Hugo

I saw the movie Hugo. It’s a nice family movie, set in 1930s Paris, and beautifully directed by Martin Scorsese. It's been called a children's movie, but most adults will love this movie, too. It’s about an orphan boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the walls of a train station, a young girl named Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) who befriends him, and a mysterious key that connects their lives. Ben Kingsley acts the part of the girl’s godfather, Georges Méliès.

The film is historical fiction; it mixes fiction with actual people and events. Georges Méliès was a real person and a pioneer in silent movies, and events that happened to him in the film really happened to him. Portions of his films are shown in Hugo. Clearly, Scorsese wants to reacquaint audiences with this early filmmaker and his work.

Asa Butterfield is a talented young actor. He should have a bright future in films. And with roles as diverse as Mindy Macready (Hit Girl) in Kick-Ass and Abby in Let Me In, the versatile Chloë Moretz is the Natalie Portman of her generation.

Here's the NY Times review. No guns, no shootouts, no car chases. Just a gentle, lovingly made film. There’s one scene that will look familiar if you saw my blog post from last December. I saw Hugo in 2D. I haven’t seen any recent 3D movies in 3D. It just seems gimmicky.