Birdman (9/10): The technical ambition pays off for Iñarritu and Lubezki.

“You're doing this because you're scared to death, like the rest of us, that you don't matter. And you know what? You're right. You don't. It's not important. You're not important. Get used to it.”

No matter how people feel about this film, there is no denying that Birdman is a technical marvel. Emmanuel Lubezki is one of the best cinematographers in Hollywood and he should continue working and experimenting with his fellow Mexican directors. Birdman is visually astonishing and one of the most unforgettable moviegoing experiences of the year. He blew us away last year when he took us to space in Gravity, and now he astonishes audiences once again by giving us the illusion that the film is taking place entirely in one single shot. From the opening shot, Lubezki is letting us know that we are going to get our heads spun and so he circles around a table with four actors discussing their roles in the play they are about to act in. Birdman is unlike any other film I’ve seen in that sense, where you feel like you are watching actors in a live theater. The audience becomes the camera which follows around these egocentric and troubled actors as they interact with one another. The film has stuck with me and it is one of those rare movies I’d like to experience once again in the theaters. I can’t think of another film that manages to portray the passage of time so well without having to cut from one scene to the next the way Birdman does. 

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu is better known for his realistic and depressive films focusing on separate characters whose lives intertwine someway or another (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel). This was quite a fantastic change of tone from his previous and more depressing films. He has crafted one of the best films of the year with groundbreaking editing effects that magically make us believe the film is all a continuous shot. He also uses dark and satirical humor to critique egocentric Hollywood actors, critics, artists, and even audiences who eat up anything they are served as long as there are loud explosions and non-stop action scenes. Iñarritu takes a shot at just about everyone.

Alexander Dinelaris's script was wickedly smart and satirical with some great and memorable dialogues that complement the technical achievements of the film very well. Birdman has a lot to say about our human nature and our desperation to become relevant and important. It is a complete film that deserves all the recognition and awards it has been receiving.

The performances in Birdman also stand out above most films released this year. Michael Keaton is fantastic as Riggan Thomson, a once popular actor who starred in a superhero franchise but hasn’t been able to do anything relevant since. He is known for the character of Birdman, but he wants to prove he is a real artist and not just a washed up celebrity. That is why he is risking everything in a play he is directing, writing, producing, and starring in. His good friend, Jake (Zach Galifianakis) is co-producing the play with him. Lesley (Naomi Watts), Laura (Andrea Riseborough), and Mike (Edward Norton) are the actors he hires for the play, while his daughter Sam (Emma Stone) is working for him as his personal assistant as she tries to recover from her former drug addictions. The supporting cast is excellent in this film, especially Edward Norton and Emma Stone who share several great scenes together along with Michael Keaton. Galifianakis also impresses in a much more serious role than what we are used to seeing him in, but this is still Keaton’s film who displays a wide range of emotions. Birdman has become such an important part of his life that he actually interacts with him in a surreal way. The film balances this magical realism very well and Keaton pulls off the feat of having these inner conversations with himself. The intimate camerawork only enhances these performances even more. 

My Review: Moonrise Kingdom (9/10)

¨We're in love. We just want to be together. What's wrong with that? ¨

You either love Wes Anderson movies or you hate them. I am on the loving side since I always find his movies to be hysterical and original. Moonrise Kingdom is a great film with some pretty interesting performances as well. It has been five years since Anderson directed a feature film (that wasn`t animated) and the wait is finally over. His last film, The Darjeeling Limited, came out in 2007 and it was a very funny movie, but Moonrise Kingdom is superior in my opinion. I wouldn’t say Moonrise Kingdom is Wes Anderson´s best work but I know fans of his defer on what their favorite movie of his is. Some enjoy his first film, Bottle Rocket the most; but others have found Rushmore to be his best work. I still think The Royal Tenenbaums is his best film, and it probably has to do with it being the first film of his that I watched. Fans of Wes Anderson probably would agree with me that the first film of his that they watched is their favorite one because of the originality and inventiveness of his style. He has unique trademarks which he uses for all of his films so you probably could recognize his work in the first minute of the movie. His films always seem to deal with some sort of broken family issue where the children don’t get along with their parents or are being raised by a single parent. He also uses a lot of color in his films; yellow, green and red predominate. Anderson makes very personal films and sometimes his movies seem to repeat themselves, but he has a unique style that separates his work from other Hollywood comedies. The central theme of his movies are always quirky and bizarre, but in a good way. Moonrise Kingdom is in my opinion his most romantic work.

The story is set on the small island of New Penzance off the coast of New England in 1965, a few days before a big storm is to arrive. Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand) live on the island with their three sons and daughter named Suzy (Kara Hayward). Suzy is very troubled; she doesn’t get along with her parents and doesn’t have many friends. She befriends a young scout named Sam (Jared Gilman) who is at the other side of the island in a summer camp. Sam decides to escape from camp, meet up with Suzy secretly, with whom he`s been corresponding through letters, and run off together. Scout Master Randy (Edward Norton) discovers that Sam has escaped from camp and decides to send the rest of the scouts on a search hunt. He also notifies Police Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) about the escape and the Captain connects the disappearance of both children and concludes that they have run off together. While Suzy and Sam hike and set camp together while fleeing from the search party they fall in love with each other. The Captain discovers that Sam is really an orphan and that his foster parents won`t accept him back so he has to notify Social Services (Tilda Swinton) about the incident. Sam and Suzy will do what it takes to stay together and not be found, while the entire town begins searching for them.

Once again Wes Anderson works alongside Bill Murray and his cousin Jason Schwartzman who has a small role in this film. He`s worked with them in almost all of his films, but the difference here in Moonrise Kingdom is that the true stars of the film are the kid actors: Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. Hayward reminded me a lot of Gwyneth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums. They are great in this movie and had a lot of chemistry together. Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, and Edward Norton also give the film a funny and quirky touch to it. Wes Anderson`s trademarks are all over this film and the tone is similar to the others, but it also has some touches that differentiate it from his other works. Having the kids be the stars of the film is a first for him, and the film does have a romantic touch to it despite maintaining a depressive mood throughout. As always Wes Anderson wrote the screenplay for his film, although this time he co-wrote it with Roman Coppola who had worked with him in The Darjeeling Limited as well. His first films were co-written along with Owen Wilson, and Noah Baumbach has also worked with him in a couple of projects as well. His screenplays are always full of quirky humor and bizarre scenarios. That is one of the reasons I love his movies so much. Moonrise Kingdom is a film that Wes Anderson fans will enjoy quite a bit.

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My Review: The Bourne Legacy (8/10)

¨Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg. ¨

It´s been five years since the third film of the Bourne franchise came out, now Tony Gilroy has been given the responsibility to direct The Bourne Legacy, a film that works as both sort of a spin-off and sequel to the Paul Greengrass franchise. As opposed to the other films this one does not star Matt Damon and wasn´t adapted from Robert Ludlum´s novel either. It just takes some aspects of the previous films and expands it by introducing a new corporation and new characters. Jason Bourne is only named in this film and the events occur at the same time as the events from The Bourne Ultimatum are taking place. I wasn’t too sure about what to expect from this film since Matt Damon was the true star of the franchise, but I knew Jeremy Renner was a great actor. Matt Damon´s career changed completely with this franchise, and he has made a name for himself now in Hollywood. Renner has also been on a hot streak ever since The Hurt Locker starring in some great films like The Town, Mission Impossible, and The Avengers so I did think he would be able to pull it off. My main concern had to do with the new director, Tony Gilroy, who I knew was very familiar with the franchise since he adapted the screenplay from the previous films, but wasn’t sure he could pull off a spin off like this without the main star. Many people hated this film and I understand them, but I enjoyed this spy thriller quite a bit. Gilroy had already proved to be a good director when he was nominated for his work in Michael Clayton. This film may lack some of the great action editing scenes from its predecessor, but it was still a very well made action thriller.

As I mentioned before the story expands from the Jason Bourne universe and this film takes place at a parallel time while the events from The Bourne Ultimatum are taking place since Jason Bourne is referenced throughout the movie as he begins to expose Treadstone. What we learn from The Bourne Legacy is that Treadstone isn’t the only secret ops agency and that there are many more. One of those ops is Outcome, where some subjects are given medication to enhance their abilities. When Treadstone is exposed, the rest of the agencies decide it is in their best interest to sweep things under the rug and therefore begin killing off all their agents. One of the agents from Outcome, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) manages to survive and begins looking for answers as to why his former bosses want him dead. Col. Eric Byer (Edward Norton) on the other hand is trying to control this crisis situation by eliminating anyone who is familiar with the Outcome program. He is one of the top men from the intelligence community that is after Aaron. Aaron, who is dependant of the special medication in order to survive, enlists the help of one of the doctor´s that has managed to escape from Outcome. Marta (Rachel Weisz) convinces Aaron that she can help him get off the special medication, but they will have to travel to Manila. The only problem is that the intelligence community will do whatever is necessary to eliminate them before they can get too far.

I don’t think The Bourne Legacy is as good as its predecessors, but it isn’t a bad film either. There are a lot of new characters introduced at the beginning of the film and if you are not familiar with the original trilogy then you might get a bit lost since they kind of take a while to introduce the new premise. The film also seems to be building up to another sequel where we might have Jason Bourne introduced back to the equation, but the film does also work on its own. It’s hard to avoid comparisons since both films take place in the same universe, but I do believe it does a good enough job to stand up a little below the previous films. I honestly had a very fun time with the film and enjoyed the Renner/Weisz duo. The story also takes place in different parts of the globe kind of like in the same way the other films did. The action scenes were entertaining so I do believe this was a worthy film and wasn’t a disgrace to the original trilogy like many upset fans are saying it was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I can understand how some people may be upset, but I did have a fun time with this film and enjoyed it so I´m giving it a thumbs up.

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My Review: Fight Club (10/10)

"The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club"

I will go ahead and break the rule and simply talk about Fight Club; the 1999 film that I recently added to my favorite movie list. In my opinion this is one of Fincher`s masterpieces along with Se7en. David Fincher has made some great films, but none have ever rivaled his work in the 90`s with these two films. Both Se7en and Fight Club are among my favorite films and consider them superior to Fincher`s other great recent films like Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Fight Club is an extremely violent film, but I don’t think it`s gratuitous because the movie really works as a satire and raises several philosophical questions about how enslaved we`ve become under the capitalist and advertising system, but it also points out the danger of anarchy as well. We`ve become materialist beings finding our purpose in our possessions and have left out the spiritual part. Sometimes we need to feel pain to remind ourselves that we are alive, and in a way this film works as a highly crafted metaphor. I loved the way the story was presented and how this surrealistic film worked. Based on Chuck Palahniuk`s novel of the same name, and adapted for the screen by Jim Uhls, Fight Club is a masterpiece thanks to Fincher`s direction and the performance from the excellent cast which includes Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helen Bonham Carter. I really loved this movie from beginning to end, including the twist in the final act. 1999 was the year of great twists considering this is when The Sixth Sense was released as well (my all time favorite film). Fight Club is a must see film for all.

The movie begins with a scene where the narrator (Edward Norton) has a gun forced down his throat by Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), to which the narrator begins to tell the viewer what has led him to this point through voice over narration, and so the film is told in flashback. He takes us back to the days when he was an office worker who experienced severe insomniac problems. The doctor recommended that he visit a support group with men who have suffered from testicular cancer in order for him to really see the pain other people have gone through. Despite not suffering from this condition, the narrator decides to do so and discovers that going to these therapies allows him to finally being able to sleep for the first time in months. After this, he decides to attend a different support group every night and everything seems to go well, until he discovers a manic depressive woman named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) who is doing the same thing he`s been doing: jumping from one support group to another. Seeing her as an intruder and a liar, the narrator can no longer find peace in the support groups and so his insomniac problems begin again. His life will change dramatically when he meets Tyler Durden, a soap maker, in an airplane and has an interesting conversation with him. They exchange numbers and when the narrator arrives home from the airport he discovers his condo has been blown up. He then decides to call Tyler and ends up moving in with him at an old abandoned complex. The two start a very different support group which they call Fight Club since they have to fight one another. The movement becomes popular and little by little they begin to form a revolutionary movement known as Project Mayhem, but things begin to escalate too fast and dangerously.  

Edward Norton appeared in the big movie screen during the 90`s and this was when he made his best films (American History X, Primal Fear, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Rounders, and Fight Club), although I would have to argue that his best performances were in American History X and The 25<sup>th</sup> Hour. However he is still excellent in this film as well. Brad Pitt is at his best playing the sort of chaotic and anarchic character who in some ways is similar to the narrator, but in others very different and more dangerous. He has a strong pull on Norton`s character and influences him deeply. Helena Bonham Carter also plays one of her best roles as this sort of manic-depressive character who stands her own ground in this mostly male dominated film. The performance from the cast is one of the best things about Fight Club which works in every level. The visuals and special effects are also fantastic. It is a dark film with a lot of violence mixed with satire that had me laughing quite a bit. I absolutely loved this movie and the ending was just brilliant.

  

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