New York Film Fest To Close with Michael Keaton-Starring ‘Birdman’
“Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ingnorance),” directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, has been selected as the Closing Night screening of the upcoming New York Film Festival, announced the Film Society of Lincoln Center today. This comes in addition to previous announcements that the festival will open with the premiere of David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” and feature Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” as its centerpiece.
READ MORE: P.T. Anderson’s ‘Inherent Vice’ will have World Premiere at New York Film Festival
“Birdman” appropriately stars Michael Keaton as a once-famous actor known for playing the eponymous superhero, and who copes with his unwelcome fall from popularity while trying to resurrect the character on stage.
“‘Birdman’ is a knockout,” said festival director Kent Jones. “It’s consistently surprising and inventive — you think the movie is going in one direction and then Iñárritu shifts gears and takes you somewhere else completely unexpected: the movie is like an intricate machine generating greater and greater amounts of beautiful radiant energy. The entire cast is amazing and they mesh perfectly, but I have to say that Michael Keaton is astonishing. He’s always been a terrific and, in my opinion, underrated actor. Here he gets the role he deserves, and he makes the most of it. And, it’s a great Broadway movie.”
READ MORE: David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’ is Set to Open New York Film Festival
The always reliable Iñárritu, the man behind “Babel” and “Amores Perros,” directed the picture, which stars Emma Stone, Ed Norton, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianikis alongside Keaton.
The New York Film Festival will span 17 days this October. Tickets for the festival will go on sale September 7 to the general public and on July 31 to Film Society members. Fox Searchlight and Regency produced “Birdman.”
