I'm a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton and definitely a fan of Silent Movies in general. So on a personal level, I totally get that The Artist is more or less a 'Love Letter' to a bygone era, one in which they are celebrating the Silent film era. I was immediately drawn into The Artist within the first few minutes and my focus remained throughout the rest of the film. I thought it was a great story that pretty much ran parallel to what Charlie himself had to deal with with 'Talkies' started to take over Hollywood. With the story, the actors, the characters, the art direction, the music and even the editing of the film, I was 100% engaged here.

My review of course may be a bit one-sided because I'm a fan of old school films. But what about the new generation of film goers that are in their tween's? What about older film goers that never liked Silent Movies? I can see The Artist being a hard sell for those that just aren't accustomed to sitting down and watching a 1 hour and 40 minute movie devoted entirely to the art of pantomime and not rely on the spoken word. I can only imagine the balls of The Weinstein's to green-light a silent film in this day and age and I can only imagine the anxiety they must have been dealing with on Opening Day, if this movie would sink or swim. It paid off. Winner for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director is a nice validation.

Getting back to the movie, there are some great things happening in The Artist where they just nailed it for me. First off, the music was fantastic. I would be the soundtrack just for that alone. The next thing I loved were the Master-shots that were typical of Silent Films. Bonus points for the one scene that takes place on the stairwell. If you look at the background actors, you can see the extras basically walking in a loop to fill in the space behind the two stars. Any fan of Silent Films will notice that this was another thing they did from film to film.

Loved the story too and it has a fantastic, subtle call-back too that pays off in a big way at the end. Not sure if anyone caught it, but there is a scene at the beginning where George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) dances with Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). The scene was pivitol in that this is where they both realize they were in love with each other. So it's only fitting that George's salvation at the end comes in the form of dance, which gives him second shot at a career in Hollywood. With a great cast that also includes John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missy Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Bitsie Tulloch and Beth Grant, how can you go wrong here? I highly recommend this as a Buy. 10 Stars out of 10. If that doesn't do it for ya, how about Uggie The Dog?! He is f*cking awesome!!!!!!

FYI, I am soooooooooo in love with Bérénice Bejo. Good Gawd, she is gorgeous!!

While watching The Artist, I kept saying to myself that it's high time for me to revisit Silent Movie, which I looooooooooove. Outside of High Anxiety and Young Frankenstein, it's my favorite Mel Brooks movie. So, gonna see if my Library has a copy. I had it on VHS, but I don't have a clue where it's at right now. Ack!

Which one was that?

I do not remember that one at all.

Wow, thought I had seen them all. I need to check it out.

Thanks