227 of 1001 Movies: Contempt (1963)

I have to say I was puzzling over how to feel with this movie after it went off. There were moments I thought I didn't like it, and then others where I could see how brilliant it was. For me the biggest setback is the slowness. I just can't help it, movies that border on plot-less leave me a little lackluster. Jean Luc-Godard was one of the most innovative and creative directors of the 60's though. The fact that this is a movie that is a movie within a movie is quite interesting. We're watching a movie about a guy who is writing a movie, whose life plays out as a movie.

Summary: Paul is hired to make a movie that is about Ulysses, but the director, Jeremy wants him to make it more commercial. Jeremy seems to have a thing for Paul's wife, and he invites her to ride with him to his house that he has invited them both to. She insist on riding with Paul, but he wants her to ride with Jeremy. She takes this as an indication she is being used to get a better payment when it comes time to pay Paul, and this puts a huge riff in their relationship.

107 of 1001 Movies: The Birds (1963)

I'll admit that The 39 Steps didn't have me too sold on Alfred Hitchcock, but The Birds really showcases a more mature, and definitely terrifying Hitchcock. Who would have ever thought that birds could be so terrifying. The Birds weaves in suspense well by giving more time to the characters than the birds we just get sneaks of during The Birds until the last hour or so when things finally look like they are finally coming apart, and from there the suspense has been build so well it is terrifying.

Melanie sneaks over to Bodega Bay to leave a surprise for Mitch, or that is his daughter, after bumping into him at a bird shop and finding that he was on the hunt for a pair of Lovebirds for his daughter Melanie. After arriving in Bodega Bay though she begins noticing some odd happenings with the birds including how they gather, and the random dives they make toward her. The swarm of birds are growing though, and now a body count is piling, and Melanie finds herself preparing with Mitch for the greatest attack of all.