Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) review

BIRDMAN:

A BLACK COMEDY THAT SOARS WITH HUMOR, DRAMA, AND ANOTHER AMAZING PERFORMANCE BY MICHAEL KEATON!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: **** out of 4

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Michael Keaton as Bat…er, I mean, Birdman

            From director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams) and starring the always entertaining Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice, Clean and Sober, Batman 1 and 2) comes a clever new take on the superhero movie genre, Birdman. And no, it has no relation to Hanna Barbera’s Birdman or Adult Swim’s Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law; it’s a brand new superhero with a very unique concept.

            The film is not written like any other superhero movie, it’s more of a character study on Michael Keaton’s character whose alter ego keeps haunting him, and it’s done very well. It's definitely not your average superhero/comic book movie, but fans of comic books are sure to go absolutely nuts over the many callbacks and references to various iconic superheroes and comics.

            Michael Keaton stars as Riggan Thomson, a former movie star who was best known as portraying a famous superhero named Birdman in a popular movie franchise. He eventually left the franchise and moved on to directing and starring in a live adaptation of Raymond Carver’s story, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.

            Suddenly he starts hearing a voice in his head mocking him because he is having a rough time getting his play on the right track and the voice turns out to be his superhero alter ego, Birdman who tries to convince him to leave the theater career and go back to playing the superhero.

            So Riggan must choose between working in theater or working in the movies, because he may be shifting slowly into madness.

            The film also stars Emma Stone (Superbad, Zombieland, The Amazing Spider-Man) as Riggan’s daughter, Sam Thomson, Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover trilogy, Up In The Air, Dinner for Schmucks) as his best friend and producer, Jake, Edward Norton (Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk, Moonrise Kingdom) as method actor, Mike Shiner who becomes attracted to Riggan’s daughter, Naomi Watts (The Ring, King Kong (2005), The International) as stage actress, Lesley who dreams of being on Broadway, and Lindsay Duncan (A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Under the Tuscan Sun, Alice in Wonderland) as Tabitha, a critic who despises Hollywood actors and is determined to give Riggan’s play a bad review.

            Overall, Birdman is a very clever movie and a breath of fresh air after all the Avengers, Dark Knight, and X-Men movies that are coming out all the time. It’s nice to see a superhero movie that has no comic book or television origins, and one that isn’t written like any other film in the genre.

            Sure I said something similar about Kick-Ass, but even with all the heavy realistic violence and superheroes with no powers, it still felt like a comic book movie, Birdman feels like the opposite. The film is very character driven, doesn’t focus on action, although there is a very impressive sequence in Riggan’s mind when he’s being haunted by Birdman’s voice, and the superhero only reveals himself in a couple of scenes, reminds me a lot of this other superhero movie that came out a few years ago, Griff the Invisible when I really look at it, except in that movie the superhero is shown a lot.

            The scenes where Keaton is hearing Birdman in his head are absolutely gripping and perhaps the best parts of the movie, it feels like he’s going insane in a similar way Jack Nicholson did in The Shining and when Birdman himself shows up, you have no idea whether or not he’s really there, kind of like the Faun from Pan’s Labyrinth or the ending of Inception.

            Like most of his performances, Michael Keaton’s performance is absolutely amazing, he portrays the washed up type of character very well and his over the top moments are very amusing, not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Of course when he’s Birdman I kept flashing back to when he portrayed Batman in the 1989 Tim Burton movie.

            But of course, the rest of the cast is great, Edward Norton does a wonderful job as the jerky actor, Emma Stone’s performance blew me away as the recovering drug addicted daughter, Zach Galifianakis performance as the play’s producer and Riggan’s friend was very different from his usual performances in comedies, well done, and Naomi Watts, despite not being a major focus of the film did fine as the play actress.

            So if you’re a fan of superheroes, though you don’t really have to be a fan to enjoy this movie, you’ll probably like it. But if you just want to see the film for Michael Keaton, you’re in for a treat because this might be him at his best, I can’t think of a performance quite like this one.

            If you want something different from the traditional superhero movie genre, spread your wings and fly to your local theater and check out the Birdman.

            

The Book of Life review

THE BOOK OF LIFE:

A VISUAL TREAT OF BEAUTIFUL ANIMATION, HUMOR, AND HEART!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY FOX

(From left to right) Manolo, Maria, and Joaquin in a magical world in The Book of Life

            From Reel FX Creative Studios, the studio behind last year’s animated turkey “Classic”, Free Birds returns with their second full-length animated film, The Book of Life. Now at first I thought for sure it was going to bomb when I saw the trailer because of my deep hatred of Free Birds, but with the creative genius, Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim) producing the film, there may be hope.

            And to my surprise, unlike Free Birds, I enjoyed this film a lot, the animation is absolutely gorgeous, especially if you’re watching it in 3D, the characters are all very funny and have creatively unique designs, and the story is weird but very sweet, almost feels like a Tim Burton movie like Edward Scissorhands or The Nightmare Before Christmas.

            The film is set in the Mexican town of San Angel and there are two powerful gods, La Muerte (voiced by Kate del Castillo-American Visa, Under the Same Moon), the ruler of a magical world known as the Land of the Remembered, where people who are remembered by many go after they die, and Xibalba (voiced by Ron Perlman-Hellboy, Drive, Pacific Rim), the diabolical ruler of the depressing Land of the Forgotten. The two of them make a bet on two young children, Manolo Sánchez (voiced by Diego Luna-Nicotina, The Terminal, Milk), guitarist and son of one of the greatest Bull Fighters in Mexico, and Joaquin (voiced by Channing Tatum-21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, The Lego Movie), the dashing hero of the village, who have been best friends forever and are coincidentally both in love with the same woman, a beautiful and strong princess named Maria (voiced by Zoe Saldana-Avatar, Star Trek, Guardians of the Galaxy).

            The two gods watch over the three children as they grow up and it doesn’t take long for their friendship to go downhill when Joaquin proposes to Maria and Manolo eventually loses his life while trying to impress her. He eventually wakes up in the magical realm, the Land of the Remembered, where he meets his ancestors who have all wrestled bulls, a humorous and powerful watcher of souls known as the Candle Maker (voiced by Ice Cube-Friday, 21 Jump Street, All About the Benjamins), and La Muerte herself on his quest to return back to the human world for his true love.

            The film also stars Christina Applegate (Mars Attacks!, Anchorman, Jane Austen’s Mafia!) as Mary Beth, a museum tour guide telling the story of The Book of Life to a group of kids on a field trip.

            Overall, The Book of Life is a major step in the right direction for Reel FX Studios; it really makes up for the disappointment of Free Birds. Unlike that movie, the animation is beautiful, the designs of the characters and worlds are beyond creative, it almost looks like the Tim Burton or Laika Animation style, the humor, while not every joke works, the majority of them got a big laugh out of me, the characters are all extremely likable, and the voice cast behind those characters are just as amusing.

            One particular element I want to bring up is the villain, Xibalba, I love this character, the design is bizarre and yet creatively clever, Ron Perlman providing the voice is definitely a plus, and he’s funny and at the same time intimidating, I have never seen a character designed like this in a long time, almost reminds me of Aku from Cartoon Network’s Samurai Jack now that I look at the design.  

            Of course our protagonists are amusing as well, Manolo is a great main character for this film and you want to join him on his adventure to get Maria’s love, not to mention he has a wonderful singing voice and guitar skills, Joaquin is a humorous town hero and pretty much every time girls are breathless and fainting around him, pretty much sums up every woman’s reaction to Channing Tatum. Ice Cube as the Candle Maker is absolutely hilarious, besides the villain he is another one of my favorite character designs, his facial expressions remind me a lot of the stop-motion puppets made by Aardman Animations, and most of his fourth wall jokes and witty references got a big laugh out of me.

            Finally there’s Maria, she’s a very fun character and thankfully she’s not a damsel in distress, she’s tough, seductive, funny, and she studied fencing. Her character is very similar to princesses like Merida from Brave, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Fiona from Shrek, seeing how she’s not just waiting around for her “Prince Charming” to come and look pretty.

            So, you can tell I really enjoyed The Book of Life, it’s pretty much the complete opposite of Reel FX’s Free Birds, no, let’s not remember that movie, it belongs in the Land of the Forgotten, but I digress. Let’s just pretend Free Birds never existed and this is the first animated feature by Reel FX, because unlike that awful “Turkey Movie”, this movie really shows what the studio can do.

            If you’re a fan of strange animated movies and want something overflowing with creativity and humor, chances are you’re going to love this movie because I certainly did, though I wouldn’t say it was as great as The Boxtrolls, but this comes pretty close, it’s a smart, creative, and breathtaking visual treat that is sure to please the eyes, mind, and imagination of everyone, young and old.

Fury review

FURY:

NOT VERY “INGLOURIOUS” BUT THE FILM OFFERS A WELL-ACTED, EMOTIONAL, AND INTENSE WAR EPIC, WITH ANOTHER SOLID PERFORMANCE BY BRAD PITT!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Brad Pitt stars as Sergeant Wardaddy in Fury

            From writer and director, David Ayer (End of Watch, Training Day, The Fast & the Furious) comes an exciting new war epic set in the harsh times of World War II. And much like another certain movie set in World War II that received critical acclaim a few years ago, the always entertaining, Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds, Moneyball, World War Z) stars as the military sergeant.

            Also like Inglourious Basterds, Fury is gritty and often hard to watch but the character development, acting, cinematography, and plot will keep you invested and hopefully once the film is over, you’ll come out of the theater satisfied.

            Set during the last month of the European Theater of war during World War II, April 1945. As the Allies soldiers make their way into Nazi Germany, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) leads an M4A3E8 Sherman tank named “Fury” and its five man crew, Boyd “Bible” Swan (Shia LaBeouf-Transformers, Lawless, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Norman “Machine” Ellison (Logan Lerman-Percy Jackson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Noah), Trini “Gordo” Garcia (Michael Peña-Crash, End of Watch, American Hustle), Grady “Coon-Ass” Travis (Jon Bernthal-The Wolf of Wall Street), and US Army Cpt. Waggoner (Jason Issacs-Harry Potter franchise, Peter Pan, Batman: Under the Red Hood) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

            Outnumbered and hilariously outgunned, Wardaddy and his five men must face overwhelming odds to kill all the Nazis and become heroes.

            Overall, Fury is a well-put together war movie, the cinematography is very big and epic, reminds me a lot of Saving Private Ryan when I look at it. The acting is also pretty solid, especially from Brad Pitt, he portrays Army sergeants so well, but the ones who really surprised me were Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman, because usually I incorporate them with nerdy and awkward characters, but no, Shia’s character is very serious and he delivers it very well, and Logan, while he starts off kind of as a weeping soldier, he eventually grows the balls to shoot some Nazis and whenever something sad happens to him, you can really feel the pain he’s going through, yeah, Percy Jackson almost got me all emotional.

            Then of course, there’s the war scenes and they are very gripping and intense, lots of shooting, explosions, dead soldiers, and dead Nazis in the film, let’s just hope Pitt doesn’t order his men to chop off the corpses’ scalps.

            If you’re a fan of Brad Pitt or the rest of the cast and can get through some grisly war violence, chances are you’ll find something to enjoy from Fury, just don’t expect it to be the next Inglourious Basterds or Saving Private Ryan.

The Judge review

THE JUDGE:

NOT A BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY DOWNEY BUT HE’S CERTAINLY THE MOST ENTERTAINING PART OF THE MOVIE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Robert Downey Jr. (left) and Robert Duvall (right) defending their honor in The Judge

            From directors James F. Truesdale (We Were Soldiers, Mr. Woodcock) and David Swayze and starring the always-talented Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, The Avengers, Tropic Thunder) and Robert Duvall (Rambling Rose, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) comes The Judge, a well-acted and beautifully filmed Dramedy about a lawyer and his judge father.

            Don’t expect it to be a powerhouse performance for Robert Downey Jr. like his roles in Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, Iron Man, or Tropic Thunder, but his performance in the film is funny, over the top, and entertaining all at the same time.

            Robert stars as District attorney, Henry “Hank” Palmer, a successful Chicago lawyer who returns to his old hometown, Carlinville, Indiana for his mother’s funeral. When he arrives he soon finds out that is father, Judge Joseph Palmer is suspected for murder.

            So Hank needs to defend his father in court against prosecutor, Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton-Sling Blade, A Simple Plan, Eagle Eye) who is determined to put Joseph away.

            The film also stars Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air, The Departed, The Conjuring), Vincent D’Onofrio (JFK, Ed Wood, Men in Black), Jeremy Strong (Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty), Sarah Lancaster (Catch Me If You Can), David Krumholtz (Harold & Kumar trilogy, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Superbad), and Ken Howard (Clear and Present Danger, The Net, J. Edgar).

            Overall, The Judge is a decent movie, it’s sure to please fans of Robert Downey Jr. (me included). I don’t think every Robert Downey Jr. movie is a masterpiece but even when he’s in a mediocre or bad movie like The Shaggy Dog or Due Date, there’s just something so likable about him that seems to make the film worth watching.

            Of course, Robert Duvall’s performance is pretty solid as the father, but come on Downey steals the show, I don’t recall a movie he starred in that he didn’t steal the show in. He’s able to be both funny, dramatic, and over the top all at the same time and he’s developed pretty well as a character.

            It’s not on the Iron Man or Kirk Lazarus level but Robert’s trying out different and new roles and that’s always welcoming from a great actor.

            My main problem with the movie is that it’s too cliché and predictable at times, I won’t give anything away but trust me, if you’ve seen a lot movies similar to this one you may be able to figure it all out on your own, but that’s just a slight issue.

            So if you’re a fan of Robert Downey Jr. (like me) there’s a strong chance you’ll enjoy his performance in The Judge, even if you don’t like the movie as a whole. It’s no Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, or even Sherlock Holmes, but it doesn’t have to be, like I said even in his worst or mediocre films Downey manages to make the movie worth checking out and this is no exception.