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Bird in the belfry

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and an amazing cast turn Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) into an instant classic, a film like no other. Pulling out all of the technological stops, director and co-writer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel, 21 Grams) has made this movie as if it were all one seamless shot. The movie doesn’t happen in real time; it passes through locations, with hours and even days going by between the tricky transitions. So, the camera can track forward from a hallway to a backstage area, and while mere seconds in film time have gone by, 12 hours in the film’s world may’ve passed in those 10 feet. It’s extraordinary. Keaton plays Riggan, an actor on his last legs. In his heyday, Riggan made millions as the title character in the superhero blockbuster Birdman and its sequels. At the height of his popularity, he walked away in hopes of finding more creatively fulfilling projects. His other film pursuits have not panned out, and he finds himself in previews for a Broadway play, a stage adaptation of a Raymond Carver story that he’s financing, directing, and starring in. The stakes are high, and Riggan is showing signs of coming apart in the head. When one of his actors takes a falling stage light to the melon in what may or may not have been an accident, Riggan casts hotshot actor Mike (Norton) in a crucial leading role beside him. Mike is certified box office gold, and this should help him make the play a hit. Problem is, Mike is also a method actor who

uses real booze on stage and isn’t afraid to break character and challenge Riggan before an audience. The whole situation causes Riggan to have breaks from reality, often conversing with his superhero alter ego (also played by Keaton), who is not at all pleased at the state of Riggan’s existence. The ego has taken some by Bob Grimm hits, the money has dried up, and the place where he lives “smell like balls.” Riggan has bgrimm@ moments when he believes he might have newsreview.com telekinetic powers in moving things around in his dressing room, but the reality is he’s 5 probably just throwing crap around in a rage. The scenes when Keaton and Norton square off are the best-acted scenes, pound for pound, you will see in a movie this year. Obviously, Keaton’s role is semiautobiographical, in that he was once Batman and ruler of the box office. Norton’s role seems to be somewhat based in his own history, in that he is a notorious perfectionist and method man. This contributes to making their clashes seem quite authentic, and even a little scary. You get a true sense that Keaton and Norton are really pissed at one another, and any punches thrown are the real thing. Both actors should be solid contenders in the Oscar race. As Riggan’s rehabbing drug addict daughter, Emma Stone makes her own bid for Oscar contention with compelling, intense work. She has a speech in this movie when she eviscerates Keaton’s character, and it’s a real stunner. Zach Galifianakis has shown major dramatic chops in the past to go with his usual forays into comic lunacy. As Riggan’s agent and lawyer, he shows he’s far more than a laugh-getter. There’s also Naomi Watts and Amy Ryan in small but important roles, so this is basically the best cast of ’14. The movie works on so many levels. It’s an intense drama, but it’s very funny and satiric. It’s also an interesting take on one man going insane, while being a scathing indictment of celebrity culture. It’s even a pitch perfect depiction of the rigors of putting on a play. You’ve never seen anything like Birdman, and I doubt you will ever see anything like it again. Ω

Batman vs. the Hulk. What? You guys don't remember that Edward Norton was once the Hulk?

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5Gone Girl David Fincher set out to make the nastiest, most poisonous movie about marriages gone bad ever made, and I think he succeeded. Fincher and Gillian Flynn, the author of the novel and screenplay, came up with a toxic cocktail, laced with dark humor, scabrous satire and blistering performances. On the day of his fifth anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) returns to his home after sulking at the bar he owns with his sister (a funny Carrie Coon) to discover his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), is missing. Nick calls the police and the in-laws, and quickly finds himself sucked up in a media circus that leaves him dazed and confused. His demeanor in public is a strange combination of a malaise and ill-timed smiles. Yeah … he’s a suspect. Through a series of narrated flashbacks, we hear the story of the Flynne marriage from Amy’s perspective, chronicled in her diary. Then, at about the halfway point, the movie goes completely, wonderfully insane. For those unaware of the plot twist, my best advice to you is that you should accept it— even though it’s totally bug nuts—sit back, and enjoy the rest of this messed-up ride. Anybody who goes to this movie thinking they’re going to see something grounded in reality will be setting themselves up for disappointment. Gone Girl is nightmarish fantasy, a hypersensationalized “what-if” that thrives on its implausibility. Had this movie tried to stick closer to reality, it would’ve killed too much of the fun. Pike, a British actress perhaps known best for Jack Reacher, gets the role of a lifetime with Amy, and she devours it. Affleck shows what’s been true all along in his career: He’s a fine actor capable of great nuance and a movie star of the highest order.

4John Wick The latest Keanu Reeves vehicle is a true stunner. It boasts a high body count, and offers cinematic proof that you shouldn’t mess with a man’s best friend. In the film’s opening moments, we learn that the title character (Reeves) has lost his wife, and he’s taking it justifiably hard. After a member of the Russian mob kills his dog and steals his car, we find out that Wick is a former assassin with guns and gold buried in his floor. The loss of his ride and canine friend are enough to make him spring back into action, and he does so in spectacular fashion thanks to Reeves and directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, both making their debuts. Stahelski has actually been a Reeves stunt double many times, including the Matrix films, Constantine and Point Break. The familiarity with each other pays off, because the stunt sequences and choreography are flawless. In the pantheon of action movie directing debuts, this one stands very tall. Willem Dafoe makes a nice mark in a few scenes as a double-crossing hitman. Adrianne Palicki, the actress who was supposed to be Wonder Woman until NBC saw the pilot and puked, shows action movie chops as another gun-for-hire that can’t be trusted. This is a great-looking movie that mixes in some strong emotions with its awesome set pieces. It’s nice to see Keanu Reeves back in the saddle. Now, with the success of this film, perhaps somebody will finally greenlight Bill and Ted 3.

5Interstellar The latest from writer-director Christopher Nolan is a triumphant piece of moviemaking, a science fiction film that dares to go outside the lines and actually create things and hypothesize. In the future, Earth is getting swallowed up by dust, all the crops are dying, and the Yankees really suck (wait … that’s true now!). Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer and former test pilot, is raising his two children after the death of his wife. He and his young daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) discover a strange site that just happens to be the remnants of NASA, where an old scientist (Michael Caine) is in the middle of a plan to save the human race. Cooper eventually winds up flying a mission to enter a wormhole and explore distant planets for their ability to sustain life. The major drawback being that time gets all warped during space travel, and the slightest delay can cost him many years back on Earth. The movie gets a little crazy, farfetched, and possesses more than its share of plot holes. I don’t care. It’s a terrific viewing experience that made me think, an all-time great science fiction film, even if it is a little crazy. Nolan wrote the film with his brother Jonathan, and they come up with some ideas that seem quite impossible, perhaps illogical. Yet, within the context of this sprawling, great movie, it all works just fine. The movie offers many great surprises, performances and brain teasing concepts. It’s also weird and insane, and I love it for that.

1Ouija Hasbro gets another movie touting one of its products (along with Transformers and Battleship), and this is by far the worst, if that is even possible. Laine and Debbie (Olivia Cooke and Shelley Hennig) have been playing with a Ouija board since they were kids. Debbie plays solo in her house alone when they get older, and winds up dead, hanging herself with a string of plugged in Christmas lights that, mysteriously, don’t unplug under the stress of her weight pulling on them, but we won’t go into that right now. Laine and her friends start playing with the Ouija after Debbie’s death, and they discover that there are spirits living in Debbie’s house, and they had something to do with Debbie’s death. Maybe one of them pulled on the middle of the strand of Christmas lights while she was hanging herself, thus relieving some of the tension and preventing them from becoming unplugged? Oh wait, I’m sorry, I pledged not to go into that. The wannabe scares in the PG-13 outing consist of fakeouts and people behind doors, the kind of stuff you will see coming if you’ve seen, say, one horror movie in your lifetime. If that is in fact true, don’t make this your second one, for you will wind up disappointed.

4Nightcrawler Jake Gyllenhaal is the very definition of serpentine in this scathing look at TV news and the lengths producers and stringers will go to for ratings and a payday. When Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal), a desperately unemployed man, happens upon a car accident in L.A., he notices men filming the incident and selling the footage to news outlets. He procures his own camera and proceeds to do the same, eventually forming an alliance with a struggling news director (Rene Russo) and proving there is really nothing he won’t do to get his footage on the news. Gyllenhaal lost a bunch of weight to play the greasy Louis, and he achieves a physical creepiness to go with his character’s infected soul. Louis is sinister and deeply scary in a very Travis Bickle/Taxi Driver sort of way. Gyllenhaal is excellent here, his second great 2014 performance after playing twins in Enemy. The guy is really stretching out. According to Nightcrawler, gone are the days of dignified anchormen and heroic news gatherers. The tie-wearing talking heads and scrappy field reporters have been replaced by bloodsuckers and sycophants, with the likes of Louis Bloom leading the sick charge. The baser instincts that may’ve been a small part of an intrepid news reporter’s makeup have taken over and, unfortunately, they appear to be delivering what the people want.

3St. Vincent Vincent (Bill Murray), a reclusive, crotchety old guy, reluctantly finds himself interacting with his new neighbor, Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), and her son, Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher), after her movers break his fence, tree and car. Vincent eventually winds up babysitting Oliver, which leads to them bonding at the racetrack and inside bars, and hanging out with a “lady of the night” (Naomi Watts), much to the eventual chagrin of Maggie. Murray and Lieberher are great together, which allows you to forgive the sometimes schmaltzy direction and writing from Theodore Melfi. Vincent is the meatiest role Murray has gotten in almost a decade, and it’s exciting to see him firing on all cylinders. Recently, I have been complaining about McCarthy getting stuck in mostly insulting slapstick roles. This movie gives her a chance to show off the fact that she can really act, and she makes the most of it. Lieberher is one of those child actors who seems like he’s been acting for 30 years, well beyond the amount of time he has spent on this Earth. Watts takes the pregnant Russian prostitute role and runs with it, getting some good laughs through a wildly overdone accent. They all put this one over the top with their performances.