A movie about the midlife crisis of an aging actor (or should I say celebrity) who’s seeking for validation might seem like a bunch of self-indulgent crap coming from a place like Hollywood, but it actually turned out amazing. I love what it says about fading relevancy, authenticity and how that’s linked to this idea of the real artist vs the sellout moviestar. Performances are phenomenal, characters are very well developed, music’s interesting and you can’t forget about the cinematography. We’ve seen this technique develop since the release of this film, but Birdman has managed to maintain something special. If you look at 1917 , a lot of that film plays out in real time, but this has a different rhythm. It does actually have scene transitions, it just doesn’t have cuts (well, it does, but you know), so it’s more like watching an elaborate play. Some scenes are downright iconic at this point (Keaton walking through Times Square; the scene where a new Birdman is envisioned), but I will say that the scene where the film starts taking shots at critics felt a bit undercooked, lacking the same nuance that’s given to the rest of the material. Maybe it’s meant to be just a plot point and not actual subtext, but it was an odd choice. All in all, I think it has aged very well, and in some ways it’s only become more relevant since its release, with blockbuster films becoming more and more dominant culturally and financially. In fact, 2014 was a highlight for the quality of comicbook movies, so I can understand if this was perceived as snobby at the time, however it kinda feels prophetic now.
Review by JordyVIP 8BlockedParent2022-12-25T00:12:46Z— updated 2023-03-26T22:53:04Z
A movie about the midlife crisis of an aging actor (or should I say celebrity) who’s seeking for validation might seem like a bunch of self-indulgent crap coming from a place like Hollywood, but it actually turned out amazing. I love what it says about fading relevancy, authenticity and how that’s linked to this idea of the real artist vs the sellout moviestar. Performances are phenomenal, characters are very well developed, music’s interesting and you can’t forget about the cinematography. We’ve seen this technique develop since the release of this film, but Birdman has managed to maintain something special. If you look at 1917 , a lot of that film plays out in real time, but this has a different rhythm. It does actually have scene transitions, it just doesn’t have cuts (well, it does, but you know), so it’s more like watching an elaborate play. Some scenes are downright iconic at this point (Keaton walking through Times Square; the scene where a new Birdman is envisioned), but I will say that the scene where the film starts taking shots at critics felt a bit undercooked, lacking the same nuance that’s given to the rest of the material. Maybe it’s meant to be just a plot point and not actual subtext, but it was an odd choice. All in all, I think it has aged very well, and in some ways it’s only become more relevant since its release, with blockbuster films becoming more and more dominant culturally and financially. In fact, 2014 was a highlight for the quality of comicbook movies, so I can understand if this was perceived as snobby at the time, however it kinda feels prophetic now.
9/10