Facts are difficult to remember. Cold hard facts are something we as people are not supposed to remember. In evolution terms, how does remembering a batting average or state capital actually help a person survive as an individual or as a species? Not much, yet we are able to contain so much data inside our personal hard drive. We fill our heads with facts, but the coding behind them is the same coding behind why you cry or why you laugh: emotion.
When asked, "remember something" with no context is extremely difficult. Try it. Harder than you thought, isn't it? Under the right setting with a few details you are able to visit a part of your mind with ease. Somehow all of your surroundings caused you to feel an emotion which then let loose that memory.
A good movie is a movie that entertains you. On the one hand there are movies that distract. These movies provide a service. These movies cause you to forget your surrounding, and there is no problem with that. They may not be "intellectual", but they are fun. Fun is a good thing.
On the other hand there are movies that will aid in remembering an emotion. It could be an emotion which makes you laugh or cry or fear or just feel unsettled. I am neither a wordsmith nor a poet, and I will not pretend to hit on the depth that a movie hits me, but sometimes you just feel something. After the movie plot has left your mind, the feeling you got from watching that movie still is remembered. That is what makes a good movie great.
I had been looking forward to Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) since I first learned of its making, and it did not disappoint. Michael Keaton was great, and just like his character in the movie, Ed Norton tried to steal the show. The brilliance behind the single shot camera did not distort; rather, it smoothed the action. For a movie that may be described as a "black comedy", I found myself laughing out loud.
In the end though, this movie made me feel something. It did not hit right away. Minutes after walking out the theater and stepping onto the subway platform I felt the emotion of the movie. Maybe someday we will all be fortunate (without the aid of a tool) to have that moment of clarity where we will be able to just get up an fly away because flying is what we were meant to do.
Was this movie a parable, an imitation of life, or a satire? Maybe it was all of those.
Grade: A- ... go see it.
-@CowGoesMovie
PS
On a scheduling, here is how the rest of the week will look:
-Thursday: An explanation of my grading system
-Friday: Another movie review (one that was supposed to be meant for today)
-Saturday: A discussion question
-Sunday: Miscellaneous housekeeping
-Monday: A look back in film history
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