the Birds...

So, this new (hopefully permanent) job is taking up most of my time, but I have to note that "the Big Year", starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black is fantastic. The three leads are surprisingly lacking their usual annoying or sad-sack qualities, but mostly, it was a movie that avoided the "Hollywood Twist". We've all heard people whine about the "Hollywood Ending," but when I can call at the beginning of a film "oh, he's nice, he's going to die," that means there's something wrong.

True, having seen every single episode of "Murder, She Wrote" has made it easier for me to sense when a character is going to bite the dust, but sometimes they make it so obvious by going with the formula: (likability of character + seriousness of movie) / how many people can die in the genre at hand = possibility of character dying. Of course.

Anyway, this movie avoids those obnoxious formulas, making something that seems new and interesting. It was enjoyable but not cloying, somewhat tense at times, but mostly something that felt like a relaxing hobby that you were sharing with some friends. This movie made me feel like things could work out, even if everything isn't perfect--and honestly, right then, I needed to feel like that. I've always felt that the best thing about movies is that, when your life is being a raging disappointment, they make you want to keep looking for that better life. This movie in particular made me think "why not me"... although birding isn't quite my cup of tea.

I'm all for realism and meaningful, educational entertainment, but sometimes I just want to laugh. Once in awhile, it's nice to only worry vaguely about a character, as opposed to being afraid for his very life. This is a purely entertaining movie with some mild drama and occasional laughs. I highly recommend this to anyone who needs a break, or who likes birds. There are birds. Hence "the Birds". Speaking of which, that movie makes me giggle.

Incidentally, I went to look up a word at Merriam-Webster Online and found who but Ingrid Bergman on the main page. Nifty. Her picture was next to a list of favorite quotations about words. Her quotation was “A kiss is a lovely trick, designed by nature, to stop speech when words become superfluous.”

I know, this review is brief and not that helpful, for which I apologize. On the bright side, I wrote something ... right?