The Artist (2011)

Not subtle and quite entertaining, this is a 99% silent movie about a male star in 1927 about to be cast aside by the new technology of "talkies" while his starlet friend (both with 1,000 watt smiles) is rocketing to the top. Much loved at festivals and by critics, it's definitely worth your time and money. Oh, and as in Beginners, there's an adorable Jack Russell terrier (details on this one, named Uggie). Although it's a production of France and Belgium, the dialogue cards (and mouthed words) are in English (this compulsive proofreader noticed the spaces always put before question marks, exclamation points, and ellipses). French stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo may be unknown here in America now, but not for long (babetteflix trivia: I raved about Dujardin's wife Alexandra Lamy in Ricky). Supporting cast includes Americans John Goodman (my favorites: True Stories (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Roseanne (1988-97), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000), and Evan Almighty) (he has slimmed down considerably) as the producer, James Cromwell (he was Oscar-nominated for Babe (1995), and my faves include L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999), 27 episodes of Six Feet Under (2003-05), The Queen (2006), and W.) as the chauffer Clifton, Penelope Ann Miller (I liked her in The Freshman (1990) as well as Chaplin (1992), another period piece) looking severe in dark lipstick as the wife, Joel Murray (plays Eddie, Sheila's husband, on Shameless) as a cop, and Andy Milder (Dean Hodes in Weeds) as a director in knickers, among many. Director/writer Michel Hazanavicius is no stranger to filmmaking, having directed/written two other features, directed a third, and written four more, but I've heard of none of them. Perhaps by the end of this evening, when the Golden Globes are over (of course they're recording on my DVR and I'll watch when I'm done here), we'll all learn how to pronounce his name. To see a long trailer go here.

The music, by Ludovic Bource, has received its fair share of nominations and wins so far (here's my running total of nominations and awards, sorted by film title--you should know that the American Society of Cinematographers also nominated cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, a great honor to be nominated by one's peers). To hear the soundtrack, go to this link and proceed from there. News flash: Bource won the Golden Globe for Best Score about an hour and a half ago.

I have three other movies to summarize (watch these pages for two raves and one "meh") but wanted to get this posted so you will see it right away! Instead of my usual writing until the wee hours, I want to quit and go watch Ricky Gervais insult people (update--my DVR did not record the show, but I can tell you this movie won Best Picture, Musical or Comedy and Dujardin won Best Actor, Musical or Comedy). One last thing about the 1% that's not silent. I insist on no spoilers, so, instead, will reference Mel Brooks' Silent Movie (1976), in which one word is spoken: mime Marcel Marceau utters, "Non!"