Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or...

Sunset Boulevard… and the Rest of L.A.The first film studio in L.A. opened on Sunset Boulevard in 1911—and the street's been at the center of the movie business since then, cutting straight thr...

First Person, Dead Guy It's not often we get to hear the dead speak, so when they do, we should probably listen up, right? And boy, does the dead guy at the heart of this movie have a tale to tell....

Satire; Tragedy; Dark Comedy; Film Noir This one runs the gamut, Shmoopers. Imagine a movie that manages to be about twelve things at once, and you've got Sunset Boulevard. Captain Obvious says we...

You'll have to pardon our collective "duh": Sunset Boulevard is the name of the movie's setting. The main events unfold in Norma Desmond's "grim sunset castle" located right on that very street. Al...

Way Over the Edge Don't you just love a good full-circle ending? In Sunset Boulevard, we end where we began—at the scene of Joe Gillis's eerie murder. The dead man has narrated the story of his o...

Not Rated (but would probably be PG)Sunset Boulevard deals with sex in a big way, since the central conflict of the movie involves a screenwriter who becomes a gigolo to a former silent-era movie s...