Movie review: The Artist

I saw The Artist last night and it is, definitely, the best movie I've seen this year and it may be the best movie I've seen in a few years.

One of the things I loved about it (which reminded me of Wall-E) was the way it expected things of us, the audience. Most movies today tell us everything - oh, there might be a few surprises, but they're expected surprises, surprises within the story. They're not surprises about the movie itself, rather twists and turns in the story.

This movie constantly surprised me. I knew a fair bit about it from reviews and a terrific article in the New Yorker so I thought I knew what to expect. And I did, on a surface level.

What I didn't expect was the way I had to immerse myself into the movie - not just the story but the way that story was told.

And, honestly? It was brilliant.

The acting is better than good and some of the smaller parts - John Goodman and James Cromwell, for example - are lovely, funny and emotionally intense. But the two French actors who carry the show - Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo - are extraordinary. Every expression conveys a thousand words, every movement made me feel as if I was watching the perfect version of Swan Lake, where the tiniest movements were choreographed to perfection.

The concept of the silent movie is carried out with charm and grace and verve. The allusions to other movies are pitch perfect, especially if you're a fan of black and white movies. The music is unfamiliar and familiar at the same time - just what you'd expect from a silent movie.

This is one of those movies I'm going to see again and again and I can hardly wait for the next time.

Kate

Gnomeo and Juliet

I'm catching up - finally - on many of the movies I wished I'd seen this past year. Oh, I saw all the big ones, all the ones I wanted to see that had been nominated for Oscars, but I missed many of the others.

So for the next few weeks you might find me blogging about odd or unusual movies that I wanted to see but just didn't have the time.

This weekend I saw Gnomeo and Juliet and I loved it. I know, it's a movie for kids - but as I've said before and I'll say again, some of the best movies of the past few years have been movies that were made for kids. I loved Chicken Run (all the great movie allusions), Beauty and the Beast (so beautiful and the singing teapot? priceless), Spirited Away (one of the most beautiful animated movies ever), Ratatoiulle (smart and funny and kind of creepy in a good way), How to Train Your Dragon (I didn't read the book but I loved the movie), The Iron Giant (sad and beautiful), Wall-E (a movie that worked on a million levels - and remember the first 20 minutes? not a single word spoken). I know I've forgotten many - but I love animation and I love the cleanness of the stories that are told for children.

Here's another one to add to your list.

Instead of the Montagues and the Capulets, there are the Blues and the Reds, families of gnomes who live in English gardens separated only by a wall; Gnomeo is a Blue, the son of the leader of the Blues. Juliet, oh surprise, is a Red, daughter of the head of the Reds. But this is really just the hanger on which the movie is hung.

The actors are terrific, and the cast of thousands is brilliant. James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Julie Walters, and many others. My favorite? Michael Caine as the leader of the Blues, followed quickly by Patrick Stewart as Bill Shakespeare, a statute who comes to life prophesying doom, doom and more doom.

I suspect kids would enjoy this movie, it moves fast, there's lots of action, but for adults? It's the dialogue. It's dropdead funny and it's dropdead smart. I watched this movie by myself and I'm the kind of person who tends to laugh more in the company of friends than I do at home alone. I was laughing so hard I practically rolled off the couch. The jokes are smart and funny, the characters are great, the animation is terrific. You're going to love this movie.

Kate