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Birdman

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

7.0

73,974

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Original title: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Year: 2014
Running time: 118 min.
Country: United States
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Screenwriter: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo II
Music: Antonio Sánchez
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Cast: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan, Andrea Riseborough, Lindsay Duncan, Merritt Wever, Joel Garland, Natalie Gold, Clark Middleton, Bill Camp, Teena Byrd, Anna Hardwick, Stefano Villabona
Producer: Fox Searchlight, Regency Enterprises
Genre: Comedy. Drama | Stage Play. Satire. Black Comedy. Magic Realism
Synopsis: A washed up actor who once played an iconic superhero must overcome his ego and family trouble as he prepares to mount a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim past glory. Movie star Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), who became famous for playing iconic superhero Birdman in three successful installments but turned down a fourth one, has decided to stage a comeback by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway play.

Pressures mount leading up to the play's opening night. The day before the first preview of the play, he realizes he has to replace one of the actors, who is not up to the job. However, his replacement (Edward Norton), though famous and talented, comes with troubles of his own. Meanwhile, Riggan feels guilt about being a neglectful father to his daughter (Emma Stone), who's now working as his assistant. He also desperately wants the top critic in New York, who could make or break his play, to write a positive review, but he's worried the entire production will be a bust.

Awards: 2014: 4 Academy Awards: including Best Picture & Director. 9 Nominations

2014: 2 Golden Globes: Best Screenplay & Best Actor -Comedy (Keaton)

2014: BAFTA Awards: Best Cinematographer. 10 Nominations

2015: César Awards: Best Foreign Film

2014: Venice Film Festival: Official Selection

2014: American Film Institute (AFI): Top Ten Films

Show 13 more awards

2014: National Board of Review: Top 10, Best Actor (Keaton) & Supp. Actor (Norton)

2014: Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Cinematography. 4 Nominations

2014: Gotham Awards: Best Picture & Best Actor (Keaton)

2014: Independent Spirit Awards: Best Feature, Actor (Keaton) & Cinematography

2014: Satellite Awards: Best Picture, Actor (Keaton) & Score

2014: Producers Guild Awards (PGA): Best Film

2014: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director

2014: Screen Actors Guild (SAG): Best Performance by a Cast. 4 Noms.

2014: Critics Choice Awards: 7 Awards including Best Screenplay & Best Cast

2014: Chicago Film Critics Awards: Best Actor (Keaton) and Cinematography. 9 Nom.

2014: 4 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, incl. Best Actor (Michael Keaton)

2014: San Francisco Film Critics Circle: 3 Awards, incl. Best Actor (Keaton). 9 Nom.

2014: David di Donatello Awards: Best Foreign Film

Critics' reviews

"Michael Keaton returns with the comeback of the century (...) Alejandro G. Inarritu’s best feature (...) a triumph on every creative level"

Peter Debruge: Variety
"Birdman flies very, very high (...) One of the most sustained examples of visually fluid tour de force cinema anyone's ever seen, all in the service of a story that examines the changing nature of celebrity"

Todd McCarthy: The Hollywood Reporter
"A funny, frenetic, buoyant and rambunctiously showboating entertainment in which Mr. Iñárritu himself rises high and then higher still"

Manohla Dargis: The New York Times
"I'm jazzed by every tasty, daring, devastating, howlingly funny (...) minute in 'Birdman'. (...) 'Birdman' is a volcano of creative ideas in full eruption. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"'Birdman' proves that a movie(...) can soar on the wings of its own technical prowess, even as the banality of its ideas threatens to drag it back down to earth. (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

Michael Phillips: Chicago Tribune
"The director's surrealist portrait of modern times and the cult of celebrity is brilliant on so many levels that even the occasional downdraft can't keep 'Birdman' from soaring"

Betsy Sharkey: Los Angeles Times
"One of the year's most audacious, savagely funny and unpredictable films, it features an outstanding performance by Michael Keaton. Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Claudia Puig: USA Today
Show 4 more reviews

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