I was in Laguna Beach over the weekend and The Teacher and I went to see "The Artist." It's up for best picture at the Academy Awards next Sunday. 

If you're unfamiliar with "The Artist," it's a movie about a silent film star who refuses to make the switch to sound at the advent of the talkies. 

"The Artist" is a (mostly) silent movie. 

If you're a lover of all things cinema as I am, you'll love this movie. Although I do have a friend that is a motion picture director and he didn't think it was that great. A good movie, not best picture material. 

Herb Benham wrote about his veiwing of "The Artist" in his column in today's Bakersfield Californian. After reading it, I wondered if we went to the same screening because the experience seemed similar. 

I know a couple of things about the senior population of Laguna Niguel where I saw the movie. They ALL go to the movies on Sunday. And they talk. Continuously. They comment on the actors. They comment on the music. They talk about their ailments. They talk talk talk. 

We moved to different seats three times. 

When you go to the movies in the Los Angeles area, there's a good chance that someone in the movie business might be in the audience. That's okay because the usually keep quiet during the movie. 

Then there are the people that are "loosely" connected to the movie business. They feel the need to talk out of their ass knowledgably about what they do and about what they're seeing on the screen. 

We got that guy sitting right behind us. 

Like I said, we moved three times. 

I can tell you this: "The Artist" is so well made that three minutes in, this silent movie had rendered the noisy audience silent. They were completely absorbed in the story unfolding on the screen. 

If you get the chance, see "The Artist." 

Just not in Laguna Niguel on a Sunday afternoon. 

(Photo courtesy of TWC)