The Artist (2011)

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a popular silent screen star in the late 1920's.  After a personal appearance at the screening of his latest film, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) accidently bumps into him.  Peppy is an aspiring dancer.  Later, when she is in danger of being fired from a film by movie mogul Al Zimmer (John Goodman), Valentin steps in to save her job.  An attractive develops between the two, but Valentin is married, and unhappily so at that.

A change is coming. . . .the studio where Valentin has experienced his success abruptly decides to stop making silent films and switch to talkies.  Valentin wants no part of the new technology, and he's sure that there's still an audience for silent movies.  His career disappears, while Peppy, who's become an actress, soars at the box office.  However, their paths keep crossing each other.

This is an old-fashioned love letter to a form of movie making that no longer exists.  It's filmed in black and white, and yes, you have to read the dialogue.  But there's a lot of dialogue that's not spelled out, but it's clear what is going on.  The camera especially loves Ms. Bejo, and Uggie, the dog who accompanies Valentin, is adorable. 

Beyond The Sea (2004)

I remember singer Bobby Darin when I was a kid. TV networks used to regularly have "summer series" to offset the stream of reruns during that season. Darin had a summer series, and it was quite entertaining. He was a talented guy who could sing silly rock n' roll ditties like "Splish Splash", then swing a standard like "Up A Lazy River", then go folk on audiences with stuff like "If I Were A Carpenter".

Beyond The Sea follows Darin (Kevin Spacey) from being a sickly child in the Bronx to his stardom in nightclubs and in films. Darin is raised by an extended family which includes his sister Nina (Caroline Aaron), brother-in-law Charlie (Bob Hoskins), and mom Polly (Brenda Blethyn), who totally believe in his talent. Darin's talent, plus his cockiness and arrogance, propel him forward. Darin wants to live life to the fullest. He developed heart problems as a child, and was told he wouldn't live past age 15. He makes it past that age, but the specter of death follows him for the rest of his life.

Darin meets actress Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth) on the set of a movie. They don't seem right for each other. She's a bit young and innocent, and he's brash. Then there's the matter of her stage mother, Mary (Greta Scacchi), controlling her daughter's moves. But love blossoms between the pair, and they get married. Darin keeps pushing along in his career, which eventually causes some tension between him and Dee, who wants him to spend more time with her and their son. But Bobby Darin can't stop. He's on a mission.

As what happens with careers that are red hot, at some point they cool down. Darin finds himself up against the changes in America during the 1960's, and his type of entertainment falls out of favor. Darin becomes politically aware and he even considers running for office. Then he gets some explosive news from his sister about his parentage which causes him to find out who he is and where he fits in.

The story is set up with Darin being led through events of his life by the younger version of himself (William Ulrich). That device, which has been used in some other films, doesn't work all the time. I would have liked it better if this story was told straightforward. Spacey (American Beauty, Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil) does a great job evoking Darin's larger-than-life presence, and he does his own singing without overly apeing Darin's style.

John Goodman appears as Darin's manager; he was the title character's husband on "Rosanne" (1988-1997) and was in the cult classic The Big Lebowski (1998). Bob Hoskins was in Nixon (1995) and Mona Lisa (1986). Kate Bosworth was Lois Lane in Superman Returns (2006).

The real Bobby Darin gained an Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). "Beyond The Sea" is the name of a hit he had in 1960. Darin passed away in 1973, after open heart surgery. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.