Writing for '' The New Yorker '' , Richard Brody called the film " Godardian " , comparing it to '' Pierrot le Fou '' ( 1965 ) , '' Every Man for Himself '' ( 1980 ) , '' Alphaville '' ( 1965 ) , and '' Germany Year 90 Nine Zero '' ( 1991 ) , four classic films by French director Jean-Luc Godard . However , he suggested the film fell short of reaching the same cinematic mastery , adding , " it 's not a good idea for a filmmaker to get in the ring with Mr. Godard " . In his critical comments on the film , he concluded that the film " trade d on facile , casual dichotomies of theatre versus cinema and art versus commerce " and " deliver ed a work of utterly familiar and unoriginal drama " . In another review in '' The New Yorker '' separately supplementing the review by Brody , Anthony Lane rejected the film 's suggestion that film critics are out to destroy films , explaining , " Someone could have told Iñárritu that critics , though often mean , are not preemptively so , and that anybody who 'd say , as Tabitha does , ' I 'm going to destroy your play , ' before actually seeing it , would not stay long in the job . " Some reviews were negative . Richard Lawson of '' Vanity Fair '' , called the film " hoary " and " deceptively simple " . Scott Tobias , writing for The Dissolve , gave the film 1.5 stars . He commends Lubezki 's cinematography as succeeding at " trapping viewers in a pressure-cooker atmosphere as Riggan and his players struggle to keep it together " , but suggests that Iñárritu is " incapable of modulation " and that there exists " a sourness to '' Birdman '' that Iñárritu ca n't turn into wit . " At the 87th Academy Awards , '' Birdman '' won four Academy Awards : Best Picture , Best Director , Best Original Screenplay , and Best Cinematography . Michael Keaton was nominated for Best Actor , Edward Norton and Emma Stone were nominated in Best Supporting Acting categories , and it also received nominations for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing
87th Academy Awards
87th Academy Awards
Birdman (film)