Michael Keaton Superhero Double Feature

Overview

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! Wait, no, it's actually Michael Keaton, star of one of the most influential superhero movies of all time, as well as more recently, one of the strangest. Inspired by the actor's Oscar-nominated turn in Birdman, The Astor is hosting a Keaton double feature, proving that even after 25 years, the man still looks good in a cape.

First, travel back to 1989, with Tim Burton's original Batman. A masterwork of production design, this film laid the groundwork for the "dark and gritty" comic book adaptations by Christopher Nolan and co. Keaton is great as Gotham's nocturnal protector, going head to head with a scenery-chomping Jack Nicholson as his maniacal arch nemesis, The Joker.

Then, after intermission, head back into the cinema, for a more meta take on the superhero genre. In Alejandro Inarritu's showbiz satire Birdman, Keaton plays a washed-up Hollywood star attempting to revitalise his career while being tormented by the voice of his most famous on-screen persona. Co-starring Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, it's already an early frontrunner for one of our favourite films of the year.