I just got home after seeing this outstanding tale of gears, timepieces, and broken things (and people). Perhaps a bit slow in spots, but overall a heartfelt film with wonderful characters and some seamless CGI in some thrilling scenes. And Sacha Baron Cohen’s performance was a very pleasant surprise.
Anyone else?
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Haven’t seen it, plan to in the next day or two, but wanted to ask if you saw it in 3D and, if so, did it add?
I saw it today in 3D. I really loved the story and the film and I think this is the best use of 3D I’ve seen. It is subtle. It adds depth instead of pushing things in your face.
I saw an advance screening several weeks ago before the special effects and score were finished and I’m looking forward to seeing the released version. I thought it was magical. It’s a movie set in the past that will be responsible for any number of hobbies and careers in the future. There’s so much that will appeal to kids and there are so many different things that might/will pique their interest. One kid might come away with an interest in clocks. Another might come away with an interest in mechanical mechanisms. Another books. There’s trains/train stations, costumes, Paris, that era, and of course, films, especially silent films, and film preservation. Its effects will be felt for generations. It’s for smart, interesting kids who will grow up to be smart, interesting adults with Hugo DNA inside them. Of course it’s for adults too. Not cynical, jaded adults though.
The 3D was glorious, and I don’t usually care for 3D. I’ll see it again in 2D though, since my husband doesn’t see 3D.
What’s the film actually about? The trailers don’t actually say (they rarely do these days).
I’m not certain… did you like it?
I am totally against 3D on account of I am a fogey-curmudgeon, so I saw it in 2D. However, I have heard it said that this film gets 3D right.
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I saw the ads on TV, and that’s all I could think: What the hell is it about, already? Apparently they expect us to go see a movie merely on the strength of the name of the director.
If that name is Scorcese, I don’t see the concern.
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After you see it, you’ll get why the trailers are so non-descriptive of the plot.
It is set in Paris in 1930 and it is directed by one of the greatest living film directors on the planet.
Really, don’t read more, just go see it.
[spoiler]
A man has found an abandoned automaton (robot) and he and his son work on repairing it in his spare time. (he is a clock maker) It appears that this robot will write something when it works. The father dies, mom is long dead, so the boy goes to live with an uncle who lives and works in a large train station. He maintains the clocks. He is a drunk and wanders off and doesn’t return so the boy lives alone there and he maintains the clocks and lives by stealing food and he works on the automaton by stealing parts from a toy shop in the station that has a lot of wind-up toys. The film is about the boys quest to fix the machine and get the message that the boy hopes is from his father. [/spoiler]
Thanks for the summary, even though you think I don’t need it. It does take a bit more than ‘this is so good!’ for me to spend money on a film. The summary sounds interesting… so is this is a realistic or semi-realistic film, not a fantasy movie?
Much more realistic than fantastic, but “heightened reality”, like a the way a kid sees the world.
Just saw it, liked it a lot. I haven’t read the children’s book but plan to.
Did anybody else catch Johnny Depp’s cameo? He’s a
gypsy looking singer in the restaurant in the train station
I thought “That’s Johnny Depp… but he’s not in the credits” when I saw it, then when I saw at the end that he’s the producer it clinched it.
I stayed through the end credits- largely because where I was seated you might as well since it was a mob leaving- and just to let you know there’s no final blip at the end.
They did a great job of inserting Ben Kingsley and Helen McRory into Georges Melies actual films.
I haven’t seen this yet, but I am baffled by the fact that I’ve seen exactly zero marketing for a Scorcese picture, and I go to the movies all the time. The first I heard of it was when I saw The Muppets a couple days ago, and walked by another theater in the same multiplex that said “Hugo 3D” on it, and I turned to my companion and said “what the hell is Hugo?” and we had no idea.
But, shit, a movie about gears? I’d be there even without Scorcese’s name on the thing. I love clocks and watches and mechanical things.
This film is a marketing challenge.
Sampiro, did you see “James Joyce” and “Salvidore Dali”?
I spotted the character names in the credits but I didn’t notice them in the film.
I have seen only 2 movies he directed, Gangs of New York and Taxi Driver. They were both ok. And looking at the list, I have only heard of another seven of his movies. And I can;t even recall hearing his name till I started hearing about this movie.
Is he really a big name to the average movie goer?
But this movie does look pretty good. I might give it a try.
[QUOTE=Zebra]
Sampiro, did you see “James Joyce” and “Salvidore Dali”?
I spotted the character names in the credits but I didn’t notice them in the film.
[/QUOTE]
Wish I could say I noticed them but I didn’t. I wonder if they were in the theater audience at the end
He is a much bigger name to those of us who saw a lot of movies in the 70s and 80s. He is solidly on any list of the top ten film directors of those two decades, but he has continued working all the way through. Those of us who know his work will generally see pretty much anything he directs.
The 3D was well done, especially when showing some of the silent film clips, but I don’t think it would really detract seeing it in 2D.
Speaking of, I really enjoyed seeing so many silent film clips on the big screen.
Are you kidding? The problem with most movie trailers nowadays is they tell you EVERYTHING. They spoil up one side and down the other because they think that people have to know every bit of plot in advance. They’re probably right, it’s obviously what most people want, but it’s why I’ve stopped watching trailers for the most part. I don’t go seeking out trailers on the net anymore, and 90% of the time I close my eyes during the trailers in the theater. Sometimes I plug my ears too. Sometimes I even run out of the theater until the trailers are finished.
The thing about Hugo is that the last part of the film is so out of left field that it was a delight to be caught unaware that any of it was coming. I’m SO GLAD I DIDN’T KNOW what the movie was ultimately about. But, go ahead and spoil yourself silly, and ruin the surprise for yourself. Your loss.
“I thought it was magical.” didn’t give you a hint? It’s a wonderful film. I loved it.
No, that was Emil Lager as Django Reinhardt, not Johnny Depp. I thought it was Depp too the first time I saw it. I don’t know where or if Depp is in the film. I also don’t know where Dali and Joyce were in the film.