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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
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66
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86
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84
Summer Hours
83
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83
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83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
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74
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74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
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71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
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66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
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63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
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62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
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59
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58
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58
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57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
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56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
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55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
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54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, The
Shadow Distribution
MPAA RATING: Rated G
Starring
Mark Bittner
The true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild red-and-green parrots. Mark Bittner, a dharma bum, former street musician in San Francisco, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in his life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs. (Shadow Distribution)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Judy Irving
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 27, 2005
Theatrical: February 11, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
83 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Film Threat
Phil Hall
This is an excellent movie -- by all means, flock to it!

100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Beguiling, moving and just plain fun documentary.

91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Staff (Not credited)
It's a special, strangely soothing movie experience that wonderfully celebrates the intricate diversity of life on Earth and the profound emotional bond that can exist between man and beast.

90
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The film is both wise and tender in its treatment of relationships -- between birds, between people, and between birds and people.

90
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
Mostly, Wild Parrots is a great, important, and unforgettable movie.

90
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
One of the most beautiful and endearing nature films you've ever seen, despite being filmed almost entirely within a major metropolis, and a love story that will repeatedly reduce you to tears.

89
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
Well-considered, beautifully made, and often gripping in its narrative, the film epitomizes the best the documentary format can offer.

88
Chicago Tribune
Robert K. Elder
The kind of well-crafted, character-driven work that wows regional film festival crowds and public television audiences but seldom gets seen outside those circles.

88
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Judy Irving's terrific documentary 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is ostensibly about birds, but only in the way that a game of Scrabble is about tiles.

83
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
In watching the birds and the man with an affectionate, curious eye, the filmmaker builds a story of surprising emotional resonance.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
The mellow, serendipitous The Parrots of Telegraph Hill is here to show you just how magical happenstance can be.

80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
This is a charmfest of a movie, for bird lovers and non-bird lovers alike.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Quite simply, a beautiful film, in both form and content.

80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
The movie winds its way artfully from a straight animal study to something more profound. It's hard to shake the film's astonishing final thoughts and shots, as Bittner nervously contemplates parrot eggs while hawks circle overhead.

80
The Hollywood Reporter
Sura Wood
Genuinely sweet, beautifully constructed documentary.

80
Slate
David Edelstein
It thaws the soul.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It is not the film you think it is going to be. You walk in expecting some kind of North Beach weirdo and his wild-eyed parrot theories, and you walk out still feeling a little melancholy over the plight of Connor.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
A cornball charmer of a film with some beautiful birds and homespun wisdom.

75
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
The documentary also has a story to tell, and as such it builds up its drama.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter Addiego
In traditional stories, it's saints, madmen and children who befriend wild animals. Mark Bittner, who pals around with feral creatures in the amiable documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, is just as much an outsider, though of a different sort.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Lovely to look at, if not very deep in its thinking about relations between humans and their animal friends.

75
New York Post
Russell Scott Smith
In the charming new documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, we learn all about the tragedy and comedy of being a bird on the loose in San Francisco.

70
Variety
Dennis Harvey
A charming look at the mildly eccentric man who gained modest feature-page celebrity for his familiarity with San Francisco's tropical parrot flock.

70
Village Voice
Ed Park
Several sharp jolts give the doc its dramatic shape, and one episode in particular, caught with a neighbor's lens, will make you gasp with grief.

70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
In Ms. Irving's affectionate film, Mr. Bittner is more of a sage than a deadbeat.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A loving, dopey documentary about the bird man of a place with a view of Alcatraz.

60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Though Bittner's slacker charm may not be to all tastes, the parrots are natural-born scene-stealers with more than enough charm to seduce the most dubious viewer.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
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