10 Subtle Movie Homages You Definitely Missed
8. Fireplace Scene - Harry Potter (Homage To The Birds)
Redditor u/subseven93 pointed out recently how similar these two fireplace scenes where, and despite there being seemingly no connection between the movies, you have to say that the scenes have a surprising amount in common.
Both Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer’s Stone in the USA) and The Birds involve a huge amount of something (letters or birds) shooting out of the fireplace and swarming around the room. Both scenes even feature someone standing up and trying to swat the things away.
The strangest thing is, unlike other entries here (like the previous Hitchcock homage in Pulp Fiction), the tone of these scenes are completely different. In The Birds, it’s supposed to incite terror as the fearsome birds explode out of the fireplace, invading the home.
The Harry Potter scene though is joyous and magical; as most of the earlier movies were before the darker Deatheater storylines came into play.
Having said all that, both scenes are exceedingly well shot, giving us the best angles, and this is hardly your typical living room scene. You can’t really blame Chris Columbus from drawing inspiration from one of the masters of cinema.