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BloodBoal

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Who does he fight?

Wormman.

The Wormman is doomed. Everybody knows that an early Birdman catches the Wormman every time!

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I'd agree on the quality of the acting and the impressiveness of the technical aspects ... score drove me to distraction, though. I share crocodile's sense of disappointment, especially given the glowing nature of the reviews.

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It'll take another go-around for me to decide if the thing really bears close scrutiny, but it's so gosh darn entertaining on a surface level that it probably doesn't even matter. Really among the most relentlessly energetic movies (at least in a positive way) I've ever seen, plus it's hilarious.

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Overall, I was disappointed with this film.

Yes, the 'one-take' thing was intriguing, as were all the meta levels in the story, but ultimately it became a bit too grating and aggravating in the dialogue department. I also thought the "score" was cute in its play with the diegetic and non-diegetic, but ultimately just a stunt. It's WAY overrated, and it's a scandal that it's been nominated to all these awards. AND...it's completely unlistenable on album.

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I did see part of it for free, and it just hasn't entertained me or anything. Plus I've read some horrible things about how Keaton and Norton treat their fans (who in turn support these actors' livelihoods), so on that principle, I'm not going to see the full film.

And the score drove me nuts, something more jazzy would be preferable over the incessant drumming.

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That's how I feel about Boyhood.

I thought BOYHOOD was fantastic! It's in my Top 10 of last year's movies (and I saw a LOT of movies last year).

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That's how I feel about Boyhood.

That's how I feel about both. Prententious shite.

GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE was 2015's best film.

Ha, ha...seriously? Speaking of 'pretentious shite', GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE must be the worst of them all. I have no idea what Godard thinks he's doing these days, but it's not great film art. And this comes from someone who's a big fan of his 'golden years'.

To each their own, I guess.

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Yes, to each their own. Agree to disagree. Everyone is entitied to their opinion. There's no accounting for taste. Different strokes for different folks. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

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So only KK, Koray, and I appreciate this one? Typical!

And the score drove me nuts, something more jazzy would be preferable over the incessant drumming.

That "incessant drumming" is about as jazzy as jazzy gets.

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So only KK, Koray, and I appreciate this one? Typical!

And 92% of mainstream critics! Don't feel left out. ;)

What's funny, the only review I agree with was written by Armond White. He usually is full of shit but there's something to his view on this film that happens to be very much the essence of what was bothering me. And no, it didn't influence me, I read it just yesterday.

Karol

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I just watched this a few hours ago. Really liked it although they could have toned down and varied the score a bit. Think this could be a great double bill with Black Swan yeah? This first and then Black Swan.

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I just watched this a few hours ago. Really liked it although they could have toned down and varied the score a bit. Think this could be a great double bill with Black Swan yeah? This first and then Black Swan.

Yep, lot of parallels with Black Swan (and The Wrestler). Personally, I would describe Birdman as The Wrestler/Black Swan, Synecdoche, New York, and The People of Paper (which is an awesome book, by the way) thrown into a blender. Also, I loved Birdman - seen it twice and probably will see it again. It just really resonated with me with where I am in my life right now.

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What's funny, the only review I agree with was written by Armond White. He usually is full of shit but there's something to his view on this film that happens to be very much the essence of what was bothering me. And no, it didn't influence me, I read it just yesterday.

LOL, so he ended up at NRO.

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  • 3 weeks later...
What's funny, the only review I agree with was written by Armond White. He usually is full of shit but there's something to his view on this film that happens to be very much the essence of what was bothering me. And no, it didn't influence me, I read it just yesterday.

LOL, so he ended up at NRO.

Buckley is rolling over in his grave.

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Wonderful film, this Birdman is. Boyhood was overcooked shit.

Beautiful plumage.

I watched the film some weeks ago. The acting is great, technically impressive, the score does its job (even though, it's concept didn't enrich its film any).

But the film's core, what it's about, left me completely cold. I couldn't care any less about all those character's egos, because it's nothing I could relate to. And even the stuff they did say felt terribly... vacuous.

I loved it. I'm not easily a fan of open/ambiguous endings, but the great thing about Birdman was that it kept its whackiness throughout, and I would have disappointed if it had ended in a more "concrete" way. Also, great performances, the music (original and reused) fit like a glove (I found Mahler's Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen particularly amusing), and the cinematography was (expectedly) great as well.

I just watched this a few hours ago. Really liked it although they could have toned down and varied the score a bit. Think this could be a great double bill with Black Swan yeah? This first and then Black Swan.

Throw in Living in Oblivion for a triple feature.

Also, this:

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Last week's episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Season 10, episode 4, "Charlie Work") featured what I have to imagine is a Birdman homage for the entire middle act: The camera follows Charlie around in real time as he goes from place to place within the bar trying to get it ready for a health inspection, it what appears to be a very long, continuous take. But of course, they do change takes a few times, often on a close-up of his back.

One thing I wanted to ask about though, is every time he walks by the bar, he picks up a stool and slams it back down. I forgot to mention the entire long scene is scored with drum-based music, and the music parrots his picking up and putting down of the stool too.

Does something like that happen in Birdman as well?

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What exactly? The stool?

Keaton goes to a bar several times. Once this is combined with one of two (as far as I remember) instances where the drum score suddenly becomes diegetic music when he actually walks past a drummer playing the score.

The most interesting thing about the bar/long take combination though is I think when he walks from the theatre to the bar (not for the first time), stays there for a while, and when he walks back out he goes back in the direction he came from but seems to end up in a completely different neighbourhood. Despite the (faux) continuous take trick, the film has at times a wonderfully fuzzy sense of location.

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Yea, was wondering if the stool was a direct reference to Birdman. Seemed like an odd thing to highlight otherwise.

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I don't think it was a Bridman reference, at least not that I can remember. I think it was just a weird thing he was doing that made no sense and left you wondering, until the pay-off with Dennis at the end

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Yea, I was wondering if Birdman had something similar that didn't make sense until the end.

Hopefully I can see the movie soon.

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Yea, I was wondering if Birdman had something similar that didn't make sense until the end.

It doesn't, really, and any "twists" that the movie may have are character based rather than action based

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  • 2 weeks later...

I watched the film some weeks ago. The acting is great, technically impressive, the score does its job (even though, it's concept didn't enrich its film any).

But the film's core, what it's about, left me completely cold. I couldn't care any less about all those character's egos, because it's nothing I could relate to. And even the stuff they did say felt terribly... vacuous.

I'm surprised with my reaction. I thought (hoped, rather) it was going to be special. All things considered, a disappointment of the year.

6/10 (to put things in Alex's perspective)

Karol

Overall, I was disappointed with this film.

Yes, the 'one-take' thing was intriguing, as were all the meta levels in the story, but ultimately it became a bit too grating and aggravating in the dialogue department. I also thought the "score" was cute in its play with the diegetic and non-diegetic, but ultimately just a stunt. It's WAY overrated, and it's a scandal that it's been nominated to all these awards. AND...it's completely unlistenable on album.

These more or less sum up my thoughts on the film

Though, I haven't attempted to listen to the "score" outside the film (why would I?)

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