Student Film Reviews

Film reviews from theaters, couches, and film festivals

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1. Robyn McCrossen 02.14.12 / 2pm

   This film was so fun to watch in the theater. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I were watching it at home on the television. At the theater, I felt as if I had stepped into a time machine that brought me back to the 20’s. With the jazz music played loud on the sound system and the audience all laughing at the same time was great experience. The movie was extremely well done, easy to follow(considering there was no sound like we are used to now), and fun to watch. I highly recommend this film, but only on the big screen.
2. Kayla Dobroth 03.11.12 / 9pm

   The Artist truly was an amazing film in my opinion. The acting was phenomenal and made up for the non-talking aspect of the film. There was comedy, sadness, and happiness. The story line was great and exciting to see unravel. I believe there were just enough subtitles to keep the audience following along, but not too many to ruin it. It wasn’t a challenge to know what was going on. There was great music to keep the audience in the feel of the 1920s era. The music definitely helped with the tone of the film. When it was a sad part, there was sad music. When it was a happy part, there would be joyful music. The dog in the film added a lot to the film. He was definitely fun to watch. I loved this film; I would give it a 10 out of 10. Without doubt, this film deserved the academy award for best film of the year.
3. Bhavika Prajapati 03.14.12 / 11pm

   The Artist was an amazing film that I just fell in love with. I was thrilled to see a silent, black-and-white movie with outstanding acting by both Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo. Even though there was no words spoken, the music aspect was tremendous. It followed the storyline exactly depicting the sudden change of silent movies declining and talkies on the rise. Furthermore the story was truly intriguing with comedy, romance, and drama. A perfect balance between all three which made it hard not to keep on watching. My favorite scene was when Peppy went into Georg’s dressing room played around with his coat hanger and coat. The director, Michel Hazanavicius, had outdone himself in this film and it deserves the awards and nominations it has received along with the Academy Award for Best Film of the Year.
4. MaryJane Johnson 03.15.12 / 4pm

   When I heard about the release of The Artist in American theaters I was very excited and thrilled. Silent film, is a medium that has not be explored since it died out with the invention of talking pictures. Hazanavicious truly captures the essence of what was so captivating about silent films. Its all in the visuals and that concentration requires full audience engagement, and that is something that modern film viewers are not used to.
   When I saw this film it was in a packed AMC theater but for the entire time the film played, every single person in the audience was fully engaged in the story and visuals. In a way, seeing the audience members so appreciative of the film they were viewing, really restored my faith in the American film. goers. And after the film won Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director among other awards at the Academy Awards, a glimmer of faith in the Academy was restored. I’m so glad that this film was made and has gotten the attention that it deserves. Hopefully, after the success of the Artist, film makers will continue to explore the medium of silent film and bring it into the 21st century.
5. Sarah Eichenauer 03.17.12 / 6pm

   This film shows what it means to be truly creative. In present day, I feel that most films that are coming out, are merely vague representations of each other. However, I feel that true creativity is acquired when the piece is truly out of the box, and truly unique for its time. I feel that this film does this for of creativity perfectly, being a black and white silent film. Just because something is out dated, doesn’t make it necessarily make it undesirable. In the same breath, I really liked the author creativity on this film review. Unlike other film critics who write about what they see, this author, in the spirit of creativity, did something unique by just posting captivating images from the film. All-in-all I feel that the film was incredibly unique, and a joy to watch.
6. Azita Gholami 03.22.12 / 8pm

   This film was truly amazing. It was a great film to watch in theaters though for those of you who have not seen it at home will still do. The acting in this film was so great. Although this film is silent, you still really get the humor, sadness, and happiness. I think this is an amazing film because since it was silent, the viewer really gets into the acting and the story. The music was such an important aspect of this film because that is what helps being the film alive. It brings you back into the 20’s. For all the people involved in the making, they all deserved the many awards they got for it.
7. Allison Junod 04.04.12 / 9pm

   When I first saw the trailer for The Artist, I didn’t think it would be showing in regular theaters. It seemed too unusual and foreign from the usual Hollywood film. After seeing it, I was extremely glad it was in regular theaters. It was very refreshing to watch this film because it goes back to the root of movies. These days it seems there are too many movies being made to make money. I remember watching the movie being mesmerized by this storytelling. While the silent black and white aspect of this film was one of the things that made this movie, the acting and music also helped make this film excellent. I would have been surprised if The Artist didn’t win the Oscar, definitely one of my favorite movies of the year.
8. Addison Clarke 06.27.12 / 9am

   The Artist truly bridged the gap between the now-ubiquitous (so much so that it’s hardly worth designating this at all) “talkies” of today with the classic silent films of many years ago. There was definitely potential for this film to be exciting only for its novelty, rather than its substance, but by confronting the change from silent to talking films, the movie captured a fascinating transition that our generation fully takes for granted. Most people saw the change as a kind of evolution, a positive change that meant that talking films were better than silent ones, but The Artist reminded us that silent films were their own form of art, and exposed a new generation to a genre long lost.
9. Thomas Fairchild 07.26.12 / 8pm

   I have never seen The Artist but I heard great reviews about this movie. Personally I’ve seen this movie win numerous awards and figured it had to be a spectacular movie. From what I know about the movie it seems like my type of genre. I love old black and white movies and it seems this movie has that style behind it. I plan on viewing this movie in the future and by reading all these reviews I am glad that I have a little glimpse of what to expect.
10. William Edwards 10.16.16 / 6am

    I was simply amazed at this movie. I have never seen a silent one, outside of “City Lights” but I believe it was constructed very skillfully. It allows you to see what it’s like to focus on expression. Any type of function can be isolated and in this case, the missing dialogue allows the audience to be more alert towards facial expression and physical gesture. I mean, after all – isn’t much of communication, “non-verbal?” I also found the narrative interesting, since it revealed such in important value – how something positive can turn the other way. And from that situation – how can you find meaning and value? Scripts are all about working problems out and this was done quite well. The acting and expression from the French lead actor was simply out of this world, I think.

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