Salon.com > Hugo

The Oscars play it safe, nostalgic

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:15:00 +0000

As usual, it all went almost exactly as expected. This year's Academy Award nominations went to a plethora of already much-accoladed movies and performances, with a rich dose of nostalgia and sentiment. Yet when Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak and last year's best actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence announced the contenders this morning, there were still a few gasps to be had.

The surprises started with the supporting performance nominations. Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill and Christopher Plummer ("Beginners") all seemed likely nominees. But it was the sentimental inclusion of "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close's" Max Von Sydow, and left-field nod for Nick Nolte in "Warrior" that roused the crowd.

For the supporting actresses, there were even fewer surprises to be had, with the likes of Bérénice Bejo and Octavia Spencer once again going head-to-head. But the inclusion of this year's comedic It girl, Emmy winner Melissa McCarthy, for her bawdy, ballsy turn in "Bridesmaids" was a nonetheless sweet moment – and a rare display of evidence that you don't have to be a glamazon or Dame Judi Dench to be in the running for Oscar. And the best original screenplay nomination for "Bridesmaids" was another encouraging sign, proving at last that women can not only make successful movies involving explosive diarrhea, they can make Academy Award-nominated movies involving explosive diarrhea.

Scorsese’s spectacular 3-D “Hugo”

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0000

I will repeat what I said after watching an unfinished version of "Hugo" a few weeks ago: I have seen the future of 3-D moviemaking, and it belongs to Martin Scorsese, unlikely as that may sound. In this case, of course, the future may also be the past. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if "Hugo," Scorsese's gorgeous and meticulous 1930s fantasy re-creating life in a Parisian railway station in extraordinary detail, is the best movie anyone will make in the current post-"Avatar" 3-D wave (which has already ebbed considerably).

If you were bewildered by the news that Scorsese was apparently blundering into Steven Spielberg’s territory and making a 3-D family spectacle for the holidays, wonder no longer. No doubt "Hugo" has enormous potential when it comes to the box office and the upcoming awards season. It's a heartwarming, old-fashioned yarn about an orphan who finds love by giving love, who finds a purpose in life by restoring purpose to a wounded and bitter old man. It's often a breathtaking visual spectacle, full of delightful flights of imagination, large and small: a view of Paris from a railroad clock tower, drawings that come alive, an adorable little clockwork mouse. It offers a rich and varied cast of adult actors -- from Ben Kingsley to Sacha Baron Cohen to Emily Mortimer -- supporting youthful leads Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz, as a pair of intrepid orphan adventurers.