Critic's Notebook: The charmed life of 'The Artist'

Almost every year, the run-up to the Academy Awards features a film no one has heard of, a film like "Slumdog Millionaire" that seems to have come out of nowhere to become a possible best picture nominee. This year, that film is an especially unlikely one: a black-and-white silent French film called "The Artist" that festival audiences have simply adored.

By Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic

November 10, 2011