Ticket Stub: For the third year in a row (!), I spent my Valentine's Day at the overheated Brattle Theater in Harvard Square with the Natster...ah, bliss. It's the site of our first date, and their annual showing of Casablanca (what else?) brings out a romantic crowd...last night, unfortunately, it was mainly romantic college kids who laughed at all these really strange places in the dialogue, oh well. But the movie holds up over time, of course -- this year I noticed how much the filmmakers accomplished with a laughably minimal set, creating so much atmosphere against a plain backdrop. One intricately detailed object -- a table lamp with beaded fringe, Yvonne's sequined blouse, the glowing neon sign at Rick's, the rhinestone brooch pinned to Ilsa's white suit -- creates great visual interest, without distracting from the story. There is also great use of shadows: in the cafe, there are shadows thrown by palm fronds and the patterned lamps on the walls; upstairs in Rick's apartment, when Ilsa confronts him, the louvered shutters cast shadows across their faces. And of course in the last scene, her face is half-shadowed by that iconic hat, contrasted against the pearly fog. Still the best! (A+)