Visual Parallels: Amelie + The Artist

Amelie and The Artist - two lovely, charming movies, that infect the audience with incredible dose of happiness and optimism. Both French films, both shot in a gorgeous way, both using many scenes without any dialogue, simply focusing on the images. Along with the unforgettable performances by respectively Audrey Taoutou and Jean Dujardin, those films manage to capture the emotions, feelings and even the souls of protagonists in single frames. There are many similarities between the two - not just the fact that the main hero/heroine is an outsider with certain flaws that prevent them from opening up and embracing life to its fullest (Amelie is shy, George is too vein) but then a person comes along that through the gift of love and understanding gives them the happiness they really deserve.

84th Academy Awards

• The editing award going to "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" was a huge surprise, even the guys who got it were surprised. I loved their shout out to Rooney Mara.
• Halfway through the show Hugo had 5 Oscars and the Artist had 2. I nearly had a nervous breakdown
• Billy Crystal's opening bit was pretty disappointing, but it improved halfway through the show when he did a bit where he guesses what people in the audience are thinking. I love that they included Uggie.

• Jean Dujardin was sitting in the front row so at least I had someone to look at through the entire evening. On the red carpet when he was doing the interview he kissed the interviewer's hand. She nearly fainted. I would have fainted.
• RDJ and Gwyneth Paltrow presented best documentary and not even that frigid woman can take the hilarious out of Robert. 
• Best Screenplay awards went to The Descendants and Midnight in Paris. First one was undeserved, but at least it wasn't Hugo. Second was not a surprise but I hoped for the Artist to win.
• Angelina Jolie is still skinny as a skeleton
• Emma Stone was quite embarrassing on stage. Though, most of the presenters were.
• Octavia Spencer had nervous breakdown on stage when she won. At least she didn't talk about black people everywhere and how the movie is the voice of them, or some other sentimental stuff like that.
• Spencer got standing ovation. Are you kidding me?
• I loved Christopher Plummer's speech. Dignified, calm and respectful. I had no idea he is 82 years old, I though he was younger than that.
• Harry Potter got nothing. Eh...
• Scorsese drinking game was repeated. When Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne were on the stage somebody shouted "Scorsese" and they took bottles out of their dresses and had a drink. I wish I had booze during watching the ceremony - I'm exhausted. I smoke a cigarette every time Hugo wins and The Artist loses.
• Michel Hazanavicius won for Best Director and thanked Uggie. Yey!
• During the presentation for the director actors from their movies talked a bit about them. That included Dujardin and lovely Michael Sheen.
• Freaking Oprah was there. She got standing ovation. What the hell was happening and why was it happening, I have no idea.
• They stretched the ceremony any way they could - Crirque the Soleil was there, the choir singing during In Memoriam was there, even previously mentioned Oprah was there. 
• When Natalie Portman was talking a bit about each of the Oscar nominees for Best Actor I noticed Berenice Bejo was translating to Jean what she was saying.
• When she read "And the Oscar goes to Jean Dujardin" I started to cry and then I started to laugh - Dujardin's speech was so enthusiastic and joyful it was just a terrific Oscar moment. He started to run around the stage, sending kisses, thanking everyone, oh man I'm crying here, I can't remember last time I cried when someone won an Oscar.
• Meryl Streep won her 3rd Oscar and I have no idea what she said or did because I was frantically drying my eyes from tears from the previous category. I have a test in 2 hours on my University. I won't write a goddamn thing and it's ok.
• The Artist won Best Picture, Uggie was on stage - Jean held his Oscar in one hand and the leash the Uggie was on in the other. I love them both so much. 
• All in all Hugo and The Artist both have 5 Oscars. One I disliked, the other I loved. But Jean and the movie winning make it my all time favorite ceremony that I have watched.

Soundtrack Wednesday - The Life of David Gale

Song: Almost Martyrs

Artist: Alex & Jake Parker

Movie: The Life of David Gale, The Artist (trailer)

Soundtrack Wednesday - The Artist

Song: Waltz for Peppy

Artist: Ludovic Bource

Movie: The Artist 

The Artist

99/100 (100 min, 2011)
Plot: Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius (scenario and dialogue)
Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman

The Golden Silence

If you told me few weeks ago that I will see a movie from 2011 that will be my number 1 of the year and it's not going to be "Shame" I would not believe it. The more plausible thing to happen would be for Charlie Sheen to admit that he has a problem or for David Lynch to stop meditating and announce he is making season 3 of "Twin Peaks". And yet it happened.

I forgot about a certain enchanting kind of films. My favorite movies usually deal with dark and tragic things, they tell stories of insanity, psychosis, suffering and solitude. They are filled with screaming, crying, despair and happy endings occur there very rarely. But sometimes a movie comes along that doesn't need cracks suddenly appearing on the walls and feathers being pulled out of heroine's arms. The kind of movie that instead of messing with your head, shoots straight to your heart. No matter how cheesy I'm always moved by "Big Fish". "Amelie" always makes me feel happy. And now there is "The Artist".