My #10 favorite film of all time

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2006)

To see Casablanca's poetry on screen is like witnessing the Sistine Chapel for the first time. Like a fine bottle of perfectly aged wine, its complexities are seemingly endless. It only gets better with time. To quote Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, this truly is the "stuff that dreams are made of." Easily the greatest romance ever to be produced on celluloid. Casablanca blends the genres of musicals, drama, romance, war, film noir, suspense, a little comedy, and a touch of mystery so seamlessly it is easy to forget that at its very heart and soul is a romantic picture.
It pacing is almost frantic from beginning to end. The use of shadows and lighting are so vivid and fascinating that it is probably the best looking beautiful B&W film ever made. The most memorable lines in movie history and the most amount of memorable lines in movie history.
I don't expect people who dislike romances to like Casablanca. Its dialogue, characters and songs have been so familiar, it hardly even seems as fresh as it should be. But like witnessing the Sistine chapel for the first time, you know what its like. But its another thing to see it completely for yourself.