Weekending at the Movies

And at the rehab hospital. Got to see mom and dad yesterday. Dad seems to be doing great and it was so wonderful to visit and talk with him. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.

Also finally got to see The Big Year. It was only released on a limited basis locally so we missed it in the theater. 

I am not much of a movie goer, but I knew I wanted to see this story about three birders doing simultaneous big years, especially after reviews came in from other birders and they were kind....heck, they were downright glowing.

Anyhoo, I bought myself the DVD, something I haven't done since Cats came out, believe it or not, and we watched it Saturday. I gotta tell you, it is worth buying if for nothing more than the bald eagle mating scene, but in fact it is a good enough movie that all four of us, including the boss, who isn't exactly a bird man, watched it, and were truly enthralled.

The scenery...ah, the scenery was breathtaking. Finding the big birds was so cool; the Code 4s and 5s gave me cold chills. (Alan says we should do one, a big year that is, he seems to have missed that we are neither rich nor anywhere near expert enough for such as that, but you gotta love him for the enthusiasm. He is seeing life birds all the time down there where the big rivers meet the Atlantic ocean and I am green with envy. I have only had two lifers in about the past decade.)

Mainstream reviewers butchered this movie and killed it completely at the box office, which I suppose should have been my first clue that I was going to love it.....

I really didn't expect to love it so much though. I expected to cringe at the humor style of Jack Black and Steve Martin as they pursued my favorite pastime. I thought they would mock birding and the slightly off-center sort of folks who get all excited when they see crows mobbing an accipiter in the the rehab hospital parking lot.

 I didn't because they didn't. They captured the madness that is birding, without mocking it too much, and made me smile a lot. There were a few sticky moments where you expected to be plunged into painful embarrassment at the characters' behavior, but most were redeemed before they got too hurtful. If you get a chance, rent it or buy it...I envy you the opportunity to see it for the first time...

I stuck the DVD in my laptop yesterday and watched the whole thing over again and wished for more. I had never heard of Himalayan snow cocks, Xantus hummingbirds, or several of the other birds...I wanted to imagine them again, and to watch those eagles.....