i cant make up my mind about hugo. i dont hate it, simply because its about the romance of cinema, but its quite a bloated film, despite the obvious love its been made with (though i dont really expect a scorcese film to be technically shoddy in the first place) and the great clips of old films, and a few moving scenes about finding a purpose in life/dashed hopes and dreams. in fact the best moments are those about cinema (which doesnt surprise me as it seems like scorcese seems most interested in film preservation these days than saying anything new, though i might be wrong on that), which made me wonder why he didnt just make a film purely about melies, because he seems a bit disinterested in the lives or characters of the kids, and a lot of the dialogue is really clunky. the most magical parts are the scenes about melies and what happens when cinema mores change and a formerly succesful directors career comes to an end but it could really do with more 'magic' cos most of it just seemed a bit empty, all huge, imposing spectacle (the 3d is good but i wouldnt miss it if it wasnt there) but nothing underneath it. hopefully it does make a few kids interested in cinema, if so, job done, but the film itself is just plodding, overlong, and without wanting to be cruel, a bit boring on the whole, if hard to dislike. personally, id vote for cinema paradiso (the directors cut) over hugo if you want to see a film about kids and hymns to cinema.