OFFBEAT: Oscar nominated 'The Artist' arrives in region, dazzles with Old Hollywood Style

Ealier this week, I saw "The Artist" at AMC Showplace in Schererville and was happy (and a little surprised) to see such a large audience.

More and more in today's box office world, if the movie isn't about vampires, a wizard, sex, explosions or toilet humor, it doesn't achieve a large purse in ticket sales.

And *GASP*...

This film is also not in 3D or on an IMAX screen. In fact, it doesn't even need fancy surround sound.

Yep, it's in black and white, it's a silent film, and it's great in every sense of the imagination. We're lucky it has finally arrived in Northwest Indiana.

This 2011 French comedy-drama directed by Michel Hazanavicius stars the amazingly talented Jean Dujardin, who is up for best actor, and Bérénice Bejo, who's competing for best actress in a supporting role.

The story is set in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on Dugardin as a movie star who's fame is based in the era of silent films, while the world is discovering "talking pictures" and a new rising star played by Bejo.

I admit it seemed rather odd at first to sit in such a quiet movie theater setting where every piece of candy seemed to shout when the wrapper was opened.

It takes true acting to tell a convincing story without saying a word.

Some of the film's early premise is similar to the plot of the legendary 1952 MGM musical "Singin' in the Rain." And as actress Kim Novak has complained in a full-page paid ad in Variety, some of the music overlay is taken from her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 "Vertigo."

But "The Artist" is meant to pay homage to the Hollywood of yesterday.

John Goodman, who plays the bellowing movie set director, is in fine form. One of the first movie reviews I wrote was in 1993 when Goodman starred in another film about film-making called "Matinee," starring him as a character paying homage to real-life B-grade science fiction filmmaker William Castle.

It's also nice to know the 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier named Uggie, who plays the movie star lead's canine friend Jack, has new-found fame. Just a few years ago, he was rescued from going to a pet shelter.

"The Artist" is a movie that makes it easy to once again say: "Hooray for Hollywood."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or (219) 852-4327.