Friday, February 2

comcast free movie: the birds



Curtis and I stayed up late yesterday night to watch "The Birds." Despite a long-lasting fascination with Alfred Hitchcock that resulted from a "Psycho" feature at Universal Studios Florida I beheld when I was between the seventh and eight grades (after an accidental and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see turtles nest on the beach, my parents tracked down a video store and rented "Psycho" so I could watch it), I had never seen "The Birds." Nor have I seen "North by Northwest" but it's on my Netflix list.

It's been reproduced in color, which I'm sure took a little away from Hitchcock's intent and the film's originality. There are a few scenes, especially near the end, where I knew it would look better in black and white. But being the color lover that I am, I enjoyed the reworking. The cinematography is amazing: stills of saturated blues and poppy greens had me wishing I could pause the television, print out images and hang them on my walls. One standing out in my mind is that of a car speeding across the screen, from right to left, splicing the green grass and California sky, leaving a trail of angrily-rising white dust. It made me feel alive.

And that Tippi Hedren is a classic looker. I learned that she's also mother to Melanie Griffith.

5 comments:

Kim said...

I have never seen the birds, I guess I might have to check it out. I really like the name Tippi.

jamieanne said...

I've seen this movie--in black and white. It's cool, but also pretty creepy.

heather said...

And did you notice there is no music soundtrack? I love that about The Birds. Thriller movies usually depend on music to raise tension and suspense (I mean, even Psycho is unimaginalbel without it's music). Yet, Birds is sooooo creey in all it's musical silence. Hitch is genius.

whit said...

I love Hitchcock movies..you should watch Rear Window and To Catch a Thief next..featuring Princess Grace Kelly.

ali said...

We watched Rear Windows some time last year and it was definitely enjoyable. But I liked The Birds about a hundred times better.

To Catch a Thief will be added to Netflix list is .5 seconds.