BIRDMAN, Or (the unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) -- (Or, The Pained μεταμόρφωσις of Batman) Dir. Alejandro Iñarritu, 2014
The metamophosis of Batman -- a Painful experience: A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his new Broadway play.
Academy Awards, 2015 (for films of 2014) Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography. My Awards: WORST in the First three categories; Pass on the Fourth. (Cinematography) But, Thank God KEATON was scratched in Favorite of Eddie Redmayne (Theory of Everything) which indicates that the Oscar voting committee is not entirely composed of imbeciles.
Iñarritu's BIRDMAN is a stylishly overblown over-acted over-directed over-praised and over-awarded P.o.C. (Piece of Crap) that bites off far more than it can chew. Yes, of course Actor Michael Keaton is geared up for and delivers a High decibel change of pace reflecting his own flagging career; the special effects crew are working overtime, the writers are reaching for the rarified atmosphere of All About Eve, and the photography is State of the Art, but the overall result is an annoying screecher that rings false at every turn, except for the one True Scene, when Hawkman goes flying out the window in the only sequence that rings a little true to the falseness of all the rest.
The whole idea of this giant stuffed bird having once been a Successful Hollwood Superhero is soaking wet -- just plain bad concept -- and the supporting cast, from usually believable Ed Norton on down, is a study in strained "good acting" -- actually the result of phony bad direction. Above all, who wants to watch an unattractive middle aged actor screaming his way through an actual Mid-career Mid-life crisis for two over-strained hours? Lots of people obviously did considering the box-office returns, which in my view merely reflects the fact that we live in an Age of High Anxiety where one of the main functions of film is to provide audiences with a safe arena in which to unload theirs fears and anxieties without paying high psychiatric fees whilst under the delusion that they are being entertained. There, I've said it. I did not find Iñarritu's flamboyantly fatuous Birdman the least bit entertaining -- from the pretentious secondary title, "The unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" to the bitter End -- nothing but highly annoying and a drag all the way. A tribute to Ignorance of good taste. Saying this film is "for the birds" is actually an insult to the honest birdlike intelligence of birds.
Pass thus up and checkout Birdman of Alcatraz, or better yet, Hitchcock's THE BIRDS! Bottom Line: Non-stop inauthenticity strictly for The Birds: Iñarritu should be shipped back over the border.
The metamophosis of Batman -- a Painful experience: A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his new Broadway play.
Academy Awards, 2015 (for films of 2014) Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography. My Awards: WORST in the First three categories; Pass on the Fourth. (Cinematography) But, Thank God KEATON was scratched in Favorite of Eddie Redmayne (Theory of Everything) which indicates that the Oscar voting committee is not entirely composed of imbeciles.
Iñarritu's BIRDMAN is a stylishly overblown over-acted over-directed over-praised and over-awarded P.o.C. (Piece of Crap) that bites off far more than it can chew. Yes, of course Actor Michael Keaton is geared up for and delivers a High decibel change of pace reflecting his own flagging career; the special effects crew are working overtime, the writers are reaching for the rarified atmosphere of All About Eve, and the photography is State of the Art, but the overall result is an annoying screecher that rings false at every turn, except for the one True Scene, when Hawkman goes flying out the window in the only sequence that rings a little true to the falseness of all the rest.
The whole idea of this giant stuffed bird having once been a Successful Hollwood Superhero is soaking wet -- just plain bad concept -- and the supporting cast, from usually believable Ed Norton on down, is a study in strained "good acting" -- actually the result of phony bad direction. Above all, who wants to watch an unattractive middle aged actor screaming his way through an actual Mid-career Mid-life crisis for two over-strained hours? Lots of people obviously did considering the box-office returns, which in my view merely reflects the fact that we live in an Age of High Anxiety where one of the main functions of film is to provide audiences with a safe arena in which to unload theirs fears and anxieties without paying high psychiatric fees whilst under the delusion that they are being entertained. There, I've said it. I did not find Iñarritu's flamboyantly fatuous Birdman the least bit entertaining -- from the pretentious secondary title, "The unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" to the bitter End -- nothing but highly annoying and a drag all the way. A tribute to Ignorance of good taste. Saying this film is "for the birds" is actually an insult to the honest birdlike intelligence of birds.
Pass thus up and checkout Birdman of Alcatraz, or better yet, Hitchcock's THE BIRDS! Bottom Line: Non-stop inauthenticity strictly for The Birds: Iñarritu should be shipped back over the border.