Birdman‘s full title is Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) but it should probably be called Birdman or (How a Movie Can Have Great Elements and Still Not Work). That’s probably the best way to describe the movie which admittedly has some amazing elements that can’t be denied. It certainly has a startling vision from director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, wonderful cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki, one of the best sound mixes I’ve ever heard and some delightful performances and yet…I left the movie feeling unwhelmed and detached. This isn’t to say that a movie has to be crowd pleasing or warm, but I felt the movie kept me at a distance and didn’t let me fully embrace the spikes and dementedness.
There are movies that manage to touch upon current issues and then there are films that speak to you, as an audience member, and your life experiences. Luckily, for me, Dear White People managed to be both of those films, and extremely successful at that. While Justin Simien does encounter some minor stumbles, in his capable hands Dear White People is a perfect film for today’s generation.
Dear White People, a new film produced by LMU alumna Effie Brown (Film and Television – B.A. ’93), opens in theaters October 17. Winner of the 2014 Special Jury Prize at Sundance and Best Picture at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Dear White People has been called “a button-pushing word-of-mouth dynamo” (The Wall Street Journal), “a smart hilarious satire