Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014 Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu & co-scr)

An unusual film, to say the least - it's a fair point that the seemingly single take approach can be distracting, though this time it was fun to try to spot the edits (usually when the image goes slightly dark) - Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione didn't have much to do. Though in the extras, we hear that Crise did a lot of work editing Antonio Sanchez's drum tracks - which he then re-recorded anyway to the finished film - a slightly pointless exercise, though this element is very good and original and Sanchez himself appears in  a couple of shots.

The staging though, and the long takes actors need to perform, whilst remembering exactly where to be at any given moment, are astonishing. Also the way it jumps through time - he takes his wig off twice in succession without having put it back on. And that shot which floats over the balcony and down onto the stage ... I know, Soy Cuba did it first, but it's very impressive, and the story is frequently very funny (and at times bewildering - what is the significance of the ending - probably that Stone is as nuts as her dad?)

Chris Haarhoff should be lauded as the most steady of Steadicam operators but the remarkable achievement in cinematography is down to Emmanuel Lubezki, my favourite working cameraman, who 's also operating a hand-held Alexa M to get in really close.

Great cast comprises Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone (looking scarily thin), Andrea Riseborough, Zack Galafianakis, Naomi Watts. Meritt Weaver, Amy Ryan and Lindsay Duncan. Liked one of the cast saying that if you fluffed one of these meticulous long takes you might be ruining another cast member's best ever performance.

Great titles too!

For Q