Oscar Opinions: Hugo

More magical than Harry Potter. Moving on.

QUICK OPINIONS:
Trivia: Hugo was adapted from Selznick's 'THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET'. When I heard the film was to be directed by Scorsese, I thought two things: 1) Where's Leo? 2) HOLY MOLY! MARTIN SCORSESE, DIRECTOR OF RAGING BULL, IS DIRECTING A MOVIE BASED OF ONE OF THE BEST KIDS BOOKS OF THE PAST YEARS! YES!

I don't mean to boast, but I predicted Hugo right after the horrible trailer. Honestly, I was predicting only for Scorsese. After viewing the film for the first time, I was mixed. I didn't like Baron Cohen, I didn't like some of the visual style, and I didn't like the kids. The 3D helped though. The 2nd time I saw it, I actually saw some coherence in the changes of the story. Yes, John Logan changed the story a bit, but it was a good movie. I gave it an 'A-', and you can see it listed under Chinese Appease.


BEST SCENE:
My favorite scene. Hugo is scattered with good scenes, but not one I could call great. The best scene, in my opinion, is probably when Marty Scorsese is a photographer. I just found the 2 second cut so funny, with Marty and his humongous eyebrows. Classic Scorsese.

BEST PERFORMANCE:
I probably think Ben Kingsley brought his A-Game to this. I could say Sacha Baron Cohen if all he did was drama, but his performance was a subtle Borat. Kingsley was obviously a man in despair, and it was a great performance. Unfortunately, I don't think any cast members here deserve an Oscar. Kingsley, good as he was, has had better performances. Also, there's better performances out this year.

Travel here tomorrow for thoughts on Midnight in Paris.