Ignorance is Bliss.

Where the fuck has Michael Keaton been? I thought he'd received the Mark-Paul Gosselaar treatment with rumours of his demise, or his abduction by sex aliens. But, in actuality, the former Batman has been working on his comeback in a movie which is causing a right old stir come award season. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a huge triumph, artistically. Directed in the same ilk as a Broadway production unfolding before its audience with set changes and uninterrupted scenes; its documentary inspired camera work is a stroke of genius by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Biutiful) who has conceived a way in which we follow Riggan Thomson's rise back towards the limelight. 

Having played Marvel's titular superhero in years previous, Riggan (Michael Keaton) is attempting to re-enter the acting world by financing his own Broadway production of Raymond Carver's short story "What we talk about when we talk about love", produced by his Between Two Ferns best friend and lawyer, Jake (Zach Galifianakis). 
Riggan has put it all on the line to reignite the success of his earlier years as winged superhero, Birdman, but is instead haunted by the imaginary persona of the beaked superhero incarnate. The winged manifestation pulling at his strings of insecurity like a deranged puppeteer is gripping (what with his hauntingly bad ass costume which for some incomprehensible reason I wished I myself was wearing in the theatre). He leads Keaton to believe that he has the ability to fly and can tele-kinetically break, smash and hurl inanimate objects, which the strategically planned 
steadi-cam work captures brilliantly.

Which brings me to the casts performances. This is a group of actors who have gripped their roles by the plums having clearly read the script and fallen head over heels for the roles in which they'd been gifted. Edward Norton plays the narcissistic, capricious method acting Mike Shiner who steals every scene in which he's present. Cool, utterly egotistical and barren of all logical emotion away from the stage, he moseys arrogantly in to Riggan's production, sweeps in on the his daughter; the vulnerable, quintessentially privileged yet rife with daddy issues, Sam (Emma Stone)and portrays the epitome of what we all imagine a 'massive theatre wanker' looks and acts like. He's fabulous.

It was also enlightening to see Naomi Watts playing her role as Lesley; the budding actor/ Norton's bit on the side, desperate for a break in the acting world which she feels she's earned what with all the shagging around and conveying all the idiosyncrasies and lust for approval you'd expect from an ageing thespian. Her comical back and fourths with Keaton and Norton are profoundly entertaining and taking a back seat in a supporting role gives Watts far more room to have fun, making each of her scenes pop from the screen.

Keaton though, is a revelation. This was the role he was born to play. Forget your Dark Knights and your Beetlejuice's (which subsequently has a sequel on its way!) - he owns this shit! And by shit, I mean behemoth of a performance. The psychological battles he faces with his imaginary ego, the stage productions success/ failure, his ex-wife and loose cannon of a daughter as well as the incredibly vivid exchanges with Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan) who is THE voice of New York's theatre critics scene, are mesmerising. It puts in to perspective just how convoluted, unethical and corrupt the entertainment world might be so candidly, it'll leave you wondering just how much cash may in fact have been exchanged to let Robert Pattinson anywhere near a film set #LOLZ 

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is such an exciting, forward thinking film which tells the story of a man clawing his way back from a land that time forgot. A tale which somewhat resonates the career of Michael Keaton making it all the more believable. Whether it be the fantastically percussion laced interstitial's or the electric performances of the small cast & ensemble; credit must go where its due for the director and the production team who have seamlessly managed to bridge the gap between film, theatre and modern art and in my opinion, it deserves all the nominations under the sun. It's also better than 74% of Marvel's other movies. Fact.

Birdman receives 4/5 Macho Man Randy Savages because it confirms that running through Times Square in your Y-fronts just got cool again...

Time...Incredibly Well Spent.

It was always going to take a rather special movie to bring me out of my 7month slumber. For this, I apologise. A gentleman never tells why he must suddenly swan off somewhere but the trial did take far longer than expected. 
And thus, we have one of January's biggest releases; The Theory of Everything. 
Prof. Steven Hawking is arguably the most prolific scientist of our generation. 
The Darwin of today. Deep Thought incarnate. But also a man who has defied the odds both physically and mentally. Images have always depicted him as a man forever bound to a chair with that iconic computer generated voice. A voice which Prof. Hawking did in fact kindly agree to let Director, James Marsh (Shadow Dancer, Man on Wire) have at his disposal to add a layer of authenticity to proceedings. Not to mention originality, otherwise we would've had to have been subjected to the next best thing which in La La Land means 'voiced by someone of educated stature' like Stephen Fry, which from what we've seen previously a la the revamped Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy in 2005, would have been all kinds of sucky wankpotts.

Eddie Redmayne. What a talent. 
He is incredible as the leading man. To see someone so young portray the deteriorating layers of a man in physical decline over the course of a 2hr film, across 40 odd years was breath-taking. Eddie gives himself entirely to the role without holding anything back at all. Biopics can be very tricky customers, especially if the story is about someone SO famous, that anything other than the real deal is a mere feable attempt at mimicing someone else's actions. I genuinely felt, particularly towards the latter part of the film, that I was watching a documentary...through a wormhole. Of sorts. The world should tip its hat to Redmayne; simply magnificent. 

His relationship with Felicity Jones (Jane Wilde/Hawking) in the movie thrashes your heart-strings about like your sat on a runaway roller coaster. As Stephen's motor-neurone disease continues to take its toll, coming to terms with his illness and remaining strong in the eyes of his peers and family shows such strength, which she portrays brilliantly as the altruistic English rose. Felicity deserves all the accolades on the planet in her own right as she deals with the invasiveness of the media and family pressures so honestly. Everyone in my vicinity just kept crying. That says a lot.


Other characters of worthy mention must go to Charlie Cox (Jonathan Hellyer Jones) who takes on the role of the church quoir leader turned 'other man'. He plays it with a vulnerability, completely non-judgmental in the face of what was a very difficut circumstance at home with the Hawkings, and you grow attached to him hoping that after all the help he offers them, that he would land on his feet. So, he eventually runs off with Stephen's wife. Classic. Harry Lloyd (Brian) also plays the professor's endearingly nitwitish best mate in entertaining fashion, and the great David Thewlis (Dennis Sciama) is the mentor who's playful banter and 'kick up the backside attitude' with Stephen gave insight into how the man behind the history of time, became the witty, ambitious man he is today.

We must also not forget the science bit. The numbers, time, big bang theories, etchings on blackboards of a language which genuinely looks Martian. Its all scripted so well that it appears almost completely understandable, regardless of whether you've seen 
Star Trek before or not. The language used, theories about the universe and the space-time continuum will grab your imagination by the balls and deliver Stephen's notions to you clearly enough to interest even the most simple movie goers. So, don't be afraid luddites.

My knowledge of Stephen and Jane's relationship was utterly amiss before embarking on this adventure into the life and times of the Hawking family. I had no idea they had children. Three children! I was unaware that it was Stephen who found love elsewhere before Jane. Who in their right mind has the audacity to turn down a knighthood from the Queen!?
The Theory of Everything is one of the most captivating, tear-jerking, inspiring films I have seen in recent years and the moment I got home, I was straight on the interweb to purchase my copy of 
his first book. One of his many notions included 'The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities' and if the British Film industry continues to produce amazing stories like the Professor's, we movie lovers are in for one heck of a ride.




PS Stephen's rowing sweater was dope.

The Theory of Everything receives 5/5 Macho Man Randy Savages for making it legit to like the second page of symbols on your smartphone.