Our favorite film blogger tells us why Martin Scorsese made a “kiddie” movie

Hugo’s another one like The Artist, an Oscar-nominee I’ve heard almost nothing but glowing things about but haven’t seen and probably won’t get to see before Sunday night.  Nobody in this house wants to go with me to see it and I just can’t bring myself to go alone.  Anybody need a movie date?

Our favorite film blogger, the Self-Styled Siren, has seen it, and she’s glowed all over it at her place:

Scorsese is still Scorsese, and he hasn’t become an old softy. Still, Hugo glows with the deep love that comes from cherishing one thing or one person over the lengthening years. More than that, it’s about age and youth reaching out to each other. The film flatly rejects the notion that movies cease to speak to us after the passage of too much time, even after more than 100 years. In doing so, Scorsese also answers anyone who was wondering why, after making so many films depicting adults at their harshest, he would suddenly tackle a kiddie movie.

I can’t do justice to the way the Siren’s done justice to the film, so you’d better just go read her whole post.

Caveat from the Siren: “The Siren herein discusses Hugo in great detail, so if you haven't seen it yet, you are warned.”

PS I think Marty would actually like it if the Siren called him Marty.

Comments

[M. George Stevenson]

I'm dying to see it again -- if you're in downtown Manhattan tomorrow afternoon...

[Marcus]

Lance, I haven't any coherent smart things to say about the film, but I loved it, and my 9-year-old son loved it, likely for different reasons. Once you've seen it, this comment will probably make sense (I don't want to spoil anything): the reason I loved it, rather than just liked it, was that none of the characters gets left behind by the ending.

[loretta]

I left the movie (after paying $10 to see it in the theater in 3D) remarking to my 11-yr old son how ridiculous was the plot and how disappointed I was that Hugo was so overrated. He liked the movie. I thought it was brilliant artistically and visually, and I could look at 3D panoramas of old Paris all day, but the characters were silly, unrealistic caracatures, the reason the Movie Maker quit making movies was preposterous, and the "villain" played by Cohen was stupid.

Later, I heard an interview with the author who wrote the original "Graphic Novel" of the story and thought, ok, this is a comic book. If you like comic books, you'll probably like this movie better than I did.

Don't pay a lot of money to see it. Wait until it's in the $2 theaters.

[Earl Bockenfeld]

I'm afraid I'll take Loretta's advice and wait til this movie appears "On-Demand" or later. But I loved the drinking game concept that Scorsese inspired.

If you loved it at the Screen Actors Guild Awards back in January, then you loved it again during the 84th annual Academy Awards: the "Bridesmaids"-approved Martin Scorsese drinking game! While presenting at the SAGs, "Bridesmaids" stars Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy introduced the game, which encouraged viewers at home to take a shot of alcohol every time Martin Scorsese's name was mentioned during the telecast.

During the Oscars, co-presenters McCarthy and Rose Byrne (I loved her in Damages!) brought the game to the ceremony. When someone in the audience yelled "Scorsese," the actresses pulled out mini-bottles of alcohol and drank. The camera cut to Scorsese following the joke, and the director looked confused and bemused by the attention.