Yea I was looking for that too, it normally is on. I just put the DVD on in the end, its not Christmas without it.

That, Elf and Bad Santa. Best 3 xmas films ever made.

Best christmas movies:

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas

2. It's A Wonderful Life

3. Miracle On 34th Street

4. Love Actually

5. Gremlins

Best Christmas movies? Surely Die Hard deserves a mention...

Best Christmas movies? Surely Die Hard deserves a mention...

I think I could squeeze it in on the list of movies that almost made it to the top 5

The Artist

Jean Dujardin

Berenice Bejo

Written and directed by Michel Hazavinicius

I think the reason The Artist is getting so much critical love is because it's a beautifully crafted silent movie.

My only problem with The Artist is that it's a silent movie. With a couple of exceptions for dramatic effect, it's music and... silence. It's a real homage to the genre, all the way down to the black-and-white film.

Two sides of the same coin, eh?

For reasons I don't understand, I find silent movies tiring to watch. I guess they demand more concentration. So for me, there are bits that lag. In a movie that depends entirely on one's emotional attachment to the characters, I didn't always find myself as involved as I wanted to be. I'm not sure that's entirely because it's a silent movie. Maybe it has more to do with the screenplay. I'm going to venture the opinion that so much attention was paid to the style of the movie -- which really is a rousing success -- that perhaps the story lagged just a fraction.

For me the best thing about The Artist is the performance of the lead. Silent movie star George Valentin (gosh, that sure does sound like Valentino) is played with enormous charm and gusto by French actor Jean Dujardin. Valentin is a matinee idol whose star fades when the talkies take over. Dujardin displays the love his character has for his stardom with a masculine physicality and passion. He's just great. I once knew a man quite like this Valentin -- a charming egotist who wouldn't hurt a fly. You love this guy. So there is some sadness in watching his decline. But perhaps not enough?

This project was written and directed by Michel Hazavinicius, a French television and film director. His love for his subject matter, the silent movies, comes through. The photography and the lighting are beautiful. There's a modern feel to this tribute to the past.

The whole production is a bit incestuous. The ingenue who falls for Valentin is played by Hazavinicius' real-life French wife, Berenice Bejo. Bejo and Dujardins both starred in Hazavinicius' previous, French-language films. There's an underlying irony to this film, in that these talented French-speaking artists have made a silent movie homage with a story that's based in Hollywood... where the lead character won't talk for reasons that become amusingly clear at the end. Sort of a meta-irony, there.

The Artist is a good film, not a great one, in my opinion. It's a fascinating curiosity with a tremendous performance at its core. I think it makes for an enjoyable couple of hours at the theater, as long as you know what you're getting into.

The Artist

I started reading your post, then quit because the movie doesn't come out here for another week. I don't want to spoil much, so even if you didn't have spoilers in there, sorry but I can't risk it. I am super excited to see it, glad it's at least a "good" movie, hopefully it's up my alley.

Edited January 7, 201214 yr by ace

I started reading your post, then quit because the movie doesn't come out here for another week. I don't want to spoil much, so even if you didn't have spoilers in there, sorry but I can't risk it. I am super excited to see it, glad it's at least a "good" movie, hopefully it's up my alley.

No worries. I try to avoid writing spoilers, but best not to take chances!

Taken

Its just too damn good so had to give it a watch again, Liam Neeson is amazing and the storyline is amazing, really hope stuff like that doesnt happen in real life though, its horrible..

Liam Nelson is such a massive hard arse in that film.

Taken

Its just too damn good so had to give it a watch again, Liam Neeson is amazing and the storyline is amazing, really hope stuff like that doesnt happen in real life though, its horrible..

You wouldn't like my review, then. Want to see it? :)

And unfortunately stuff like that does happen in real life. Human trafficking and prostitution are a very real and scary business. I watched a documentary once where a girl from the Ukraine was kidnapped and taken to Turkey. Her husband tracked her down over years, suffering beatings and threats on his life. He eventually paid the people that had his wife off, and took her back home. She was so poor and traumatized that she opted to go back and work for the same people again.

Just got back from "Tinker Tailor Solider Spy" (just came out over here) and thought it was a pretty solid film. Not the easiest to follow at first, but I was pretty happy with the movie once the credits started rolling.

You wouldn't like my review, then. Want to see it? :)

Yes, please, I would like to see it, if you put it with a spoiler so people don't need to look if they don't want to. Your appraisal of The Artist was spot on.

Watched Philadelphia (again) last night, that is such a good film!

Oh and for those that don't get why people don't like Forrest Gump, its easy really, its all about triumph over adversity!

Watched Philadelphia (again) last night, that is such a good film!

Oh and for those that don't get why people don't like Forrest Gump, its easy really, its all about triumph over adversity!

Yes, I did get that, Shedpensioner! But I didn't find it convincing!

I love the film its easy watching and always makes me feel good, although I am aware its not the deepest of films!

And unfortunately stuff like that does happen in real life. Human trafficking and prostitution are a very real and scary business. I watched a documentary once where a girl from the Ukraine was kidnapped and taken to Turkey. Her husband tracked her down over years, suffering beatings and threats on his life. He eventually paid the people that had his wife off, and took her back home. She was so poor and traumatized that she opted to go back and work for the same people again.

Damn its just so sickening, I wish everyone had a dad like Liam Neeson in that movie.

Human trafficking and prostitution are a very real and scary business.

I know... Well, not much, to be honest, but I did edit a programme about human trafficking in Eastern Europe some years ago. Had some shocking stories in it and our programme just scratched the surface.

Yes, please, I would like to see it, if you put it with a spoiler so people don't need to look if they don't want to. Your appraisal of The Artist was spot on.

Thank you! OK, here it is.

Taken

Liam Neeson

Assorted Cardboard Cutouts

Director: Pierre Morel

Writer/producer: Luc Besson

About 25 years ago they made a movie about a character who killed anyone who got in his way. He murdered without compunction, without remorse, without a trace of conscience. The character was so heinous they couldn't even make him human, he had to be a machine.

And he was, it goes without saying, the villain.

I'm referring to The Terminator, of course. Well, a quarter of a century later we've become a lot more cynical about violence. And now they've made another movie about a character who kills without compunction, remorse or conscience. Only this, time, he's human.

Even worse, he's the hero.

See, the thing is, it's all about the motivation. Because ex-CIA operative Liam Neeson's daughter is snatched by white slavers, these filmmakers give him a moral carte blanche to kill every crook dumb enough to cross his murderous path.

If you're OK with that, and you probably are because we've all become so inured to violence, then you might enjoy Taken. It's a single-minded revenge movie. The pace never flags and the action's quite well done (although none of it rises to the artistic level of the shootout at the Guggenheim museum in The International.)

As long as you limit your expectations to a simple set-up followed by a bloodbath, you'll be fine. Don't think too hard about the details, like where a visiting American suddenly finds a basement torture chamber in Paris, or why the occupants of cars seived by bullets never get hurt (Bonnie and Clyde could have used cars like these.) Just go with the flow.

And since the violent set pieces are the real stars of Taken, don't expect any characterization. Every character's a cipher: there's the contemptuous ex-wife, the slightly ditzy daughter, the wealthy step-father, and the vengeance-wreaking natural father. Each exists merely as a coat peg onto which to hang the plot -- which is to say, a peg onto which to hang a series of violent set-pieces.

Luc Besson's name is on this one, as a writer and producer. But don't mistake this movie for The Professional. Back then, he still cared about his characters. Nowadays, he seems to be more interested in movies that are shoot 'em up video games. Taken is a diverting and a pleasant way to pass the time, in a rendition kind of way.

Thanks wxwax. I think I'll give it a miss. I like dialogue and characterisation.

Don't Moi, watch it and judge for yourself - its a great movie and if you start looking at every little detail in the modern days movies then you would find flaws in every single one of them.

Horror movies are a great example where the main characters constantly do the wrong thing! But who cares, I just want to enjoy a decent movie and Taken certainly is one.

Thinking too much in-depth about movies must be so boring.

Thinking too much in-depth about movies must be so boring.

I like movies which engage me in some way. Endless violence just doesn't do it. It's not exciting or stimulating, it's boring. With movies like Taken, you're left to ponder how many different ways they can show a man being shot. There's nothing else there. What it completely lacks is a genuine thought or emotion. The sad attempts at showing familial love at the end are so hackneyed and cliched they made me wince.

Well im not going to argue over a movie, people like different things and for me this was a very good action/thriller that I would watch again.

Well im not going to argue over a movie, people like different things and for me this was a very good action/thriller that I would watch again.

Oh, I'm with you completely. Everyone has different tastes. No-one call tell you you're wrong for enjoying something.

Likewise... no-one can tell you you're wrong if you dislike something, right?

Thinking too much in-depth about movies must be so boring.

I don't know where to start here, Andreas! How would you feel if soneone said to you, "Thinking about football is such depth must be so boring?"