One of the best movies of this year is expected to be Birdman, starring Michael Keaton. The movie got Keaton his very first nomination at the Oscars and that says a lot for an actor that has been in the business a very long time. If you are wondering why you never hear or read anything about Keaton, it is because he keeps all of that very well guarded. That is, until now. He has been thrown back into the spotlight and even opened up a little bit about the movie during the Golden Globes.
Keaton is likely to get to address a huge crowd again as the Oscars grow closer, he is a favorite to win Best Actor for the movie Birdman. Of course, the crowd in that category is typically top notch and this year includes Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell and Eddie Redmayne for their respective movies. The Birdman movie was also nominated for Best Picture, which is also a great feat to win.
Other movies in the same category include American Sniper, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash. Michael Keaton has been labeled the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Actor since “Birdman” hit the world premier stage at the Venice Film Festival. Those that saw the film right away wanted to know if it was considered a dark comedy or what and that launched a wide ranging debate online.
The movie is clearly the comeback story for Keaton, who is 63-years old now, but has never really disappeared from the acting world. The director of Birdman, Alejandro Inarritu wasnted to communicate the struggle that a celebrity might go through with his own ego. That might seem like a tough thing to put into film, but the director was going to do it with long, uncut scenes that seem to mimic how we see real life as it happens.
Inarritu says that, “we open our eyes and go with a Steadicam all day and we can’t escape.” There are no edits in real life as he puts it and real life events and memories only “move in one direction”. The movie brings you inside of the characters perspective in that way and tells a very creative story. Online reviews of the movie claim that it seems that it is one continuous shot that is not edited to tell the story. Keaton is joined by Emma Stone and Edward Norton just to name a couple of the other recognizable stars.