Today's mainstream Hollywood movies don't usually grab me by the throat but Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman did just that. I was sure that it's so good it would lose out to other standard issue Hollywood movies at the Oscars the other night. But no!

In case you live under a rock the way I do, it won Best Picture and is the story of an artist putting all his chips on his comeback. It's got texture and passion and is mostly about the drama behind-the-scenes of the artistic process. The Artist (played by Michael Keaton) even has an inner voice! For anyone doing creative work, the scene with the New York Times Critic is alone worth the price of admission.

Michael Keaton in Iñárritu's Birdman