Sunset Boulevard

[Vanilla]

Review/Discuss

[A Marvel Fanboy]

A-

[luna]

i wasn't sure how much i'd end up liking it because of that sumptuous styling that's i'm sometimes not fond of, but its indulgence is matched by a sense of deep irony and so it was really quite fantastic.

 

A

[Jake Gittes]

I think I admire this film more than I enjoy it. Gloria Swanson is incredible, but the scenes with Holden and Nancy Olson ruin the pacing and there's a certain look-how-above-all-this-I-am smugness to Wilder's satire from which he doesn't entirely escape, IMO. I actually think the Academy made the right choice when they awarded Best Picture/Director of that year to All About Eve, and another 1950 film about a darker side of Hollywood - Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place - is an underrated gem that I'd say is at least as good as SB.

[luna]

i don't think all about eve could possibly be underrated.

[Jake Gittes]

I didn't say it was?

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

Such a cynical, sinister movie. I love it!

 

Originally Montgomery Clift was supposed to play Joe Gillis but he dropped out at the last minute before filming...would've been interesting to see Norma Desmond with Joe as more of a pretty boy...not that William Holden wasn't handsome but he's very much one of those classic leading men with a "mature" sort of look about him.

[DAR]

William Holden might be the most underrated and unappreciated Golden Age movie star

[luna]

I didn't say it was?

 

i misread.

[Jack Nevada]

Best movie about Hollywood and an epic performance from Gloria Swanson. 

Edited February 22, 2014 by Jack Nevada

[DAR]

It's one of my top 5 films. A+

[RobinHood26]

I'll have to revist it in a year or two and see if deserves the A. Quite a bit to take in on one viewing, but damn is this well crafted.

 

A- (92)

[cannastop]

Might see this next week, so I'm bumping this thread.

[cannastop]

A+

 

A new addition to my top 10 movies of all time.

 

When the movie started, I thought I might only appreciate it on an intellectual level. I thought the narration was corny and the acting was hackneyed. However, once Norma Desmond appears on screen, the movie really gets started. This character is a screen icon, but not for the reasons she would understand.

 

And knowing many of these characters are played by real-life counterparts, like an actual silent film star Gloria Swanson playing Desmond, makes the film seem immediate and relevant even 60 years later.

 

The film is suspenseful even if it gives away the climax at the beginning! Quite an accomplishment.

[Goffe]

I love it btw

[cannastop]

On 7/23/2016 at 4:36 PM, cannastop said:

A+

 

A new addition to my top 10 movies of all time.

 

When the movie started, I thought I might only appreciate it on an intellectual level. I thought the narration was corny and the acting was hackneyed. However, once Norma Desmond appears on screen, the movie really gets started. This character is a screen icon, but not for the reasons she would understand.

 

And knowing many of these characters are played by real-life counterparts, like an actual silent film star Gloria Swanson playing Desmond, makes the film seem immediate and relevant even 60 years later.

 

The film is suspenseful even if it gives away the climax at the beginning! Quite an accomplishment.

I've reconsidered it, and now I think that the one exceptional thing about this movie is Norma Desmond herself.

The movie just isn't all that interesting when she's not on screen, or when it's not all about her.