parameswaranrajendran Hugo (2011) - Yesterday's final movie of Martin Scorsese's film marathon day. Previously I only thought that, he is excellent in crime & thriller with ancient drama but he also gives an unique picture for the children to dream in their life. Such a marvelous piece of work. And definitely this will be one of Sir Ben Kingsley's best acting till date.

wyldeone2 What a wonderful well told story. It covers every emotion and circumstance that a human could face and survive. Starting with the loss of Hugo's father we feel his sense of abandonment, his fear of the orphanage and confusion as to why that had to happen. As the story progresses we see a glimmer of hope as he is forced into his calling of being mechanically inclined by his uncle. But also from a young lady Isabelle who helps him in several ways, with access to books and a real mystery solving adventure. The back and forth between close calls in the train station melded with dreams and nightmares to actually being captured by the chief make us root for Hugo and feel the goodness in his heart. Love that blooms between supporting actors including dogs adds to the magic, the power that it has, does make changes for the better in everyone.I won't spoil the ending because it is too good and must be seen. I will mention the home from the great war scene that took its toll on millions of everyday people. The cinematography is superb along with the set designs. I finished watching it for a 2nd time on DVD after seeing it back when it was originally released. Hugo is a masterpiece and destined to become legendary like The Wizard of Oz. I rated it a solid 10/10 stars.

Mihai Toma Hugo, an orphan child living in some hidden tunnels in a train station gets into trouble while trying to fix a robot which may elucidate the mystery of his father's death. Meanwhile, he befriends the adopted daughter of a local toy repair store owner which has a couple of mysteries of his own. His adventure will prove to be more tangled than he expected as more and more clues and connections are revealed.It's an emotional and dramatic story which follows an ingenious little boy and his everyday struggles. His adventures are presented in style, in a very atmospheric place, the train station. It has soul, it looks great and it has some very good actors. You get eager to find out what will happen to Hugo right from the beginning which creates some sort of a bond, a great feeling. The finale is as surprising and satisfying as it is unexpected. The mystery surrounding his father's past, together with the one from the repair shop owner will definitely prove worthwhile. A very good movie, no doubt about it.

oOoBarracuda Hugo was one of those cinematic experiences I occasionally have in which I feel a need to pen a letter of apology once it was finished. As a young cinephile just getting my feet wet in film, I did what I thought we all were supposed to do; worship at the altar of Martin Scorsese. During my second Film Studies class, I struck a deal with my professor where he let me complete a career retrospective in place of making a short film for my final project. I was thrilled that my professor agreed to this deal, as writing a 60-page paper seemed like less of a daunting undertaking than operating a camera. I knew I was going to pick Martin Scorsese before I knew if my professor was going to let this happen or not. With his help, I watched every film Scorsese ever made from Who's That Knocking at My Door to Shutter Island. Not only did I see all of his full-length features but I also saw a great deal of his shorts and documentaries. It was supposed to be a cathartic experience of me getting as close as possible to the director I loved until it wasn't. That's not to say I didn't enjoy and appreciate many of Scorsese's films--I did, but I also learned that his enormous contribution to cinema didn't necessitate him being my favorite director. It's unfortunate that this project was one year too early to have Hugo included because once this project was complete, I tended to shy away from Scorsese films that came after, for a spell anyway. I missed seeing Hugo in the theatre, how could I have known I would have loved it so much and it would have been about one of my favorite cinematic subjects? Georges Méliès was one of my first cinematic idols, and he remains one today, as I am finally completely healed from my tattoo immortalizing his iconic image of the moon with a rocket that landed on its eye. I even attempted my own version of a shot-by-shot re-imagining of A Trip to the Moon, achieved by painting 146 individual canvas screens photographed to appear as though they move; an intensive labor of love that has never seen the light of day. Georges Méliès life being portrayed on screen would have been enough to get me to a theatre had I not been in such a Scorsese burn-out that I never even bothered to read what his 2011 film was about when Hugo hit theatres. Starring Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield, and Chloë Grace Moretz, Hugo is a brilliant spectacle that would make even the most devout skeptic believe in magic.Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, Hugo follows an orphan boy who lives in the clock mechanism of the train station keeping the train clocks running so he can have a place to live undetected avoiding the orphanage. Still reeling from the death of his father, Hugo (Asa Butterfield) painstakingly works to repair an automaton (mechanical man) that his father instructed would only be complete with a unique key. Once Hugo finds the key, he will know what secret it contains and retrieves the last message his father sent him. While attempting to find the key, Hugo crosses paths with a shop owner Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley) who believes him to be a thief. When Hugo meets Georges' goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is always looking for an adventure, Hugo learns that their paths were destined to cross in ways he could have never imagined.Hugo is one of the most beautiful films to look at that I have ever seen. Scorsese's outpouring of love to classic cinema and film preservation couldn't have tugged any harder on my heart strings if that had been the intention. Every single shot is gorgeous, capturing Scorsese's grand production design and exquisite colors. This is a film for us, for cinephiles, for the ones who don't feel the magic in any other setting than a dark theatre. Hugo is for the ones who dream in 16 millimeter and can't imagine a life without cinema. Hugo encompasses everything a cinephile feels in their heart when a film begins to roll, proving that "the movies are our special place."