The Birds – one of Hitchcock’s finest

We’ve been having a little trouble with birds where I work recently – nothing serious, but they’ve been messing the place up and generally just making a nuisance of themselves. We’re going to get rid of them, but it did remind me of one of my favourite Alfred Hitchcock films – The Birds.

If I’m honest, the effects have dated a little and can be a little difficult to take seriously, but apart from that the film is a tour-de-force of suspenseful film making at its best. Based (albeit quite loosely) on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier, it’s a classic story that still has the power to shock and unsettle today.

Movie questions

Recently a friend requested that I do a quiz on facebook – it wasn’t one of those ones designed to reveal deep psychological insights – or what muppet character you’re most like.

No, it was more sensible than that. Who would play you in a movie of your life? It’s a typical pub conversation question – it comes up every so often and you choose the coolest damn actor to portray you – it’s a bit of fun.

But his question was more in-depth – and, as the film buff I am, I spent the best part of the day pondering it. You had to choose:

• Who would play you?
• Your love interest?
• Your best friend?
• A parent?
• Your arch enemy?

Give it a go?

Scarface Re-release of the cult classic

If you want to see one of the greatest modern gangster movies ever made, then head to the cinema this week for the re-release of Scarface. Brian De Palma’s 1984 epic stars Al Pacino in one of his best roles as Miami gangster Tony Montana.

Cult classic

This brilliantly bloodthirsty masterpiece which was written by Oliver Stone is a tour de force of and drugs and territorial battles, chronicling the rise and fall of crime boss Montana in the underworld of 1980s Miami.

Scarface is a portrait of the criminal underworld and its excesses, with Tony Montana – one of the seminal characters in modern American cinema – ruthlessly climbing the ladder to the top of the cocaine mafia.