borisov To Lead ‘Dennis,' Her Feature Directorial Debut For A24 & Fruit Tree
EXCLUSIVE: Alison Oliver (Saltburn) and Anora Oscar nominee Yura Borisov have signed on to star in Dennis, a romance marking the feature debut of BAFTA-nominated actress Emily Mortimer, for A24 and Fruit Tree. Written and directed by Mortimer, the film follows a British student (Oliver) and a Russian poet (Borisov) who fall in love in 1990s Moscow. More from Deadline Jonathan Daviss To Star As Snoop Dogg In Universal's Craig Brewer-Directed Biopic Teri Polo, Dylan Walsh & Jamie-Lynn Sigler To Star In Thriller 'The Man Across The Street' Monumental Imagery, Explosive Visuals: Catch Trailer For 'Architecton' That Everyone's Watching The project marks a reunion for A24 and Fruit Tree following their work on two Jesse Eisenberg projects: his forthcoming untitled comedy, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, on which we were first to report, and his feature directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World. Previously, the companies have also collaborated on Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow, as well as The Curse, the Showtime series from Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, starring Fielder and Fruit Tree's Emma Stone. Stone, Dave McCary and Ali Herting will produce Dennis through Fruit Tree alongside Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola and Lizzie Nastro Adler for King Bee Productions. Exec producers include Joshua Horsfield for Intake, Viktória Petrányi for Proton Cinema, and Jacob Epstein for Lighthouse. A24 will finance the film and handle its worldwide release. Perhaps best known for a striking supporting turn in Emerald Fennell's Saltburn, Oliver has subsequently reunited with the filmmaker on her Warner Bros adaptation of literary classic Wuthering Heights, which is slated for release on February 13, 2026. Also recently seen in Justin Kurzel's The Order, she'll next be seen starring alongside Mark Ruffalo in HBO's buzzy crime drama Task from Mare of Easttown's Brad Ingelsby. She's represented by Curtis Brown and CAA. Since garnering an Oscar nomination for his turn as Igor in Sean Baker's Anora, Borisov has been tapped to star opposite Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro in Artificial, Luca Guadagnino's new AI-themed film for Amazon MGM Studios. He is represented by UTA, ColorCreative, and Gang Tyre Ramer. Breaking out as a filmmaker with The Pursuit of Love, a limited series she wrote and directed for the BBC and Amazon, where she starred alongside Lily James, Andrew Scott, and Dominic West, Mortimer also co-wrote, created, starred in, and showran the HBO series Doll and Em opposite Dolly Wells. Most recently, she co-wrote Jay Kelly, Noah Baumbach's new film for Netflix, where she stars alongside Adam Sandler and George Clooney. As an actress, Mortimer has also worked with top filmmakers including Aaron Sorkin (The Newsroom), Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, Hugo), Woody Allen (Match Point), Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins), and Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl), among others. She is represented by UTA, Tavistock Wood, Lighthouse Management & Media, and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More Men of Steel: Every Actor Who Has Played Superman - Photo Gallery 'Michael' Cast: Who's Who In The Michael Jackson Biopic
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
43 Laughably Fake Movie And TV Moments That Completely Took People Out Of It
Recently, Reddit user Behind_Th3_8_Ball asked about props that ruined a movie, and a bunch of people chimed in with the wildly fake movie moments that always bother them. Here are 43 fake-looking things from movies that I can't believe made it onto the screen. We also used some examples from r/MovieMistakes. garbage can from Independence Day, which literally says "art department" on it: Suggested by u/Namtab666 extremely obvious fake baby from American Sniper: Suggested by u/Behind_Th3_8_Ball "I don't understand this shot. Why they didn't just shoot at an angle where you can only see the prop from the back? That way, you can still capture Bradley's emotions and not disclose that it was a prop." —u/raizo11 "A blanket around the baby's shoulders would have gone a long, long way. What were they thinking??!?!" —u/dae_giovanni the baby that appears on the ceiling in Mark's dream in Trainpotting (yes, it's supposed to be creepy, but STILL): Suggested by u/Significant_Fuel5944 the fake baby in this Malcolm in the Middle scene: Suggested by u/plainandawesome characters in post apocalyptic movies and shows, especially women, have perfect Dina in The Last Of Us: "Movies about struggling characters who have freshly cut, coloured and blow-dried/styled hair. Your hair is probably the first thing you neglect as a struggling woman, especially." —u/bibijoe Karen from The Grudge 2: "When the woman in The Grudge 2 has perfectly curled hair while in the hospital." —u/Sweaty_Chard_6250 an FBI agent uses Excel to hack a nuclear weapon in Unthinkable — and you can also see a movie script pulled up: Suggested by u/HalfACupkake you can see that a character's not actually on the phone, like in this scene from The Boys...: "Whenever people talk on phones, and you can clearly see the lock screen or the homepage of the phone not being in a call." —u/Coffmad1 worse, when the character's on a different app, like Abby in this NCIS scene. Suggested by u/Foxterriers when characters text using a non-messaging app, like in School of Rock, when an audience member "texts" someone using a blank document: Suggested by [deleted] fake video game-playing moments, like this one from Rumble in the Bronx...: "Rumble in the Bronx had a kid playing a Sega Game Gear, and it is very obvious that there is no game cartridge plugged in." —u/CaptainBloodface12 this one from Malcolm in the Middle...: "Reese from Malcolm in the Middle has a scene where he is playing a Game Boy THAT LITERALLY DOESN'T HAVE A CARTRIDGE IN IT." —u/bariztizg the "controller acting" from Anora, where this character just mashes buttons indiscriminately: "Anora (which I otherwise loved) had some of the worst controller acting I've ever seen; it's straight out of a made-for-TV movie. The actor is 23 as well, surely he's held a controller???" —u/wills_b costume from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scene, where you can clearly see the person inside: Suggested by u/SlipTheSlime actors drink from clearly empty coffee cups, like during the stakeout scenes of Law & Order...: "I can't stand when actors drink from empty coffee cups!!! Totally takes me out of the moment, and then it's all I can notice. Of course I can't think of any movies that do this now though..." —u/mudmilkshake "Not a movie, but almost every stakeout scene from every iteration of Law & Order. To me, adding some weight so they feel a bit more real to the actors and so the cup doesn't sound empty when it's put down seems like such a simple thing, but I'm sure there's more to it." —u/RedCorundum on Gilmore Girls, where the characers keep gesturing while holding cups that are clearly empty: "Gilmore Girls was the worst at this, to the point where it seemed like the cast was treating it as a running gag. They'd be gesturing wildly with supposedly full cups in their hands." —u/mbklein "Comes back from the bar at Luke's with two 'freshly filled' coffee cups. Can't see the coffee. Every time." —u/y3llowed communicator from The Phantom Menace, which is obviously a Gillette Razor: "The Gillette Ladyshave that Qui-Gon uses as his communicator in Star Wars: Episode 1 always gets me." —u/PauPau86 "My girlfriend and I both noticed that opening night in the theater because she used that exact razor." —u/Ralph--Hinkley Anakin's backpack from the same film, which looked like the backpack every other kid had at the time: "Anakin's backpack in The Phantom Menace. I just remember kids having one like that at the time, and it just seemed out of place in the movie." —u/tr1ckyf1sh of The Phantom Menace — when you could tell this guy in the background was DEFINITELY not Samuel L. Jackson: Suggested by u/colinaclark obvious mannequin used in this stunt from Wonder Woman 1984: "Wonder Woman 1984. She saves a kid during the highway scene, I think it was. She ends up holding the kid close and rolling on the ground. It was clearly a mannequin." —u/FubarioFromSicario the wildly fake dummy from the car explosion in Casino: "Casino is still a great movie, but the opening shot of DeNiro's car blowing up with the dummy inside always makes me laugh." —u/Global-Discussion-41 "I wonder at what point would he realise 'Holy shit, this looks ridiculous.'And at what point is it no longer worth it to go back and reshoot a car blowing up?I think we can all agree, Scorsese probably misjudged where that point was in this instance." —u/GimmeSomeSugar Here it is in a slowed-down GIF, so you can see how bad it is. badly photoshopped family photo in Twin Peaks: The Return: "I FUCKING HATE SHITTY PHOTOSHOPPED FAMILY PHOTOS! If you can't make it look half real, why even do it?" —u/Efficient-Editor-242 "Twin Peaks: The Return features my favourite example of this ever. If you haven't seen it, check out the photo of Andy, Lucy, and their 'kid' played by Michael Cera." —u/Hipyeti obviously fake stalactite from The Lord of the Rings: Suggested by u/IljaMaran from The Lord of the Rings, when this extra is clearly using imaginary arrows: Suggested by u/AnalysisMoney stunt from The Fugitive, where it's clearly a dummy and not Harrison Ford: "When Kimble jumps off the dam in The Fugitive. Worst dummy shot in cinema history." —u/EpicWheezes Check it out in GIF format here: toilet seat from Liar Liar, which you can tell is made out of foam: Suggested by u/heidismiles game of hackey sack going on with no hackey sack in this scene from Twilight: Suggested by u/Charlie4774 about Bond making espresso in this scene from Live and Let Die: "The shitty espresso that James Bond serves M in Live and Let Die." —u/seleucus_nicator way Steven Seagal holds a gun in Sniper Special Ops: "Not so much the prop itself. But the way he holds the gun, lmao." —u/Ghostman_Jack a character fits through the air ducts, like this scene from Die Hard: "Clean, accessible air ducts that are always big enough to crawl through. Just once, I want to see a hero get stuck in a duct and have to be cut out by the fire department." —u/colores_a_mano "The size of the things always fuckin' slays me. Never mind the fact that any tinbanger knows — even if you could fit, you ain't moving silently through thin galvanized steel tunnel that was probably installed by the lowest bidder in the most slapdash, cost-efficient way they if you're really lucky, it's connected like the building diagram actually says it is as opposed to dead-ending at a wall." —u/l_rufus_californicus eggs from Batman V Superman: "The plastic eggs Cavill is cooking Batman V Superman. Fisher-Price looking ass eggs." —u/lazlo871 uncanny valley CGI Renesmee from Breaking Dawn: "The CGI baby in Twilight. Might as well call it a prop." —u/ProAnalCyst "It's soooo uncanny valley! How did they think anyone would be okay with that fake ass baby?" —u/zaforocks fake prop toilet from Boondock Saints: "Boondock Saints is one of my guilty pleasure movies, but the clearly fake prop toilet that gets dropped on the Russian mobster…" —u/underground4077 Wash wasn't even holding onto the wheel in Firefly: "What about the very first episode of Firefly where the shot was slightly too wide and you could see Wash wasn't actually holding on to the steering and just had his hands in position? Or did I imagine it?" —u/StrictlyMarzipanOwl when Brian pulls at a brake that isn't there in 2 Fast 2 Furious: Suggested by [deleted] also Antonio Banderas just miming moving imaginary controls in this scene from Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams: Suggested by u/Chair_Last moment in D2: The Mighty Ducks when you can tell the background extras are actually just cardboard cutouts: Suggested by u/LisleSwanson of cardboard cutouts — these fake books behind Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Suggested by u/Oldspice_DentalFloss scene from Men in Black where Zed and K are only pretending to type in the background: Suggested by u/MyNameGifOreilly bending scabbard from One Piece: Suggested by u/MikeFleezy "metal" rod from the show Dark, which moves: Suggested by u/AjemMirumilovny man's photo in Smallville, which is very obviously glued/taped on rather than printed as a part of the newspaper: Suggested by u/ArtisanGerard coffee cup in Game of Thrones: "The Starbucks cup marked the end of anything good out of GoT." —u/Voluntary_Perry What wildly fake or unrealistic moment or item took you out of a film or TV show? Let us know in the comments. Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
Pink Villa
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Sentimental Value: Grand Prix Winning Film Eyes Thanksgiving Release Amid Neon Studios Gearing Up for Award Campaign, DEETS
Sentimental Value, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix award, is headed to theaters in November. The Joachim Trier directorial will be stretched till the Thanksgiving period, and the limited release will help the movie to contend in the award season, especially the Oscars. As per the reports of Variety, Neon studios is planning a robust campaign for the film, as it received rave reviews during the Cannes premiere. Moreover, the studios rode high throughout the Cannes Film Festival. Not only did it premiere Sentimental Value, but it also acquired rights to the North American film The Secret Agent and Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident. The latter movie won the Palme d'Or. What is Sentimental Value about? As for the plot of Sentimental Value, the movie revolves around a stage actress and her sister, who reunite with their estranged father, who is a director. After one of the daughters declines their father's offer to portray a role in her father's movie, the role goes to a popular film actress. According to the official synopsis of the film uploaded on the official Cannes Film Festival website, 'Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star.' The movie has one of the most talented casts, which includes Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning, Cory Michael Smith, and Anders Danielsen Lie. Neon's previous projects The Neon studios, apart from Sentimental Value, are also known for the well-acclaimed projects like Anora and The Worst Person in the World. While Anora swept the Academy Awards in 2025, The Worst Person in the World also made it to the Oscar nominations for the best international feature and best original screenplay. Neon also helped Parasite head to the Oscars in the previous years. Sentimental Value will hit the screens on November 7.
