WoC’s Corner

This is WoC (Wife of Cogerson).  While I frequently make tech-support visits, I rarely ever contribute in visible ways.  But, I wanted to do my own page. And I’m going to have fun with it, so I’m calling itWoC's Corner


WoC

 

And that’s me, in a corner.  Cogerson looked at me like I was nuts when I asked him to take that picture.  That was at least half the fun.  Probably closer to 75% of the fun if I’m honest.  And if he doesn’t like it…  I’ll change his password.  Hah.

 

 

 

One of the things I get asked ALL the time – “What’s it really like living with Cogerson?”  Well, I’ll tell you.  Everything is movies.  The pandemic of 2020 – in a movie.  Life with the kids – in several movies.  My career, his career (his other career) – both of them in movies.  And, as you can imagine, the movie accoutrement in our house is extensive.  Heck, we take full vacations around the idea of gathering more movie information.

Where am I going with this?  Well, I’ll tell you.  I found this book the other day, 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter by Jeremy Arnold

And while Cogerson remembers every movie he saw and where he was and why he watched it, I have not similarly spent brain power to commit these facts to the vault.

And, while he might be the perfect critical audience and reviewer, I believe I am the perfect movie participant.  I cry, I laugh, I cringe, I hide under blankets, I shake with adrenaline, and I shake with fear.  I don’t care what other movies this performer was in, I can’t list it and I only care if I believe them in this role.

With 52 movies in the title – it’s just begging for one movie a week.  Like a book club with movies.  That’s what I was thinking.

So, for as long as it lasts, I’m going to start the first UMR Movie Club.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept, (I think that’s a movie quote), is to watch one movie a week with me and discuss.  I’ll compile the comments and add them to the trailer page for each movie as we go.

The first movie is going to be Rear Window.  Watch it by Monday 5/11/2020, and then comment here.

Movie Title Watch By Date
Rear Window (1954) 5/11/2020

 

The whole list, because Cogerson insisted:

If you want to buy this book…..here is a link to do just that.

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61 thoughts on “WoC’s Corner”

  1. As Cogerson said, we watched this the other night. The color in our copy was bad and detracted from the movie. I’d never seen Rear Window before, Cogerson hooked me due to the concept of the cameras being in the same room the entire time.

    Things that struck me – the nightgown and slippers – very clever character development. It not only showed the depth of Lisa’s feelings for Jeff, and the commitment of her character to the potential lifestyle with Jeff – packing in small bags. Similarly, we get deeper understanding of Jeff’s character through phone calls with his editor.

    The back rubs given by Stella as the nurse from the insurance company are laughable. The movie would have us believe that he has been sitting there for 5 weeks (1 week left with the cast), for 24 hours a day. Without showers, without bathroom breaks. Stella remarks that the insurance would appreciate him not sleeping in a chair. I guess resolving it was irrelevant since it wouldn’t forward the plot. The broken leg gave him the excuse to sit still and watch out the window, and visits from the nurse gave Lisa an accomplice when she had to go sleuthing.

    I know Stella was a supplemental character, but there are several scenes where she in particular is extremely convincing at watching the action outside the window. On the movie set – I wonder what they were really watching – was it a blank wall or people off set?

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    1. per IMDb trivia : only one set for all apartments indoors and outdoors. with different lighting for different times of day. the arrangement made headlines took 50 men two months to build in a paramount studio building.

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  2. Hi Mrs, WoC 😉 Great idea to build yourself a little corner within the ever-growing UMR landscape. Thanks for sharing about how you relate to movies. It reminded me a bit of WoP (wife of Phil, and don’t tell her I ever used this acronym). Anyway, there are only 9 movies on the list I have not seen and I definitely would like to see those. I may not get around to re-watching all of the others (I don’t think I can sit through a whole viewing of Gone With the Wind) again! But I will try to at least share some thoughts on the movie of the week.

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    1. PhilHOF17 – thank you! Cogerson laughs at my movie participation. Secretly, I think he’s jealous.

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  3. HI BIG BOY

    Very tight and concise review of a great film though you didn’t mention that Rear Window when it was released had the additional advantage of my Jimmy being right at the peak of his heyday: he was smack in the middle of that great run of early fifties westerns that made him so popular and which he credits with saving his career after his absence for War Service.

    I vividly remember in 1954 queuing one summer night to watch Jimmy in Rear Window and then later that year queuing again on a winter night to watch Stewart in The Far Country.

    Just as I never liked Archie in his pre-1950s movies [with the exception of Notorious and thinking he deserved Oscar for None but Lonely Heart]I was not over keen on the pre-50s Jimmy [except for Call Northside 777]; and I thought that as the fifties wore on alamost as if his success had gone to his head he often became over the top and indeed quite frenzied in some of his performances.

    Still the Stewart of his golden 1950-55 period ensures that he will always be in my top 5 along with Widmark/Greg/Morg/Laddie

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    1. to the BOB, I assume that marlon is so far above the top 5 he does not need to be mentioned with mere mortals.

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      1. HI BOX COX

        I have mentioned before on this site that my Top 5 fave males tar sof all time are Widmark/Peck/Stewart/Morgan Freeman/Alan Ladd in roughly that order though there is just a hair’s breadth separating that 5.

        Brando and John Wayne [along with Glenn Ford] are in my next 5 but you will see me talk about Marlon and The Duke more often because I was one of 4 brothers and a father who were split down the middle in idolizing one or other of those 2 stars so that there was always plenty of arguments in the house about them during which I picked up a lot of information and trivia about the pair.

        Since joining this site I have become even keener to fight the corner of Wayne and Brando because The Work Horse spread all over the site poison about the pair [particularly Brando] which was injected into the site’s bloodstream via Joel Hirschhorn’s book.

        It probably matters a lot to other viewers of this site who The Work Horse’s idols are; but probably nobody cares a hill of beans whom I idolise [“I’m just another guy around here!” as Lee J Cobb indicated on the Waterfront]. However as you took the trouble to raise the issue with me courtesy required me to explain matters fully. Anyway hope everything is safe for you Bob.

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        1. to The Bob, thanks for the clarification. it is good to know . I have a favorite 6 and some of them would not make my top 50 actors. willis, Gibson, Costner, hanks, stewart, hopkins. it must keep things lively to have the blessing of discussion and disagreement with family. keep the trivia and opinions coming, I enjoy them immensely. with high regard your friend , the other bob

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  4. I saw 47 including top 42. missed breathless, bicycle thief, gun crazy, metropolis(watching tonight) out of the past.

    Rear Window:stewart is great. ritter is great. Hitchcock at his best. lovely low cost thriller(only one set used cost about $100,000 to build). a 10. my only reasons for not making it a favorite is it did not re-watch well for me(typical of thrillers where I know the ending) and I have been a little over critical of grace Kelly lately though this is a very good and natural role for her. I need to watch country girl to become appreciative again. in the swan and high society I was not impressed favorably. Kelly in mogambo was very good but out acted by her supporting cast Gable and Gardner and Donald Sinden. those 3 movies and rear window are the latest 4 I have seen of Kelly’s 11 movies.

    jimmy stewart about Grace Kelly: “everybody just sat around and waited for her to come in the morning. she was kind to everybody, so considerate, just great, and so beautiful.” “( she) had a complete understanding of the way motion picture acting is carried out.”

    for my taste: sexiest actress ever Marilyn Monroe, prettiest actress ever Grace Kelly, cutest actress ever Sally Field, most attractive actress ever Rita Hayworth(whom Fred Astaire claimed was his favorite dance partner), most exotic actress ever Angelina Jolie, the most anti “WoC’s rule 39” Ruth Gordon. the best actress ever Katherine Hepburn. best modern actress Meryl Streep. I hope other commenters chip in with their -est opinions of actresses

    special place in my heart Greer Garson, who I had the privilege of meeting at a party my mother threw(several hundred in attendance). ms. Garson attended because she knew and liked my mother, Kitty (the smartest woman I have ever known, still occasionally beating the worlds best at bridge at 88 years old , until her assisted living lockdown).

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    2. HI BOB COX

      Great thoughtful and well-argued post Bob and I agree with most of what you say except that I would argue that Deanna Durbin is in contention for “cutest actress ever”.

      However Sally too was a “cutie” in her heyday so that is a respectable choice of yours despite my own bias towards Deanna.

      Anyway keep safe.

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      1. to The Bob,I love Deanna Durbin too. but who can out cute Fields in gidget (the definition of cute1965), the flying nun, smokey and the bandit, murphys romance and even forrest gump 2004. 40 years of cuteness packaged in a fabulous actress. still going strong with Lincoln 2012 nominated for Oscar best supporting actress(but no longer cute, LOL) and on stage with a tony nomination for best actress 2017 in the glass menagerie.

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    3. Woc, thanks for all you do. thanks for this fun group participation page. I love your description of yourself as the perfect movie participant. I resonate with that. sometimes I over analize and neglect my emotional side. this is happening more and more with increased knowledge of movies. last night I got out of my head and into my heart viewing “Watch On The Rhine”. I wept at this historical novel about the impact of the horror of war on one heroic family.

      I hope to participate with your “club” I will re-watch to experience fresh any movie I haven’t seen in the past year.

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      1. Bob Cox – Thank you very much, it means a lot to me that want to participate and you will rewatch movies you’ve seen before.

        Cogerson used to make fun of my crying and trembling at movies. I think he figured out that if he continued, I wouldn’t watch movies with him any more.

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    4. I found out why I think this is a good and natural role for Grace Kelly. a trivia quote from IMDb “The original story by Cornell Woolrich had no love story and no additional neighbors for L.B. Jefferies to spy on; those elements were created by Sir Alfred Hitchcock and John Michael Hayes. Hayes was encouraged by Hitchcock to spend time with Grace Kelly before writing the Lisa character, and Hayes admitted that elements of Lisa were inspired by the actress. “

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  5. My letterboxd review of Rear Window.

    Re-visited one of the best movies of all-time. The movie is still a 5 star film. The BluRay I got for my birthday is far from 5 stars. The color is horrible. At times Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter’s lipstick makes them look like Mrs. Potato Head. The greatness of the movie overcomes the technical difficulties. I think the only thing that rings false is the conclusion involving flashbulbs. The suspense holds up well. The performances are too notch. The humor still works. This is simply Alfred Hitchcock at his best.

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