Birdman

Riggan Thompson used to rule the film industry as Birdman but since then has done little of note. Now he is trying to rekindle his acting career by adapting a Raymond Carver play to Broadway.  The movie chronicles this process through dress rehearsals and opening night. The acting is top notch with Michael Keaton and Edward Norton grabbing most of the limelight. Alejandro González Iñárritu has used a technique that makes it seem the film is one long shot. The end result is akin to playing a first person shoot out except that the film is a drama. The dialogues flow ceaselessly giving not a moment of stillness in the movie. At the end you are left a little nauseous thanks to the roving camera and cranky due to the noisy screenplay!

Rating: * +

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Biutiful

Only an Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Javier Barden combination can use a beautiful city like Barcelona as the canvas to tell a story of abject poverty and dying hope. Nothing from the very outset prepares the viewer for anything but darkness and in an intense manner plots the story of Uxbal. His broken family, his African goons, the Chinese labour racket he is part of and his own mortality. Whilst the detail & reality in the story telling is well crafted and top notch, there is something amiss. And I still can't seem to put a finger on it. Its the spontaniety in the story telling possibly.


Rating: * * +

Babel

The story of a gun, a bullet and the far reaching effects of a single shot. The shot not only wounds its victim but its splinters go far across continents with unnerving accuracy. From the director of Amores Perros, Alejandro González Iñárritu, this flick leaves you stunned yet in a strange kind of bliss in spite of its starkly realistic nature.
There are scenes from the movie where you find it hard to believe the people in it are actors. Superb acting all around.

Rating: * * *