A week or so ago I watched Midnight in Paris with my honey and saw my life in film. I'm going to tell you all about the movie that matters without telling you anything about the movie. This guy, who is a writer (like me, but not like me because, well, he gets paid to write) ends up being able to go back in time to the 1920s. This just so happens to be a time when a great deal of famous writers and artists were alive. It also just so happens to be the time period that this guy and I should have been born in.
The only problem is, that would make me older than my grandmother.
The movie was okay, but unfortunately, the end just reaffirmed for me that the present day lacks a certain appeal that the 20s held.
One thing which was popular in the 20s, yet also found its demise in the late 20s was the silent film. This year, 2012, The Artist, an almost completely silent film, graced the silver screen.
This past Sunday hubby and I went to the movies.
We went to the movies because we wanted to go out.
We went to the movies because we had tickets that hubby's uncle got us discounted from Costco.
(Because who in their right mind would actually pay $11 x 2 to see a movie that they don't know for sure is going to be slam bang awesomely incredible?).
We went to the movies to see The Artist because it was the only movie that I said I'd be willing to see, even at a discounted price.
I had no idea what to expect. I knew the movie had gotten great reviews. And had heard something or other about it having to do with silent films. Silent films are old. "I like things that are old," I thought.
It was fantastic. As a lover of the 20s and a lover of movies that purposely choose to crossover from what is expected and commonly done, to something completely unique and out of the ordinary, I was very pleased.
As I began watching the movie and came to the realization that the movie indeed would be all silent, I began thinking, "Oh no, what have I done? This is going to be terrible. Lance won't like it, even worse, I won't like it. " I worried I would walk away as disappointed as I had from the movie J.Edgar (Leo, you failed me).
But after this tiny panic overcame me, I found myself laughing, intrigued, and simply entertained. There are two things I found fascinating in watching a silent movie.
1. Movies today are filled with excessive talk.
It was amazing that just someone's facial expressions and movements could convey the same message that a paragraph of dialogue explains. The actors were sensational, perfectly chosen for a film of this type. The story line kept me intrigued and there was not a moment that I felt bored or uninterested.
2. You have to be a lot quieter in a theater when watching a silent movie.
The only sound you hear is music, which was written to match brilliantly along with specific moments of the film. Many scenes, however, are without music. The second the film began (after the obnoxiously loud commercials) you could have heard a pin drop. I'm pretty sure the people sitting behind us were sorry that they had bought popcorn. When the movie began, their popcorn bag crackled and crunched, and as the silence overcame the room their sounds also stopped.
I walked away glad to have gone to the movies that night and even more glad deep down in my soul that there is someone out there sharing my love and passion for things of nostalgic significance.
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