Hugo

Summary:  In Paris at the early part of the 20th century, a young boy named Hugo, was taught to repair clocks by his father, who also repaired clocks.  One day, his father brings home a broken automaton he found in a museum.  He wants Hugo to help him fix it.  The father is killed in a fire before it can be fixed.  Hugo is taken in by his drunken uncle who works on the clocks at the train station.  After his uncle disappears, Hugo continues working on the clocks and trying to fix the automaton.  He steals parts of toys for his automaton from a shop at the train station and is caught by the owner of the shop.  The owner takes everything in Hugo's pockets, including the notebook of his father's with instructions on how to fix the automaton.

Hugo then makes friend with the shop owner's goddaughter, Isabel.  She tries to help Hugo get his notebook back after he tells her why he wants it so badly.  The thing is, even though Hugo fixes the automaton, there is still a missing key in the shape of a heart that he needs.  It happens to be hanging around Isabel's neck.  Once it is all put together, the automaton draws a picture of the famous George Melies silent film, A Trip to the Moon, which happens to be the first film Hugo's father ever saw.

From here on, the story takes a turn into exploring who the toy shop owner is and why this notebook meant so much to him.  I refuse to reveal any of the secrets to those who haven't seen the film, which is a shame because these very reasons are why I love this film so dearly.

OaTs:  Martin Scorsese isn't known for making family films, but he is known for his love of film.  This is probably the reason that I like him so much.  I can tell that he has a deep love and affection for film history.  Scorsese is also known for his work in film restoration and making sure that we don't lose the treasures of the past.  This comes through in Hugo, more than any other film he has made.  Films about film make me incredible happy when done right.  So between this movie and The Artist, I am loving the movies right now.

After seeing the trailer for this film, I wasn't interested in seeing it at all.  It was in 3D, which I had successfully avoided for the past two years, and it seemed to be a children's movie that I wouldn't really like all that much.  Then, after reading glowing reviews by Peter Travers and a critic at Movieline.com, I decided that it was a film I should try.  To claim that it's the greatest use of 3D to date, and that Scorsese makes it plain how much he loves film, I thought that I would be a shame to miss it.  Little did I know just how much this movie would mean to me.

I love film history.  I have a deep affection for old black and white movies of yesteryear.  So for Scorsese to explore the origins of film in France, and effectively tell the audience that the loss of these films is a devastating loss, was a pure pleasure for me to watch.  Not many people I know are aware of who George Melies is and just why he is so important.  They also wouldn't know that the poster to this film, on display above, is a homage to Harold Lloyd, a great silent film comedian.  This is yet another film that I feel was made for me.  I love it when a filmmaker can do that:  make me feel like this movie was made especially for me. 

Score:  9/10