Something I find fascinating about the whole 'Hollywood as a state of mind' thing is its sense of people reinventing themselves or fading away in a kind of reclusive luxury. I love that idea, for some reason.
As for Billy Wilder, yes I like pretty much all that I've seen by him but have a certain love/hate relationship with his dialogue, which I sometimes find comes across as being perhaps a bit too clever for its own good. But when it works (or I'm in the right mood for it) I love it. I don't know what you've seen but alongside Sunset Boulevard, I'd definitely recommend Some Like it Hot and Double Indemnity.
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