Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011)

[Watashi]

I did not like this and the most brief and cogent critique I've read that more or less articulates my feelings about it came from, of all things, a tossed off line in Armond White's review of Mission Impossible 4



Yeah. There is so little imagination in Hugo; a movie that is a paean to imagination. It's a two hour long namedrop that ostensibly doubles as children's movie which no child I know would enjoy

I did like Sascha Baron Cohen, though

You need to know more children then.

[Derek]

Who cares if children would like it? Most kids have shit taste.

[Pop Trash]

Wasn't this the argument against Where the Wild Things Are too? I seem to remember things like The Neverending Story or Empire of the Sun having bigger impacts on me when I was a kid than things like The Goonies or Masters of the Universe or whatever.

[Adam]

Who cares if children would like it? Most kids have shit taste.

That'd be great if there weren't so many misguided bones thrown to all the kids in the audience throughout the movie. I feel kinda the same way about Rango. Here's what Michael Sicinski wrote about it (Rango)

I think there's no denying that this is a strange film, Verbena promising big-budget family animation and delivering an impressively awkward auteurist item. But I'm not convinced. There's no sense, rationally or even in the interest of fairness, questioning RANG0's being what it is. But, if it weren't about a cowboy lizard, would its Leone or CHINATOWN riffs scan as much more than moviebrat wankery? And, considering these elements, the slow pace, the gunplay, and the 3rd-act turn to stone seriousness kind of make this (imo) a piece of animation for adults much more than kids, I have a hard time setting aside that nagging sense of showoffiness. I shrug. Sorry.

You need to know more children then.

I'm pretty confident in saying that by the time Michael Stuhlbarg's character shows up, the ten year old me would've lost all consciousness and slipped into a rest-of-the-movie-long coma

Wasn't this the argument against Where the Wild Things Are too?

Yeah, but it kind of got away with it by at least having the decency to self-identify as being a movie "about childhood" as opposed to "for kids."

[Watashi]

Most of the adults are bored by Hugo, while the kids love it. This is from my personal experience watching families exit the theater that I work at. Sure, it's a small sample size, but I've witnessed way more positive reaction from kids (including my sisters) than negative.

[Adam]

Most of the adults are bored by Hugo, while the kids love it. This is from my personal experience watching families exit the theater that I work at. Sure, it's a small sample size, but I've witnessed way more positive reaction from kids (including my sisters) than negative.

Who cares if children would like it? Most kids have shit taste.

[

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But, yeah, fair enough. I have no evidence that kids were as bored by Hugo as I was. It just seemed to me like a really tough sell for most of the kids I know. Like what do you think the appeal for them is? What do kids have to latch onto in this movie?

]

[Grouchy]

I think most people who make movies for children seriously underestimate kids or think they're simply retards with a small body. Well, some of them are, but I'd say it's about the same ratio as adults.

Anyway, I didn't think it was strictly a movie for kids or family-oriented. Children can see it, but adults will probably get more out of it.

I agree with that criticism regarding Rango - it references a lot of movies that no kid today would've heard of, let alone seen. The difference is that Hugo doesn't rely on the audience having ever seen Mélies, since it incorporates him as a character in a story. I'd imagine it must be awesome to be a kid, watch this film and then find out that he was a real person.

[Morris Schæffer]

It's a two hour long namedrop that ostensibly doubles as children's movie which no child I know would enjoy.

This is how I felt about allen's midnight in paris except that in Hugo the parade of famous names feels organic, essential to the narrative and intentions of scorsese. I was enraptured by the images of Lloyd, keaton because it felt like, in a way, I was seeing them on the big screen for the first time.

[Spinal]

Rango succeeds because it draws from the past, all the while embarking on a new adventure with a charismatic character and its own peculiar sense of humor. This movie just goes through the motions as far as narrative is concerned. It's a total bait-and-switch.

[Grouchy]

Rango succeeds because it draws from the past, all the while embarking on a new adventure with a charismatic character and its own peculiar sense of humor. This movie just goes through the motions as far as narrative is concerned. It's a total bait-and-switch.

I feel the exact opposite. I kind of liked Rango, but I think it's a movie that depends entirely on name-dropping and homages and I didn't like that. You can walk into Hugo without knowing absolutely anything about the creators of cinema and still enjoy it.

EDIT: Heh, I meant to rep Morris and repped Spinal instead.

[Morris Schæffer]

I feel the exact opposite. I kind of liked Rango, but I think it's a movie that depends entirely on name-dropping and homages and I didn't like that. You can walk into Hugo without knowing absolutely anything about the creators of cinema and still enjoy it.

EDIT: Heh, I meant to rep Morris and repped Spinal instead.

That means Spinal has to rep me also.

[Spinal]

I'm keeping the rep because I feel like I deserved it.

[EyesWideOpen]

I feel the exact opposite. I kind of liked Rango, but I think it's a movie that depends entirely on name-dropping and homages and I didn't like that. You can walk into Hugo without knowing absolutely anything about the creators of cinema and still enjoy it.

EDIT: Heh, I meant to rep Morris and repped Spinal instead.

I didn't get that feeling at all from Rango.

[lovejuice]

Here in Thailand, this and The Artist are in theater at the same time. I can't help but notice most of my friends tend to like either one but not both movies. Since I had no idea what Hugo was about, this perplexed me a little.

Then yesterday I watched both movies, and now I see.

As a nostalgic trip and paying homage goes, I prefer Hugo. It seems like a more creative way to celebrate the art of cinema. Not simply imitating old movies, but expanding upon the idea by framing it with the Dickensian adventure of two orphans (representing a new generation of magic-makers perhaps).

[MadMan]

I preferred this slightly over The Artist, although I'm not sure both movies have much in common besides being about the past and also being about people's love of cinema. Anyways, Hugo was absolutely wonderful, entertaining, and even a bit magical. It just might be the best movie Martin Scorsese has made in some time.

[Morris Schæffer]

I preferred this slightly over The Artist, although I'm not sure both movies have much in common besides being about the past and also being about people's love of cinema. Anyways, Hugo was absolutely wonderful, entertaining, and even a bit magical. It just might be the best movie Martin Scorsese has made in some time.

Glad you loved Hugo Madman. I think there may be other, more overt, similarities such as both Valentin and Melies feeling like they're not wanted anymore, spat out by the world and what do they do? They both burn their movies to a crisp in a fit of rage and whaddya know? In each instance, one copy of their most treasured commodity gets salvaged.

They both have dogs. So there's that.

[MadMan]

Glad you loved Hugo Madman. I think there may be other, more overt, similarities such as both Valentin and Melies feeling like they're not wanted anymore, spat out by the world and what do they do? They both burn their movies to a crisp in a fit of rage and whaddya know? In each instance, one copy of their most treasured commodity gets salvaged.

Oh yes, that is true....hence the reason why I often try to watch movies multiple times so that I pick up on things like that. I loved Ben Kinglsey in Hugo-I imagine if he had been considered for an Oscar nom it would have been supporting, though. [

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I almost cried when Melies burned all of his props and everything, btw. It was a really tragic moment.

]

They both have dogs. So there's that.

The Artist has the better dog, though, heh.

[Kurosawa Fan]

For a movie about imagination and adventure, this was duuuuuuuulllllll. When the best parts of your movie are clips of other movies from the past, it's a problem.

[Spinal]

For a movie about imagination and adventure, this was duuuuuuuulllllll. When the best parts of your movie are clips of other movies from the past, it's a problem.

Yeah, this movie mostly borrows images and ideas from the past without offering much new of its own that is worth remembering.

[Qrazy]

I agree with the two of you.

[Watashi]

Man, KF has been on a downward spiral of total wrongness lately.

[Pop Trash]

Man, KF has been on a downward spiral of total wrongness lately.

You read my mind.