I made the same comparison to Black Swan after seeing it.

The idea of the young and upcoming artist that will do whatever it takes to master their craft/win attention, even though it means losing their soul in the process. I don't think every movie about an artist does that. I think some, like Birdman, go the route of 8 1/2, where they are the artist creatively searching for some truth that they can't get and falling apart because of it...versus this, where the art is an obsession that consumes the artist.

I see how people disagree with that, but for me it's all in how you view the ending. A lot of people view it as an exhilarating happy ending, but man I thought quite the opposite. That last scene was like dude going over to the dark side. JK Simmons was damn near like the devil in that scene, and when dude just lost himself in the drum solo it's like he shed the last part of his humanity and won the devil's favor.

It wasn't as blatant as Natalie Portman dying on stage, or Mickey Rourke taking that last dive off the ropes...but I thought the idea was the same.

I really don't see how Birdman beat this movie. For emotional intensity and magnitude of the acting this was head and shoulders above Birdman.