Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Corey,
Yep, the guy who compares the movie to inhaling tofu: ouch.
I do think this movie is going to have trouble winning over people who don’t already “get” birding on some level. That’s too bad and I wish it were otherwise.
But I still think it’s a fun ride for those of us who do get the appeal of these people, places and birds. Even if we may disagree sharply with some of what’s shown up there.
Put another way: I say have fun with it. If it totally bombs with the wider public, it will be quickly forgotten.
And we’ll all still have the challenge of getting more people to see what we see and care about what we care about. Which is a big part of what a lot of us are about, Hollywood movie or no.
This movie is a problem for us only if we let it be one.
And, folks, don’t get me wrong, I am going to see the movie, but I just think that we birders have perhaps blown the potential impact of this movie way out of proportion. Especially if it isn’t that good a movie.
And Corey, don’t get me wrong: there’s a lot of hope and hype around this movie. It won’t be a magic bullet.
I gave it a thumbs up, which I stand by, completely. But here’s a quick video that will outline just how much it won’t do: http://bit.ly/omFiva
I’m as Australian birder so I’m yet to see the film [i will] however i have read some of the reviews. Perhaps like many birders i would welcome more understanding of our hobby / passion / lifestyle. Hopefully the film helps some of the public, who would otherwise remain ignorant, start to understand the fascination of birds, their habits and habitats.
Please don’t get too concerned with ignorant or negative statements from reviewers. They just don’t get it – enough said.
Some reviewers have been gentler with the film and birding as the following brief selection attests;
“But like birding itself, “The Big Year” rewards patience. It respects both the integrity and the eccentricity of the avian obsession, and it communicates something of the fascinating abundance and weirdness of the animals themselves.”
AO Scott The New York Times
“The Big Year offers a glimpse into a little-known world. It’s low-key and lightly amusing, told at a tranquil pace appropriate for a film about gentle souls watching feathered creatures.”
Claudia Puig USA TODAY
“To handle this very quirky and fundamentally decent world,”
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Film Critic
“But there is still a quixotic aspect to searching for something so elusive in vast and varied landscapes, and the movie captures something of that.”
Mary Pols, Time
“Birders. You call them birders. Calling them “bird-watchers” is insulting, like calling a Trekker a Trekkie. They are aware that some people find birding to be an eccentric hobby, but you get better exercise and scenery than you do with golf, and you don’t have to play the game.”
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times