Artist entertains but Chaplin it’s not

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo star in "The Artist," 2011, The Weinstein Company

When I first saw “The Artist,” I couldn’t quite make out whether this film was a gimmicky effort made to appeal to a niche segment of cinephiles or a finely crafted homage to the silent era.

Directed by the relatively unknown Michel Hazanavicius, “Artist” (2011) has garnered glowing critical review including three Oscar nominations for Hazanavicius: best director, best original screenplay and best editing.

Despite that, “Artist” is still not in the same league as its cinematic ancestors: “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928), “The Battleship Potemkin” (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925), “Greed” (Erich von Stroheim, 1924), “The General” (Buster Keaton, 1926) and “Metropolis” (Fritz Lang, 1927) are just a handful of films from that era that should, at the very least, receive a special screening by the academy prior to handing out any statuette for “Artist.”

But with its legions of gushing critical followers, that seems unlikely to happen.

In any event, “Artist” opens with a screening of George Valentin’s (Jean Dujardin) latest silent picture “The Russian Affair” during which aside from him being tortured by a Frankenstein-like electrical device, not much else happens.

But after the screening, a starstruck fan, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo),  accidently inserts herself into media frenzy outside the theater and is photographed planting one on Valentin’s face.

When his wife Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) sees the photo on the front page of Variety the next day, she is none too amused by both Valentin and his kooky Jack Russell Terrier, Uggie, who is trained to mimic Valentin’s pantomime.

The Weinstein Company, La Petite Reine, Studio 37

Meanwhile, Peppy Miller is ecstatic at having been photographed by Variety and decides to go on an audition at Kinograph Studios.

While waiting for her audition, she shows a butler (a bored Malcolm McDowell) the magazine cover and is dejected when he still doesn’t recognize her.

After earning a role and receiving a nod of approval from the casting director, Peppy celebrates with a Tiger Woods-like fist pump.

She then turns to a still seated McDowell and says “My name is Peppy Miller” to which McDowell wryly smiles and shrugs it off.

The Weinstein Company, La Petite Reine, Studio 37

Valentin later suggests Peppy paint a fake mole above her upper lip to attract more attention and miraculously she starts commanding better roles.

As time rolls on to 1929, sound technology comes into being and Valentin’s relationship with Doris

becomes more mundane and strained.

On top of that, Studio head Zimmer (John Goodman) screens one of the first rushes employing sound and Valentin laughs it off  as a joke.

“If that’s the future, you can have it,” he sniffs (perhaps echoing the same criticism Walt Disney received when he first proposed producing animated feature-length films).

Not surprisingly, Valentin inexplicably wakes up to an entire world using the new technology of sound only he is unable to speak, still silent and still holding on the a bygone era.

It turns out to be a Buñuelian dream from which Valentin awakens sweating and clearly disturbed― so much so that the normally outgoing actor becomes introspective on the ride to the studio at which he discovers that most of the silent actors and stage hands are gone.

Kinograph Studios has decided to halt production of silent films in favor of talkies.

“You and I belong to another era, George. The world is talking now,” Zimmerman tells a stunned Valentin.

In a matter of hours, Valentin discovers that he has gone from yesterdays box office idol to today’s washed up actor―it wasn’t possible back then to hang on for dear life by coining boorish phrases like “winning.”

Meanwhile though, Peppy Miller is winning having signed a deal with the newly reinvented Kinograph Studios.

She still believes in Valentin and eventually helps resurrect his career but only after Valentin makes one more desperate attempt at producing and acting in his own silent film which fails miserably.

The Weinstein Company 

“Artist” is an entertaining, well made and aptly researched and edited piece but the effusion of positive critique of it as something new rather than novel is puzzling and makes one wonder whether or not some critics are really familiar with the silent film canon.

Still, in addition to the categories for which it is nominated, “Artist” should probably also be nominated for best costume design, best cinematography and music score.

Everything is period correct even down to interior light switches and poster fonts.

Under ideal circumstances, there should probably be more of a push to restore original silent films and screen them at modern theaters but as they say, “every dog has its day” and if there were such a thing as an Oscar for dogs, Uggie would certainly earn my vote.―Steve Santiago

 

5 Reasons Why The Rocky Horror Picture Show Still Rocks

L-R: Patricia Quinn, Tim Curry, Nell Campbell, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 20th Century Fox Film Corp.

For more than three decades, one film has enjoyed the longest run of any theatrical film release in U.S. history.

The home version of the video game Pong was released the same year as its initial debut and the U.S. National Film Registry recently gave it a nod as being historically significant enough to warrant preservation.

Yet simply showing up at a midnight screening makes it highly likely you’ll be pelted with rice and leave soaking wet— making this film the first (and possibly only) interactive movie.

But just how Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show went from British stage musical to cinematic sideshow to

international cultural icon is an unlikely mystery to many, but it did.

Here are a few theories as to why the RHPS is still cool today:

Fearless depiction of alternative lifestyles

The Rocky Horror Picture Show above anything else is cheeky expression of sexual freedom mixed into a cocktail of horror, sci-fi and B-movie comedy.

Riding the wave of the already in-progress sexual revolution, RHPS challenged the notion of monogamy and the institution of marriage notably when the newly engaged Brad Majors and Janet Weiss both end up being seduced by Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

It also celebrates rebellion against societal mores with an in-your-face verve that was new and that Americans, having always been a rebellious lot, naturally gravitate toward.

Nowadays, the “Sweet Transvestite” from Transsexual, Transylvania, as Dr. Frank-N-Furter is known, barely elicits a yawn but back in 1975 when RHPS was released, LGBT lifestyles were still largely unacceptable both on and off screen despite activism throughout large cities across the U.S.

The connection to pop music, art and theater

It’s often a matter of timing when art clicks on a large scale and RHPS is no exception.

One thing RHPS had going for it is that during the mid 1970s, Glam rock, Punk rock and Disco were all vying for the attention of countless fabulous nobodies packing American nightclubs and concert halls.

Whether RHPS was the vanguard or merely emulated pop culture is not as relevant as its success at tapping into the of-the-moment vibe notably in the areas of costume design, soundtrack and graphic arts.

At the time, the gender-bending S&M outfit worn by Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the striptease ensemble gracing Columbia and Magenta were considered risqué and daring.

Today, recording artists like Britney Spears and Rihanna borrow heavily from Rocky’s closet while companies like Party City routinely sell Rocky-inspired costumes on the Web.

Likewise, Riff-Raff’s austere butler uniform became the costume de rigueur for countless ghouls in movies like Phantasm (1979) and others that followed.

The garish art direction seen in RHPSshares an uncanny similarity with graphic art designs employed by groups like the Rolling Stones.

     “Some Girls,” EMI,Virgin, Rolling Stones Records

The Stones’ red lips graphic, the Warholesque packaging seen the in the Stones “Some Girls” album and the jacket of The Rocky Horror Picture Show LP bear a striking resemblance to one another.

The stage version of RHPS (which preceded the movie) was one of several rock-inspired musicals that dominated the Broadway stage back in the 1970s.

Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell along with The Rocky Horror Show would enjoy great box office success along with later productions like the hugely successful A Chorus Line, Raisin, Dreamgirls and The Wiz.

Original soundtrack,Rhino Records

It was well cast

More than anything else, Rocky springboarded the acting careers of cast members Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf.

After his breakthrough role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Curry went on to play Pennywise the Dancing Clown (seemingly using the same makeup artist) in Stephen King’s It and later the less believable Dr. Petrov in The Hunt for Red October.

Sarandon’s performance as the milquetoast Janet Weiss would later seem like a practice run compared to her Oscar-winning performance in Dead Man Walking which was in stark contrast to her vamp-like roles in The Hunger, The Witches of Eastwick and Thelma & Louise.

Barry Bostwick parlayed his role as the wuss-like Brad Majors into a part in Weekend at Bernie’s II and a glut of TV roles most recently as Tim Stanwick on Fox TV’s Glee.

And before finding success from “Bat Out of Hell” (and threatening to beat the
crap out of Gary Busey on season 11 of  The Apprentice), Meatloaf  portrayed the forgettable delivery boy Eddie who (like the actor’s moniker suggests) gets served up as the main course of a dinner party hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

“Don’t be upset,” Frank-N-Furter quips. “It was a mercy killing. He had a
certain naive charm but no muscles.”

That’s what Gary Busey said.

But more importantly, she would go on to open the highly successful New York City nightclub Nell’s which was a huge hit with the model crowd during the 1990s.

It’s got a huge recyclable fan base

No other film encourages fans to bring their own props to showings like RHPS does.

Fans typically show up at the theater (whether it’s allowed or not) with rice, squirt guns, rubber gloves and confetti among other things.

Without this huge, ravenous fan base that seemingly transcends generations, RHPS would no doubt be unable to continue the long-distance run it’s enjoyed for decades.

Said supply of ravenous fans is largely supported by the innumerable fan sites found on the Web.

One such site, http://www.rockyhorror.com, recently listed some 84 venues worldwide where RHPS is screened.

With that volume of free advertising, it’s no wonder why RHPS keeps breathing long after its presumed shelf life.

It’s got memorable songs

Audiences love musicals mainly for the memorable songs that with the right luck often become American classics.

“The Sound of Music” and “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music immediately come to mind.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is no different.

Songs like “The Time Warp,” “Fanfare/Don’t Dream It” and “Sweet Transvestite” put RHPS on the map and kept it there but like many musicals, it has its share of bombs that make you want to go outside for a cigarette break.

“Dammit Janet,” “Over at the Frankenstein Place” and “Planet,Schmanet, Janet” easily come to mind as songs that would like find a better reception on Sesame Street than on the silver screen.

Likewise, songs like “Eddie” have a cool 1950s rock sensibility but still don’t
seem to fit into the rest RHPS glam 1970s soundtrack.

“Time Warp” though cracked the top 50 of Billboard 200 back in 1978.

But above all the other cultural references, Rocky Horror really delivers an
accurate snapshot of what was “happening” in America back then—at
least in the big cities.

Punk, Glam, Disco and the fashion trends that come with them are all represented in RHPS.

Still, what really makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show cool is that it’s a unique experiment of sorts which encourages audience participation in a way that has never been duplicated since and probably never will.—Steve Santiago