What a lovely film <3. Some really good performances, and it had a really nostalgic, sentimental feel, the feeling you get when you’ve watched a really good, heartwarming Christmas film. Some good use of 3D aswell, impressing writing and acting too. I feel as though it was a little bit overdrawn and long sadly, otherwise it’d be amongst my favourites. There were some niggles, like the fact that it’s France without a single French accents, things like that. Nonetheless, a solid 7/10. Do see this. I think I may enjoy it more on a second viewing
There have been postings about Hugo as early as the middle of 2009 at this website, and I saw that at least 3 people here were highly anticipating it. It’s based on a book and premiered in England, directed by Scorcese.
While it seems to have the appearance of a magical, fantasy type of movie, it appears so because it was done so well and was purposefully endowed with cinematographic excess. Why didn’t Scorcese just chop away at unnecessary lingering on beautiful images! Just like running errands in busy Paris or making train connections lickety-spickity. Cut to the chase! Choppity-chop, cut away the excess!
I posted some stuff about this movie over at the Wall-E forum, and its chock full of spoilers, so beware… Here is the link to my full page post, as it pertains to the Wall-E Builders Club:
Strangely enough, the only people I’ve found who are as fond of Hugo as I have been, or at least on a somewhat close level, have been professional critics and the two people who saw the film with me, my dad and boyfriend. It makes sense for my dad to like the movie, as he likes Martin Scorsese, knows about old movies, and likes French culture. But I dunno… a lot of people have felt lukewarm about it, but I can totally feel the passion Scorsese put into the movie. Plus, the score and visuals are too great not to fall in love with! <3
I liked this movie more than X-men, more than Rango, more than Moneyball, or Drive, better than any film I’ve seen this year. No, I’m not a professional critic, it did get a very huge 94% TM rating, and audiences have been seeing it, it actually moved from #5 to #3 in its 2nd weekend. Yes, I’m very familiar with French culture, having taken 3 years of that language and having lived with some of them here. If anything could be changed in them movie, it seems that the background revelation as to the curious case of Hugo Cabret could have been bunched toward the end, as we also found out about the character Ben Kingsley plays and Hugo’s not so human companion.
I’m not going to repeat what I wrote in the ‘Builder’s’ thread here (just read it). This movie is quite an intellectual treat, even if it lacked French accents, which was a small matter. It seems odd that the writer delved back in time to deliver a message about something that is going to happen in a decade or two in the future.
Hugo was incredible. It was very moving for me personally on many levels. I had to use the restroom throughout the entire movie but was so fascinated with it I couldn’t bring myself to leave my seat til it was over. The cinematography was gorgeous, and I felt so tense at times I could hardly bare to watch…it seems so ambitious, but it also managed to deliver really satisfyingly. It’s a great story, and the score and acting drew it out perfectly.
Pretty much every review I read before seeing the movie mentioned “the secret,” but I don’t think it’s a big deal, personally. It didn’t really affect how I experienced the film.
Fragments: TCM’s documentary on lost Silent films that have been recently found. Around 90% of films from the silent era no longer exist. Great look into the careers of Film Archivists. It’s delightful to see these films that were once thought to be lost. I hope we find many more, before time takes a toll on these fantastic pieces of film history.
Yankee Doodle Dandy: Interesting biopic of the man who owned Broadway, George M. Cohan. Great songs and acting.
I haven’t studied silent films too much, but it’s indeed mind-blowing to think of all the great works of art that have gone missing due to wartime or lack of interest or whatever else. One of the most fascinating stories I’ve heard of is the rediscovery of the original version of The Passion of Joan of Arc in a Norwegian mental institution closet. Kind of random, but such an important finding.
I’m currently over halfway through The Thin Red Line, but it’s starting to get slow now. Ehhh…
Yay, i’ve just read that Ratatouille is the BBC’s Christmas day film. HD, record! Seriously, the number of Pixar films they played during Christmas last year was nigh on ridiculous, they had WALL-E as the premier and then they played the first 2 Toy Story’s, Finding Nemo,The Incredibles, Cars, A Bug’s Life, The Pixar Story plus Pixar: 25 Magic Moments, as well as a couple of shorts (I saw BURN-E and Jack Jack Attack) in the space of a week. Not that i’m complaining at all!
However, our family Christmas Day film is Deathly Hallows Part 2. Stepdad is not pleased with the choice
Wartime and lack of interest are some reasons for losts. But the biggest reason is that early films were printed on a nirate film. These films are chemically unstable, and if not taken care of rapidly decay. Also, nirate films have a nasty tendency of randomly combusting. So tons of film have been lost in fires started by silent films. People have actually died in these fires as well.
Ah yeah, I’ve heard of the combustible problem. That makes sense. And it’s a shame, too! But I guess that’s what happens when an art form is innovative.
The most famous Xmas Day film in American history would have to be Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, released in Dec. 1962 and considered THE Christmas holiday film for over 25 years here. With the advances in animation of the 90’s, it has definitely fallen out as a favorite, using the cheap animated style done in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Also, children just don’t know who Mr. Magoo is anymore. Still it’s considered a “timeless classic”. The Dicken’s play is actually presented as a partly comedic Broadway theatrical musical event in the cartoon, complete with acts and audience applause.
The pyrotechnics of the 3-D version in 2009 by Robert Zemeckis, altho a very good film, didn’t compare in any way to the soulcraft and theatrical style music of the '62 one hour film, tunes that easily exceeded those in Beauty and the Beast. In fact the masterful characterization of Tiny Tim exceeded Dicken’s own and was very poorly done by Zemeckis, a near fatal flaw.
Just saw Minority Report for the second time ever. I saw it the first time several years ago, and it is amazing how much I missed! It makes so much more sense now! And best of all, I just realized that it was directed by Steven Spielberg, the composer was John Williams, and the sound designer was Gary Rydstrom. That is like, totally awesome! To think I went all this time not knowing that. It was already one of my favorite films, now it is like really one of my favorites!
The Silence of the Lambs- One of my favorites, always has me at the edge of my seat. Hannibal Lector is so delightfully twisted, Hopkins and Foster both give a great performance. I give it an A.
And best of all, I just realized that it was directed by Steven Spielberg, the composer was John Williams, and the sound designer was Gary Rydstrom. That is like, totally awesome! To think I went all this time not knowing that. It was already one of my favorite films, now it is like 
