Getty Image / Fox Searchlight
In addition to being a legendary director, Martin Scorsese is also an encyclopedic film historian of the highest order. No matter the decade or the country of origin, Scorsese can likely tell you about its cinematic history.
As such, one would be safe in assuming that Marty holds classics like Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and modern classics like Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in extremely high regard.
And while that may true, the 80-year-old icon recently revealed — via yet another adorable TikTok with his daughter Francesca — that he prefers Alejandro Iñárritu’s 2014 Best Picture-winning film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) over both of those movies.
@francescascorsese In case you can’t tell, we really love 2001: A Space Odyssey @Letterboxd #fyp #martinscorsese #movieranking
While Scorsese’s choice certainly confounded some movie fans, the Birdman enjoyers of the world celebrated the revelation like a victory, with the following two tweets going particularly viral.
Birdman defenders… we’ve gained a powerful ally today https://t.co/ix4mx2Dglh
— Arthouse Shawn Levy (@firagawalkwthme) November 13, 2023
Based Birdman Enjoyer https://t.co/Q8FaJRfkiF
— Cosmonaut sucraM (evil) (@CosmonautMarcus) November 13, 2023
Ultimately, Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001: A Space Odyssey won Scorsese’s movie bracket game on TikTok.
Birdman, which also won Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards, starred Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor who was best known for playing the superhero Birdman. The film was famously edited to appear as though it was filmed in a single shot.
In addition to Keaton, who many believe should’ve won Best Actor instead of Eddie Redmayne, Birdman also stars Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, and Naomi Watts.
The film is largely credited with revitalizing Keaton’s career, as the 72-year-old has since gone on to star in projects such as Spotlight (another Best Picture winner), The Founder, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Dopesick, and The Flash (in which he reprised his iconic portrayal of Batman).
Keaton is also set to star in a sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton-directed film Beetlejuice, which will hit theaters next year.