294 – Birdman (2014)

Well my survey of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s directorial oeuvre stalled out around the halfway point. That would be a more impressive statement if his filmography up to this point had not been solely four films. I just ran out of time to watch Babel and Biutiful before González Iñárritu’s newest film, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), was released, but from what I have seen, I am (perhaps prematurely) prepared to declare him a pretentious filmmaker with a very strong eye for the technical aspect of cinema. Birdman has finally roosted in the cultural consciousness, and it is time to determine whether the film represents the hatching of a new era for the auteur; a “molting,” if you will.

124 – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

When The Amazing Spider-Man was released in 2012, many cried foul the fact that it had only been 5 years since the last Raimi/Maguire. It was too soon, people said. Regardless, that uneven movie managed to entertain, mostly based on the performances by Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Peter’s first true love from the comics. I remember thinking that the movie was rough (possibly due to last-minute edits that excised a lot of backstory), but that it ended with a lot of potential for the future. Sony clearly agrees, hoping to build an entire Avengers-esque mega-franchise around the character. Does The Amazing Spider-Man 2 deliver on the promise that the studio has (and more importantly, that I have) built up for it?