The Artist

Nikki's Review

The era of silent films…told through a silent film

WHAT?!

Genius

I’m obsessed

The movie is actually about the ending of an era and an actor who is struggling to cope.  The story was beautiful and dramatic.  The music…beautiful and dramatic.  The characters…beautiful and dramatic.  The cinematography, say it with me…beautiful and dramatic. 

It is actually the first silent film to win Best Picture since Wings in 1927 (so check back for that review) The Artist also won 4 other Academy awards:  Best Actor, Best Director, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score. 

All so well deserved in my opinion. 

Jean Dujardin was charming, funny, and hit the dramatic scenes out of the park.  Plus who doesn’t love a good looking French guy?...winky face

The clothes?  OHHHH the clothes.  Peppy  Miller’s dresses….I will take one of each please. 

I never pay too much attention to the scores of movies.  But in a silent film…what else is there? And it was perfect.  The music took you back through time and made you feel right in place watching a movie in black and white with nothing but a few interwoven word slides and the music to portray the emotion and story of the film.  And this score did just that.  I was never lost and could feel the emotion along with the actors.  Do they sell scores to movies? Because it would be fun "cleaning the house" music…

Bérénice Bejo may not have won an Oscar for her role as Peppy Miller (she did win MANY other awards though) but she has won Nikki’s new obsession…kind of like an Oscar

Can we say girl crush? As soon as Lindsey and I saw her in that green dress sitting next to Jean at the Oscars we were hooked. She is so beautiful and so elegant. And her Character Peppy Miller is silly, beautiful, and so sincere. Love it all!

I could probably ramble about this movie for a good hour and it’s hard to condense my excitement into what is probably an already too long blog post. So let me just say this.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE

My recommendation is to see it soon. In a theater! With lots of other people!

If you’ve missed your opportunity just have a movie night and watch it on the biggest TV you can find and invite your friends, family, neighbors, and their dogs if you have to (George Valentine’s dog needs some fans too!)

There is this moment at the end. Everything goes dead silent. No music, no noise from the audience. And the moment the silence is broken is my favorite! A film made in 2011 brought a generation an experience they know nothing about. And it’s not possible to experience it by yourself.

Ok I’m finally done. I obviously loved this movie.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

I’ll give you the warning I gave Lindsey on the way home from the movie

Try to tell me something bad about this movie!

Lindsey's Review

I remember watching the Oscar's this year and wondering the entire time, "what is The Artist and why on earth did it beat The Help?" After watching the film, I now know why.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little leery of this movie. It was, after all, a silent film. All I remember about silent films was trying not to fall asleep watching the original "Phantom of the Opera" in high school. However, it won an Oscar so I had to watch it whether I wanted to or not. 

There were so many things that made me love this film so much. I love history and it was really cool to not only be entertained but feel like you are learning about something at the same time...I mean, I was able to experience a movie the way that my grandparents did, and there was something so neat about that. (seeing it at the Kentucky Theater added that much more to it.) Oh nostalgia...

The score was amazing and surprisingly one of my favorite parts of the movie. I think that unfortunately in most of today's movies the score get's lost in all of the hype and doesn't quite get the recognition that it deserves. I mean think about it, if a movie had no music to go along with it...you would probably notice...but do you notice it when it's there? In this movie, the music was SO critical to the story. It told the story, as if the notes were words themselves. (deep. I know. ) But seriously...it told you everything you needed to know. 

The actors themselves were so talented. To be able to keep your interest for a near 2 hours with no words. Really. 

Okay...I have to be honest, I am actually having a hard time writing this blog. This movie was so great and more than just another movie. It is so hard to put in to words how it made me feel. Ironic, if you think about it. So, I am just going to leave it to this...go see it. Then you will know what I mean. An Oscar well deserved.