Stand Up To Hugo
“I’m reminded of the last time Martin Scorsese composed a love letter to the movies — when, head-swollen by his Palme d’Or for Taxi Driver, he ran aground the motiveless magnificence of New York, New York. Hugo is New York, New York for the Pokemon set. My inner child sat drumming his fingers throughout.” — former London Sunday Times film critic Tom Shone on “Taking Barack To The Movies.”
Yeah, stand up to the evil, oppressive Martin Scorsese!
Go to hell, Jeff.
No, not that. Stand up, I meant, to the industry-media elites, from Jim Cameron and on down, who are telling us Hugo is a must-worship, a masterpiece. When the fact is that it’s too long, too slow, too drawn-out and the only part that really lifts off the ground is the last 20 or 25 minutes.
Umm, it’s not just industry folks, Jeff.
It’s Manohla Dargis, David Denby, Roger Ebert, Andrew O’Hehir, David Edelstein, Glenn Kenny, Todd McCarthy, Richard Corliss, Lisa Schwartzbaum, Roger Moore, and others all giving it some pretty high praise.
Jeff cracks me up. It’s his way or the highway on pretty much everything.
Look, I love Marty as much as the next guy, when I was a dork in high school I wrote some speech about how Scorsese and Kubrick were my two movie idols and why I wanted to be a director… and I realize Lazarus is apparently making it his LIFE’S DUTY to threaten with murder anyone across the blogosphere who isn’t SUPER STOKED for this alleged dizzy love letter to cinema…
But your workaday viewer isn’t primed for a “love letter to cinema.” Neither, really, is your average Scorsese fan. Laz, do you have like NO FRIENDS “back home”? Uncles, aunts, brothers, old college friends, old rolling partners back in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, wherever, places like that? They’re beating down theater doors to watch a KIDDIE MOVIE about an orphan at a train station doing IMPISH PRANKS in distorto-vision with lots of mugging and WHIMSY? Christ, if I told any of my BROS back home to go see HUGO just because it’s the director of “GoodFellas,” they’d come looking to give me a Billy Batts beatdown for sending them to see a dorky G-rated family movie. And my friends and family would absolutely know who Scorsese is and REVERE the name, but this movie would sound weak and dorky to them– they’d probably make fun of me for even going to see it. Are you telling me you don’t know ANYBODY like that?
Scorsese fans want violence, crime, despair, GANGSTER SHIT, Pesci and De Niro and Keitel and old Rolling Stones tunes. Nobody knows what to make of this, just like Kundun or NY, NY or even the first half of The Aviator where Cate Blanchett’s doing some EMBARRASSING voice and camp-hagging it up.
You can beat the drum all day and night (and you are) trying to shame Jeff and everyone else into LOVING THIS MOVIE WHOLEHEARTEDLY *just* because it’s Scorsese, but it doesn’t sound like you’re engaging it WHATSOEVER as a movie made by a mortal…. You seem psychotic over it…
Seriously, man, tell us a few THOUSAND more times which critics are raving over it, and I’ll show you the 18 people in all of America who blindly go to see a movie because of who directed it.
Exactly. One of the best LexG riffs ever. This and the default disappointment responses among Los Angeles moviegoers riff…excellent stuff.
Lexg
From everything you’ve said about your family, I’d expect this movie to be above them. And I guess above you too.
Jeff only thinks your rant is great because you agree with him. That’s all. And Jeff, as usual, is wrong.
It’s a kids movie. People will go cause they have kids and the book is very well loved. If Scorcese’s name is attached (for these people) it’ll be “Oh…he’s the gangster guy right…weird”. They’ll like it or they won’t based on WHAT THEY SEE on screen. If Jeff is dissapointed or Ebert flips his lid will have zero impact on 90% of people who go see this. It’s the holidays (Jeff shudders), people take their families to movies. We’ll see what they say.
Jeff, Rotten Tomatoes has Muppets at 100% fresh. You gonna see it? That’s a combo I’m dying to see. It’ll be like broken glass and ice cream.
Hey Lex, I’m not posting my comments on a movie blog run by my Uncle Jerry for his “workaday” friends; this is a site run by a self-proclaimed “Movie Catholic” who often turns his nose up at the very people you’re talking about.
So forgive me if I’m a little bothered when Jeff tries to pump up his contrarian opinion with some kind of rallying cry against something that appears to be a very personal film from one of our finest directors.
And disingenuously, he makes it look like Hugo is something only rich Hollywood assholes or people in power positions are getting behind. As I said, the language in the reviews by some very noteworthy critics is very enthusiastic, and I don’t believe for a second that Jeff isn’t reading any of them;.
I’m not trying to shame anyone into anything; haven’t even seen the movie yet. But if Jeff is trying to shame people who DO appreciate it, I think the critical consensus deserves equal time here.
Hugo came in 7th place yesterday at the boxoffice. 3rd if you go by per screen average. It’s estimated to make 10 million dollars over the 5 day holiday weekend.
I don’t think Hugo is gonna come anywhere near profitability. Word of mouth among non industry/critic types is not gonna help this movie. People who don’t work in film, or aren’t professional critics, just want to be entertained.
Nobody but a film snob gives a fuck that “This scene is an exact replica of “Train coming into the station!!”
This could be one of the biggest financial disasters of all time. But man, that tracking shot was AMAZING!!
Ha, had to dig down deep to find that review. Really? A movie with this kind of raves and THIS is the review you post? Come on, Jeff. Silly.
Jeffrey Wells says…
“Exactly. One of the best LexG riffs ever. (because he agrees with me)”
HUGO was a horrible disappointment, and I speak as both a film-history buff and someone who was once a Scorsese. Jesus, I even like NY NY.
*Oops. “…was once a Scorsese fan.”
Yeah, that’s actually one reason why I don’t quite trust this Tom Shone – I love NEW YORK, NEW YORK, it’s one of Scorsese’s best, and I think one big reason it gets a bum rap is the painful honesty about relationships – it’s like SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE with songs and dance.
As for HUGO, I’m not looking forward to it that much, but it looks like a step up from SHUTTER ISLAND at least.
Lex is a needler, but I would love to here his take on AGE OF INNOCENCE.
“Jesus CHRIST another montage of f*cking FOOD? Is someone going to get MURDERED with that HAM? Is this a commercial for a BUFFET?”
I don’t do the hypothetical take justice. I did love Age of Innocence but thought it was an A- movie. The score was actually terrible. I’m looking forward to Hugo as a throwback kids movie that happens to be directed by Scorsese. I’d be happy for him to be successful in this genre.
@Sasha: Tom Shone is a good guy and knows what he’s talking about. He wrote a great book, Blockbuster, a few years back.
I am one of the easiest people to get bored during movies and I have hardly ever loved films aimed at children including most Pixars.
Yet, I totally agree with the reviews calling Hugo a masterpiece. It is the opposite of boring.
Lex, not every Scorsese fan wants “violence, crime, despair, GANGSTER SHIT, Pesci and De Niro and Keitel and old Rolling Stones tunes.”
That period during the mid 80′s where he made AFTER HOURS and THE COLOR OF MONEY was perhaps his most inventive ever. AFTER HOURS could almost pass for an Aronofsky or Fincher movie today, it’s so absurd and frenetic. TCOM showcases some of his most amazing examples of incorporating shot composition and editing. Sure, the movie starts slow (and ends slower) but the bulk of the movie when Newman and Cruise are traveling the slush-strewn sidewalks of Chicago and frequent those dive pool halls makes for one entertaining movie.
I don’t fall at the alter of everything Scorsese has made. AVIATOR? What was that? AGE OF INNOCENCE? Saw it once in 93′ and was stunned by the boredom of it. “C’mon Marty. just move the camera.” I kept saying to myself. Kept reading reviews at the time that it was MEAN STREETS set 100 years earlier. Bullshit. It was just slightly less boring than REMAINS OF THE DAY. Just slightly. Saw KUNDUN in the theaters because I had to write a paper about the visual look of a movie currently playing for film school class. I chose that one because A) Roger Deakins and B) figured everybody else was going to write about fucking TITANIC so I wanted to choose something different.
Reviews might be all for naught is HUGO is set to be 8th place this weekend anyway:
http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/first-box-office-breaking-dawn-1-again-the-muppets-2-happy-feet-3-arthur-christmas-4-hugo-5/
Burn.
COLOR OF MONEY is an immortal classic and one of his best, and you described it perfectly– the slushy streets and Fast Eddie’s giant pink Caddy and Cruise hamming it up in his VINCE shirt, and the BEST SCENE EVER, the Forest Whitaker scene (“Hey, Eddie… let me ask you something… You think I need to lose weight?”) Brilliant movie and AFTER HOURS is really good too (I’d throw in KING OF COMEDY for the best-behavior but still Scorsese-genius mid-80s trifecta.)
Mike Ock: I’m just wondering why they thought a $170 million budget for Hugo was a smart decision, when even the Marty movies with Leo which cost that much were barely able to break even most of the time.
Anyway, let’s call this flick what it is: A.I.-Electric Boogaloo.
Tom Shone really should stick to making desultory wisecracks with James Wolcott and co. and pitching martini-soaked woo at contemporary classics like Moneyball and Drive. Anyone who grades movies like school reports is a wank scold.
My nine year-old grand-daughter was raving about the book and can’t wait to see the film. It’s not often I get to take her to see something made by one of the great filmmakers.
See what I mean, Lex. Hugo is a “masterpiece.”
@Sasha: Tom Shone is a good guy and knows what he’s talking about. He wrote a great book, Blockbuster, a few years back.
Kind of a mean comment about Hayley Mills, though. She is still alive.
The best 3-D film since Hitchcock. A genuine masterpiece – it stands with Tree of Life as one of the top films of the year. Not for everyone, however.
Tom Shone? A *former* critic for a second rate London paper who now writes on his homemade blog? As Sasha said, this is reaching pretty deep to counter the 97% critical approval rating.
Is Wells really going to hitch wagon to LexG and his army of “workaday viewers?” I’m not sure that “Yes, but the average moron wouldn’t appreciate it at all,” is really an adequate criticism of the film
@LexG: “Nobody knows what to make of this, just like … The Aviator where Cate Blanchett’s doing some EMBARRASSING voice and camp-hagging it up.”
Well, we agree on something. That performance was a travesty.
One of the best movies of the year and, if it picks up business, could even be a Best Picture contender. The first Scorsese movie that ever got me choked up and it’s all honestly earned, about passion for work leading to loss and heartbreak. The best 3D movie experience I’ve ever had — not a cartoon show come to ‘life,” real purpose to the use of 3D to bring the dawn of cinema to life. Went with two kids who really liked it and another adult who also had to wipe their eyes.
It’s a little long – can see how some might get bored, as with Tree of Life – but so well-crafted and filled with wonderful detail, steampunk, period, gears, I didn’t mind. The whole connection between clock, train and film technology is very cool and smart.
I can accept someone seeing it and judging it negatively, but not anyone who skips it. Definitely a family movie in the classic Hollywood sense that everyone can go and get something out of it.
The clips from Melies and other silent movies are spectacularly utilized. I say a new Scorsese masterpiece, kind of a profound one considering his body of work and tendency towards violence.
Saw it yesterday and loved it, tho’ I wont deny it’s a bit poky at times. Certainly the best overall use of 3-D since Avatar.
And last nite I saw Tyrannosaur — every bit as good as Jeff said and Colman definitely deserves some Academy love. But I saw it at Sundance Cinemas, the only place in SF that’s showing it, and in an 8-screen multiplex where every other movie was sold out, Tyrannosaur was on their tiniest screen, and there were two — TWO! — people in the theater.
It’s a good movie in spite of the kids.
Tom Shone IS a heckuva nice guy. A neighbor of mine. Run into him at the fancy grocer every now and again. Always a pleasure.
Of course, I very rarely agree with him, and sometimes his way of making pronouncements drives me mad. But I don’t need, I hope, to point out to anyone ELSE that the “tell” of his “Hugo” wannabe-smackdown is his calling it “New York, New York,” for “the Pokemon set.” POKEMON? Seriously? Lex G.’s pushing 40, and he probably played with Pokemon. Way to keep up with the times, Tom.
And: Yeah, yeah, I know nothing gets up certain cinephiles noses like a lot of “love letter to cinema” gush; it makes hard men like Jeff and Tom stand over to the side and say “I’m not with THOSE guys.” Whatever kid appeal “Hugo” has (and I have witnessed its kid appeal, albeit with an admittedly small control group), I think it’s something that, while tied into its movie-love theme, also subsists in a way that’s independent of it. And now I’m going to sneak off this thread before Mike Ock notices I’ve been here.
What Tom Shone meant to say is “‘Hugo’ is ‘Road to Nowhere’ for the Kitcheree set.”
I just saw this movie today. I’m 41, my hub is 43, and we saw it sans kids (we have two of those). I admit I’m predisposed to like this NOT because of Scorsese, but because of the subject matter of old movies. However, I’ve gone to movies predisposed to like them before, and haven’t. So I’m not blinded.
I loved it. Just loved it. Even splurged and saw it in 3D. I was never bored, I thought the kids were great, and Ben Kingsley was fantastic.
If you’ve lost a sense of wonder, that’s too bad. I like all kinds of movies in all kinds of genres and this is just one of the best.
Liked HUGO–Scorsese’s most from-the-heart film in years; it could also be viewed as a psychodrama about Marty’s friendship with Michael Powell–turfed out of movies for being “out of touch” like Georges Melies.
Hated the child actors, hated all the forced whimsy, all the unchecked ham acting from Cohen and Kingsley, all the critic and film-Catholic pandering, and every note of the syrupy, maudlin musical score. Whenever Cohen would have another pratfall or say something stupid in his atrocious accent (the same one he used in TALLADEGA NIGHTS, by the way) the silence in the theater was just deafening. There must be a good reason the only comedy Scorsese can do well is the uncomfortable cringe-humor of AFTER HOURS and KING OF COMEDY. Perhaps its biggest crime was utterly wasting the Godlike talents of Ray Winstone. Once he shows up and utterly dominates the film, he coughs and wheezes and then just disappears.
I was determined to make it to the final reel for the supposedly awe-inspiring treatise on the importance of film preservation but by that point I was already asleep and wishing I had plunked down $15 to see IMMORTALS instead. To paraphrase Gene Siskel, “The final reel could have been the missing footage from THE MAGINFICENT AMBERSONS and this movie still would have sucked.”
As soon as I got home, I had to watch CASINO for the 300th time just to wash the antiseptic family-friendly bitterness from my mouth.
For what it’s worth, this is one of the only reviews in the entire Information Superwebs that manages to cut through the film Catholic bullshit and 3D gimmickry:
http://filmfreakcentral.net/screenreviews/hugo.htm
In case you don’t want to get out of the boat, here is a VERY representative passage from the Film Freak Central review:
“And that it’s two-and-a-half hours long but feels like a slow seven or eight? Seriously, Shoah is a breezier watch.”
See, Walter Chaw made a “Shoah” joke, isn’t HE, edgy. Also, “Hugo” is in fact two hours and five minutes.
“Which only strengthens my point,” Chaw may riposte. Also, he seems inordinately fond of the word vital, which “Taxi Driver” is/was, and “Hugo” is not. But don’t take my word for it…
Oops… I liked it a lot.
I say this not to further any agenda on either side but just to report… I took my 11-year-old daughter today, and I was pretty sure she must be having a terrible time, because I thought it dragged and she’s not patient with draggy movies. As soon as it was over, she proclaimed it her favorite movie.
Re Glenn Kenny’s comment:
Walter Chaw is the online film reviewing equivalent to Mikey in the classic Life cereal commercial.
@ Terry: That’s kind of unfair to “Mikey.” I’ve been in a room with Walter Chaw, and he’s not nearly as cute as that child actor was.
What the hell does he even mean by “the Pokemon set”? I don’t see what the metaphor is there. Unless maybe he’s saying Hugo is geared towards the autistic and obsessive-compulsive (the vast majority of Pokemon’s non child fanbase).
he means kids
Let’s just abandon all discussion about HUGO and continue making potshots at Film Freak Central, shall we? Surely that’s a lot safer than addressing any of the film’s glaring flaws.
Oh, fuck it. HUGO is yesterday’s news. Now it’s time to discuss WAR HORSE ad nauseam.
It’s baffling how Glenn can write all this trenchant film analysis on his site and have lengthy, sober and lucid discussions with his commentators, then comes over here and acts like a schoolyard bully.
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