Watched it Unaware

Rating: 10/10 (30 September 2019)

That it was all in such long takes with so little editing. Thus I forgive the tiny foibles. What an achievement. I first watched this after it came out on home video and I guess I must have put it on right before bed or something, because I couldn't really remember it and thought it had a boring Hollywood fake plot device (silly comic action) when Riggan gets locked out. That might have improved the 1star reviews, sadly. I was entranced the entire time, and was sad when it ended. Bravura performances by many and why I love Inarritu as a director.
I am so glad that Michael Keaton got to show off his considerable acting talents in such a manner. I have loved him since the beginning and have never quite forgiven him for taking on the Batman movies, although he was astonishingly good in what little I saw of Batman. All of the cast was amazing; this is far and away the best I've seen Ed Norton perform. Lindsey Duncan made a lasting impression and she was only in a couple scenes. I didn't care too much for whomever played Laura, the girlfriend. She never seemed to connect with the screenplay or direction, which is a bit forgivable as this film wasn't made in the usual and customary manner.
The original soundtrack was brilliant and so crazy that it wasn't allowed into the Oscars. Sounds like politics to me. But it really put the icing on the film. Glad it won the Grammy, though.
I was reminded of All That Jazz quite a bit during this film. A lot of similarities: Broadway plays, magical/deluded thinking, death wishes, ego and legacy, ex-wife, girlfriend, daughter. But this was a completely different movie, although not a better one in many ways (ATJ is one of my all time favs, but Birdman may become one).
It left me conflicted that a major Hollywood studio backed this, as the satire is about the silliness and load of you know that Hollywood often contains. And many of the actors have been in comic book movies. So that kind of watered this film down for me a bit. I wished that the actors bought into the premise wholly, from the outside, and maybe some do (Keaton?). But to wish all that is to wish that Hollywood was not Hollywood and that the Marvel Universe has not taken over Hollywood so completely. Hollywood is lost, probably forever. In fact, this is one of the only worthy Best Picture films of most of this century, as it's just not profitable to make these kinds of movies and no one cares. I've pretty much decided that unless an actor really, really needs the money, that they are all the narcissists they are rumored to be, but I refused to believe (all that "nice guy/gal stuff"). Why would you need to do more than one? Are their living expenses really THAT high or is the lure of blockbuster love so tempting and even necessary? It's a crazy world and I don't appreciate Keaton for adding to this trend, back when it wasn't one.
I am dismayed at all the bad reviews, which I think is reflective of what people expect now. Most of those review I read got major plot points or script lines wrong, so I have to wonder if they watched it carefully or not at all. I think the advance press didn't do this movie any favors as most of the bile went to the "artsy fartsy" direction. I don't watch TV, thus I had no idea beforehand. But if I had, I would have been even more impressed. But then I love films which try to challenge the norm (and after all, a play is nothing but 3 or 4 long scenes!). However, this is NOT an art film. That these reviewers have no idea what an art film is shows not to take those reviews seriously. And why did this film elicit so much anger? A bad Marvel sequel only gets, "Well, I was expecting more..." and 6-7stars, but this gets all the anger of their movie going lives. I guess that about says it all...