#038 - Birdy (1984)
Hello and welcome to my web log. This past weekend I saw Birdy (1984).
Birdy is one of those movies about a weird little guy and his flying contraption which I think you’ll agree are the kind of movies that do the heavier lifting whenever someone refers to the cinema as an art form. Movies like Robert Altman’s insane Brewster McCloud (1970) which I am realizing in this very moment, as I type this, may actually be one of my favorite movies. Movies like the Aviator (2004) which was so critically acclaimed that there is a separate Wikipedia page listing all of the awards it has won. I do not think we can include the Rocketeer (1991) in this list because frankly I don’t think the titular hero was weird enough; he was like the least weird guy in the whole movie. But maybe that is weird, being so painfully normal in the middle of so much incredible weirdness. Among fascist movie stars, patriotic gangsters, sky clowns, that one heavy with that face, and none other than Howard Hughes himself, is it weird to be an affable dude next door just tinkering with airplanes? I leave this as an exercise for the reader because I’ve managed to convince myself of both positions
Allegedly Nic Cage had two of his front teeth pulled for this movie so as to better portray a guy who had a bomb go off in his face; I accept this factoid uncritically and will do no further research on it because there are things that you know and there are things that you believe and may we all grow to understand the need for the difference between the two.
Sorry for sending this twice! I, a person who writes emails all day, apparently don't know how to send emails about Nic Cage without html errors lol