CB: While the movie industry abandoned black-and-white silent films 80 years ago, the spirit is of the past is back with writer/director Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist, a true crowd-pleaser that evokes the charm of old Hollywood.
Set in the late 1920s, the story centers on George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a famous movie star who is truly on top of the world. His movies are some of the biggest in Hollywood and he is constantly surrounded by fans who heap praise upon him. One day, by pure chance, he meets a young background actor named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), with whom he has an instant connection. What he doesn’t know is that their careers about to take completely opposite trajectories. Ignoring the trades and warnings from a powerful producer (John Goodman) that talkies are becoming the big thing, George refuses to change up his act, and watches his career sink lower and lower as Peppy rides the talkie wave and gets bigger and bigger.
Contrary to an assertion prominent in its mammoth publicity machine, The Artist is not a silent film.
From Cinelinx:
Judson & Collin are here to contradict everything they said about the Oscars last week as they examine the legacy of The Artist and discuss Charlie Chaplin's City Lights and how it gave the silent film industry a small boom before the talkies took complete control of Hollywood. They also briefly discuss HBO's Girls and give a shoutout to the gentlemen of the Atlantic Screen Connection.
WOW247: "It’s a sad day for cinema lovers, as Uggie the dog from Oscar-winning movie The Artist has died aged 13."
