hugo | MostlyFilm

Welcome to our new-look Friday column!

Jerry Lewis and Alfred Hitchcock — It's Jerry Lewis's 86th birthday. Here he is with Alfred Hitchcock on the set of To Catch a Thief.

Big release this week? Well, probably We Bought a Zoo, but fuck me, look at the trailer:

Man quits job in dramatic fashion! Tousle-haired moppet jumps up and down and goes ‘Yay!’ Hoppípolla! ScarJo in a Christmas jumper! Matt Damon had better be playing an amnesiac assassin who accidentally buys a zoo, that’s all I’m saying.

In lieu of a MostlyFilm post, why not read this excellent treatise on the correct order in which to watch the Star Wars Films? No reason, I just happen to agree.

Or you could read a MostlyFilm post. There were four this week:

Yesterday’s Men, on Hugo and the Artist.

If My Calculations Are Correct pt IV, the culmination of an epic sci fi viewing project.

Mostly Pop, the month in popular music.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, our review of the film.

Join us next week for screenwriting, man-pies, art and British Noir.

by FIONA PLEASANCE

George Valentin - Georges Méliès — The gorgeous Georges.

I know what you’re thinking. You’ve clicked on a link, and now there’s a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. “Oh no,” you sigh, “not another bloody article about those retro-juggernauts, The Artist (2011) and Hugo (2011) and what it all means for Hollywood. That’s so last month!”

Well, perhaps. But as a teacher of film history, I hope that I can offer a slightly different perspective on the films as far as their historical accuracy and their contemporary significance are concerned.

Let’s start with The Artist which, having fictional characters at its heart, brings fewer concerns with it. George Valentin, Peppy Miller and Kinograph Studios never existed, but the film takes place at one of the most interesting and extensively documented periods in cinema history. The conversion process from silent to sound cinema made – and, yes, broke – a number of careers, so it encompasses many elements which Hollywood itself loves so much, particularly meteoric rises and dramatic falls from grace.

Continue reading Yesterday’s Men →