I *AM* big, it's the *PICTURES* that got small

I have to work today, so yesterday I tried to pack two weekend days' worth of fun into a single day.
That meant watching loads of English football -- including Wigan 0-1 Sheffield United (booo! I adore United's eternal rivals, Sheffield Wednesday) and Aston Villa 0-1 Bolton -- listening to some cricket (England are doomed against Australia) and playing chess with Annika.
I also celebrated my one day off by watching a movie. Not just any movie, mind you, but one of the absolute, all-time greats.
I watched Billy Wilder's 1950 gem "Sunset Blvd.," for the first time in years.
Much is made of Gloria Swanson and her over-the-top performance at the end of the film, as her faded starlet Norma Desmond goes off the deep end and proclaims:
"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
She is rightly remembered for the scene, but it only really works because Swanson is so effective throughout the rest of the film. For example, I love when Norma lashes out at Joe Gillis (William Holden) for being a writer. She feels "talkies" ushered her out of films, so she says:
"Well, you'll make a rope of words and strangle this business! But there'll be a microphone there to catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor to photograph the red, swollen tongues!"
Norma might be heading toward madness, but she provided a lucidly succinct critique of the Hollywood system with that line.
I also love the notion that Joe could so easily fall into the wealthy cocoon provided by Norma, while hating himself for his inertia.
Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson): "Don't you sometimes hate yourself?"
Joe Gillis: "Constantly."
There is so much to love about that film. If you only have a one-day weekend to enjoy, watch "Sunset Blvd." It seems like multiple great films packed into a single package.