How did we end up here? In this dump. You were a movie star, remember?
Surely one of the year's most intriguing features in concept and casting alone, is Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu's Birdman. The director collaborating with the great cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (fresh off his Oscar win for Gravity) trains the movie camera on the best Batman (I'm with Seth Rogen's in Neighbors on this one) as he plays a has-been movie star famous for playing a character named "Birdman". Now he's on stage years later trying to rejuvenate his career.
Concept and casting alone were enough for a "maybe so" tilting yes. And then came advance word from test screenings that the film really delivers across the board in performance so "yes". And then came the teaser which begins with a 41 second continuous shot like its asking me to marry it. So now I'm at 'Yaaaaas! I will. I will. I do!"
Making the traditional Yes No Maybe So a more lopsided formality than is healthy after the jump...
How to downplay expectations now? Let's just take this in visual steps as with Maleficent (for which we realllllly should have yanked our expectations southward)...
How to downplay expectations now? Let's just take this in visual steps as with Maleficent (for which we realllllly should have yanked our expectations southward)...
00:01 That 41 second continuous shot, which one can hope is even longer in the movie - can we start from outside?, if we're being honest is a little show-offy so it should be a maybe so since Innaritu is way too fussy. But the lights have it. Lubezki taking us from green to blue to hot pinks and more in seconds. It's so much YES.
00:35 That gravelly voice. A satiric jab at superheroic self-importance could not be more timely given the current marketplace. YES.
00:41 [Aggressive Knocking] Is he going to be a total asshole? I'm so sick of antiheroes. Maybe So
00:45 Intriguing special effects break. Are these fantasies or film clips within the film? Yes.
00:52 Love that shot of Emma Stone looking skyward. It just occurs to me now that it could just be a shot of Gwen Stacy looking at Spider-Man amplifying the superhero showbiz conceit. But for her roots, so you know we're grounded in reality. Or our fantasy has let itself go. Yes.
00:54 Oh Hai. Just a little break to absorb the cosmic beauty that Lubezki finds all the time like it's everywhere. It's like he's daring us to try "Best Shot" with this one next year. YES YES YES YES
1:01 Flowers sliding away from Keaton... Okay maybe we're somewhere between reality and fantasy and this is giving me Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes and that is NEVER SAFE AS COMPARISON because movies like that come along once a decade if you're lucky. Temper expectations temper expectations temper expectations. This type of thing is really hard to pull off. maybe so... (but really yes)
1:08 Our only glimpse of Naomi Watts who is in bed with Edward Norton who was just seen kissing Emma Stone for a millisecond earlier in the teaser. Is he bedding everyone connected to Keaton? maybe so (on account of no strong feelings)
1:10 The pairing of these two images is upsetting. In the good way. Just how unhinged is this man and metaphorically/literally broken is this man? Yes.
1:15 Some of the greatest movies are about the theater. So by all means, take us back there. As long as it's still cinematic which this CLEARLY is. Yaaaas.
1:17 God that's beautiful. The subtle winged font forms the silhouette of Birdman if you're paying close attention (it's barely visible unless screencapped) YES
1:21 Is everythign in this movie self-parody? Edward Norton, a notoriously difficult to work with, playing a super difficult to work with actor who belittles and then wrestles his co-star? If everyone has a sense of humor about themselves this could be awesome BUT if it's too self-aware it's going to eat itself like an oroborus. maybe so...
1:24 but really yes because Norton's briefs
1:45 Those drums and cymbals over the credits. Like exclamation points for the actors names. Yes, please
I predicted this for six nominations in my initial Oscar crystal ball findings but perhaps I underestimated it on the acting side? Still bravura auteurist pieces are never sure things with the acting branches. Will this movie make me rethink my stance on Iñárittu since I've always said he needed some comedy to temper his miserabilism?
What say you? How much of a "Yes"?