Been replacing movies with sports lately. Upon the recommendation from comedian Brent Butt, I watched some Billy Wilder movies in order of release.
Double Indemnity - (A-)
A good thriller plot with pretty good twists and turns. The main premise is a cat and mouse between an insurance salesman who is scamming the system to elope with his married lover and his cunning supervisor who smells something fishy.
My key takeaway was the line: "She lived in one of those Spanish houses. Must've cost $30,000. That is, if he ever finished paying for it." Wow must be nice to buy a house in 1944. Looks like a mansion too!
Sunset Boulevard - (A)
This is a classic for a reason. I was surprised how damning it depicts Hollywood all the way back in 1950. This has aged quite wonderfully in the #MeToo era.
The Apartment - (A+)
The best of the bunch. This jumped up to one of my favourite all time comedies. The entire joke is so ridiculous to the point I have no idea how somebody came up with this shit.
A desk jockey tries to climb the corporate ladder by letting his superiors bang their mistresses in his apartment after hours. He slowly becomes a shell of a human and, again, this is just a damning depiction of capitalism and how it strips you of humanity and self care.
It's also just so absurd that most scenes keep topping itself. Really funny, really well acted, and one of the greats in my eyes.
