Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Alejandro Gonalez Inarritu- Take a bow!

Click for"Birdman HD Trailer"

Riggan Thomson,played by Michael Keaton,is a former cinema superhero(any resemblance to Keaton himself is purely uncoincidental)  who is desperately trying to move on and struggling to pull off his very own Broadway production.When a cast member is injured,Riggan gets hold of Mike Shiner(Edward Norton),an actor who is capable of selling tickets but is painfully hard to deal with as a colleague(any resemblance to Norton himself is purely uncoincidental).That's the premise.Now let's talk about why the movie works.

First of all,and you've probably heard this already,but...remember that one scene in Goodfellas where the camera follows that guy all the way into the restaurant and it's one long continuous shot?It looked pretty cool,didn't it?This whole freaking movie is one continuous long shot!Or at least that's how it seems.I swear,watching this movie was an exhilarating experience.It just wont let you catch your breath.Not in the sense that it's very fast-paced,but just the idea of not having jump cuts or scene transitions and instead following the characters throughout the movie is brilliant.And,it's been executed with painstaking perfection.The camera isn't that shaky and the film doesn't look unprofessional or like a found footage movie.Well done,Mr.Alejandro.

Former Bruce Wayne and Bruce Banner having it out.

Micheal Keaton delivers a brilliant performance.It was good to see Zach Galifianakis do stuff like this.He was pretty convincing.Emma Stone does a good job at playing the 'recently-out-of-rehab-daughter' with one particular monologue which was highly impressive.But Edward Norton,for me,was the best of the lot.Right from his first scene,I was hooked on how he played this character which could easily have been overdone.

I have to give the screenwriters credit for making bold and thought provoking remarks about the superhero movie culture,cynical critics,popularity,social media and phony Hollywood 'celebrities'.

And the ending.Man,oh man,the ending!There was actually a scene where I thought the movie was over and I was kind of satisfied with it.But,then the movie went on for a while,and then another, and ended,not in a proper,predictable fashion,but on a feeling.The ending doesn't tie up all the loose ends.It ends on a feeling(if that makes sense).You''ll be thinking about the movie(especially the ending) for quite a while.You''ll be talking about it with your friends and you''ll want to re-watch it for sure.It's just so easy on the eyes and the dialogue and performances make it even better.

It's kind of obvious.but I''ll say it anyway: Go watch this movie.Trust me,you will not regret it.

So have you seen this movie?What did you think about it?What movie should I review next?Comment below.

The Grand Budapest Hotel Movie Review

The Grand Budapest Hotel narrates the adventure Gustave H,the concierge of the hotel, and his lobby boy,Zero embark upon after one his frequent guests leaves him with her most valuable possession.

I genuinely avoid reviewing comedy movies,but I could not not-talk about this film because, this movie is not just a comedy film.It's Wes Anderson's visual spectacle.

Yes.These are all scenes from one movie!

Truly,it's more or less perfect,visually.The set designs are amusing,to say the least, and the cinematography is top-notch.There's a chasing scene in the museum and a certain prison scene that I found very impressive.In fact,they're my favourite of the entire movie.

Like I said,it isn't an ordinary comedy.The jokes are not 'obvious,in your face laugh-out-loud funny'.No, it's way more subtle and unpredictable.Anderson plants jokes where we'd least expect them.But,this movie isn't actually aiming to make you giggle.It's trying to make you believe a story so absurd that you subconsciously  enter this imaginary world and enjoy the rest of the movie.And it works!It's set up in the fictional "Republic of Zubrowka" and it's not hard to accept that the characters go through such an unbelievable series of events.

The movie certainly gives off a strong Wes Anderson vibe.It's fast-paced,with blink-and-you'll miss it moments of wittiness; characters that,on paper, aren't supposed to work but you end up liking them anyway and a few unexpected turn of events.

The Grand Budapest Hotel soundtrack might not be as variant as some of Wes' other movie soundtracks, but it is a good soundtrack none the less,with a lot of energy to the rhythm.

 Click to watch the official trailer.  

Lastly,the cast.Well,I could go on about the list of actors in this movie.Ralph Fiennes is the lead actor and does a really good job with his rapid delivery and witty remarks on pretty much everything they encounter.The supporting actor,Anthony Quinonez was decent.I really liked the characters played by Jeff Goldblum and William Dafoe.The latter,I feel, had the hardest job of bringing to screen an absolutely out of place character and make him believable.Kudos,Mr.Dafoe!Other notable artists include Bill Murray,Adrien Brody,Tilda Swinton,Edward Norton,Harvey Kietel and many more.

So if you're looking for a couple of laughs at silly slapstick comedy,this movie MIGHT not be for you.However,if you appreciate an engaging story about characters that aren't hard to like and want a unique,colorful cinematic experience along with it;this is the one.Overall,The Grand Budapest Hotel is a highly entertaining and likeable movie with just the right amount of humour and surprises.

Have you seen this movie?What did you think about it?What movie should I review next?Comment below.       

Get On Up. The funk don't quit.

Get On Up is the dramatical/musical/biographical film depicting the life of The Godfather of Soul. James Brown. It tells us the story of how 'Little Junior' was born in poverty,abandoned by family but still managed to make it to the top.And in some style as well.

Get up offa that thing.Dance till you feel better.

The movie was pretty entertaining but I did have a few problems with the story structure.For instance, the flashbacks.The flashbacks seemed like a good idea to tell us about his past but it broke the continuity of the film quite a few times.I felt like the narrative of the story could have been improved.

But you cannot,you just cannot ignore the fact that Chadwick Boseman nails it as James Brown.He really loses himself in this role and... becomes James Brown.He gets everything right.The smile,the body language,the voice,the energy.Everything!In fact,some would argue that it was as good as(or better than) Jamie Foxx's Oscar winning performance in Ray.I won't be surprised if he gets an Oscar nod as well.(Update:Considering the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal wasn't even nominated for his work in Nightcrawler,this little failed prdiction doen't bother me.)

The music in the movie is, as you'd expect,spot on.Set designs,make up,costumes are impressive as well.The T.A.M.I. show performance where The Rolling Stones were asked to finish instead of him was well shot(and brilliantly performed by Chadwick). The movie just lacks depth in the storyline and the characters.There is tension between James and his companions but that's about it.I mean,it's James Brown.They could've done a better job.The movie does show his hardships but it still feels incomplete,none the less.The 'reunion with his mother' scene was not handled very well and did not make that much of an impact on me.The wrong things he did(like terrifying people with shotguns) were brushed past as if they were insignificant incidents. In that sense,the movie isn't purely true in it's attempt at portraying James' life.

If you're a big James Brown fan,you ought to see this.Or,if you're a Marvel fan and are confused about Chadwick's casting as Black Panther,watch this movie.You"ll be convinced that it was a wise decision.Or, if you're just looking for a movie that"ll keep you entertained for 135 minutes,this should do fine.Just don't expect to be 'moved' by this movie or anything.

Click here to watch trailer.

So have you seen this movie?What did you think about it?What movie should I review next?Comment below.