Episode 35 - Birdman

As Raymond Carver once said, "I hate tricks. At the first sign of
a trick or gimmick in a piece of fiction, a cheap trick or even
an elaborate trick, I tend to look for cover." Carver would be
diving for cover lickety-split upon viewing the 2014 Best Picture
winner, "Birdman," with its overabundance of third-rate
tricks and pretentious gimmicks, such as including an
intentionally bad stage adaptation of one of Carver's short
stories, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love."


The primary trick is that the director, Alejandro González
Iñárritu, employs is to give the viewer the impression that they
are watching a movie that was filmed in one shot. While this
sounds like an interesting approach on paper, it quickly becomes
apparent that the choice was done out of a desire to show
off rather than to effectively tell the story.


The primary gimmick is that the plot of the movie revolves around
an actor who was a major box office star in the early 90s known
for playing a famous superhero and they cast Michael Keaton, an
actor who was a major box office star in the early 90s known for
playing a famous superhero, to play the role. Get it, isn't
Iñárritu clever?


Emma Stone plays an angry post-rehab emo chick with daddy issues.
Her performance is rife with her trademark overacting and
sarcastic attitude.


Edward Norton plays a difficult to work with broadway darling who
proclaims that the only time he is truly honest is while he is on
stage.


Zach Galifianakis plays the awkward semi-effeminate oddball
character that he plays in every other movie.


The film also tries to fool the critics and audience into
thinking that it has a deeper meaning by injecting excessive
amounts of inside Broadway and Hollywood references.


Join us as we ruffle up our feathers and squawk out our disdain
for the pure uncut Oscar bait that is this movie.


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This episode is sponsored by Stealth Hover 2000.


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