The Artist

[Marc Chevalier]

.
My only regret: "The Artist" shot a scene in the Oviatt Building penthouse's master bedroom, but that scene ended up on the cutting room floor.

Still, James Oviatt's spirit must be smiling from ear to ear: "The Artist" is the first 'Best Picture' movie to have been filmed in his building. Not to mention that Douglas Fairbanks was one of Oviatt's customers: www.liveauctioneers.com/item/184682

 

[Feraud]

It also forced some class in the whole show. Wardrobes, sets, etc. Well done.
ONLY gripe: mentioning a certain director (during Best Pic acceptance) that flew the coop years ago. Why?

Because the director being referred to is Billy Wilder.

 

[ButteMT61]

Um, not!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
This article's title should be renamed "Stating the Bloody Obvious": http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/02/oscars-2012-artist-director-michel-hazanavicius.html

 

[ButteMT61]

.
This article's title should be renamed "Stating the Bloody Obvious": http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/02/oscars-2012-artist-director-michel-hazanavicius.html

Yep. However, certainly there will be some.
It's just beyond belief that anything successful won't be imitated...

 

[Feraud]

Um, not!

Care to elaborate? I am more confused by this reply than the idea that you have a gripe that Michael Hazavanicus is a fan of Billy Wilder..

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
On one very popular Internet news website, "The Artist"s Oscar wins have given rise to nearly 900 comments, most of them highly negative. Some samples:



“You pay $8 to sit in a movie theater with no sound .....great, I get to listen to people sneezing and coughing...what next...no picture ...just subtitles on the screen.......no thanks...what morons.”


"If I felt like reading a movie, I'd read a book. I wouldn't walk across the street to see it for free."


“A silent movie? Really. Exactly how does one win a best acting oscar for not speaking a word of dialogue?”


“I feel about silent movies the same way I feel about non-Asian people eating with chopsticks ... we've all SEEN the fork, why would you choose to make an a** of yourselves eating with sticks?”


"I suppose [someone who liked 'The Artist'] drives a car made in 1920? duh things have moved on, and acting no longer means waving your arms around without saying anything."


“Art??? hahahah a technology that was obsolete 75 years ago is art? What a maroon!”


“This is just Hollywood's way of telling us how ignorant we are.”


“To give Oscars to those in a silent movie is absolutely ignorant!”


“[‘The Artist’] is NOT entertainment. Will Hollywood ever get the message that almost no one pays to see this stuff?”


"A French, silent, black and white movie that no one has seen and not many even want to see wins best picture of the year. That says a lot about the Academy selection process and the people involved."


“Best Picture????? Did anyone actually watch this movie other than the Hollywood elite???? What did it do at the box office.... about $150 dollars??”


“Giving these awards to ‘The Artist’ is the Hollywood elitists' way of telling regular Americans ‘not only are we richer than you, we are also smarter and much more sophisticated, too’.”


“I am glad I had a Netflix to watch instead of this nonsense. It goes to show the quality of what is being put out when a silent movie is the winner.”

 

[Feraud]

.
On one very popular Internet news website, "The Artist"s Oscar wins have given rise to over 600 comments, most of them highly negative.

The common man is an idiot.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Last week we had a family come to see "The Artist," a mother, father, and teenage daughter. When the teen realized what was showing she had a fit: "You TRICKED meeeeeeeeee! I don't wanna see a stupid OLD MOVIE!"

Two hours later, she came out of the theatre swooning.

A lot of them are just bone dumb stupid, to be sure, but maybe all some of them need is to shut the computer off for an afternoon and actually go see the movie before they form an opinion of it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The common man is an idiot.

The comments continue to flow in. Who knew that a movie as innocuous as "The Artist" could inspire such hatred?



"If I wanted to see a silent movie, I would rent an original."


"BIack & White AND silent, too!? Isn't that cute? The Hollywood kids have found themselves an antique in the closet."


"The first time in 83 years that a silent film has won the Oscar. That sure doesn't say much for the rest of silent films."


"'The Artist'----you have got to be kidding. It was silent cause no one would have been able to understand the [French] actors."


"A silent movie wins best picture and best actor ? Anybody ever go to a silent play?"


"Now please tell me, who wants to sit through a movie of this type unless you're deaf and HAVE to read subtitles?"


"This is sort of like watching mimes, or paint dry. This is one of those movies I have no intention of paying good, hard earned money to see."


"'The Artist' was an actors' film, not something we regular people should pay to see. At least no one I know will bother with seeing it. I want to be entertained when I go to the movies."


"$73 million is all this 'The Artist' made........good god, that's chump change in today's world of movies, hardly worth the effort and in those terms, a total failure. Don't think winning an oscar is going to improve those numbers much.....Time to send these foreign films back to where they came from."


"How hard is it to 'act' in a film where you don't have to say anything? the best acting is conveyed by voice. This piece of [manure] movie is just another french mime act."


"Got better thing to do than to be bored to death."

 

[Edward]

How sad that so many of these cyber-critics seem only capable of valuing something based on how much money it makes. This speaks to an awful lot of what is wrong with contemporary society.

 

[Feraud]

The comments continue to flow in. Who knew that a movie as innocuous as "The Artist" could inspire such hatred?

People are dullards and will sleepwalk to see another derivative Jennifer Aniston-Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz vehicle and not bat an eyelash.
When standards are this low anything outside the norm is viewed with derision.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

How sad that so many of these cyber-critics seem only capable of valuing something based on how much money it makes.

I think they mean the film's low grosses indicate that not a lot of people have seen it ... because it doesn't grab their interest. The "crime", they seem to think, is in awarding a Best Picture Oscar to a movie that they don't want to see.


I won't post any more of these comments. Y'all get the gist.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Those comments are astonishing to me. No doubt the majority were made by people who have not seen the movie. "Silent" hardly means soundless in this case, as the music is practically its own entity. Not to mention the few instances in which there is no sound at all are more effective rather than less.
Last night in a coffee house (before carrying on up the way to inadvertently crash a posh Oscar watch party), a friend of mine was basically regurgitating some negativity he'd read somewhere regarding the question of whether "The Artist" should even have been nominated. If it even qualified. I pointed out that maybe he should make an effort to see it before taking such a stand.
Despite the movie having had a nice long run here in my city (though not at the most convenient theatre), I know hardly anyone who has seen it. Most people I talk to say they want to, but just haven't made the effort. They're probably waiting for it to hit Red Box or whatever, which is a shame, as most of you will agree; this one certainly deserves the grandeur of the big screen. Still, about the only people I know who have seen are people I've taken! This afternoon I'm going again, with a friend who was at the party last night, and is eager. I wonder what the 2:45 crowd will be like today, after the big win?

 

[Edward]

I think they mean the film's low grosses indicate that not a lot of people have seen it ... because it doesn't grab their interest. The "crime", they seem to think, is in awarding a Best Picture Oscar to a movie that they don't want to see.

I've encountered this same mentality in the music world, where your Britneys are regarded by some as superior because they have sold more than [insert talented but less commercial artist here].

People probably do jut want more of the same. I've been hoping though for a change. Maybe I read too much into things like Jennifer Aniston apparently having to go topless to drum up some interest in her latest outing, and the likes.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

These comments are priceless in the way that it lays bare the soul of today's Everyman in all its unappetizing, pasty-complexioned nakedness.

"If I felt like reading a movie, I'd read a book. I wouldn't walk across the street to see it for free."

That's assuming you (the original commentator) can read!

"I suppose [someone who liked 'The Artist'] drives a car made in 1920? duh things have moved on, and acting no longer means waving your arms around without saying anything."

I wish I had a car made in 1920!

“Art??? hahahah a technology that was obsolete 75 years ago is art? What a maroon!”

As opposed to layers of CGI slathered on like make up on an ageing diva???

“This is just Hollywood's way of telling us how ignorant we (average shmoes) are.”

I generally don't agree with Hollywood's worldview but in this one rare instance they're right. lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

People probably do jut want more of the same. I've been hoping though for a change.

Edward, here's one more comment (the last, I promise) from the news website:


"'The Artist' was popular [with Academy voters] because it was different and got the oscar for that. Hopefully it won't become a tradition."

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yep. However, certainly there will be some.

Or maybe not: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?58198-The-Artist&p=1410745&viewfull=1#post1410745

 

[dhermann1]

Feraud: I think the director referred to above was Roman Polanski. I don't recall who mentioned him, but it was in an acceptance speech that mentioned several directors who had been influential to the recipient. It caught my attention, but I think that as much as Polanski's personal reputation has been thrown in the gutter, his artistic accomplishments should stand on their own, and if this director learned something valuable from him, then it's valid for him to say so.

 

[Feraud]

Oh sorry, I must have missed that reference and fixated on the Billy Wilder comment!