My Project/Sunset Boulevard

I decided last night at about 11 p.m. to go through my beloved book of 101 movies one must see before they die and try to watch as many of them as possible, beginning with Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard." Here goes.



While attempting to escape his growing debt, a struggling screenwriter stumbles upon the mansion of silent-film star Norma Desmond. He cannot imagine what horror will follow when he agrees to look over the aging glamour queen's script.

I love everything about this movie. I didn't know much about it, except what I gathered from watching clips of The Carol Burnett Sow on Youtube, and I was surprised at just how amazing the film was. The acting is electrifying. Gloria Swanson gives the performance of a lifetime as the self-centered, delusional Miss Desmond, and William Holden is subtle and conflicted as our narrator and hero. His inner monologues are melodramatic, and yet perfect for a story about movies and how they can consume lives, The very title "Sunset Boulevard" is reflective of the dying star Norma Desmond represents, a person caught in the sunset of her life, but who can't accept it. Get the family together, pop some popcorn, turn out the lights, and watch this movie in rapture. This is what cinema is all about.