everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The rough themes of drug use, prostitution, violence and poverty are presented through hilarious and oddly lovable characters and beautiful wide shots of the tangerine LA skies. I think the issues within this film may make some audience members uncomfortable. My friend with whom I watched the film with noted that it was "quite graphic" and on reflection it really isn't it's just that the film doesn't hide the 'dirty' side of things.In fact, it solely revolves around the dirty side of things. Yet you can't help but watch and laugh along with the portrayals of friendship and love that are uniquely expressed by each character. Great humor and warm backdrop aside, it's a touching film and I'm so very glad that I watched it.

I'm not so concerned with "high-concept" in motion picture as in the execution of it. So much hype surrounded this film. Long-standing indie journalists and industry professionals urged me to see it. I tried. I realize that we're talking about hotbed issues. Well, controversy may be enough to sell a movie, but it isn't enough to make it great, or even good. The movie felt amateurish. The acting was so bad that I found it unwatchable. David Lynch is correct. Here is an example of how the motion industry has effectively destroyed itself. The emperor isn't wearing any clothes. Renaissance is needed.

This delightful odd-ball dramedy is another interesting film made around the edges of mainstream society from Sean Baker, who also made the excellent, clever 'Starlet', about a very likable, druggy, porn actress. This film is about two transsexual prostitutes who are best friends, and their series of misadventures as they try to track down Sin-Dee's boyfriend/pimp. He has broken her heart by reportedly fooling around with a non-transsexual woman while Sin-Dee was in prison for a month on a drug rap. Shot on an iPhone, and bursting with energy, playfulness, sexuality, and just the right amount of sadness and reality, it's surprising how much fun, and how often funny the film is, while still allowing these 'outsider' characters dignity and heart. It sometimes feels a bit episodic and repetitive, and a couple of bits are humor are forced. Also, for the most part these are not actors, and while that raw, unprofessional quality can nicely add to the sense of truth, it can also occasionally hurt the comic timing, or take away from the emotion of a scene. But overall, this is a terrifically original American indie, made from the heart, and on far less than a shoestring, It gives voice and humor to leading characters who at best would be a throw away one line joke in most Hollywood films. (It also looks pretty damn good for a film shot on a phone!). Well worth seeing.

...should have been the title for this film. I'm not a big fan of 'scripted reality' shows and this is basically an SR show made into a feature length film with a few added gimmicks thrown in to get attention.The film starts abruptly enough, and at this point I was thinking 'ok well judging by the reviews the film obviously has great characterisation or something' but no it just becomes a mess of bitching, swearing, walking about, "cool" music interludes and the protagonists being generally unpleasant to anyone and everyone they meet.Throw in the fact it's all shot on iPhone - which conveniently excuses the cast for their atrocious acting - and let's not forget the hype generated by the transgender / transsexual angle - and you've got a film which isn't going away in a hurry.It's great to see trans women - in fact anyone from an LGBT subgroup for that matter - represented on-screen by people from that actual community - but just imagine how much better it would be if they tried to actually act!I like the fact this film gives a voice and some screen time to otherwise marginalised actors and actresses - but it's done so amateurishly it's impossible to feel anything for any of the characters because they are depicted as either unlikable or just unrealistic human beings. You'll find yourself asking how some of these people made it to adulthood if this is the way they treat each other. Where's the love?As for this being a Christmas movie, if they didn't feel the need to remind the viewer that 'it's xmas eve!' every 6 mins you would be forgiven for assuming it's the middle of July.Please... discount the gimmicks and give Tangerine a miss. Maybe someone will do a film like this properly in the future, but for now just avoid this cheap and boring movie.ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTIONS: Sense8 covered some similar themes and delivered superior performances compared to this tosh - and if you really must watch scripted reality watch something like TOWIE instead... at least in that they respect each other as human beings.