Here's looking at you kid...

So here goes my first review of my movie list and the first film I chose is the classic, Casablanca. I wanted this to be a special occasion so I settled in with a bowl of home made fried rice and a glass of Jacobs Creek Semillon Chardonnay.
The first comment I would like to make is that Casablanca is a classic movie (rated 8.8 on IMDB) and was made over 60 years ago. Yet after seeing it I realise that I had no idea what it was about or didn't know at any time what was about to happen. I read a lot and watch a lot of TV so I am not sure how that is possible. I am grateful for it nonetheless.

So, they just don't make movies like this anymore. No, not just the black and white aspect but the character based script, the mundane sets, the poor effects (well it was made in 1942), the melodramatic acting, the dramatic orchestral score that forewarned you of what drama was about to occur, the lack of billings gate language. If they did make a movie like this today it would be shot down in flames as being too cheesy. In fact the Cancer Council would probably have it banned. Talk about global warming - I now know what caused it - the amount of cancer sticks Bogey puffed through during this movie!

I liked it. Maybe it is the nostalgia that black and white film creates, maybe it was the likable character, Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart (a massive name in movies yet the first time I had seen him). Maybe because it was a romantic drama that didn't overdo the sentimentality. Maybe because it was the first romantic movie I have seen that didn't star Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan or Hugh Grant. One thing that did surprise me is that it actually made me laugh out loud, something that a lot of so called comedies don't do - Scary Movie, Beavis and Butthead immediateley spring to mind.
The plot kept moving at a steady pace and I was always guessing what the characters past were and what the future held for them. And classic lines, sure I didn't know what the plot was beforehand, but I certainly knew all the lines that come from it - "Here's looking at you kid", "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.", and "Play it once, Sam. For old times' sake." (not "Play it again Sam" like everyone seems to think is said).

I'll leave you with one last thought about the ending ... the french policeman, Captain Renault says earlier in the film about Rick - "Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick.". The last scene is the same Captain Renault and Rick walking off together with Rick saying to him - "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". No wonder he let the girl go, he is a flaming homosexual.

My ratings -
Casablanca : 6 lit cigarettes, 1 unlit
Fried Rice: 7 spoons of MSG
Wine: 7 party wine goblets