“Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.” – Mike Shiner
Number of Times Seen – 1 (8 Jan 2015)
Brief Synopsis – A washed up actor who formally played a superhero risks his career trying to write/direct and act on the New York theatrical stage in an attempt to come back into the audience’s favor.
My Take on it – I actually find it very interesting that the two Oscar Best Picture frontrunners are both use ‘gimmicks’ to get us to believe how real the story is. Boyhood (2014) uses the idea of filming over a decade to perfectly capture the aging process of its characters but more importantly its young characters to (for one of the first times ever) literally have us watch them grow up in front of us.
This movie, edits together super-long shots in order to give us the feeling and impression that it is one continuous shot.
It’s amazing to watch and required a lot of work from all of the actors and crew to make it work so well.
The camera sometimes wanders from character to character and even sometimes just lingers in a hallway to let us eavesdrop on conversations or theater audience reactions.
The theme of the movie reminded me a lot of All About Eve (1950) in the way that it cleverly uses the theater as a stand in for the movie industry.
Choosing Michael Keaton for the lead was a genius move since we can all relate to him because of him having a background as a superhero when he was geniusly cast against type as the lead in Batman (1989) 25 years ago.
Obviously, he has matured as an actor since then and the many closeups of his face show how he has aged since that role making him the perfect choice for this role.
He has a great chance of taking home best actor at the Globes next week and if so, should be in the perfect position to also take home the Best Actor Oscar next month.
Besides Keaton, the rest of the cast is also superb. Ed Norton, Emma Stone, Zack Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, Naomi Watts and Amy Ryan all prove their acting skills in this movie.
Can’t wait to watch Boyhood (2014) and this movie duke it out at the Oscars next month.
Bottom Line – Great look at Hollywood actors and productions from the perspective of someone on the cusp if the industry. Keaton is amazing here and was the perfect casting choice. Highly Recommended!
Rating – Oscar Worthy
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I just can’t get over how good the acting was. Keaton is sensational but Norton just explodes off the screen. he’s been incredible ever since Primal Fear.
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I couldn’t believe how good Norton was here, he is definitely one of my favorite parts!!
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He was completely erratic and played the part the way the media perceives him. The whole cast was great
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Like all actors, he’s had his ups and downs, but he was great here. Primal fear was a better book than movie and even has a better mind-f*ck ending
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Nice job, Rob. I’m happy for both Keaton and Norton who seem to be enjoying a comeback of sorts. I love that Shakespearean trick–a play within a play–seen here in Birdman.
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Fun, wild and wacky. However, when it slows everything down and focuses on its characters, it’s still an interesting piece. Good review.
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Tnx dan. Completely agree with you!
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Completely agree Rob, this is top notch.
Adam.
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Tnx Adam
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Excellent review, I definitely need to see this. That is one talented cast.
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Yep. I highly recommend u do and look forward to seeing your thoughts on it. Tnx vinnie
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I held off reading this until I’d seen it and have just come back. What a great film! Cleverly executed, well acted and funny as heck!
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Yep, this one has “Winner” written all over it. 😀 Hope to see it do well at the Oscars next month.
Great post Rob. Glad you’ve been able to see this.
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Just Simmons will win, but hopefully it will get a nice amount of nominations regardless
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what is Just Simmons? I’m not sure if i have heard of that yet
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No. JK Simmons the actor who played the teacher and just won a Globe for it 😉
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Ohhh. . . shit. Doy. Sorry man I can’t believe I didn’t figure that out for myself haha
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great great great film. Days after I saw it I was still thinking about it. I ended up writing two reviews because I could not stop thinking about it, a nonspolier one and one full of spoilers. I think Keaton is in with a hell of a shot at the Oscars … there are probably a lot of people at the Academy who really like hi (I’m talking about rank and file crew-members – the so-called ‘steak-eaters’ of the Academy) because I imagine that Keaton is quite down to earth and not diva-ish t all. It doesn’t matter so much that the SAG gave the award to Redmayne because they gave the ensemble to the cast of Birdman, which indicates to me that Keaton is still in with a chance at the Oscars. Plus the PGA gave it Best Picture; so if it takes Best Picture at the Oscars, then they might vote for it down the line in the other categories. Either way, it’s going to be a very interesting night.
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Read both ur reviews and I now need to rewatch it because you made some amazing points that I never thought of. Tnx!
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cheers, rob 🙂 hoping i can do something for both your coming of age and rob reiner months
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I hope so too! 😉
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Thrilled to see you liked this one, too, Rob! It’s really a good one. I think you’re right–Keaton is pretty much a shoe-in for the Oscar this year, but I really hope Birdman wins Best Picture, too. I haven’t seen Boyhood yet, and I know it has some great things going for it, but…I just loved Birdman. Fingers crossed! And great review!
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Wanna rewatch this before the Oscars. Im also rooting for it
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