The Artist: A Silent Film

 The Artist is set in 1920s Hollywood as a swashbuckling fading star (Jean Dujardin) resists the advance of talkies while flirting with a pretty girl (Berenice Bejo) who becomes a superstar of the new medium. It's directed by celebrated French helmer Michel Hazanavicius, whose "OSS" spy movie parodies featured Dujardin. The Artist is itself a silent movie filmed in black-and-white, and in the long-abandoned 1:33 aspect ratio. It reaped huzzahs at Cannes, including best actor laurels for Jean Dujardin.

The Artist is a heart-tugging riff on A Star Is Born. The trailer sums up the plot in a nutshell: Hollywood's most famous leading man of the twenties, played by French star Jean Dujardin, hits hard times and is saved by the love of a good woman and his cute dog.

There's also John Goodman and James Cromwell, lest any turned-off theatergoers think this is too French. The Artist is due in the theaters November 23