Birdman.

If there is someone out there that has seen this film and fully understands it then could they please post an explanation as a comment and I will then update the review? I could Wikipedia it and I will but I would also like an explanation from someone that has actually watched the entire thing as well.

Michael Keaton (Batman, Batman Returns) takes the lead as a once famous Hollywood actor who was famous for playing the superhero Birdman. He is struggling to adapt and to continue with his life as he has got older and is slowly being forgotten about. In a similar way to the 'Green Goblin' in Spider-man he spends a lot of his time talking to the 'Bidman', showing many signs of being delusional and even at one point flies (although that may be in his imagination) after standing on the edge of a high building and someone trying to stop him from killing himself. It was his show- he directed it and starred in it but as his cast pointed out to him, that doesn't mean that he can just change things during performance.

The film seems to be set around a couple of characters in a show, performing on stage every night or so. Throughout the film it is hard to know what is real and what is only being performed on stage. Ed Norton spends a lot of time swearing and also seems to have no real control over his life- especially once his girlfriend breaks up with him, kicks him out and then kisses another female member of the cast.
Emma Stone (Easy A) is playing the role of his daughter (I think) and she is fantastic. She was a surprise. I have not seen her in a film since watching 'Easy A' and it wasn't a stand out performance from her but this performance was a lot better. Birdman won 4 academy awards, a film that wins that many awards needs to be good at everything and it was. The cast were fantastic. Alongside Stone was Naomi Watts and she was as good as I have ever seen her.

A heavy use of drums in the soundtrack made me at first feel like I had put in 'Ten Things I Hate About You' or 'Whiplash' but no, I was actually watching 'Birdman'. From the moment the film starts- the opening credits even, you know that you are watching something different, something special, something that no other film has brought to the world of film and creativity. There's a slight buzz of excitement even before Michael Keaton appears and that is what we want from any film. At the end I wasn't quite sure if I had understood everything but that didn't matter with this film.