Movie: It's just another run-of-the-mill Wednesday. The calendar's full of 'em.

I got the idea for doing this a couple weeks after I had finished watching the entire series of HBO's The Wire. While it was easily the best 60 hours I had ever spent watching a TV show, it also made me realize that I had just spent 60 hours watching a TV show. Shortly after I attempted to get into the Sopranos, and as much as I did enjoy the first few episodes, I just wasn't ready to make the commitment. It was like someone asked me to get married a couple hours after getting a divorce. I really just needed some time off, ya know? What better way to do that than to watch some movies? Each one is different and they usually leave you satisfied in the end, unlike the TV shows that leave you wanting more after every episode.

That was way dirtier sounding, than it was meant to be, hah. So true though.

After watching a couple of my favourite movies again, I figured it was time to move on to something I wasn't familiar with, so I went to IMDb and checked out their highest rated movies. While I had seen few of the top movies, I realized that I hadn't seen a lot of the most classic and well respected movies ever made. Casablanca, The Godfather, and countless movies made decades before my parents had ever met. I had heard a lot about these movies and seen them referenced in pop culture thousands of times before, but I had never actually seen them myself.

The first movie I decided to watch was Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 thriller, Rear Window.
The movie revolves around a quick-witted photojournalist (James Stewart) named Jeff who has been confined to a wheel chair in his apartment after being injured on the job. He is taken care of by a nurse, Stella, and his incredibly hot girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly). While confined to his apartment for weeks, Jeff passes the time by creeping on his courtyard neighbors. After weeks of observing the different families, Jeff is convinced that his neighbor Thorwald has murdered his wife. Jeff then recruits his girlfriend, Stella, and police friend, Lt. Doyle, to solve the mystery.

The movie is addictive, and even though the movie is mostly dialogue and there are VERY few action scenes, Hitchcock still manages to create a feeling of mystery and suspense that I've never quite experienced from any modern movie. He also does a great job of developing the dozen or so characters that you see in the movie. Even the ones without lines that you only peer at through Jeff's lens. Though they have little to do with the murder plot of the movie, these silent characters help to develop Jeff's morality, as well as his relationship with Lisa. More specifically, the sad lady downstairs and the ballerina/maneater directly across from Jeff's place.

My favourite part about Rear Window was the way it was shot. The courtyard, and all of the adjacent apartments were built in one of Paramount Studio's GIANT sound stages, and the entire movie takes place inside the courtyard, so there is no camera trickery, and it allows you to see everything as Jeff would see it confined to his chair. In fact, almost the entire movie is filmed from his room looking out on the neighboring apartments, just like Jeff does in the movie. Some scenes were also shot to make it appear that you are looking through his binoculars, or through the telephoto lens of Jeff's camera. This allows you to really get inside his head without any sort of internal narration to point things out for you. There are even scenes where you feel helpless, because you are stuck in the chair and you can't do anything to stop what is happening outside.
There are also times where you feel voyeuristic as you peer into the lives of others. Also, on an unrelated note, the dialogue is fantastic. While some of it is kinda sexist and dated, the banter between Jeff, Lisa, Stella, and Lt. Doyle is witty, quick, and unexpected from a thriller.

Jeff: Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase and come back three times?
Lisa: He likes the way his wife welcomes him home.
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Stella: Maybe one day she'll find her happiness.
Jeff: Yeah, some man'll lose his
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Lisa: Today's a very special day.
Jeff: It's just another run-of-the-mill Wednesday. The calendar's full of 'em.

Did I mention how beautiful Grace Kelly is?

Yowzah.

Anyway, if you are ever in the mood for a good thriller and you aren't in the mood for the blood and guts that modern thrillers are known for, then I definitely recommend you see Rear Window.

Cheers,

Patrick