Ominous, awash in blue, and unexpectedly epic-looking, Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s upcoming Birdman has an heir of something special from the looks of its first trailer. With a star-studded cast lead by Michael Keaton, Birdman follows a washed-up actor (Keaton), known for playing the titular superhero, who launches an attempted career comeback with a Broadway play. From the looks of this trailer Keaton butts heads with his Broadway co-star (played by Edward Norton) and causes a very concerned-looking Zach Galifianakis stress. Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, and Amy Ryan also star in the film shot by recent Oscar-winner Emmanuel Lubezki, who is responsible for the beautifully orchestrated long-takes on display in the trailer. Lubezki fans will remember his gripping long-take cinematography from 2006’s Children of Men.

Birdman is set for its domestic release on October 17th of this year, watch Michael Keaton walk through Times Square in his tightey whiteys set to a remix of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” in the trailer below:

Watch trailer for Birdman

First reported by The Wrap, Richard Linklater has been tabbed for his next film, an adaptation of the controversial novel Larry’s Kidney. The book recounts the bizarre story of a man who travels with his black sheep cousin to China for an illegal kidney transplant. Larry’s Kidney has also found its two stars in Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, with Ferrell in the lead role and Galifianakis suitably as the f-up cousin.

This deems a return to mainstream filmmaking for Linklater, who hasn’t had a major release since Bad News Bears in 2005. Linklater has rebounded from minor disappointments with a terrific run of critically beloved Bernie, Before Midnight, and the upcoming Boyhood.

Linklater is now tasked with redefining the careers of Ferrell and Galifianakis. Though both are big stars in mainstream comedies, their careers have become wrapped in sequels and material that hasn’t taken them out of their wheelhouses. Linklater is notable for his work with similar mainstream comedian Jack Black, who has given his best work with the filmmaker. Though the basic plot of Larry’s Kidney seems like it may be the typical comedy associated with the stars, if anyone can bring out some dramatic resonance, it might be Linklater.

Unless you are a huge stand-up comedy aficionado you have likely never heard of a comedian named Eddie Pepitone. I certainly had not until this documentary. But he is beloved by many famous comedians that you have heard of before, which is why Pepitone is considered by many to be a comedian’s comedian. The Bitter Buddha rhetorically asks several times over why this man has never been successful—an answer even the documentary never expects (nor tries) to get.

The Bitter Buddha begins with a much needed background on Eddie Pepitone, someone in the documentary even half-jokingly states that only one out every thousand people has even heard of him before. Turns out that this 52-year-old man has been doing comedy for over 30 years, yet has little more than respect from other comedians to show for it. Among some of his supporters who swear by him are; Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Sarah Silverman, B.J. Novak, Todd Barry, and Andy Kindler, all of whom make appearances in this documentary.

When he is on stage you can practically see his blood pressure rising. He is full of energy and shouts most of his punch lines. Which is where the “bitter” part of his title, The Bitter Buddha, comes from. The Buddha part comes from an almost zen-like persona he has off the stage. Following Pepitone’s daily routine reveals a much softer and calmer side of him, yet one that is not completely void of quirks. Pepitone lives in an incredibly modest apartment (that is putting it nicely) and hand-feeds squirrels in the park.

There is a sense that Pepitone is more than frustrated that he has not achieved a career breakthrough yet when he begrudges young commercially successful comedians and enviously mocks their famous lifestyles. But like most comedians he uses his struggles in life as fuel in his routine. He is heard openly bashing Twitter despite having over 11,000 tweets, he makes fun of comedy TV shows even though he guest stars on several of them, and he makes fun of his father while seeking approval from him. Even though he seems to be self-aware of his hypocrisy (after all he goes by the name Bitter Buddha), it does not make it any less bewildering.

Eddie Pepitone is for comedians what Daniel Johnston is for musicians; well-respected among their peers as one of a kind, but the average person has no idea of their existence. They are artists in the true sense of the word; they do not have a ton of commercial success but they are passionate about their craft. In many ways The Bitter Buddha is similar to the documentary on Johnston (The Devil and Daniel Johnston), especially in that the people getting the most out of the documentaries are ones who have never heard of them before. Luckily, the odds are in their favor.

If the main objective of The Bitter Buddha is to spread the word about a little known comedian, then it succeeds as Eddie Pepitone makes for an undeniably fascinating subject. But there is a lot to be desired if speaking strictly from a documentary standpoint. The narrative just reiterates that fact this comedian should be more famous than he is and towards the end it relies too heavily on actual stand-up footage. Andy Kindler makes a great joke about how The Bitter Buddha cannot show the rise and fall of Pepitone’s career because he would first have had to rise. While he was referring to Pepitones lack of stardom, he coincidentally defines the downfall of the documentary in terms of its narrative.

The Bitter Buddha trailer:

Up In The Air has an all-star cast which received three Oscar nominations of the six total for the film, including Best Picture. Often times humorous and other times emotional, it features quick and witty dialogue with a unique storyline. That being said, it also does have its flaws.

Ryan Bingham’s (George Clooney) life is air travel and because of it, it is very orderly and systematic. Ryan’s job is to fly around the country to inform people that they are fired. He is very much alright with flying 270 days a year, in fact, he enjoys traveling in airports and different cities more than being at home.

Ryan meets Alex (Vera Farmiga) in an airport bar and the two first meet by quickly exchanging the differences between car rental companies as an attempt to impress one another. Then the two compare credit card reward cards before admitting they are two people that get turned on by elite status. They agree to meet each other in a couple weeks when they will be traveling closer to each other in another state.

Ryan returns home from his trip and does not forget to remind you that he does not particularly like being home. He is informed the next day at work that the company has decided to no longer fly workers around the country to fire people. Instead, he will be doing his job via video chat, thus grounding him at home and in his mind grounding his life. Not to mention shutting him down from the date he had just lined up.

So to no one’s surprise Ryan speaks out again this to his boss. It quickly involves the person who came up with the new plan, Natalie (Anna Kendrick). Natalie is a newly hired hard worker efficiency expert. She is very set on her way and lives life on deadlines both on and off work hours. She is a go getter and a planner and she blatantly says she does not mind being married to her career. She is not ashamed of it but does not want to settle in life.

Ryan convinces his boss into showing Natalie what he does on the road and tries to make his case that it cannot be done over the internet. She then travels with him to see what he does in person. He is trying to save what he believes his life is while at the same time she is trying to save the company’s efficiency.

Up In The Air finally reaches its most important part of the film when he is at his sister’s wedding. The groom gets cold feet and he is sent to deal with it. He talks people out of commitment and now has the task of talking the groom into commitment. Which is something he knows little about and you could say he is being a hypocrite because he has not subscribed to that way of thinking.

It was right about then he realizes that commitment is not as daunting and he thought. He has such a way with words; he more or less talks himself into it. Ryan realizes that perhaps he is ready to settle down with Alex after all. The only question left is has Alex turned over a new leaf as well?

Interestingly, the majority of the people we see getting fired at the beginning of Up In The Air are not actors (but obviously Zach Galifianakis is) but actual people who were recently laid off. The filmmakers put ads out and instructed people to treat the camera as if were like the person who fired them. I think that is a nice and creative touch to make it seem more believable.

After watching the film, I began to wonder if Natalie’s storyline even mattered. I believe they could have without her part. Although Anna Kendrick does a good job with this role, I don’t think it ultimately played any role of importance in the film.

The main idea behind the film is loyalty. The word was frequently in the background on airline advertisements. The airline, credit card and car rental places all have membership clubs that reward loyal customers. Both Ryan and Natalie are loyal to their jobs both have different views on what it means to be loyal in a relationship.

Up In The Air has an unique premise and good dialogue with acting that is beyond average but ultimately the storyline is a little bumpy. I am not sure if it is some ironic play on Ryan’s philosophy of empty backpacks and pointlessness but nearly every other character in the film besides himself is pointless. It was a well done film that should have been tied in together a little more.

An indie romantic comedy with a hint of drama revolving around a young mattress salesman and confused girl with a rich daddy. Directed by Matt Aselton, Gigantic deals with some fairly common life problems like dealing with family, friends, relationships and taking a close look at what you want in life.

Brian Weathersby (Paul Dano) a 28-year-old mattress salesman, has a life long dream. This is not a normal dream for a young single man like opening a coffee shop or starting a band. No, since he was a young boy he has wanted to adopt a baby from china. The adoption process is long and grueling and to make matters worse he keeps getting viciously attacked by a homeless man (Zach Galifianakis). Now that we have established that Brian is a not so normal boy, let’s talk about a not so normal girl. Harriet or Happy (Zooey Deschanel) is the daughter of a wealthy customer of Brian’s (John Goodman). Happy works for her sister but doesn’t know what she is doing or where she is going in life. So boy meets girl, girl distracts boy from his life goals then girl freaks out and screws everything up when she realizes that they’re relationship might really mean something.

I don’t know how this movie flew under my radar for so long, but I’m glad it finally made its way to me. After seeing Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood, I knew he was someone to watch. The character he plays is very likable but different and I think he was perfect for this part. Zooey Deschanel is VERY well liked in the indie world, for her singing and most of all just because she is so darn cute, but her acting has always been well… dull. So I was pleasantly surprised to see her do such a range of emotions. This was by far the best acting I have seen from her ever. John Goodman was amazingly funny and makes you feel like this part was written with him in mind. Really there wasn’t a bad performance in the movie. Well written and well directed, Matt Aselton executed this movie like a pro.

If you are looking for a movie with depth and emotion that will still make you laugh, Gigantic is it. A truly way too indie film.