Be Kind, Please Rewind

He Earwaxes Poetically. He’s the…

Vidiot

Week of July 6, 2012

I am not hard of ear ring. First up…

The Artist

When sound came to Hollywood, it not only ended the silent film era, but also the careers of many of the days top mute screenwriters.

Surprisingly, this dramedy isn’t about those inaudible artisans, but the lead that pantomimed their works.

The roaring twenties, at the height of silent filmmaking, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is at the top of his game.

All of that changes, however, when he’s caught on camera with Peppy (Bérénice Bejo), a struggling actress, who he later helps land a role.

While Peppy enjoys a meteoric rise through the studio on the coattails of talkies, George, who refuses to embrace the technology, finds his movies flopping and his fame fleeting.

A black and white homage to an unspoken epoch, The Artist is an imaginative and whimsical version of the ageless allegory of progress.

Incidentally, in the 1920s, with no dialogue, audiences could converse freely throughout an entire movie.  0 

A Thousand Words

Being unable to verbally communicate with others is no longer a problem since the iPhone is the perfect projectile to chuck at someone to get his or her attention.

However, the cursed literary agent in this dramedy has opted out of using electronic devices to convey his thoughts.

When motor-mouth Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) attempts to coerce a leading self-help guru (Cliff Curtis) to sign with his agency, an enchanted tree follows Jack home and embeds itself in his backyard.

Embellished with 1,000 leaves- – each representing one word – the sage shrub shreds its foliage with each phrase that passes Jack’s lips.

To correct this, Jack must atone for past relationships, including his absentee father.

Unable to articulate if it is a wacky comedy or a family drama, A Thousand Words is as confusing as it is predictable and humorless.

Besides, who needs oral communication when you have two middle fingers?  0

***Rated Shhhh!***

Silent Movie

Although silent film stars could emote every emotion through facial contortion, talking movies were invented because eyebrows could not convey sarcasm.

Fortunately, this comedy opted for parody over irony.

Dreaming of releasing the first silent movie in over four decades, former director turned drunkard Mel Funn (Mel Brooks) pursues it.

Along with his subordinates (Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman), he seeks financing from the studio head (Sid Caesar).

But with its future in doubt, Funn must assemble Hollywood’s brightest stars (James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minnelli) for the hushed homage to guarantee a hit.  

Meanwhile, the perspective buyer of the failing studio plants an amorous mole (Bernadette Peters) in Funn’s production.

Masterminded by Mel Brooks, Silent Movie gathers moviedom’s best muggers and has'em draw on the silent genre’s finest attribute: slapstick.

Incidentally, the reason slapstick and silent films worked so well together was audiences couldn’t hear Buster Keaton’s collarbone snapping.

He’s Pratfalling in Love. He’s the… 

 
Vidiot