The publicity wizards who are slaving away for The Big Year have given notice of the existence of this video, which has been released to garner interest for The Big Year's dvd/blu-ray release next week. It's pretty damn funny, and captures many birders' bizarre habits of mispronouncing commonly-used words.
If you haven't seen The Big Year, you owe it to yourself. I tell my nonbirding friends (which are, luckily, the majority of my friends) that despite the quality of the movie as a film, they will know me better after watching this movie. More than a couple have agreed with this assessment....and if you are a birder....well, come on. Just do it.
Ohmagawd, too freakin' funny.
ReplyDeleteHey if the guyz got skillz that killz then what's the problem...
ReplyDeleteWhile I enjoyed the clip as an independent bit of fun, I think this it is potentially misleading in the same way that a lot of the advertisements for The Big Year were misleading. Basically, The Big Year is a sorta heart-warming tale about a couple guys finding contentment, and one guy losing it. Incidentally, it involved birding, but there wasn't a lot of birding humor in the movie, and taking birding out of the movie and replacing it with some other pastime wouldn't have required much change to the plot line. It was packed to be a rock n' roll comedy with Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black, and I think a lot of people were expecting deliberate hilarity more along the lines of that SNL special a while back where Steve Carrell goes to a birding festival.
A lot of people came in expecting the movie to be lots of fun. It turned out to just be nice and pleasant, which left most of the non-birders disappointed. Here this goofy clip is trying to brand it again as an out-n-out comedy, instead of the feel-good story it really is. I enjoyed both of them, but I think The Big Year is stuck between two genres. Of course, birders have to, err hem, flock together, and I support the undertaking.
@Larry/Mary - I initially had really low expectations for The Big Year, and as soon as I saw the trailer I thought it was pretty obvious that it was going to be a bit lacking in humor. That said, I thought that the fact the movie existed at all was hilarious and made it worth watching if you are a birder. If you are a nonbirder...maybe not so much. I see your point about the potential for misleading people, but I don't think anyone expects straightforward honesty from Hollywood.
DeleteSteve Carrell goes to a birding festival? I need to see that one...
Cheers:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-18-2000/the-world-series-of-birding
Not bad, not bad...
DeleteThe mispronunciations are priceless. Thanks for this vid.
ReplyDelete