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Hollywood Goes to the Birds: Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin Play Three Birders on a Mission in The Big Year
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10/18/2011 00:24:20 AM by
Jade07
426 views, category: Celebrity pet gossip view all blogs
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Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin star as three birders on a quest in The Big Year.
Big marquee movies about dogs, cats and horses have flooded cineplexes for years. Now birdwatchers (birders for short) can claim the first major-market film about their hobby. The Big Year, an inspirational comedy about a trio of competitive birders, opened in theaters across the U.S. on October 13th.
Based on The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession, a 2004 book by Denver journalist Mark Obmascik’s, The non-fiction account chronicled the adventures of three real-life birders during the 1998’s “Big Year”, a competitive birding event. “Big Year” is a contest that rewards the individual who spots the largest number of bird species in the United States during a particular year. The challenge involves lots of time, travel and expense for birders vying for the title.
The Big Year has the seal of approval from the Audubon Society. The organization advised the filmmakers, providing accurate information on bird species and habitat. Audubon also is sponsoring a contest encouraging folks to engage in a virtual Big Year experience and search the Internet for bird pictures.
The main characters in The Big Year are slightly fictionalized versions of the birders in Obmascik’s book. There’s successful businessman Stu Preissler (Steve Martin), the trio’s elder statesman, romantically challenged computer geek Brad Harris (Jack Black), and Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson), the reigning birder champ out to best his own record. Owen’s character is based on Sandy Komito, who won the 1998 Big Year challenge, spotting 745 different species.
Facts may have been changed here and there to make the story more exciting, but The Big Year certainly does justice to the world of birding, featuring some of the birds real-life participants tracked down, like the Nutting’s Flycatcher, Tamaulipas Crow and Sage Thrasher.
The film will appeal to anyone passionate about a hobby or undertaking; all the characters are bound and determined to track down hundreds of our feathered friends, even if that means setting up shop near a Brownsville, Texas landfill or on Alaska’s remote Attu Island. Even if you don’t have a well-thumbed copy of Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America and a pair of binoculars in your backpack, The Big Year may convince you to pay a little more attention to the birds inhabiting your backyard.
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A Tamaulipas Crow
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About the author:
Marianne Moro is a freelance writer and publicist living in Hollywood, CA. She has written for many publications, clients and websites, including USA Today, Blogcritics Magazine, Modamag and Entertainment Today, among others. She's the proud co-o...
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