Hugo

As the Oscars demonstrate every year, probably the worst way to get people interested in movies is to yammer on about how important and magical they are. Unfortunately, that's precisely the trap into which "Hugo" falls.

The first half of the film is an ambling, somewhat charming kids' movie. Hugo is a young orphan living in a train station in Paris. He struggles to make sense of his father's recent death and his place in the world. Helping him is Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), a cute young bookworm. Meanwhile, the Station Inspector, Gustave (played with wonderful subtlety by Sacha Baron Cohen), seeks to catch Hugo and send him to an orphanage.

Then, in the middle of the movie, the children decide to go to the library to learn about the history of film. There's no real reason for this, other than the fact that Hugo keeps going on about how the movies are magical, the movies are where dreams come to life, the movies helped him bond with his father, yadda yadda.

They learn that Isabelle's godfather, Georges Melies, was a great filmmaker in the early days of the medium. They spend most of the rest of the movie trying to learn why Georges no longer makes films, or even acknowledges his past.

This shift in emphasis has a couple of major problems. One, we've grown attached to Hugo; now we have to watch him become second banana to a grumpy old man. Two, the film devolves into a rather dull history lesson.

It's great that Scorcese is educating children about cinematic history. He even shows some of Melies' old films. But good intentions don't make a good movie. (As Oliver Stone could attest, if he ever got his head out of his own ass.)

You can't understand the power of film by hearing someone talk about it. You have to experience it for yourself. In other words, skip "Hugo" and go watch "Raging Bull" again instead.