short circuits
New and noteworthy experiences among home video, games, gadgets and the Web.
VIDEO
This silent is golden A delectable homage to the silent movies of the 1920s, Michel Hazanavicius' romantic comedy "The Artist" plays like a sweet, airy confection. That "The Artist" is itself a silent movie -- in black-and-white, no less -- shouldn't deter viewers from giving it a whirl.
"The Artist" opens in 1927, when the dapper film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) rules Hollywoodland. When George crosses paths with an eager newcomer named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), he's cast in the role of mentor; but when talking pictures become the order of the day, she quickly begins an ascent up stardom's ladder, while George's fortunes begin their inevitable slide. Even the most arresting visual stunts would amount to little more than pastiche were it not for Dujardin and Bejo, who infuse their characters with palpable longing and regret.
The DVD and Blu-ray (Sony, $31-$36) include making-of featurettes, a Q&A with the filmmakers and cast and a blooper reel.
WASHINGTON POST
Colin Covert's take: "The Artist," a gleefully inventive, gloriously entertaining black-and-white silent, proves that less is more. It's a rocket to the moon fueled by unadulterated joy and pure imagination.
Also out Tuesday:
Movies: "Bullhead," "The Decoy Bride," "Mirror Mirror," "Sector 7," "A Thousand Words," "21 Jump Street," "Wrath of the Titans."
TV: "Damages" (Season 4), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Season 7).
Blu-ray debuts: "Deliverance," "Father's Day," "The Samurai Trilogy," "The 39 Steps."
GAME
Enter the dragon It's hard to take a new franchise and break into a genre that is vastly overpopulated with great titles from established franchises ("Elder Scrolls," "Dragon Age," etc.). Like an eager upstart, "Dragon's Dogma" ($60 for Xbox 360, PS3; rated Mature) does wonderful things while also failing at times, just like a greenhorn is bound to do. Thankfully, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
You traverse the lands with an ever-changing band of fellows who help you complete fetch quests and ward off enemies. Everything revolves around earning and spending coins, which sounds just normal until you discover how wickedly expensive even basic items cost, and soon you're penny-pinching like a fiend.
All of this whets the appetite for the main show, the big battles. Enormous gryphons, hydras and, of course, dragons are mesmerizing to behold. They can't be felled easily, so prepare for annoying backtracking and defeats just as victory appears at hand.
If you can survive the bumps and bruises, "Dragon's Dogma" results in one of the more pleasantly surprising games to come along in some time.
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
