The Birds ... of gay!
Sep. 1st, 2007 12:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fembuckAnd no, I'm not talking about the comic or TV show. I'm talking about the Hitchcock movie which I just watched tonight (yes, for the first time, shut up!)
Thoughts on The Birds (1963):
- Tippi Hedren was ridiculously good looking. Womanly sass and elegance personified. *has major girlcrush on her 33 year old self*
- Suzanne Pleshette rocks the casbah. Her Annie was like one of the best things in the movie, because Annie was so gay. Every time she looked at Melanie (Tippi) or spoke to her it seemed like she was coming on to her. They were actually so lesbionic together that at one point one of friends was like "are they gonna sleep in the same room?" cause, really, it did seem like the end of a really great date. Also, sinceAnnie dies I'm going to assume she was hitting on Melanie cause that's what happened to those types of characters back in the day. Also, like Tippi Hedron, Pleshette was mad gorgeous back in the day.
All subtext aside though, it was a very nice treat to see two women of similar age interacting on screen together, which was quite rare during this time. I was like, 'OMG, they have the chicks talking to each other! What is going on here?' Also, at no point were they bitchy or catty to each. Twas great.
- I wish I was the daughter of the owner of a newspaper so that I could look fabulous, hang out in bird stores all day, take impromptu trips to the coast to play jokes on people, and jump into fountains in Rome nude. Seriously.
- The scene at the bar where the townspeople are discussing the bird situation is gold. It had the greatest mix of characters ever. I totally would have hung out there. You had the bombshell blonde from the city, the sea captain with a jazzy hat, the talkative bartender, the crazy drunken Irishman, an old lady with a convenient knowledge of the subject, an arrogant newspaper man from the city, and a mom with two whiny children who in a hysterical voice tells everyone else to be quiet because they're scaring the children.
That combined with Tippi Hedren's expression as she watched the newspaper guy light his cigarette while surrounded by a pool of gasoline made for a fine cinematic experience.
- Birds are effing creepy. I already hated birds before this, and this movie only confirmed to be that I was right to loath and suspect them! Seriously, the swarming scenes were like seeing my nightmares on screen, and when they got to the close-ups of the pecking, and I was practically hyperventilating. Hate. Birds.
That being said, the special effects were really top notch for the time period it was made. I was very impressed.
- If you have a fur coat and birds are attacking you, don't take off the coat to walk around in your smart looking suit, keep the fur coat on, it will offer more protection! Just had to say.
- The guy playing Jessica Tandy's son in the movie looked like he was about 45 years old, which means that visually she only looked about 10 years or so older than him (although IRL he was only 33). That and the fact that he called her "darling" and "dear", combined with Annie talking about how Lydia (Tandy) was jealous of any girl her son brought home, gave most of their scenes together a really weird Oedipal vibe. (but, like with Stardust, the mother and the future daughter-in-law, got to snuggle in the backseat together which was great. *sigh* If only Annie had offered to give Melanie a massage, it would have been the best ever)
Overall impression:
Good movie, I highly enjoyed it! If you haven't seen it I would definitely recommend it. *sigh* Just one more reason not to listen to the people at Blockbuster. The guy who checked us out told us that the movie sucked, but because this was the same guy that we heard recommending Mindhunters to someone a couple weeks ago, we didn't pay attention to him and I'm glad we didn't. Worst video store guy ever.
(fights urge to write Melanie/Annie fic since I actually have to go back to work *sob* ... and it was a losing battle Small Town Hospitality - Melanie/Annie, PG)
Thoughts on The Birds (1963):
- Tippi Hedren was ridiculously good looking. Womanly sass and elegance personified. *has major girlcrush on her 33 year old self*
- Suzanne Pleshette rocks the casbah. Her Annie was like one of the best things in the movie, because Annie was so gay. Every time she looked at Melanie (Tippi) or spoke to her it seemed like she was coming on to her. They were actually so lesbionic together that at one point one of friends was like "are they gonna sleep in the same room?" cause, really, it did seem like the end of a really great date. Also, since
All subtext aside though, it was a very nice treat to see two women of similar age interacting on screen together, which was quite rare during this time. I was like, 'OMG, they have the chicks talking to each other! What is going on here?' Also, at no point were they bitchy or catty to each. Twas great.
- I wish I was the daughter of the owner of a newspaper so that I could look fabulous, hang out in bird stores all day, take impromptu trips to the coast to play jokes on people, and jump into fountains in Rome nude. Seriously.
- The scene at the bar where the townspeople are discussing the bird situation is gold. It had the greatest mix of characters ever. I totally would have hung out there. You had the bombshell blonde from the city, the sea captain with a jazzy hat, the talkative bartender, the crazy drunken Irishman, an old lady with a convenient knowledge of the subject, an arrogant newspaper man from the city, and a mom with two whiny children who in a hysterical voice tells everyone else to be quiet because they're scaring the children.
That combined with Tippi Hedren's expression as she watched the newspaper guy light his cigarette while surrounded by a pool of gasoline made for a fine cinematic experience.
- Birds are effing creepy. I already hated birds before this, and this movie only confirmed to be that I was right to loath and suspect them! Seriously, the swarming scenes were like seeing my nightmares on screen, and when they got to the close-ups of the pecking, and I was practically hyperventilating. Hate. Birds.
That being said, the special effects were really top notch for the time period it was made. I was very impressed.
- If you have a fur coat and birds are attacking you, don't take off the coat to walk around in your smart looking suit, keep the fur coat on, it will offer more protection! Just had to say.
- The guy playing Jessica Tandy's son in the movie looked like he was about 45 years old, which means that visually she only looked about 10 years or so older than him (although IRL he was only 33). That and the fact that he called her "darling" and "dear", combined with Annie talking about how Lydia (Tandy) was jealous of any girl her son brought home, gave most of their scenes together a really weird Oedipal vibe. (but, like with Stardust, the mother and the future daughter-in-law, got to snuggle in the backseat together which was great. *sigh* If only Annie had offered to give Melanie a massage, it would have been the best ever)
Overall impression:
Good movie, I highly enjoyed it! If you haven't seen it I would definitely recommend it. *sigh* Just one more reason not to listen to the people at Blockbuster. The guy who checked us out told us that the movie sucked, but because this was the same guy that we heard recommending Mindhunters to someone a couple weeks ago, we didn't pay attention to him and I'm glad we didn't. Worst video store guy ever.
(fights urge to write Melanie/Annie fic since I actually have to go back to work *sob* ... and it was a losing battle Small Town Hospitality - Melanie/Annie, PG)
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Date: 2007-09-02 05:34 am (UTC)i'm glad you got the chance to see the "children's hour"...now maybe you can understand why i really want to write that fic...at first i was totally diggin' the idea of a remake, but the more i thought about it, the more i'm convinced that it could be done in such a way that was as good or better than the mcclain/hepburn version...it may not have been william wyler's best film, but he was just able to capture the hauntingly beautiful tone that is the essence of the film...plus those performances, i get goosebumps just thinking about them...ah...now i think i'm gonna have to pop it in the dvd player and watch it again...but yeah, despite how it turns out, i still love it...hey, if you're interested, you should check out "these three"...basically when the story was originally optioned to be a motion picture the hayes code mandated that they take out the lesbian story line and what was left became "these 3"...some people agree that it's a better film than the "children's hour", which may or may not be true, but it's still worth checking out.