Casablanca

I think one of the most significant strengths of Casablanca, one of the few universally canonized films, is its simplicity. Adapted from a stage play that was never produced, it's not commonly known for its Great Cinematography, a term usually (and erroneously) applied only to movies with wide, expansive vistas (Lawrence of Arabia, Out of Africa), tilted camera angles (Do the Right Thing, The Third Man) or ultra-crisp, carefully lit photography (Laura, A Man and …

…because of a general disdain for all things popular before their time (not to mention black and white). While I am wholeheartedly in favor of such modern "classic" (if I may be permitted to bastardize the term) romances as Jerry Maguire and Good Will Hunting, which are at the moment splendid films in their own right, I pray that there are more moviegoers my age, and in the next generation, to help carry the torch.