Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Birdman (2014)

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-08-2014, 05:47 PM:

CINEMA: 13th Avenue Warren, Wichita, KS
AUDITORIUM: 16
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema/THX
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Four stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: A superhero has-been goes to Broadway. Wackiness ensues.

If you watched the trailer and think you're going to a superhero comeback movie, you may be in for a "bait-and-switch". This is NOT a superhero movie. At all. This is a personal demon movie played out much like the "Prairie Home Companion" movie played.

It's VERY dialogue-heavy and the scenes are a patchwork of continuous single camera shots (or at least cleverly stitched together to look that way). The soundtrack is largely drum riffs, the drummer(s) occasionally making cameos in the movie.

And every bit of it is perfect.

Okay...maybe not quite the end, but nearly enough so.

Pretty much every actor in this gives a career-highlight performance.

I was going to catch up on St. Vincent after this. I was too wound up to do so.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 11-11-2014, 12:15 PM:

This was good movie, I saw it yesterday and it is easily the best performances by Keaton, Stone and Norton. I would of liked to see Edward Norton get an Oscar nod for his role, but he totally disappears for most of the last half of the movie.

Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 11-15-2014, 12:09 PM:

quote: Sam Graham
This is a personal demon movie played out much like the "Prairie Home Companion" movie played.

Probably the first and last time A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION reference will be used in a movie review for BIRDMAN and it's perfect.

Posted by Terry Lynn-Stevens (Member # 7349) on 12-05-2014, 12:55 PM:

I am hearing this movie is going to get a sound Oscar nomination. Come to think of it, the sound was pretty impressive.

Posted by Terry Monohan (Member # 8285) on 02-08-2015, 01:10 PM:

I did not like this movie but the surround sound was some of the best I have heard in years. It kept me up during this depressing NY theatre film. Saw It at the AMC on Van Ness in San Francisco on a semi curved screen shown flat 1.85. At least they have good masking but need new seats.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 02-08-2015, 01:35 PM:

Prairie Home Companion Meets Brazil.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 02-08-2015, 06:37 PM:

While I entirely get the comparison with A Prairie Home Companion, I'm almost entirely missing where this movie meets Brazil.

I agree, the sound mix on this movie was actually great. It didn't even have Atmos, but it did not shy away from using the surround channels. Also, the dialog didn't only come from the center channel, which I actually applaud. Way too many mixes keep dialog almost entirely focused on the center channel and don't even dare to use the surrounds.