Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Mark Man (A) on August 04, 2015 at 07:07:25

In Reply to: RE: 'Birdman' - worst movie I've seen in years posted by mbnx01 on March 29, 2015 at 09:33:40

This last Sunday at a little family gathering, Birdman came up...of my family members that saw it, it was split right down the middle of who loved it and who hated it...

What I thought was critical to this movie was the opening scene of him "floating" in semi-meditation...this set the table that all rules are off...this instantly became fantasy...by the end of that scene, it was a satirical comedy that was going to pull back the curtain on egocentric mind, laughable insecurities and narcissism of the thespians in all its forms...one of my favorite lines was "Go get some surgery"...as it was part of the check list of being an actor...

The casting of this movie was completely script driven. Movie goers knowing the careers of Keaton and Norton...Keaton's virtually vanishing after Batman...Norton being offered less and less roles based on his reputation of being difficult to work with...the first rehearsal scene between Keaton and Norton is pure acting Jazz...it has rhythm, pace and perceived freedom...really a thing of beauty IMHO...

So, I completely get the love it or hate it relationship people have with this movie...

Leaving the last scene as the cherry on top..."silly movie goers...did you really think we were going to resolve this for you???" "Don't you remember the first scene???" Ha ha ha...this is on you...

Thanks
Mark

Ps...Below was my first review of this film back in November of 2014....

"For the staging, editing, soundtrack, and acting, I say Oskies all around a second time. PS. Norton stole the movie just like the story"

Staging...how they blocked this thing is just a mystery...there is no room for the camera...

Editing...what editing??!!?? One long tracking shot, don't quite know how they pulled that off but they did...very cool...

Soundtrack...yes that small trap set, that does not stay panned straight up, moves around to make room for whatever is going on, which they give you a peak at...drums make the fantasy elements, less extraordinary and less distracting...they do not highlight them at all...

Acting...the casting of Keaton was curious...Was he chosen because of the parallels of his career???
Emma Stone...I just never really know what to think of her, still on the fence...
Watts...is getting better...St Vincent was a better performance...
Zach G, I have seen this before from him...but solid...
Andrea Riseborough...the only thing I can remember in was Oblivion, she was interesting watch...
Amy Ryan as the NYT Theatre Critic, small role, BUT she captures that NYC "we are sooo much smarter and cooler than the rest of the world"...
Norton...this was so in his wheel house...surprising what good writing can to for an actors performance...he had this character at his core, played with it, flaunted it, he was having so much fun I thought he might burst...really great to watch...(was he tweaking Marvel for not casting him as the Hulk in the Avengers???)

The star of this movie was...Emmanuel Lubezki...the way this was shot, made this movie...if he does not win the Oscar for this something is wrong...

The "birdman", using Keaton's Batman voice, was a big part of the fun...I was waiting through the whole movie for reality to creep in and the potential of gravity rearing up...are we trained to wait for bad things to happen???

It does drag ever so slightly at times, but not for long...

Taking a sledgehammer to the superhero genre, slapping you upside the head with type casting, showing the neurotic narcissism of the theatre on all levels...are just a few of things that make this movie...
This does deserve a second viewing...
thanks
Mark