THE BIG YEAR, PG ( 1 hr & 39 min )

where:  UA EMERY BAY STADIUM 10 in Emeryville, CA
when:  Monday, October 17th, 2011
show:  9:40 p.m.
costs:  $11.00 Ticket + $2.00 Peanut M&M ( $2.00 Candy Monday Special on movie watcher card ) + $4.75 small Zero Sprite + $5.00 Carquinez Bridge Toll = $22.75
auditorium:  7
seat:  5th row, 12th column

synopsis/overview:  Three men, going through life crises, compete for the coveted North American Birder of the Year title.

noteworthy scenes:  1.) Greatest Bird Year; 2.) Handicap decal; 3.) Day one; 4.) Code five; 5.) Pitching and tossing; 6.) Accidental discovery; 7.) Brownsville Dump; 8.) A Calling; 9.) Fall-out; 10.) "You don't want to miss this one"; 11.) "Follow him"; 12.) Quail Special; 13.) E-mail; 14.) Deal-breaker; 15.) Flight; 16.) Honeymoon suite; 17.) "You bought me drinks and got what you wanted"; 18.) Lady friend; 19.) Idiot Savant; 20.) Bird attack; 21.) Boyfriend; 22.) 700 club; 23.) Team-up; 24.) Helicopter; 25.) Hospital; 26.) Honor system; 27.) Snowy owl; 28.) Epic; 29.) Peking Duck; 30.) "Those freakin' birds"; 31.) 741; 32.) New Year's Eve; 33.) "We won"; 34.) China; 35.) "Weekend birder"; and 36.) Bonus Bird Photographs during the Ending Credits.

favorite scene:  I liked the reference to Vultures at the Brownsville Dump.

audience reaction:  N/A.  There was nobody else in the auditorium with me.

recommendation:  With the three comedians ( Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black ) in this movie, I was expecting it to be funnier.  Instead, this movie is very light on comedy.  It would be most appealing to the bird fanciers out there.

spoiler alert!  The last time that I checked, Mexico is still a part of North America!  I don't know why this simple fact was completely left out!  Imagine the number of bird species that they could have added to their lists had they ventured down south of the border.  I've never seen a retail clerk cut-up a customer's credit card, not even once--and I'm in the retail business; I think it's only done in the movies!

fyi:  Many years ago, my brother, some of our relatives and I went camping in Pinnacles National Monument near Fresno, California.

To while the time away, I went down a grassy slope behind our campsite.  It was there that I overheard a Scout Master ( there were Boy Scouts at the campground out on a "Nature Walk" ) telling his troop which indigenous bird species were present simply by the sound of their bird calls.  I looked around but couldn't see the troop.  Neither could they see me, I was sure of it.

So, I decided to pull a prank on the troop.  I made a loud, hoarse deep-throated "bird call".  Then I heard one Boy Scout ask the Scout Master, "What was that?"  There was silence as they waited for another  "bird call".  Well, I had to oblige them with yet another "call".  After just listening for a short while, the Scout Master yelled out loud, "Shut the Hell up!"  L.O.L.

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I wish that I could have a job that allows me to take as many days-off as I want/need anytime and every time that I have to.

word of advice:  Winning isn't everything, it's the lonely thing.

Friends of a feather stick together.

tidbits:   I got out of bed today, and for some reason, thought that it was Presidents' Day.  So, I was surprised to find out that I had mail in my mail box.  When I got to Hector's place in Oakland, CA,  I saw one of his sons put mail in the mail box for the mail carrier to come pick up.  There's no mail today, it's Presidents' Day, I said.  They all laughed at me because Presidents' Day is in three more months from today!  I don't know why I mistook today for a holiday.  Alzheimer's, maybe?  I hope not!

Sad news:  Two-Face, the female Pit-Bull puppy playmate of Hector's cat, Tiger, is not with them anymore.  Since they could only keep one dog, they chose to keep Two-Face's mom, Mercedes, instead.  His son, Tito, took Two-Face to the local animal shelter to put it up for adoption.  But Pit-Bulls are very hard to find homes for because of their bad reputation.  So, more than likely, Two-Face was "put to sleep".  I don't know why they didn't go ahead and place a "free to good home"  ad in the newspaper.

While I was in Hector's kitchen baking some mini potatoes, one of his sons came in because he had a craving for some "Hash Cookies".  He had a Tupperware of green butter ( butter mixed with Marijuana ) with him.  And, when he opened that thing, boy!  did it stink up the place like a skunk scent.  So, this particular son whipped-up a batch of "Hash Cookies" to pop in the oven after I was done with my potatoes.  And Hector was just a few feet away in the living room!  I don't know how he could not smell the stench of it.  Surprisingly though, the stench disappeared after the "medicinal cookies" were baked ( I know because I sniffed the baking pan---Nope! I didn't have any of it, not even a tiny bite ).

I went to the CVS Drugstore at the Rockridge Shopping Center in Oakland, CA, before going to see the movie just to say "Hi!" to some former co-workers.  I found a Coach's jacket on sale that I really liked; but I didn't have the time to buy it because I didn't want to be late for the movie.

At the theatre's concession counter, the clerk asked me which movie I was there to go see.  I told him which it was.  And I gave him one of my Cine-Man business cards so that he can check-out my movie review blogsite.

After the movie, I went back to the CVS Drugstore to buy the jacket.  I will have it personally embroidered in a few days.

Special Announcement:  I would like to take this time to say, Thank You and Welcome, to my readers in these countries:

Bahrain, Belarus, El Salvador, Malta and Nigeria

Thank you, once again.  Please keep on reading my weekly updates.  And don't forget to tell your friends, and every one else who you know, about my movie blogsite.

P.S.  Does anyone out there know what happened to my Russian Readership?  I am not getting anymore hits from Russia.  I don't know why ....