COBAIN: MONTAGE OF A HECK

(HBO Documentary Films)
Directed by: Brett Morgen
Running time: 132 minutes

Cobain, the flawed prophet of the 90s everybody adores. His music has become leitmotiv of the 90s, but him as a person is deeply flawed. We all know his heroin addiction and suicidal tendencies. It took almost quarter century to have a decent documentary about Cobain to finally materialize.

This is not your usual documentary filled with boring interviews and archives, this is the most intimate documentary about Kurt Cobain's life. It makes you feel as if you are inside his house. From the cradle and to his end. The mash up of videos and art inspired and from the works of Kurt Cobain is good.

Together with the music, this remind me as Nirvana was at their heights. At that time everybody know Nirvana. Now a generation later, the youth get to know (again) who Cobain is. His drug abuse, his self loathing and suicidal tendencies with stories from people around him gives a better picture on who he really is. The ascent of fame hurts him. The talented but tortured kid of a broken home got his epiphany in punk and music.

The arc of Cobain’s life is drawn:  hypersensitive, talented child of a broken home, who screams his pain into drawings and notebooks. The discovery of punk was like a religious epiphany. This is a time capsule as memento from the 90s generation. Remember it was 25 years ago, not 10 years ago. If you knew Nirvana at their heights, you are old.

BIRDMAN

http://welldoing.org/

Starring:  Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts
Directed by: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Duration: 119 min

Actors, who are they? Just a bunch of self centered people getting overly paid for being douche bag? Innaritu's Birdman depicts actors in an unusual way, sometimes flattering, sometimes deprecating. Michael Keaton is Riggan Thompson, a has been actor who struggles to keep existing by acting in a Broadway production. He act in a theatrical production seems only suitable for white people viewers in the 1950s.

With many seamless one take shot, Innaritu tells the story of the aging actor as if it is a magical realism novels. We see Riggan during his prime as one superhero called Birdman. We know that Riggan cannot fly but with an amazing trick, the audience will be awed not only by the optical trick, but also by the dialogue.

Technically this film is emotional, intimate and a bittersweet satire on how one person struggle to keep existing in this mad world that keeps changing. Riggan's bantering with his daughter shows that there is a huge generation gap and understanding how the world works.

Unlike Babel and Biutiful, this one is a bit funny and light. One can argue that the one take shot is a gimmick but the story is also good. Keaton himself is good as Riggan Thompson, at certain moments he seemed to be himself, an ex Batman actor who seems to be just another has been in the world of Niki Minaj and Emma Stone.

The meta script is beautiful, somehow it sounded like "problems only East Coast theater actors" only felt. But actually, as an actor or not, we all struggle to keep our existence on earth. Fame and prestige is seducing and one cannot be blamed to keep themselves in the spotlight although they might not be relevant anymore.