DVD Collectors Online

The Birds , a review by Dragonfire

The Birds



Nothing equals THE BIRDS for sheer terror when Alfred Hitchcock unleashes his foul friends in one of his most shocking and memorable masterpieces. As beautiful blonde Melanie Daniels ('Tippi' Hedren) rolls into Bodega Bay in pursuit of eligible bachelor Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), she is inexplicably attacked by a seagull. Suddenly thousands of birds are flocking into town, preying on schoolchildren and residents in a terrifying series of attacks. Soon Mitch and Melanie are fighting for their lives against a deadly force that can't be explained and can't be stopped in one of Hollywood's most horrific films of nature gone berserk.

My Thoughts

I do enjoy this one, though a few things that happen don't make as much sense.  It does seem a bit odd that Melanie would go to so much trouble to give the love birds to Mitch's sister, someone she doesn't even know.  Melanie manages to find out all sorts of information about Mitch after getting to Bodega Bay even though she is a stranger.  People weren't as careful about that sort of thing then, though it does seem a little odd that Melanie is accepted so quickly, especially by Annie.

The pacing is a bit slower for a while, though that changes once the birds start attacking.  The scenes with the bird attacks are done well and are believably scary.  I think the fact that the explanation for the attacks wasn't given makes that part of the movie scarier.  There are a few somewhat gruesome things shown, though nothing is extremely explicit.  Suspense is in a few scenes, though the movie isn't as suspenseful as some of Hitchcock's others.

Melanie is a nice enough character, though like I mentioned, her motivation for taking the love birds to begin with does seem a little..odd.  That is an awful lot of trouble for her to go to.  It also doesn't make the most sense for Mitch to act like he does when they first meet in the pet shop.  It is fairly clear that they aren't getting along that well at that point, but in no time they seem to have changed their minds.  That relationship does develop fast.  Melanie does do something that is rather stupid at one point and I still haven't figured out why she did it.  The cast does well with their parts and the characters are likable overall.

The movie does have a few issues, but it is still very entertaining and deserves to be seen.



I did post a review at Epinions a few years ago.

The Birds


(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on August 1st, 2010)

The Sweetest Thing, a review by addicted2dvd

The Sweetest Thing
Three of Hollywood's hottest stars will show you a good time in this uninhibited comic gem.

Christina Walters (Cameron Diaz) and her party-hopping pals Courtney (Christina Applegate) and Jane (Selma Blair) are three sexy singles who love the night life. At the city's most exclusive dance club, Christina unexpectedly meets Peter (Thomas Jane), her perfect match. Discovering the next morning that he's left town, she and Courtney set out on a wild road trip to find him. But the road to Mr. Right is paved with seductive surprises and hilarious misadventures.

'THE SWEETEST THING' puts a totally fresh twist on the search for true love.

My Thoughts:
This is a movie I bought several years ago... was one of the ones I got super-cheap when the video store I used to manage went out of business. To be honest I went into this one not expecting much at all from this movie... but I was pleasantly surprised. The movie was better then I thought it would be. It is not like it was the best movie I ever saw... but I did have a lot of laughs watching it. And all 3 of the ladies looked fantastic in this movie... especially Cameron Diaz.  But I will also say that there was a couple pretty stupid scenes in this movie... one would be a scene that takes place in a dress shop when they are doing a montage of all the outfits they are looking at... all of which looked pretty ridiculous. Another was the scene where they were singing in the apartment to help... uhhh... separate one of the girls and her boyfriend. Over-all I would say it is a fun watch. Though I would warn that some (ok... most) of the comedy in this movie is a bit on the immature side.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on September 27th, 2008)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

Swinging - Series One

Episode 1

A sketch show from Channel 5 which centres around relationships. The six episodes from Series 1 include the characters: Carla The Fussy Lay, Snobby Doggers, Prisoners Of Love, Miss Beasley, Sex Therapist, The Camp Fiancee, Tom's Parents, The Horse Whisperer, Nostalgic Guy and Wrong Boyfriend



Vulgar and shock TV can sometimes be funny. Sadly on this pilot episode for a relatively unknown channel 5 series the laughs came thin and slow. It is a format of short sketches with repeating characters, all loosely linked to sex and swinging.
Pretty base and pointless stuff, unknown cast, untested formula, I guess Ch5 were hoping the shock value may increase their profile on UK terrestrial TV - it didn't work.
 


(From My PILOT Marathon on September 3rd, 2009)