The Artist (new on Blu-ray)

One hundred and seven awards—including five Oscars—greeted The Artist this year. That’s a lot of talk generated by a silent film, but there are two very loud reasons to see this year’s Best Picture winner, even if 100 black-and-white, dialogue-less minutes doesn’t sound appealing: Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo. Much like their on-screen characters, the acclaimed film’s leads are poised for stardom with Dujardin already cast in Martin Scorsese’s securities fraud mob thriller The Wolf of Wall Street, and Bejo sitting atop just about every auteur director’s want-list.

The question is will their careers in the spotlight outdistance the already iconic performances from The Artist, an epically-framed drama in which Dujardin’s silent cinema icon falls for an up-and-coming actress only to see his style of filmmaking fall out of favor and modern “talkies” gain steam along with the career of his young muse. It’s tempting to take the charm but none of the bite from The Artist, but the truth is this French film travels down dark roads, and its message of the necessity of adaptability to change is as relevant today as any other picture of 2011. John Goodman and Malcolm McDowell co-star. Rated PG-13. Watch the trailer below: