Hugo (2011)

My friends, the Bowen's, gifted me with a whole box of movies after they digitized their collection.  (I've promised Christy first crack at mine when I get around to it.)  A blu-ray of Hugo was included.  It's nice to have seen it again.  I didn't think I was going to, since I wouldn't have bought it.  I enjoyed it the second time around, maybe more than the first because I wasn't looking to be super analytical about its Oscar chances.  It won five out of the 11 nominations it received, by the way, in Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing.  I was also very pleased to see Michael Stuhlberg (whom I have recently espoused admiration for) had a very important role in this film that I had not otherwise noticed.  It's funny how much recognition you can have seeing movies another time.  Originally posted 29 Jan 12.

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects    Man this movie is up for a lot of Oscars.  Cinematography and Art Direction are definite yeses for me; the film was beautiful.  Adapted Screenplay I don't know because I never read the book, Costume is iffy since there weren't really a lot of stand-out looks and I don't know enough about technical stuff to say on Sound Mixing or Sound Editing.  I doubt it's the Best Picture of the year and I don't think Scorsese is going to cinch Best Director but I've been fooled before.

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) is a young orphan who lives in the walls of a Parisian train station.  His father's notebook is confiscated one day by an irascible toymaker (Ben Kingsley) which begins his friendship with the toymaker's god-daughter, Isabelle (Chloe Moretz).  The two children must discover the truth behind the toymaker's secret past and avoid the clutches of the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his Doberman.

But that's really not what this movie is about.  At its heart, it is a story of film restoration and preservation.  I know Mr. Scorsese is very involved with the American Film Institute and his love for old movies comes through clearly.  I have no idea if that's what the book is about but if you've ever sat down and watched a movie from the '20s or been interested in the history of film, this is a good movie to watch.