The Best Movie Ever, IMHO

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 1999)

Casablanca is my favorite movie ever, after seeing perhaps thousands of flicks. This is back from the time when screenplays were screenplays. Even after repeated viewings, there are new elements that pop up, new lines of dialogue that hit you a different way. So many familiar lines, not just the "Play It Again, Sam" (which he actually doesn't say), or even "this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship," but one of my favs, "I stick my neck out for nobody." Too many to list. Or the continuously take-your-breath-away moment when Ingrid Bergman first appears on screen. Peter Lorre darting about deviously. Sydney Greenstreet, being despicable, as only he can. And Bogie...in my favorite of his performances. If there is a fault to the movie, it is this: what the heck was going on exactly, and why do we care? Put all that tedious World War II stuff aside, it's great cinema.