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This week we’re continuing to catch up on the Oscar bait from 2021. Red Rocket landed on our radar pretty early. We really appreciate Sean Baker as an artist and we were ready for another movie from him. And the use of Simon Rex, fabled MTV VJ and star of his own, umm, amateur videos online, seemed kind of intriguing. Then judging by the early buzz around the film, that casting turned out to be pretty inspired.
Red Rocket follows a washed up porn star who drifts back to his under-privileged home town in Texas to try and regroup before attempting to break back into the industry. There, he becomes entangled with his ex-wife, sells drugs, and starts a relationship with a 17-year-old girl who he thinks could be his ticket back into his old life.
It sounds like a lot, but we generally liked it. And Wil even really liked it! It does such a good job of making sure the villains are never complete villains and the heroes, if you can call them that, aren’t ever heroes. It’s a balancing act between good and gross but Baker made it work. Hear all our thoughts in the episode!
But what did you think of Red Rocket? Is it another socially conscious masterpiece by Sean Baker, or is it cultural tourism of the less fortunate? We definitely talk about it this episode, but let us know your thoughts over on Twitter or in the Youtube comments! We’re super interested in how this was interpreted by everyone. Also we’re only 100 subscribers away from 2,000 so if you’re not subbed on YouTube, please head on over and help us out. For now though, settle in for todays somewhat icky episode of So…I’m Watching This Show!
