Birdman (2014)

With its long takes and non-stop dialogue, Birdman takes inspiration from Mike Nichols and The Player. There’s some really clever editing and some fancy camera movements in there, but Iñárritu takes it all one step further with an eccentric story and eccentric characters and an eccentric star. Some might give Iñárritu credit for wanting to try something different, but it’s all just a little too weird for me. That obnoxious jazz drum was the perfect, weird touch.

Keaton has a weird, nervous energy about him, which I guess makes him perfect for this. Norton is impressive. But their performances are drowned out by all the weirdness.

And then there are all the weird meta references to Batman. Keaton, a former Batman star, plays a movie star who claims he was last relevant in 1992. His costume looks vaguely like Batman. The voice in his head sounds a lot like the deep, gruff voice of Batman. And he even makes a Clooney reference. All of this must be intentional. But also weird.