Wow. That was incredible. I haven't walked out of a theater so blown away since I was a teen and saw The Dark Knight opening night. Guys, Birdman really is the next big thing. I'm going to make categories and spin down.
The Acting:
I'll be honest, I wasn't sure to what to expect from Emma Stone, but she nailed it. It should by now go without saying, but Keaton and Norton are on their game (when are they not?). It's pretty much a dream cast, and though I've seen Emma Stone and Norton before in similar roles, I've never seen it that vibrant or intense.
Music:
The urban score is fascinatingly unique. It doesn't embrace any pop culture or try to impress or appeal to familiarity. It matches the mood, it matches the tempo of the plot, it complements the actors, and sometimes seamlessly blends into the world itself.
Seamless Transitions (Audio):
Adding to that, the sound transitions are brilliant. They're not like traditional J cuts or T cuts. Audio doesn't start before the visual and vice versa. The soundtrack is being played everywhere! Sometimes it's being played in the world, a drummer in the street or basement (though never quite directly involved in the scene), sometimes it's just in the POV's head, and other times only the omniscient camera (the viewer).
Seamless Transitions (Visual):
Unlike "seamless" video games, these transitions are in every case quite literally seamless. There are absolutely no camera cuts. Sure, a bit of hodge-podge CG work is used for effect, obviously in real life the camera's had to cut, but in my mind that only furthers how brilliant it it all. If you didn't know that's how it was created, you might just assume (as my friend did) that the entire thing was a CONSTANT play. "How on earth did they change costumes so fast!"
In 10 years, I suspect this genre of camera work and by extension story-telling format will be like found footage. This was crisp and fluid and immersive. It wasn't jarring unless it wanted to be and kept you perfectly orientated behind or in close proximity to a POV--if not brief moments of limbo used for stylistic effect (and oh boy is it effective!). I can say definitively that if they weren't the first to do it, they are without a doubt the best. (Evidence by Awards by people who give awards for that stuff).
Camera Work:
Building on the seamlessness is a fascinating next level of 3D world. I never realized how 2D most of Hollywood is until I saw what 3D could look like, without some bullshit glasses being used to trick my brain (Which is actually really fun!). Most Hollywood movies are confined to very small spaces at one time. They can be large spaces, like outdoors, but only action taking place in that small zone (green screens are PERFECT for masking this!). However, very rarely will Hollywood bring you up the stairs, around a corner, out a window, over a building, down to a street, and back through a door, without the whole thing looking chaotic, cartoony (the Scooby Doo chase scene effect), or 2 dimensional cardboard cutout-y. That added layer
The Plot:
That's the part that really blew me away. In order to understand my review, you need to understand a bit of me. I know, that means it's a shitty review, but whatever. Anyway, plot is where most movies fall apart. I speak with a ton of authority here. I'm an editor by trade and I've been critiquing story structure and plot for a fair few years professionally. I am a writer at heart and this is what I always rant the least about for 3 reasons: It's always negative so unless I'm trying to be funny because it's just so bad I haven't a clue what else to write, it get too personal and long winded like this, it gives too many spoilers!
Anyway, this is the breath of fresh writing I've been waiting for!
Hollywood needs to step it the fuck up, because this is next level. I'm sick and tired of Amazing Spiderman 2's and Avengers: Age Of Ultrons. This is some nonstop, literally constant, no pee breaks, roller-coaster. A more accurate analogy would be lightning. It's the only movie I feel comfortable saying "there is a twist" without actually ruining anything. No, seriously.
This entire movie, beat to beat, scene by scene, is one giant twist. Every. Single. Beat. It's nothing I've ever experienced. Never have I been caught both so off guard and been so willing to accept something new, and I think that's only because I've had crap shoveled at me for so long. I've been taste testing everything, including foreign and exotic foods and they're all totally fucking shitty.
Well here we are folks! THIS. REALLY. IS. IT! The hype is real! I found this shining, brilliant, gem tucked away at my local hipster theater as a "new" re-release. I honestly think there is a bigger market for movies in theater that Hollywood cares to fux wit, but Hollywood needs to find better scripts if they want to survive in the market against the internet. I've always said "I could do better" and for the first time in a very long time the only thing I've got to say is "Wow. I would have to really think about where I'd start!"
It is so revolutionary in the way it tells the story that I actually cannot pick a label off the top of my head. There is no stamp made for this. I've slammed it with "APPROVED" and "NEW!" but what else? A passionate eye for nuance? A stunning display of intellectualism in a non-pretentious format? A thrilling and emotionally gripping set of this-gen (oh how far behind Hollywood has fallen--I never even noticed until I saw hyper realism) society and acting?
Even the movie itself is basically a meta commentary of Hollywood and that generation falling behind. It's really profound. It really does scream "Fuck you Hollywood!". It mentions all the 2015 stuff every other movie marginalizes through silly references. I wont say more about plot.
Everything about this movie screams "next level" and it really is. From the acting, to the camera work, to the brilliant set design, to the motifs on just about every level, to the cinematography, to the genre twisting, panic inducing, urban sound track embracing, 2015 shouting masterpiece is beat by beat the most impressive movie I have seen in a very long time. When you talk about raising the bar, this is what you talk about. When the critics are speechless, it's time to GO SEE A MOVIE!!!
>[Wiki] The decision to make the film appear as a single shot came from his realization that "we live our lives with no editing". By presenting the film as a continuous shot he could "submerge the protagonist in an 'inescapable reality' and take the audience with him."[6] González Iñárritu shared his idea withArgentine writers/filmmakers Armando Bó and Nicolás Giacobone, as well as playwright Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., who had all worked with him on his previous film.[7][a] Their first reaction was to tell him the continuous-shot idea could not work.[5] According to Dinelaris and Giacobone "huge" and "important" people told him to not even try the project for the same reason,[7] and González Iñárritu himself described it as "almost suicidal", worrying that the technique would be distracting instead of immersive.[8] Dinelaris later said that had they truly paused and considered the idea, they might have talked González Iñárritu out of it.[5] And never let people talk you out of your dreams.
As different as this critique style is (and I can't necessarily say I favor it one way or the other--but it exists) to my usual way, Birdman is different from most shitty Hollywood "blockbusters".
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