Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Birds (Universal 1962)


Human beings...well...we're not as smart as we think we are.

We think we can control anything, and if we can't control it...well then...there has to be something wrong with it, right? And somebody has to be blamed for it!

Take, for instance, our fascination with the environment. One side of the issue realizes the importance of protecting the earth, but they're also concerned with things called FACTS!

The other side sees this as a political opportunity to frighten individuals to vote for them and/or support a cause based on total and complete nonsense.

The truth is we can't control the temperature of our planet. We think we can...but folks it's not happening. Scientists from around the world are now starting to examine solar flares from our sun that are affecting temperature changes...and the last time I looked we weren't very good at controlling the sun.

We can't even control the birds of the sky. Don't believe me? Then you should watch this week's Edge's Conservative Movie the 1962 Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds. This is the third film from Hitch to make it to ECM (Rear Window, North By Northwest)

It's a scary flick, so don't watch it with kiddies. Hitchcock will have you looking at our fine feathered friends a little differently than you did before. Here is the synopsis from IMDb...

Spoiled socialite and notorious practical joker Melanie Daniels is shopping in a San Francisco pet store when she meets Mitch Brenner. Mitch is looking to buy a pair of love birds for his young sister's birthday; he recognizes Melanie but pretends to mistake her for an assistant. She decides to get her own back by buying the birds and driving up to the quiet coastal town of Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends his weekends with his sister and mother. Shortly after she arrives, Melanie is attacked by a gull, but this is just the start of a series of attacks by an increasing number of birds.

The conservative point in this movie is a simple one. We are not in control of everything...AND...WE CAN NEVER BE IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING. This point isn't meant to scare you, but it is meant to open your eyes and control the things YOU can control...like your health, your checkbook, your actions, how YOU live your own life.

So why you're trying to figure this out, don't look up in the sky with your mouth open anytime soon.

Here is the trailer created by a fan of the movie...

11 comments:

kevin said...

I heard they're remaking this one. I hope it isn't true. I'm sick of modern directors hacking up old classics.

EDGE said...

Kev,

It's true...unfortunately. It's due out in 2011!

Z said...

There's a big billboard for some product I can't remember....nearby....on the top of the billboard sit large birds..seagulls, pigeons, crows, I think...statues of birds ...it always gives me the CREEPS... "Run Tippi..RUN!"

Brooke said...

Another remake? No thanks.

I'm not playing that vid... I don't want my Goffin's Cockatoo to get any ideas. ;)

Anonymous said...

I watched this when I was a teenager all alone in the house one night. Gaaaa!

Now when I see a bunch of grackles hanging out on the power lines, I feel like they're planning something...

EDGE said...

Z,

Nothing like freaking out people while they're driving.

Brooke,

Yep, Hollyweird is getting lazy. They are in remake mode from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. I guess that's when all of the best movies came out! Sad.

Pinky,

They're probably talking abou whose car they want to poop on.

:O)

Cappy said...

Or, for those readers in Joisey; "Da Boids".

EDGE said...

Hey Cappy,

FUHGETAABOUTIT!

WomanHonorThyself said...

this movie scared the bejesus outta me!..LOL

EDGE said...

Angel,

I don't think Hitchcock made a movie that didn't scare the bejesus outta people! ;O)

Z said...

I'm with Pinky..every time I see a bunch of crows on wires bunched together, they look to me to be plotting an attack.

I saw a Frankenstein movie once when I was about 8....I used to love those except that one was a modern day tract house kind of Frankenstein, not a Transylvania Castle type...I had to sit in the corner of the living room so i could see all the doors and windows for DAYS afterward!