Oh I forgot to mention I saw The Artist last week! Definitely a contender for being my favorite film of 2011. I am so glad I saw it in theatres—it was truly a wonderful experience watching a silent film in a packed (albeit small) theatre. It was funny, touching, romantic, and sad all wrapped into one sweet package. It didn’t manipulate me as a viewer and it lacked the cynicism that many films this year had (which I don’t dislike per se, I just felt like it wouldn’t have tied into this film well). I got goosebumps when the opening credits started rolling and I teared up during the end. Walking home from the theatre I felt light and happy—watching The Artist was an easy experience. Today moviegoers are conditioned to watch fast-paced, loud, and visually stunning films like Avatar or Transformers (which are good in their own right), but I have a feeling that most everyone in the theatre really enjoyed this movie. It kept up with other films of the year, as can obviously be seen by last night’s Golden Globes awards. The Artist seemed to have come out at the perfect time—2011 was a year of nostalgia for the past (as can be seen by films like Drive, Super 8, and Winnie the Pooh). I know that I felt nostalgic for the past that I never experienced myself—and that is an achievement for a film to do.
