The Artist review

 Number 304 on the top 1000 films of all time is Michel Hazanavicius' 2011 silent-film 'The Artist.'

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent film-star who finds himself at crisis when the film industry is slowly transitioning to talkies. Will his relationship with rising star Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) help to save his career? John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller and Malcolm Mcdowell co-star.

Since beginning this challenge, I have seen my fair share of silent films from Charlie Chaplin to Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Yet the Artist failed to capture the same magic. It lacked the same physical comedy or emotional tenderness that you would get in a Charlie Chaplin film.

The first half hour of the Artist was painfully dull as we took too long getting to George Valentin's conflict. In many ways, you can argue he is a dinosaur - desperately clinging to a life that no longer exists. Sure, it would have applied to many silent-film stars, but this type of resentment to embrace the future that turned him into an arrogant, archaic fossil. Hell, even after much resistance even Chaplin started making talking pictures.

I understand this was all part of George's character-arc, but it did make him unlikeable. I'm going to be even more controversial and argue whether Jean Dujardin truly deserved the Best Actor Oscar. He was quite over-the-top, although I guess that would have been the expectation of the time and medium. And it wasn't like he had that much more competition during that year's Oscars.

More convincing was Berenice Bejo, as Peppy Miller, who brought a certain charm to the film. James Cromwell who played Valentin's fiercely loyal manservant was also good. But Malcolm Mcdowell and John Goodman could have had more to do.

The Artist was enjoyable enough for what it was, but it didn't match up to the silent films of old.

Battleship Potemkin review

 Number 318 on the top 1000 films of all time is Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film 'Battleship Potemkin.'

In the backdrop of the Russian revolution, sailor Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov) leads a mutiny against the tyrannical officers of the Battleship Potemkin. He and his fellow sailors sail into Odessa as heroes, but the revolution is only beginning.

Battleship Potemkin received acclaim from historical and contemporary critics. Unlike some other films of the era e.g All Quiet on the Western Front, it has held up well over the years.

One thing that struck me was how Eisenstein never shied away from depicting the brutality of the revolution. Within the famous scene of the massacre on the Odessa Steps, we witness these horrors in unflinching detail. Two key scenes come to mind - a little boy who has been shot by a Cossack, blood pouring from his head, and a woman who has a bullet-hole where her eye should be. They were powerful scenes.

This was shocking at the time, and it was especially shocking to see it in a silent film in an era dominated by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

But I'm going to slightly demur from popular critical opinion. The massacre on the Odessa steps is considered one of the film's highlights. While it was good, I would argue that it went on for so long that any dramatic tension became severely diluted. There are only so many times that we can watch people run away. The film is only sixty-seven minutes long, but if it wasn't for this overly-drawn out sequence, it could have been shorter.

Yes, it is a propaganda film, but Battleship Potemkin did serve as an early reminder of the power of cinema.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari review

 Number 289 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2005 horror film 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.'

Dr Caligari (Daamen J. Krall) id a mad scientist who has secretly brainwashed the somnambulist Cesare (Doug Jones) into becoming a murderer. When Francis' (Judson Pearce Morgan) friend is killed, Francis swears to put a stop to Dr Caligari's madness.

This film is a remake of the 1920 original, which was a classic of the German Expressionistic genre. Director David Lee Fisher recreated the genre perfectly. The scene and set-design were so perfect that it felt like I was watching a Fritz Lang film. They brilliantly evoked a chilling atmosphere. Everything had a surreal tinge to it, making it all the scarier.

The houses had been built at strange angles and trees didn't resemble trees at all. They were abstract outlines from a waking nightmare. The monochrome only added to the creepy atmosphere.

The original film was silent, lacking any dialogue, so perhaps that explained all the over-acting and corny dialogue. The dialogue was cheesy. It didn't sound good coming out of the actor's mouths. I'm not sure whether this was intentional on Fisher's part. Having said that, the performances were good. The ever-great Doug Jones was very creepy as the brain-washed murderer.

Either way, this was still an entertaining if weird and surreal film.