Every Best Picture contender needs a hook. Last year, The King's Speech was the "old fashioned" Oscar picture that played to the older voters. The year before was The Hurt Locker, a war drama pulled from the headlines directed by one of the few action-oriented female directors. The hook can be anything, as long as it feels different, and either provokes the voters minds or warms their hearts. The Artist shouldn't have any problems doing the latter.

The Artist taps in to well of memories rarely surfaced in today's studio movies. Employing the techniques of early 20th century filmmaking, director Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Durjardin craft an experience that's simultaneously modern and old fashioned, a cocktail of timeless magic that's intoxicating audiences across the festival circuit. The story, revolving around an on-the-outs silent film actor and his struggle with the innovation of talkies, plays right to Hollywood voters. A movie about what makes moviemaking so special? Good luck topping that, Brad Pitt.

As I go into deeper in our review of the film, The Artist is anything but perfect, but in the silent medium, each aspect of the film—or in the case of the Oscars, each potential category for nomination—feels easily detected and worthy of praise. Guillaume Schiffman's pitch perfect black & white photography, Ludovic Bource's classic score, Durjardin's balance of his hammy "on-screen" persona vs. his real life character's struggles and Hazanavicius detailed nuances that make the film feel like a relic. They're all overt touches—easily pointed out, easily awarded.

With The Artist picking up nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards and early wins in critics groups, the movie feels poised to be a major candidate for the Best Picture award. With competition like the brainier Moneyball and Tree of Life, the darker Descendants and Young Adult, and the expectedly sentimental but still-up-in-the-air (because no one's really seen it) War Horse, The Artist smells like a frontrunner. If it can keep the momentum going, the Academy may feel inclined to nod to this true throwback. The movie's own simplicity could stand in its way, but Oscar voters have never shied away from what comes down to a good time at the movies. They're heart strings have been...hooked.

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