My recommendation of the week is The Artist and not just because it won Best Picture. I finally got my chance to see it on Friday and I am just blown away!
Personally, I think a lot of people don't realize how important sound is to film. It can completely elevate it or tarnish it. This film shows what I would like to believe is a pretty accurate depiction of what the end of the silent film era was like. Actors got "voice fright" (the voice equivalent of stage fright). Several careers were destroyed in the dawn of sound because they couldn't keep up with the times, or sometimes because the times could not accommodate distinctive accents. And that's very much what this film is portraying! George Valentin was the biggest silent movie star in the world and then one day came sound. That's all I want to say about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything!
Now that I've mentioned the plot, allow me to possibly overstate that this is one of the most delightful films ever thanks to the incredibly, expressive Jean Dujardin and cutie director Michel Hazanavicius. No, but seriously look me into my blog-hidden face and tell me that this:
isn't the cutest man that ever stood behind the camera (and yes, I've already considered that he's cuter than Wes Anderson)!
Go and watch this movie! Tootles!
