15 Best Films Of The Decade (So Far)

7. Birdman

It may seem a little pre-emptive to call a film that's only been out a couple of months (or weeks, if you're not in the US) one of the best films of the decade, but to kick Birdman out of the party just because it's new would be a total disservice to Alejandro González Iñárritu's achievement. Every element of this film is so impeccable that it's almost overwhelming - acting, cinematography, score and heck, even the simplistic lighting, deserve top marks. In fact, the film is a winner on so many levels, it's easy to overlook how ground-breaking it is on a purely technical level. For much of its run-time unfolding in one, unbroken shot, it's theatrical in theology, yet never feels staged. Sure, you can pick out where the cuts are, but the draw less about how Iñárritu achieved his film and more about the impact it has. And what an impact that is. By the fifteen minute mark the expected statement on Hollywood's current obsession with superheroes and the meta-joke of Michael Keaton playing a parallel of himself are made and out of the way, leaving the rest of the film ample time to go to increasingly interesting areas. You name a facet of modern culture, it's dissected with cutting grace here - the creative vapidity of an actor signing their life off to a mega-franchise, the requirements of celebrity shifting in the technological age, the role and attitude of critics. And that's not even touching on the more universal mental portrait of a man succumbing to his wild inner-narcissist. Try and catch it one more time on the big screen while you can.