In Birdman, Ed Norton (right) plays a talented but pretentious actor in a Broadway play being directed by an actor he disrespects (Michael Keaton, left) for having starred in a series of Birdman superhero films. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures hide caption
After college, Geena Davis got a job at an Ann Taylor clothing store. Then she noticed an empty chair in a window display, and she decided to sit down and freeze. "I was a live mannequin," she says. Courtesy of Geena Davis hide caption
Raphael Lemkin is the Polish lawyer and linguist who coined the term "genocide" — and dedicated his life to making genocide recognized as a crime. Copyright by Arthur Leipzig /Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York hide caption
Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) plays Lionel Higgins in Dear White People Roadside Attractions hide caption
Brad Pitt plays Wardaddy, an Army sergeant leading a mission in Nazi Germany. Giles Keyte/Columbia Pictures hide caption
In Birdman, Michael Keaton (a real-life former Batman) plays a former movie superhero who's trying to get a grasp on his career. Atsushi Nishijima/ Fox Searchlight hide caption
Josephine de la Baume and Jason Schwartzman in Listen Up Philip. Tribecca Film hide caption
Michael Keaton stars in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). It's a dark comedy about an actor who once played a superhero and later stages a vanity production on Broadway. Alison Rosa/Twentieth Century Fox hide caption
The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Hatake Jimusho/GNDHDDTK/Gkids hide caption
Shaofeng Feng and Wei Tang in The Golden Era. China Lion Film Distribution hide caption
Tessa Thompson plays Samantha (Sam) White, host of a campus radio show called Dear White People. Roadside Attractions hide caption
Actress Elizabeth Peña arrives at the Hollywood premiere of Nothing Like the Holidays in 2008. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Overture Films hide caption
Neil Patrick Harris, seen here hosting the 2013 Emmys, is getting the Oscars job many have long wanted for him. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption
J.K. Simmons plays brutal music teacher Terence Fletcher in Whiplash. Daniel McFadden/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption