Birdman

Unfortunately, the “hype” of this movie sabotaged it for me. I had so many people tell me how cool and wonderful it was. I had so many friends appalled that I hadn’t seen it yet. When I finally saw it, I was annoyed the whole time. It doesn’t help that I’ve never been a fan of Iñárritu. 21 Grams, Babel, and Biutiful were all style and histrionics, and felt inauthentic. Birdman feels like its trying way too hard to be cool; to be meta. Everything feels affected, precious, and forced. Yes, there are a couple of laughs, but they tend to get smothered by the inside-jokes and jerkoffiness of it all. The filmmakers seem so pleased with themselves, sticking it to the critics. I was not impressed or entertained.