The Artist

[Marc Chevalier]

Previewed it today for opening tonight -- and I thought it was absolutely exquisite.

So glad that you liked it, Lizzie!


This film has a special place in my heart, since the restaurant radio interview scene and the drunken bar scenes were filmed inside the Oviatt Building, right in the giant room where "Oviatt's" haberdashery used to be (1928-1967). In fact, the carved oak 'bar counter' was once the haberdashery's cashier booth.


Wouldn't you agree that there's something poignant, even powerful, in a silent film about the death of silent film?

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Technical complaint aside, if you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? If you think you're going to have the same experience watching it on a TV screen, you've got another think coming.

Yes, that!
This week I had my 8th viewing (yeah, I know), and still the film remains as engrossingly beautiful as ever. No scenes have worn out their welcome; there's not a spot where I find myself thinking "okay, hurry up and get to the good stuff"). Even though my daughter has promised to bring me a dvd the moment it goes on sale at Target (where she works), and I can't wait to own a copy and explore the extras I hope will be included on the disc, I know nothing will match the experience of seeing every gorgeously captured scene on the big screen.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Wouldn't you agree that there's something poignant, even powerful, in a silent film about the death of silent film?

Indeed. And I'm very glad and thankful I don't have to show it digitally. This is a film about film, and digital 2kDCP just doesn't cut it. When you see it, see it in a place that shows real 35mm.

 

[Espee]

I had made a point of not looking at this thread before seeing the film.
It was a digital presentation-- but I see modern movies so seldom that I only know "that's what they're going to" and I don't know where they use it and where they don't.
I didn't give a thought to the aspect ratio. There were four or five trailers first, and I didn't even notice if the screen changed.
I suppose it's due to the sophisticated audience expected for "The Artist" that three of those trailers had characters with British accents!

 

[birkie]

The only criticism I have with it is purely technical -- all of the prints in distribution are in the modern 1.85 to 1 ratio, windowboxed down to the traditional Academy ratio of 1.37 to 1. The result of this is an actual image area on the film not much larger than you'd get from 16mm. I realize most theatres today don't have the right lenses or aperture plates to show an Academy ratio film properly, so windowboxing was necessary, but it'd have been nice if they'd made a few real Academy ratio prints for those of us who are able to show them correctly.

That's fascinating, and disappointing. I wonder what format and framing of the original camera negatives used. It would be tragic if it was shot the same way :eeek:. With digital intermediates, there's no need for the negative format to match the projected format, so I really hope they shot it utilizing the entire full or Academy frame. If so, there's got to be archival prints in cold storage that aren't so severely cropped/reduced.

 

[The Wolf]

I, too, waited to read all this until I saw the film, which I did last night.
The Mrs. and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The audience was entirely wrapped up in it.
Spoiler:

A scene that ended with a Bang actually got a gasp from the audience.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[AntonAAK]

It won seven Baftas last night, including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Director. Onwards to the Oscars. Could it be the second silent film to win the Best Picture Oscar?

 

[Edward]

I didn't watch the Baftas - good to hear it has done well. The thing I enjoyed most about it - irrespective of period setting or all the other obvious positives for folks round here - was that it simply dared to do something different, quirky and fun that didn't patronise the audience or rely on dumb, Hollywood uniformity to sell it. Let's hope it inspires not mere copyists*, but others who do their own thing.


*After all, as John Lydon memorably said, "Imitation is not the greatest form of flattery. It is the biggest insult."

 

[Doctor Strange]

Did anybody see Jean Dujardin's surprise cameo on Saturday Night Live? It was a definite hoot seeing him dance with Zooey Deschanel, Kristin Wiig, etc. - in black and white!

The clip is embedded in this review - it's the fifth one down, labeled "French Dance" (it's not working for me here at work, as our firewall prevents streaming media, but I watched it successfully at home yesterday):

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/12/s...as-cage-jean-dujardin-karmin-whitney-houston/

 

[Feraud]

It won seven Baftas last night, including Best Film, Best Actor and Best Director. Onwards to the Oscars. Could it be the second silent film to win the Best Picture Oscar?

The Artist is steamrolling its way towards the Academy!

 

[Mrs Chaddsley_Corbett]

[video=youtube;tD_u67Qc13Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD_u67Qc13Q&feature=related[/video]

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Artist is steamrolling its way towards the Academy!

I hope so. I was a bit disappointed with the turnout over the weekend -- it drew well, considering we had lousy weather, but so far it hasn't drawn as well as "The Descendants," which I didn't think was anywhere as good a picture. I fear there's a lot of people who've been put off silent films by generations of cheap parodies and sleazy cut-down, chopped up reissues, and these are the people who have to be convinced to take a chance. Nationwide grosses have been quite disappointing, which is very unfortunate -- people don't know what they're missing out on.

 

[Feraud]

I think you are correct. People today are so un-used to viewing black and white film, not to mention silent B&W. Hopefully an Academy win will generate some much deserved revenue.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Alas, this is exactly what I predicted. (Actually, judging by Box Office Mojo, the film is doing better than I expected - I wasn't even convinced that it would make back its production cost domestically.)

The bottom line is, the modern American audience is simply too wary of trying something really different to embrace such an unusual project. Winning a bunch of Oscars will undoubtedly help, but there's no way that this picture is ever going to be a fullblown mainstream success. Not a silent b/w movie set so far in the past, and made by a bunch of French people with hard-to-pronounce names. It's just too bizarre, too foreign, for today's dumbed-down-to-the-floor moviegoers.

As I've said here before: There is nothing you can tell me that will further lower my opinion of the American public!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Could it be the second silent film to win the Best Picture Oscar?

The answer is yes, and there's a big reason why. "The Artist" is very much a movie about the movies. The Academy's voters love that, since they're movie industry people themselves.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Audiences seem to be picking up now -- between yesterday's matinee and the evening show we had over 170 people. Granted, Valentines Day is always a big movie day, but this was a very enthusiastic audience -- lots of laughs and cheers in all the right places, and at both shows the audience applauded at the finish. That only happens when the picture is transcendently good, so it bodes well. Several people after the show said things like "I thought it was going to be corny, but it wasn't at all -- what a *good, good* movie!"

Our crowds usually skew older because of the nature of the area, but there were a lot of younger date-night couples for the evening show, from teenagers to people in their thirties. That also bodes well -- word of mouth should be strong.

 

[MisterCairo]

Did anybody see Jean Dujardin's surprise cameo on Saturday Night Live? It was a definite hoot seeing him dance with Zooey Deschanel, Kristin Wiig, etc. - in black and white!

The clip is embedded in this review - it's the fifth one down, labeled "French Dance" (it's not working for me here at work, as our firewall prevents streaming media, but I watched it successfully at home yesterday):

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/02/12/s...as-cage-jean-dujardin-karmin-whitney-houston/

Wonderful! I'm a big Zooey Deschanel fan too.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Me too, from way back at her earliest roles in Almost Famous, Mumford, The Good Girl, etc.

That said, I wish New Girl was a better show. It has its moments, but it's pretty uneven.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Frace%2Fartist-video-behind-the-scenes-weinstein-company-290184&h=TAQFbr5qOAQEqmsZnJg_bmD1WSSpftdpo8KglztXNl_5kKg

George Valentin shared this behind-the-scenes link through his facebook page.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodreporter.com%2Frace%2Fartist-video-behind-the-scenes-weinstein-company-290184&h=TAQFbr5qOAQEqmsZnJg_bmD1WSSpftdpo8KglztXNl_5kKg

George Valentin shared this behind-the-scenes link through his facebook page.

I've seen this film twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. It's chock full of details and 'symbols'.