The Birds (1963) I've seen most of Alfred Hitchcock's films and I've had the fortune of seeing most of them for the first time in a movie theatre but somehow all these years, one of his most popular movies has eluded me. My kids are obsessed over the idea of horror movies, and they think they want to watch one but I'm a good parent and I'm not going to let my 5 and 7 year old kids watch Nightmare on Elm Street or Child's Play. (Even though it seems that other parents find these sort of films ok for their little ones!) Instead, I thought a good classic like The Birds would provide some wholesome spooky thrills. After a very talky and slow first hour and a half, the final act of this classic picks up with some pretty tense bird attack action. I can see what audiences of the early 60's were terrified by this picture but it's pretty slow and tame by today's standards. The kids liked it well enough, even though they were bored to tears through most of it. I enjoyed it but it certainly isn't one of the more captivating Hitchcock films.
Cyberbully (2011) Here's a throwback to the classic days of Made-For-TV movies where the whole point of the film is to illustrate a growing problem in society. This new ABC Family movie is two primetime stars away from being an old ABC Sunday Night At the Movies presentation. Emily Osmet, from Hannah Montana, is a likable lead in this silly drama about a high school whose whole world comes crashing down after hoping on a Facebook style website for about a week. After rumors of her promiscuity flood her profile page, she resorts to suicide. Then the whole picture turns real heavy handed and preachy and poorly written. There's also a whole silly sub-plot involving her best friend playing some evil trick on her. This isn't a complete waste of time but it's pretty darn close.
Free Willy (1993) Boy meets whale - boy saves whale. This movie was so popular when it came out, it's been ripped off and copied so many times that rewatching it after 17 years if feels kind of stale. The rescue of Willy at the end of the movie is still pretty exciting and a decent amount of a payoff for making it through the first hour. My kids liked it. So I got that going for me...which is nice.
The Birds (1963) I've seen most of Alfred Hitchcock's films and I've had the fortune of seeing most of them for the first time in a movie theatre but somehow all these years, one of his most popular movies has eluded me. My kids are obsessed over the idea of horror movies, and they think they want to watch one but I'm a good parent and I'm not going to let my 5 and 7 year old kids watch Nightmare on Elm Street or Child's Play. (Even though it seems that other parents find these sort of films ok for their little ones!) Instead, I thought a good classic like The Birds would provide some wholesome spooky thrills. After a very talky and slow first hour and a half, the final act of this classic picks up with some pretty tense bird attack action. I can see what audiences of the early 60's were terrified by this picture but it's pretty slow and tame by today's standards. The kids liked it well enough, even though they were bored to tears through most of it. I enjoyed it but it certainly isn't one of the more captivating Hitchcock films.
Cyberbully (2011) Here's a throwback to the classic days of Made-For-TV movies where the whole point of the film is to illustrate a growing problem in society. This new ABC Family movie is two primetime stars away from being an old ABC Sunday Night At the Movies presentation. Emily Osmet, from Hannah Montana, is a likable lead in this silly drama about a high school whose whole world comes crashing down after hoping on a Facebook style website for about a week. After rumors of her promiscuity flood her profile page, she resorts to suicide. Then the whole picture turns real heavy handed and preachy and poorly written. There's also a whole silly sub-plot involving her best friend playing some evil trick on her. This isn't a complete waste of time but it's pretty darn close.
Free Willy (1993) Boy meets whale - boy saves whale. This movie was so popular when it came out, it's been ripped off and copied so many times that rewatching it after 17 years if feels kind of stale. The rescue of Willy at the end of the movie is still pretty exciting and a decent amount of a payoff for making it through the first hour. My kids liked it. So I got that going for me...which is nice.
Yeah Michael Jackson had a hit song theme from Free Willy.
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