#16 - Sunset Boulevard

Creepy and macabre, this movie is darned near perfect. The story is simple, weird, and lovely: a B-movie writer, in fear of having all of his possessions repossessed, inadvertently visits the house of an aging silent film star. She's writing a script for her epic comeback to the movies, and she uses him to proofread her work. What results is pitiful, sad, and awe-inspiring.

This movie has some of the best casting ever: who better to play the aging silent film star Norma Desmond than the aging silent film star Gloria Swanson? Also in a starring role is William Holden, who plays the movie writer Joe Gillis. Somehow he is strong, despite having no prospects for a future.

Rounding out the supporting cast is Desmond's weird butler and first husband Max, played by old-time Hollywood director Erich von Stroheim. And playing Gillis's friend, colleague, and love interest is Nancy Olson, who is the essence of purity and innocence.

The movie opens interestingly: a body floating in a large, mossy pool. Newspapermen and police officers surround the pool, and we eventually learn that the body is the lead character and, most interestingly, our narrator. Narrating from beyond the grave, Gillis tells the story from his eyes: a story of two women who fall for him, one who he loves and one who he is disgusted by. One of my favorite scenes is the hardest to watch: the New Year's Eve party that Norma organizes. Joe thinks it's going to be a big party with lots of her "waxwork" friends invited, but it turns out to be just an affair for the two of them. The string quartet plays as they dance, and Joe slowly realizes that it's just going to be the two of them. It's uncomfortable, pathetic, and kind of beautiful.

The acting is superb, the writing witty and multi-layered, the stories subtly intense. From the funeral for the chimp to the last harrowing and fatal scene, everything is just absolutely watchable. It pulls you in, and you cannot stop watching. The ultimate Hollywood movie about Hollywood movies, this film is just one of the best I've ever seen. Billy Wilder, the director and co-writer of the movie, has become one of my favorites. It's just great.