Cannes favorite The Artist looks flashy and frothy, but that combination is perfect for Michel Hazanavicius's sumptuous melodrama (in theaters Nov. 23) set in old Hollywood. It's chock-full of Errol Flynn mustaches, Marcel waves, mink stoles, and the kind of magnificent Tinseltown excesses that killed everyone on E!'s Mysteries and Scandals. The new English trailer is available in HD, so let's watch ahead.
Hard not to marvel at the authenticity here; love the costuming, old cameras, celluloid streams, screens, and billboards. Although the perfectly cast Jean Dujardin and the stunning Bérénice Bejo are dead ringers for '20s glamorpusses, the brief appearance of John Goodman is the trailer's finest moment. (James Cromwell, Missi Pyle, and Penelope Ann Miller also co-star.) Not that I dote on old Hollywood, but to see Goodman slamming down a fist like Charles Laughton -- with big, broad gusto -- is pure magic. I'd give anything to see him in a remake of Witness for the Prosecution with Cate Blanchett in the Dietrich role and -- what the hell? -- Dujardin here as the Tyrone Power role. Until then, we have The Artist to fill the nostalgic void.
(Though, point of order: This is a '20s movie, and the first song we hear is 1936's "Sing, Sing, Sing." Hmmm.)
VERDICT: Who the hell wouldn't want to see this?
Head over to Apple to watch in HD.