THE BIRDS
AXS TV, 9:00 p.m. ET
In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock made one of his undisputed classic horror films: The Birds, based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier. Today, it would be relatively easy to flood the screen with menacing birds using CGI effects – but close to 60 years ago, Hitchcock pulled it off using animatronic replicas, hard-painted decoys, and lots and lots of actual live birds. The finale alone was an artful combination of 32 painted images and individually photographed shots. Tippi Hedren stars – but the real stars are those birds at the school playground, and crowding into Bodega Bay. Given the way nature is turning against us right now, it’s a perfect time to revisit The Birds.