The Artist: Best Picture of the Year

Off to rehearse for a comedy pilot, but had to say something about The Artist, the new near-silent, black-and-white film that's generating so much buzz.  It's terrific.  The most imaginative and visually beautiful film I've seen all year.  Jean Dujardin may single-handedly bring back the pencil mustache!  (The Fedora is already making a comeback among sophisticated dressers, my darling husband included. Let's hope the film also brings back the beefy three-piece suit to replace those silly, skinny-legged things sold in New York at Suit Supply.)

But enough about fashion.  Every frame of this film is drop-dead gorgeous.  The lighting is perfection. (Watch for the scene where Dujardin stands at the back of a darkened, near empty theater with the light on his face.  It took my breath away.) The story is simple, straightforward, and compelling.  It also has some quirky scene elements reminiscent of The Coen Brothers.  In fact, this is a film the Coens would have made had they thought of it first.

The Europeans are again showing Americans how it's done.

The only disappointment: I looked up Dujardin on IMDb and his photo shows him with the ubiquitous three-day beard sported by half the actors in Hollywood.  He looked utterly forgettable, whereas in the film he's a knockout.

But that's a small point to be dealt with by his agent.  I'm buying this film.