My friend, Rachel Dickinson, has a wonderful new book out called "Falconer on the Edge: A Man, His Birds, and the Vanishing Landscape of the American West." Check it out on Amazon.com.

The book tells the story of falconer Steve Chindgren, as well as the fascinating subculture of falconry and the people who participate in it. Rachel also goes into the forces that threaten this ancient sport: mining, gas industries, and agriculture.

Of course, all this has me thinking of movies about birds. Here are five that spring to mind. Tell me YOUR favorite bird movies in the comments below.

1. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2003). This award-winning documentary features Mark Bittner, the self appointed caretaker of San Francisco’s flock of wild Cherry-Headed Conures. It tells the story of his journey to preserve the flock and its home. Buy it on Amazon.

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Today is National Pot Smoking Day! Aren’t you glad you know that now? I can just imagine a bunch of potheads sitting around deciding that we all need an annual day to celebrate the magical madness of pot.

Anyway, it’s a perfect opportunity for me to expound on my favorite pot-smoking movies. Read on, and tell me YOUR favorite pot-smoking movies in the comments below. Or perhaps, favorite movies to watch WHILE smoking pot…?

1. Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke. Obviously, the granddaddy of all pot-smoking movies, the one that made it cool to smoke pot. Ok, maybe not cool. Ok, maybe cool. Anyhoo, watch it again, but not before you read my interview with professional pot-smoker himself, Tommy Chong.

2. Reefer Madness. Oh, the evils of the weed. How it destroyed lives, wreaked havoc, caused people to murder and go insane, especially in 1936 when this movie was made. Women cry for it! Men die for it! Watch it with drug-crazed abandon! It’s even a musical now!

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Chocolate bunnies, colorful eggs, frilly dresses, and happy kids scampering through the house looking for hidden baskets of treats. Nothing rivals the pure joy of Easter, as shown in my top five movies celebrating Easter and Passover. Check out my list, and feel free to add your own in the comments:

1. IT’S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN. Easter is coming, and the gang is preparing for the spring holiday in their usual catastrophic way. Charlie Brown is frustrated over the Christmas pre-sales at the local department stores.

Sally wants a new pair of platform shoes (this movie was made in 1974!). Peppermint Patty is trying to teach a clueless Marcy how to color eggs. Snoopy is shopping for a new bachelor pad for Woodstock. And Linus is busy telling everyone about the Easter Beagle, who rises up on Easter morning to give eggs to all the children (sound familiar?). Buy it on Amazon.

2. YOGI, THE EASTER BEAR. When Yogi accidentally ruins the big Easter Jamboree at Jellystone Park right before hundreds of kids are set to arrive, he and Boo Boo go in search of the Easter Bunny to save the day, only to discover that he’s been kidnapped by a gang of criminals! The pair must work fast when they learn that Ranger Smith has arranged for them to join a circus in Siberia. Buy it on Amazon.

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Believe it or not, Ellen Ripley – a.k.a. Sigourney Weaver – has been voted the No. 1 action hero of all time!

Yeah, I believe it. She rocked in the “Alien” movies, and that’s a pretty awesome achievement when you consider that she beat out Arnold Schwarzenegger (2nd place), and Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris (tied for third place) in a poll conducted by British cable channel Sky Movies.

Matt Damon, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Steven Seagal also made it into the top 10. Each star was judged on five categories: weapons, one-liners, kill count, creative ass kicking and sex appeal.

But Sigourney was the only female on the list, which is impressive. Seems like Angelina Jolie should have been in there somewhere for “Lara Croft,” “Wanted,” and the other action flicks she’s made.

Photo Credit: TM and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved

There are some fantastic movies coming up in 2009, and while you never know how a movie will fare until you actually see it, I’ve picked out 16 movies that I think will knock us out with their awesomeness. See if you agree, and add your own in the comments!

1. Watchmen (March 6). “Who watches the Watchmen?” That’s the question in this graphic-novel-turned-movie directed by Zach Snyder. Vigilantes, murders, superheroes, and lots of good and bad karma populate this movie, along with stars Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jackie Earle Haley. [Trailer] [Film Gecko Links] [Official Site]

2. Sunshine Cleaning (March 13). This probably won’t hit all the mainstream theaters, but it looks like a quirky film that will hit all the right notes. Amy Adams is a single mom who, along with her slacker sister (Emily Blunt) starts a crime-scene cleanup biz as a way out of their dead-end lives. Alan Arkin plays the doting dad in this dramedy that scored big at Sundance last year. [Official Site]

3. Knowing (March 20). Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne star in this latest movie about number puzzles. Cage plays an MIT professor investigating a mysterious sequence of digits unearthed in a time capsule. Oh, and the numbers foretell tragic events, like a jet crashing on a freeway. [Official Site]

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In honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I’m doing a series on Top Romantic Movie Moments. Check out Part 1 and Part 2, and see if you agree with my choices in Part 3 below. And add your own favorites in the comments section!

1. An Officer and a Gentleman. Zack (Richard Gere) is a commitment-shy Naval trainee who’s afraid of love. Paula (Debra Winger) is a world-weary factory worker whose Naval officer father loved and left her mother 20 years earlier. It looks like this relationship is headed for NoWheresVille, too, but then…Zack strides through the factory in his white Navy uniform, swoops Paula up in his arms, and carries her out as all of her friends cheer. And we cheer, too, because, well…the guy usually doesn’t come back. Not in real life, anyway.

2. Sleepless in Seattle. As Annie (Meg Ryan) wanders sadly around the top of the Empire State Building, she’s afraid she blew her one chance at happiness. Then she sees a backpack and picks it up, just as Sam (Tom Hanks) and his son, Jonah, step off the elevator. Sam and Annie can’t stop looking at each other as they all get on the elevator and begin the rest of their lives together…sigh…

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Valentine’s Day is nearly here (two days away!), so I’m continuing my theme of Top Romantic Movie Moments. Read Part 1 of this series here, and feel free to add your own favorites in the comments section.

Notice how some people keep showing up on these lists? Like Patrick Swayze, Renee Zellweger, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere … I guess some people are just more romantic than others. I hope you’ll take some time to revisit some of these feel-good favorites!

1. Pretty Woman. As Vivian (Julia Roberts) gets ready to leave town and start a new life, we weep for the love she thought could never work. Then we see a limo pull up outside her apartment, and Edward (Richard Gere) is sticking his head out of the sunroof waving a bouquet of flowers. She comes to the fire escape in disbelief, as he climbs up to rescue her from a life of struggle (remember - he’s afraid of heights!). And she gets to "rescue him right back." Priceless. Two broken people, mended at last.

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In honor of Valentine’s Day (this Saturday – are you prepared?!), I’ve compiled a list of top romantic movie moments. Since there’s no way I can put them all into one post, I’ll probably do another post or two. Let’s start with…

1. Dirty Dancing. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." You tell ‘em, Johnny! And then the street-wise dancer grab’s the young girl’s hand and pulls her on-stage for "their" dance. Could there be a better ending to this nostalgic movie about young love at a 50’s-era summer resort? I think not.

2. Bridget Jones’s Diary. Daniel (Hugh Grant) and Bridget (Renee Zellweger) have just emerged onto the street from an intimate, candle-lit dinner. She raises her arm to hail a taxi, and then he pulls her into his arms and gives her one of THE most romantic kisses in cinema history. And then, of course, they go back to her apartment, where she realizes she wore…the BIG underpants! Just like real life.

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In my top five Mickey Rourke movies, I mentioned that “The Wrestler” included plenty of bloody scenes, as well as a few outright sex scenes. Emil called me out on it in the comments section, noting that just because a movie has sex and violence doesn’t make it bad. So true, Emil! Thanks for the reminder.

And thanks for my next Film Gecko Five - Bloodiest Movies. But I need your help, Geckos, because I don’t watch a lot of the blood and gore. What are your favorite bloody movies?

I’ll start with a poll, but feel free to add your own or tell me your favorites in the comments section. After a few days, I’ll pick the top five and run a Film Gecko Five. Let’s go! n

Image: Amazon.com

I’m starting a new feature called “Film Gecko Five” – Top Five Movies in various categories. Feel free to email me at [email protected] with your ideas! Today’s list is my Top Five Sexiest Movies. See if you agree, and if not, what are YOUR favorite sexy movies? Tell me in the comments section below!

5. Gone With the Wind. What could be sexier than stepping over bodies strewn about the streets of Atlanta? Ok, maybe that’s not the sexiest scene of this classic 1939 film, but the banter between Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable more than makes up for it. Sexiest Scene: When Rhett says to Scarlett, “No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” [Official Site]

More after the jump…

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