Tuesday, October 11, 2011

5 Off My Head - So Hugo Happened

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Last night the New York Film Festival held a "mystery" screening of what they called "a work-in-progress from a master film-maker." I'd guessed it was Hugo by Martin Scorsese, and since I am always right, I was right. Go me! Hugo comes out in a little over a month - right around Thanksgiving - and the print we saw still had a lot of work to be done, which Marty told us all about in his introduction to the film. There were green screens still visible now and then, and sometimes a little Sims person would be standing there like a terrifying interruption in the matrix. So what I saw is hampered by its unfinished nature, but I'll share some basic thoughts on what we did see. There be some basic plot spoilers therein so if you don't wanna know nothing, avoid.

1 - I never thought I'd live to see Martin Scorsese direct a comical dog reaction shot, but here we are.

2 - I'd completely forgotten that a major part of the story to Hugo - I've never read Brian Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret (which really is such a superior title, I don't get why they've whittled it down to nothing) - had to do with silent film magic, so when that part of the story revealed itself it was a revelation. And the mixture of this old fashioned movie magic with state-of-the-art technology - seeing Melies come to life in 3D - actually literally brought me to tears. There aren't many people in the world who've spoken so eloquently about their love of films as Marty has, but to see him craft a cinematic love letter to it in this fashion was at times overwhelming. In the best sense. Totally captivating.
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3 - Before we get to all that though, the first hour of the film did feel a little bit long. I think this might be fixed when the sound work on the film is done though - the score and the mixing were all very much works-in-progress, so what felt flat at this point will surely find its rhythm once those pieces fall into place.

4 - Although there's not a lot you can do to fix Chloe Moretz, unless they maybe CG a black box over her face, so alas not everything will be righted in post.

5 - Scorsese knows how to use 3D. He slides us right into this world with it - the steam in the air of the train station hovers over your head, the snowflakes flutter by, the screen is filled with spinning gears winding all around you. I can only imagine these things will look even better once the effects are finished.

Bottom line for now, at this very early stage - it gets off to a bit of a slow start, but once the gears start clicking into place Hugo is pretty darn magical.
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5 comments:

Jasper said...

Care to elaborate on Chloë Moretz?

Jason Adams said...

I can't really be expected to be partial on CM because I've nursed a longstanding dislike of her, which I always feel like a prick about since she's so young, but I really just don't like her on-screen. So if, like most people, you don't immediately dislike her as soon as she shows up then your reaction might be different to mine. I thought she was her usual self here, for better or IMO for worse.

Jasper said...

It's okay. I feel you. I'm the same way about Hailee Steinfeld. In True Grit, I felt like she was playing a sped-up version of Vicki from Small Wonder. And I feel bad cuz she's a kid and all, but...

Moretz doesn't really bug me, but I didn't really get the pants-nutting praise for her performance in Kick Ass. I did like her a lot in Let Me In, and she was kinda great on 30 Rock, though.

jack said...

what?i felt chloe moretz was superb in acting.i loved her in kick ass ,let me in and even the recent texas killing fields...she seems to have a maturity of a elder woman onscreen when she is only 14(in hollywood we have actresses and actors who is older than moretz but cant act at all,the twilight actors and actresess,not kristen stewart btw,as kristen sucked in twilight but she shines on other films)i really cant understand why you guys would hate her...she seems to be sweet and unlike lindsay lohan and other child stars ,she seem to have a stable grounded life

Andrew K. said...

What you say of Chloe is how I feel about Hailee Steinfeld. In my head they're the same people, and they both sort of annoy me even though I feel bad because there's children. But, eh, whatever.