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Dealing with fame and dementia with the Birdman

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is Iñárritu’s fifth full-length movie.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) will bring you into the insanity of a has-been

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a dark comedy directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring Michael Keaton in the title role, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts. The film tells the story of a has-been Hollywood actor, Riggan Thomson, who was well-known in his youth for playing the superhero Birdman in a franchise of the same name. The actor attempts to reinvigorate his career by directing and starring in a Broadway play, and struggles to deal with his obsessive quest for relevance as an actor and the seemingly crazy task of directing a play.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is Iñárritu’s fifth full-length movie.

Thomson, fighting to remain relevant in a world that appears to have surpassed him, is almost incapable of understanding the evolution of fame in the 21st century. His predicament is brilliantly explained to him by his daughter/assistant Sam, played by Emma Stone. The former addict angrily explains to her father that his lack of visibility in the evolution of humanity’s methods of social interaction and social media is indicative of his failure to remain pertinent. As the film progresses, Thompson’s character seems to become more complex. The former star not only attempts to remain relevant, he also seeks validation for his past and present work. This is highlighted when he develops split personality disorder and his alter ego, Birdman, becomes a self-aware critic of the washed-up actor’s failures, taunting him with memories of his former glory.

The average viewer might not seem likely to relate to the story, when taken at face value. However, as the film progresses, the story transforms into a thought-provoking commentary on the human condition in the 21st century. How do we explain our quest for “followers” or “likes” on social media accounts? Why do we even have such accounts? Is it perhaps our attempt to be recognized in today’s world? Our attempt to assure ourselves that we exist?

As a film, Birdman is a triumph in the art of storytelling. By placing the storyline in a dingy, small Broadway theatre, the director is successful in capturing the claustrophobic and chaotic nature of Thomson’s universe. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, who snagged the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Gravity (2013), assists in highlighting the character’s struggle with suspension from reality. The film is brilliantly shot in extended sequences, which make it appear as if it consists of one continuous take, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), which was shot in a similar style. That being said, the real inspiration for the way Birdman was shot is undoubtedly derived from Stanley Kubrick’s style, namely in The Shining (1980). This is evident in the numerous tracking sequences and the close-up shots of the actors. However, the absolute indication of the subtle nod to The Shining is the pattern of the carpet in the Brooklyn theatre where the story takes place, identical to the iconic and mesmerizing carpet in Kubrick’s classic horror film.

It is rare for a film to have a near-perfect combination of all its various elements. Under the direction of Iñárritu, the acting, the dialogues, and the cinematography help to create a masterpiece. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is not one to be missed.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) premiered in theatres on Oct. 31.

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Ouija: just another predictable and commical horror movie

If you’re looking for fright or delight, try your luck elsewhere.

On Oct. 31, I drove to the movies, hoping to have a good scary movie to tell you guys about. After all, it was Halloween.

On the opening night of Ouija, directed by Stiles White, there was a grand total of 20 other people sitting around me, devouring their popcorn. I silently hoped that the movie was just underrated, and remained seated… I could not have been more wrong.

The story starts with Debbie, played by a quite dramatic Shelley Hennig, a troubled blonde girl who commits suicide by hanging herself with her twinkle lights. Laine, her childhood best friend, played by an unconvincing Olivia Cooke, desperately desires to say goodbye to her. To do so, she gathers a group of friends to play Ouija, hoping to communicate with her. Instead, the five of them make contact with an evil spirit, who they soon find out caused her best friend’s death.

Of course, like most Hollywood productions, the movie’s visuals strived for perfection. But the great special effects couldn’t always make up for the lack of a better scenario.

Though the idea of the Ouija board sounds interesting—after all, who hasn’t wanted to play with one of those as a kid?—it certainly wasn’t developed to its full potential.

After playing once, the group gets tormented. They all start dying, one by one. One of them gets lifted in the air, and her head slammed on the bathroom sink. Though this was supposed to be dramatic, chuckles filled the room.

The one thing I did like was the idea that the teenagers could be attacked by the entity any time of the day, unlike many scary movies where the antagonist only manifests itself at night. Indeed, they were never safe, which brought a bit of suspense to the scenario.

Still, the moments that were supposed to make you jump in your seat were predictable. There were one too many squeaky doors opening by themselves and loud thumping noises coming from upper levels of a creepy old house.

Overall, it ended up just being cliché. The ending (spoiler alert) is the least surprising of the plot twists, suggesting that the nightmare isn’t over for the two sisters, the lone survivors of the tragedy.

My verdict? This movie brings nothing new to the table. I would suggest spending the $11,50 on something else this week, like a bunch of candies and a good old movie rental.

In need of some inspiration? Check out our list of bad horror movies—you will likely find them to be quite entertaining.

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Arts

Abortion at sea, the story of Women on Waves

Vessel shares the tale of women’s rights activist Dr. Gomberts helping all around the world

How can the obvious become disputable? How can a basic human right for a Dutch woman become an assault course for thousands of other women around the world? Vessel tells such a story and the fight of Dr. Rebecca Gomperts.

Diana Whitten’s documentary movie follows the trials and tribulations of Women on Waves, a Dutch organization led by Gomperts. This organization takes advantage of international marine law to provide legal and safe abortions to women who live in countries where abortion is illegal.

Winner of the South by Southwest Film Festival’s Special Jury Recognition for Political Courage award for documentary, Whitten made a portrait from inside of the 15-year history of the organization. Using her own camera as well as footage filmed by previous aspiring documentarians who boarded Gomperts’ ship, Whitten succeeds at bringing us into the depths of the vessel. It also presents intelligibly to the audience Women on Web, the organization that was created to share informations about safe abortion around the world.

“If men could get pregnant, there wouldn’t be abortion laws,” said Gomperts to The Times last week. The doctor keeps promoting and developing the underground network of emboldened, informed activists, working at the radical cutting edge of global reproductive rights, who trust women to handle abortion themselves. Polish activist Kinga Jelinska mentions at the end of the movie that Women on Waves has received an increasing number of inquiries from the United States in recent years.

Even if animated sequences with medical and statistical details provide valuable context, some detractors may find that the subject would need a more distanced approach. But if you want to change people’s minds, you need to bring them inside the reality.

That is one goal of documentary cinema: to show a reality. Vessel does exactly that, even it it means not being objective. Vessel is the reality of activism, with its successes and defeats.

This documentary movie is a must-see for anyone interested in human rights or activism. It keeps reminding us how a right is never totally gained and must always be fought for to assure its preservation.

Vessel premieres in Quebec as part of Cinema Politica Concordia on Monday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve W. The movie is co-presented with Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances and the Concordia Centre for Gender Advocacy. The director will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

For more information, visit cinemapolitica.org.

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A look into a strange and broken mind

Concordia graduate’s metaphysical short movie will make you wonder what is going on

Kickstarter has been a massive help to independent filmmakers worldwide. The funding platform, designed to connect entrepreneurs to a potential clientele, has brought crowdfunding to its full potential. Got an original vision, massive willpower and force of conviction? Then head over to the website and try your luck. That worked out pretty well for Colin L. Racicot, a Concordia graduate who has been able to finance Beauty, his fifth short-length film.

Racicot is the director, writer, co-producer and editor of the 24-minute mystery story, which will start playing at international festivals later this month. The story is a bit too abstract or “metaphysical,” as the director put it, to describe. An emotionally distant bourgeois man starts to obsess over strange visions after visiting a secret floor at his workplace. His married and professional life are then deeply affected by this change.

Racicot cited science-fiction directors, such as Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan, as his inspiration, and visually it shows. The editing is elaborate throughout, especially in the opening credits sequence. The colour palette, composed of mostly metallics, dark blue and orange, gives the film a mysterious and increasingly claustrophobic aura. Many shots of buildings and glass structures are narratively irrelevant, but stylistically vital.

Is Beauty worth your time? Maybe. A lot of it comes down to personal taste, and while Racicot should be lauded for his qualities as an editor and stylist, his film is decidedly uneven.

It would have benefitted from a sense of place. Montrealers will recognize that Beauty is set in their city, yet it is never used as an asset. 2006’s Paris, je t’aime featured several stories with themes comparable to Beauty, and the use of the city elevated the stories immensely. Perhaps Racicot’s intention was to have his story set inside the main character’s mind, therefore excluding all possible distraction, but that is somewhat ungenerous towards the viewer.

Daniel Brochu, a voice-actor known for his role as Buster Baxter in the Arthur cartoon series, plays the main character in an intense way that is not echoed by his two co-stars. This contributes to the feeling of emotional isolation, but also lessens the viewer’s connection with the character. The dinner scene that opens the film is tonally out of place and several other scenes unnecessarily stretch the running time.

The conclusion of the film feels calculated, breaking the spontaneity that preceded it. After 20 minutes of uncertainty and mystery, it suddenly loses its special touch and becomes just another one of “that kind of movie.” Which is not to say that Beauty is entirely without interest. Like a cold metal surface, it is smooth to the touch, but ultimately distancing. There are many images of broken glass, but never any blood. That’s what Beauty ultimately lacks: a sign of life.

For more information on Beauty, visit cinesthetique.ca.

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ARTiculate: An Unexpected Journey not a Phantom Menace

Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Press photo.
Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Press photo.

The undisputed blockbuster this past holiday season was the highly anticipated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first part in Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy based off the book by the same name written by J. R. R. Tolkien.

While the film has merited an enormous box office success, (over $21 million so far), the film has met with a decidedly mixed reaction from professional critics. Scoring a mere 65 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and an even lower 58 per cent on Metacritic, The Hobbit finds itself in similar company to another trilogy-first of this generation, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. According to the current opinion held by many critics, Peter Jackson is poised to repeat George Lucas’ controversial exercise in storytelling, yet according to the movie-going public, this is not the case.

The Rotten Tomatoes summary, which is based on all of its critical reviews, summarizes The Hobbit as, “an earnest, visually resplendent trip, but the film’s deliberate pace robs the material of some of its majesty.”

The Phantom Menace fared equally bad in its summary: “Lucas needs to improve on the plot and character development, but there’s plenty of eye candy to behold,” read the review. Both reviews stress the films’ visual prowess but emphasize problems in the script. While The Hobbit may have a deliberate pace, is this a fair criticism? While it does render an experience significantly different from its source material, The Hobbit is a far more competently made film and stands well on its own merits.

There are several key areas where An Unexpected Journey and The Phantom Menace vary greatly. The essential difference, however, is in the strength of characters. In The Hobbit, Bilbo follows a clear path of character growth throughout and serves, as an outsider, to introduce the audience to the world of Middle-earth. There is no clear protagonist in The Phantom Menace, that burden is split four ways between the characters of Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala and none of them serve as a conduit to introduce the audience to George Lucas’ fantastical Star Wars world. This cripples the storytelling capabilities of The Phantom Menace to the point that you could start at Episode II without missing anything of real relevance to the trilogy’s plot. The Hobbit serves as the first part of a trilogy whereas The Phantom Menace comes off as the most expensive prologue ever made.

Much of the film’s criticisms centre on scenes that have little impact on the current film and were not present in the source material (The White Council, Radagast the Brown, Azog the Defiler). There is an entire subplot present in The Hobbit film trilogy which did not exist in the book. This may anger some book enthusiasts but really, it is hard to judge a beginning without knowing the middle and the end.

While critics are currently judging Jackson’s Hobbit harshly, fan support has been present. The Hobbit ranks far higher with user reviews on both Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes as well as enjoying an 8.4 on IMDB. This differs greatly from fan reaction to The Phantom Menace. Proof that Peter Jackson may yet be doing more good than given credit for. As Gandalf states at the beginning of The Hobbit, “every good story deserves some embellishment.”

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The Saga finishes with flying colours

Breaking Dawn is the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga
Breaking Dawn is the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer’s popular Twilight Saga.

Becoming a vampire has never seemed more appealing before Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga.

Beginning just as the last film ended, Bella Swan’s piercing red eyes were filled with a newfound hunger and lust for life. Dying after giving birth to her half vampire, half mortal daughter, Renesmee, Bella was resurrected with such grace, never looking so beautiful, never feeling so strong and never doubting the promise of forever with her beloved.

Since 2005, readers and fans of Meyer’s characters have fallen in love with Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) humility and have become infatuated by the men in her life, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Inspired by a dream, Meyer created a fictional world that has become a pop-culture phenomenon. After seven years of patience and with the help of director Bill Condon, the last chapter finally hit theatres.

With the awakening of a new vampire and the birth of a miracle child of two worlds, Breaking Dawn Part II is the beginning of a new era for the Cullens, the Quileute wolf pack and all vampires.

When the Volturi, the royal vampire elitists, hear false allegations of a child with mystical powers of a vampire they assume she is an immortal infant, bitten by the Cullens who broke the law of creating a child vampire. When Alice (Ashley Greene) foresees the attack of the Volturi the Cullens seek out foreign friends to witness Renesmee’s (Mackenzie Foy) uniqueness of being conceived by a vampire father and a human mother.

As wonderful as it is to watch literary characters come to life as we imagined them, the films can sometimes be a disappointment to devoted readers. Surprisingly, although the first four films of The Twilight Saga were nothing more than ordinary, the cinematographic version of the last 19 chapters of Breaking Dawn was brilliant and thrilling, enhancing the story with warfare. Although the war never occurs in the book, Condon and screenplay writer Melissa Rosenberg went beyond what was expected and featured an extraordinary battle scene as one of Alice’s premonitions, shocking even the most loyal readers. The spilled blood, jaw-dropping dreadful deaths and overwhelming anticipation are exactly what were needed to end the saga with a sense of satisfaction.

While new characters added an element of humour and mystique, the original cast matured with the films, fully embodying their literary characters. Compared to her pitiful performance in Twilight, where lip biting became her signature nervous tick, Stewart finally understood the balance between humility and courage in Bella and played the role exceptionally well.

Aside from the unnecessary shirtless scene of Jacob, added merely for the young ladies in the theatre, the film was a fantastic and well thought-out production of Meyer’s book. Beautifully shot in the wilderness of Vancouver, Canada, the visuals were just as captivating as the infamous love story.

While some may argue that such a film should be critiqued as simply a movie, I believe the books should be taken into consideration. These series, whether it be Twilight or Harry Potter, are brought to life for the readers who follow the story and grow with the characters. For the first time, I can truly say that I enjoyed the film more so than the book. Although I may have entered the theatre with skepticism I left entertained and with a sense of relief of watching a film worthy of its literary form.

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Lincoln will make you laugh and cry

Press photo for Steven Spielberg’s biographical film, Lincoln
Press photo for Steven Spielberg’s biographical film, Lincoln

From the looks of it, there’s an Abraham Lincoln craze going on. Six months ago, Timur Bekmambetov and Tim Burton brought us Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; a horror and action film based on the novel of the same name. In this take on the Abraham Lincoln story, the narrator supposedly possesses a secret diary detailing Honest Abe’s life as if he were a male, top-hat wearing version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

While the probability of Lincoln fighting the undead can be put up for debate, Steven Spielberg’s biographical film, Lincoln, is based on historical accounts of the president’s fight for equality and the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation that would officially abolish slavery.

This historical drama follows Lincoln (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) in his final sprint to pull together the votes he needs to abolish slavery and end the war, while dealing with a less-than-perfect home life.

His wife, Mary (played by Sally Field), is still grief stricken over the premature death of their son, William and is plagued by incurable headaches. Lincoln’s beloved eldest son, Robert (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) defies both his parents’ wishes when he decides to join the war, causing further grief to both his parents. At one point, Mary lashes out at Lincoln, blaming him for her unconsoled grievance and accusing him of only remaining with her because of Robert.

Meanwhile, Lincoln is endlessly encouraging his men to scrounge up the last 20 votes needed to pass the 13th amendment to the constitution, while both the Democrats and his own Republican party try to convince him that it’s pointless. There is a very visible strain on Lincoln as he juggles war, politics and home-life while trying to keep himself, his party and his people optimistic.

Cinematography-wise, the use of natural lighting, having the actors lit by light coming in from windows and lamps, while harsh in some situations and dark in others, plays well to the mood of the era and film. The high contrast created also adds a certain artistic flair, sharpening expressions and adding grit.

There are also several beautiful scenes in which not a single word is said. One such scene is of Lincoln and his youngest son Tad, where the camera work says more than words ever could about Lincoln being and having the time to be a caring father-figure as well as a powerful political leader. Near the beginning of the film, Lincoln finds Tad asleep in front of the fireplace and lays down next to him to wake him and carry him to bed. A heartwarming scene that shows the man as not only a dedicated leader but also a caring parent.

The story follows not only Lincoln in his day-to-day work of meeting with fellow politicians, meeting with soldiers, giving speeches, working in war-rooms, but it also follows his men at work in the field, debating and watching debates in the House and sometimes just discussing the possibilities of the future amongst themselves. In reality, there were a lot of people involved in the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation, meaning there are a lot of characters to follow in the film, which may play into why the movie was so very long.

There is quite a bit of monologues and political dialogue, but it is well balanced with, believe it or not, humour, such as the old-school political mud-slinging and slander in the House between the Republicans and Democrats, which makes for good comedy.

Day-Lewis expertly goes from laid-back Lincoln to motivational-presidential-speech Lincoln to Stuart-McLean-this-reminds-me-of-a-story-Lincoln in nothing flat. The latter often giving Lincoln’s men, and the audience, a good laugh.

That being said, viewers may find the film a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, going from serious to humorous to sad several times throughout the film.

Despite the two and a half hour length and the inevitable, tragic ending, Lincoln is a blockbuster. The acting is captivating, the camera work is fantastic and the mix of Lincoln’s light-hearted quirky stories and the seriousness of the subject matter is just enough to keep the historical biography from being dry.

Watch the trailer for Lincoln:

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