MoeFOH's Movie Of The Week... Week #49

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Movie of the Week 🎥

Each week we're going to spotlight a movie... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite quotes, clips, memories... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 2-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's a movie you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #49: Birdman

Moe says: I'm a big fan of this movie and its director - Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Amazing cast and a particularly great performance from Michael Keaton in this. Love the long sweeping edit reminiscent of a Citizen Kane style...for a whole movie! Great script with wonderful humour in what's essentially a dark comedy. And the precision and execution of the cinematography is like a Fincher film with a lot more sex to it. In sum, I think it's a brilliant achievement - 10/10. 

Wiki says: 

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), or simply Birdman, is a 2014 American black comedy-drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It was written by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., and Armando Bó. The film stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, a faded Hollywood actor best known for playing the superhero "Birdman", as he struggles to mount a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The film also features a supporting cast of Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts.

The film covers the period of previews leading to the play's opening, and with a brief exception appears as if filmed in a single shot, an idea Iñárritu had from the film's conception. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki believed that the recording time necessary for the long take approach taken in Birdman could not have been made with older technology. The film was shot in New York City during the spring of 2013 with a budget of $16.5 million jointly financed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, Regency Enterprises and Worldview Entertainment. It premiered the following year in August where it opened the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Birdman had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 17, 2014, followed by a wide release on November 14. Grossing more than $103 million worldwide, the film received widespread critical acclaim, with praise towards its screenplay, direction, cinematography, and the performances of the cast (particularly Keaton, Norton, and Stone). Birdman won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography from a total of nine nominations, tying it with The Grand Budapest Hotel for the most nominated and awarded film at the 87th Academy Awards. It also won Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Keaton and Best Screenplay at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.

Over to you!

How do you rate it out of 10? 

Post up favourite clips, quotes, etc... 

[MoeFOH]

 

[JohnS]

I've been a fan of Alejandro Inarritu's films and I enjoyed this one, but for some reason it hasn't stayed in the forefront of our memories, movie-wise, in the time that has since passed. I may have to re-visit this.

[Chibearsv]

I'm with John.  I know I saw it, I just have little memory of it.  I loved Grand Budapest Hotel, so when Birdman won the Best Picture the same year, I gave Birdman a watch.  If I don't remember it, that means it bored me.  

[Ford2112]

Same camp here ,I saw it and can't remember much of it. I remember enjoying it.

[Chibearsv]

Subliminal hypnosis in this movie?  Or we're just getting old?  🤔

[Ford2112]

On 3/1/2023 at 8:23 AM, Chibearsv said:

Subliminal hypnosis in this movie?  Or we're just getting old?  🤔

Yes