Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 375719" data-attributes="member: 5079">Today I saw a theatrical re-release of Hitchcock&#039;s THE BIRDS.&nbsp; I&#039;ve seen a lot of classic movies on the big screen and in every case I walked away with a renewed or deeper appreciation of the film.&nbsp; My reaction to THE BIRDS was more muddled.Time is doing no favors to this movie&#039;s special effects.&nbsp; The film&#039;s rear screen projection and stuffed, (barely) mechanical birds might skate by with little scrutiny on the small screen but larger than life they&#039;re looking pretty silly.&nbsp;&nbsp; Antiquated special effects are not necessarily the death of a film.&nbsp; The monsters of KING KONG are downright quaint 90 years later,&nbsp; yet the film has such brisk confidence that it all works just fine.&nbsp; In comparison, the plot of THE BIRDS is a bit thin.What the film does have going for it is atmosphere.&nbsp; The mood of the film is one of foreboding, perhaps embodied by Suzanne Pleshette&#039;s heavy-lidded melancholy.&nbsp; &nbsp; The film is much better at building suspense than providing release.&nbsp; The amassing group of crows (appropriately called a murder) in the playground is genuinely creepy, but the actual attack is shoddy looking.&nbsp; The entire movie feels like a prelude to something, so perhaps it&#039;s appropriate that the film is better at the buildup than the payoff.&nbsp; Maybe Hitchcock should have used the same restraint Spielberg later adopted with JAWS.&nbsp; In any event, between weirdly awkward emotional outbursts (&quot;I think you&#039;re evil!&quot;) and even more awkward bird attacks (I&#039;m inclined to think a woman, even while being swarmed by birds, would remember how a door works), much of the movie fell flat for me.<img src="https://media.tenor.com/bMLnCRY3m8gAAAAC/the-birds-attack.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Edit: Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Tippi Hedren.&nbsp; It&#039;s a shame her career crashed because, based on this film at least, I think she&#039;s the most interesting of Hitchcock&#039;s blondes.&nbsp; I&#039;ve never really understood Grace Kelly&#039;s appeal, but Hedren had her aloof sophistication and an added wryness that made her much more engaging.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 375719, member: 5079"] Today I saw a theatrical re-release of Hitchcock's THE BIRDS. I've seen a lot of classic movies on the big screen and in every case I walked away with a renewed or deeper appreciation of the film. My reaction to THE BIRDS was more muddled. Time is doing no favors to this movie's special effects. The film's rear screen projection and stuffed, (barely) mechanical birds might skate by with little scrutiny on the small screen but larger than life they're looking pretty silly. Antiquated special effects are not necessarily the death of a film. The monsters of KING KONG are downright quaint 90 years later, yet the film has such brisk confidence that it all works just fine. In comparison, the plot of THE BIRDS is a bit thin. What the film does have going for it is atmosphere. The mood of the film is one of foreboding, perhaps embodied by Suzanne Pleshette's heavy-lidded melancholy. The film is much better at building suspense than providing release. The amassing group of crows (appropriately called a murder) in the playground is genuinely creepy, but the actual attack is shoddy looking. The entire movie feels like a prelude to something, so perhaps it's appropriate that the film is better at the buildup than the payoff. Maybe Hitchcock should have used the same restraint Spielberg later adopted with JAWS. In any event, between weirdly awkward emotional outbursts ("I think you're evil!") and even more awkward bird attacks (I'm inclined to think a woman, even while being swarmed by birds, would remember how a door works), much of the movie fell flat for me. [IMG]https://media.tenor.com/bMLnCRY3m8gAAAAC/the-birds-attack.gif[/IMG] Edit: Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Tippi Hedren. It's a shame her career crashed because, based on this film at least, I think she's the most interesting of Hitchcock's blondes. I've never really understood Grace Kelly's appeal, but Hedren had her aloof sophistication and an added wryness that made her much more engaging. [/QUOTE]

Verification

Who played JR Ewing?