Hugo 3D

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/24/11 at 1:46pm

After reading such wonderful reviews for this I found myself somewhat disappointed with this movie. It is certainly a beautiful movie and the world of the train station is effectively created, but I wasn't emotionally engaged with the story. Kind of felt all over the place.

Don't know who the target audience is with this one either. Running over 2 hours it feels long (the pacing is odd) and I don't think it would hold the attention of most children. Nothing inappropriate, just wonder how much of the family audience it will please.

Were my expectations too high? Did anyone feel the same?

[Just_John]

Posted: 11/24/11 at 2:15pm

100% agreed. It was good, but a major letdown. I probably was expecting too much though. The Muppets Movie was much more of a pleasant surprise.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/24/11 at 5:58pm

I enjoyed it, but I wasn't really wowed or anything. It's quite pleasant. I found the first half a bit long and slow, but the second half was far more interesting. It is a bit disjointed, especially with the peripheral characters that really don't have anything to do with the story or the theme. The action and suspenseful sequences really seemed a bit too cliched and stock to be effective. You always knew where he was going to go and what would happen. But for a Scorsese film, it's one of the very few in the last 15 years that I've enjoyed watching (none of which were The Departed).

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/24/11 at 7:20pm

I'm glad you guys had some similar reactions. Not that he's the authority on film, but after James Cameron declared it a "masterpiece" the other day and most critics seemed to gush I felt I was missing the boat of why this was more than a fine movie.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/24/11 at 7:52pm

I got the feeling was a loving and heart-felt fairy tale for hard-core cinephiles with a strong background in film history. For everyone else, it will simply be a pleasant and sweet story.

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 11/25/11 at 7:15pm

Most of the people I know who have seen this film have agreed with all of you and liked it, but were disappointed. I have to disagree as I thought the film was BRILLIANT.

Martin Scorsese is my favorite director and I love all but about 2 of his films, and I wasn't expecting to love this one as much as I did. I was one of the loyal Scorsese fans who were pissed that he was making a Kids film/ selling out by doing it in 3D. Well this was by far the best film made using 3D and completely changed my opinion on 3D movies.

Funny how IMO, the 2 best films [so far] of the year have been kids movies and movies about cinema. (The other being Super 8.)

[strummergirl]

Posted: 11/25/11 at 8:29pm

I think the moment Scorsese, and of course the source material, had a character named George Melies and put the setting in a train station, you knew this would not really be something literal or gritty Scorsese but related to cinema.

As much as I have problems with Shutter Island, that movie was practically a tribute to that certain, old-fashioned horror films (albeit lacking any sort of awareness over how old-fashioned the movie's plot was) that had at least that going for it, albeit it was still a little bit messy and a bore of predictability with the plot twist. I almost prefer this type of Scorsese than purely Oscar-bait stuff he did this past decade though Hugo is getting a lot of attention to be an Oscar contender.

I think James Cameron calling it a masterpiece was partially based on how thrilled he was that a master filmmaker with no ties to genre films or tech-driven filmmaking was also interested in the 3-D technology based on artistic grounds and not money.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 11/26/11 at 7:32am

I'd not even heard of this movie until last weekend. A friend of mine told me it was Scorsese's new movie, and, watching the trailer, I thought to myself, "This looks *terrible.* No way Scorsese directed this. He must just be putting his name on it as executive producer." And then I saw the "Directed by" credit. Now, I'm no great Scorsese fan to begin with. He's fine, but in general I find him reductive and banal, with only a few significant exceptions. Then, the other night, another friend brought it up and told me it was based on one of his favorite books, only the title of which I was familiar with. Then the overwhelmingly positive reviews rolled out, and I thought, "Man, maybe somebody just really botched the trailer." But reading these reactions now, maybe it is exactly what it looks like.

Updated On: 11/26/11 at 07:32 AM

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/28/11 at 12:33pm

I wanted to like it. I really did. But that Asa Butterworth guy is not strong enough to carry an entire movie. Haley Joel Osment, Freddie Highmore, Jamie Bell he most certainly ain't.

There's some lovely stuff in there, to be sure, but without a stronger, more interesting lead character, I was frankly too bored by the first two-thirds of the movie until the lecture on film history and preservation came on. Some lovely moments.

But on the whole, meh. The obligatory Big Action Climax fell very flat, as there was absolutely no suspense at all. At all. Not even a little bit. It never really managed to generate that sense of WONDER it kept working so strenuously to achieve, ultimately comeing off more like Robert Zemeckis channeling second-tier Tim Burton.

But if it gets people seeking out silent films, especially those magical works by the great Melies, then okay, I guess. But that's pretty faint praise.

Updated On: 11/28/11 at 12:33 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:38pm

I was finally able to catch the film this morning. It's rare when a movie gets this much attention and I still go in not really knowing anything about it but a friend of mine saw it the other day and told me how much he'd enjoyed it so I thought I'd take a chance. What I saw was not only the best film I'd seen in all of 2011 but possibly one of the best films I'd ever seen. You see in reviews FAR too often the phrase "This is a love letter to..." and that usually makes me roll my eyes. But I can not think of a better quote about HUGO than to say it is a love letter to film lovers and to film itself. I understand people not falling in love with it and finding certain things that I loved not to their liking. But I can say that this was one of the most effective uses of the 3D technology in a very long time and is almost enough to make want to get a 3D BluRay player for when this comes out for sale in a few months.

I agree with James Cameron that this is a masterpiece and I know in my gut that time will not forget HUGO and it will end up being considered a classic and a masterpiece for generations to come.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:44pm

I also hope very much that Ben Kingsley will take home a Supporting Actor statue for this.

[romantico]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:44pm

I absolutely adore this film. By far the best of 2011. I have already seen it twice. The two people I dragged to it also loved it.This is NOT a children's film but more of a family film. It is so refreshing to see a film like this where the kids are not obnoxious, no lame dialogue or dumb one liners,and no fart jokes, which seems to be a must nowadays.IMO, this is Scorsese's best of the best and I predict it will be an Oscar winner. It is already winning many critics awards. Glad you liked it Jordan. I thought I was the only one here that did.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:47pm

I didn't like it, I loved it. It's the kind of movie that can turn young people into film lovers for the rest of their lives.

Oh, and how fantastic was the little love story between Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour? :)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:55pm

I felt like Scorsese was trying to channel Jeunet, but for me, it seemed derivative. Like that little love story that seemed to exist for no reason other than to add a little charm to the environment. I kept waiting for them to tie in somehow, but it never happened.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 4:59pm

Hugo spent his time observing the people in the train station and they were just two of the people there. It's not as if their story took up any more than a collective three minutes of the film but I thought it was just really sweet.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 5:09pm

It was sweet, but I never got a sense that Hugo paid much attention to them. It just seemed like Scorsese wanted us to see something cute. I guess I would have preferred to simply have Jeunet adapt and direct the story. I liked this film, but I just didn't love it. Like the center of a Cinnabon, the middle was the best part for me.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 5:13pm

I just got new Cinnabon Cream of Wheat and it is Amaaaaaaaaaaaazing.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 5:16pm

Now you're speaking my language.

[romantico]

Posted: 12/13/11 at 5:40pm

I agree Jordan. The supporting cast was wonderful. Glad to see they used Christopher Lee in more than just a cameo. I think when I went to see it I was not aware about the plot. The film history aspect was something I was not expecting. The homage to early cinema and the world they created is what won me over. The film had more heart than any film I have seen all year. I could not find any fault with the film.It was IMO perfection.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 12/14/11 at 9:52pm

I loved it too. Possibly my favorite of they year, along with Midnight in Paris - makes me save harder for that flight to France!

I was a little puzzled why everyone in Paris was British until I saw that the book on George Melies was in French, when I figured that in fact all the characters were speaking French but to our ears it was English...a bit like Tom Cruse in Valkyrie...(right?).

The 3D didn't really add anything for me, sure it was more subtle than usual, but that seems like a bit of an oxymoron.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/17/11 at 8:29am

I have such mixed feelings about this movie. There are aspects of it that rank up there with the best of visual storytelling and creativity. But the actual story itself has such bizarre leaps of logic (yes, even within a fantasy, things and especially behavior needs to make some sort of sense).

I found several instances rang false with me. *****SPOILERS******

When the kid thinks the automaton is broken and pitches a crying fit. When Méliès goes completely over the top being crushed by the children discovering he was a famous filmmaker. Angry? Sure, but a morose, crying, introspective mess was out of character for this man. It felt phony and hammy.

Other instances with Sacha Baron Cohen, etc. It was the "human nature" factor of this fantasy tale that didn't ring true. I found myself rolling my eyes more than a couple of times.

I also thought Scorsese went WAY overboard with the academia about Georges Méliès and early film history and especially preservation. Now I adore film history and preservation, but I could almost hear old Marty saying the words himself. Such a blatant and bold agenda that didn't serve the story well. It became a Cause célèbre and felt very heavy-handed, especially told through the eyes of a child.

That said, I still found much to love and admire in this film. And the more time I spend after seeing it, the more I remember the "good stuff" and not the "boring and misguided stuff." The visuals, especially in 3D, were unforgettable. It was clear they spent a fortune on this movie.

It's a masterpiece of visual storytelling ... but the "normal" or "traditional" storytelling left much to be desired and had way too many flaws.

Updated On: 12/17/11 at 08:29 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/17/11 at 12:47pm

"You see in reviews FAR too often the phrase "This is a love letter to..." and that usually makes me roll my eyes. But I can not think of a better quote about HUGO than to say it is a love letter to film lovers and to film itself."

Haven't seen HUGO, but those are exactly the words I, and many others, have been using to describe THE ARTIST. Whether you call it profound self-reflection or merely navel-gazing, it's notable that two of the biggest end of the year releases fit the category of valentines to the movies.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/17/11 at 12:55pm

... and silent movies, at that.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/17/11 at 12:57pm

I need to see THE ARTIST. I keep forgetting it's playing, though.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/17/11 at 11:07pm

Saw it today & it has a good shot of winning the oscar for Best Picture. Very rarely do you hear applause at the end of a movie. I heard it today.

It is one of Scorcese's best . The performances were great & the visuals , especially the 3D , were outstanding. It should get many of the tech awards as well. The recreation of Melies movies and how they were made were absolutely stunning & eye popping.Kingsley should get a nod in the acting department among others in the cast.

By the way, they showed a few trailers & one 3D one was of Titanic which looked mind blowing in 3 D. The few others they showed looked good as well.