“Hugo” Blu-ray Giveaway [ENDED]

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To celebrate the release of Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award winning “HUGO”, Media Mikes would like to giveaway TWO copies of the film on Blu-ray. If you would like to win one of these great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email and let us know your favorite Martin Scorsese film. This giveaway will be open until Tuesday March 13th at Noon, Eastern Time and is only open to residents of the United States. Only one entry per person, per household; all other entries will be considered invalid. Once the giveaway ends, Media Mikes will randomly pick out winners and alert the winners via email.

“Hugo” is an adventure drama film based on Brian Selznick’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” about a boy who lives alone in a Paris railway station and the enigmatic owner of a toy shop there. It is directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan. It is a co-production of Graham King’s GK Films and Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law and Christopher Lee.

Blu-ray Review “Hugo”

Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Jude Law, Christopher Lee
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release date: February 28, 2012
Running time: 128 minutes

Film: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“Hugo” is a very enchanting tale with amazing storytelling.  It is really rare that you watch a film and it takes you on a two hour journey.  At the 2012 Oscars, “Hugo” was awarded five Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. I felt that it also deserved the Best Director and Best Picture awards as well. I feel that Scorsese did an amazing job with this picture. This film gets better and better which each viewing and looks spectacular on Blu-ray.

The film follows Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) who lives in a Paris train station. He lives to maintains its clocks and roams within in the walls and above the trains platforms. He has no family since his father’s death and his uncle, station’s timekeeper, who took his in and then vanished. Hugo has only one thing left from his father, a mechanical person, who was created to write independently but needs a special key to do so. Hugo wants to find that key in hope to find a message from his late father. He meets Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) and the two embark on an unexpected journey.

The Blu-ray presentation is just absolutely flawless. The 1080p video conversion is absolutely perfect. The colors are extremely sharp and showcases this film’s amazing cinematography perfectly. The audio boasts a fantastic DTS-HD MA 7.1 track. It also works very well with Howard Shore’s score, which is so perfectly intertwined within the film. Also included in the Blu-ray combo pack is with a DVD copy of the film. They also include an Ultraviolet copy of the film, which is a great feature. The film works well in 2D but I feel that it loses a lot of the atmosphere created from the 3D version. I definitely prefer the 3D version over the 2D version.

The special features are great but are lacking a commentary track from Martin Scorsese and cast. The first feature is called “Shoot the Moon (The Making of Hugo)”, it runs about twenty minutes and includes great both cast and crew discussing the film and its production. “The Cinemagician, Georges Méliès” focuses on the filmmaker and his role in this film. “The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo” is an informative feature that focuses on the history of automaton and its use in the film. “Big Effects, Small Scale” it is a brief look at the film’s effects, I would have loved for this to be a lot longer since the effects are critical in this film. Lastly there is a short piece about the Station Inspector, called “Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime”, short but sweet. Overall great features for a great film.

“Hugo,” “The Artist” lead list of 84th Annual Academy Awards

“Hugo,” director Martin Scorsese’s loving look at the early history of film, leads all nominees in the race for Oscar gold.  The film received 11 total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Close behind is “The Artist,” a silent, black and white film that includes Best Picture among its 10 nods.  “War Horse” and “Moneyball” followed with 6 nominations each, including Best Picture.
A total of nine films were nominated for Best Picture.  Last year, in an attempt to quell the outrage that “The Dark Knight” did not grab a Best Picture nod, the Academy increased the number of picture nominees from 5 to 10.  This year the rule was changed to nominate up to 10 films, based on membership voting.  To be eligible for a Best Picture nomination a film must be listed as first on at least 250 membership ballots.  Other nominees for Best Picture:  “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Midnight in Paris” and “The Tree of Life.”
Besides Scorsese, director nominations went to Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Alexander Payne for “The Descendants,” “Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris” and Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life.”
Best Actor nominees:  Demian Bechir – “A Better Life,” George Clooney – “The Descendants,” Jean Dujardin – “The Artist,” Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and Brad Pitt – “Moneyball.”
Best Actress nods went to Glenn Close – “Albert Nobbs,” Viola Davis – “The Help,” Rooney Mara – “The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo,” Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady” and Michelle Williams – “My Weekend With Marilyn.”
Best Supporting Actor nominees include Kenneth Branagh – “My Weekend With Marilyn,” Jonah Hill – “Moneyball,” Nick Nolte – “Warrior,” Christopher Plummer – “Beginners” and Max von Sydow – “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”
Best Supporting Actress choices include Berenice Bejo – “The Artist,” Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” Melissa McCarthy – “Brodesmaids,” Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs” and Octavia Spencer – “The Help.”
Look for a special “Behind the Screen” later this week when I give my thoughts on this years nomines.
Here is a complete list of nominees:

Best Picture

“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer

“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer

“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined

“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”

George Clooney in “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”

Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”

Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”

Nick Nolte in “Warrior”

Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”

Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis in “The Help”

Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”

Jessica Chastain in “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”

Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

“Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson

“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller

“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth

“Hugo” Robert Richardson

“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki

“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

“Anonymous” Lisy Christl

“The Artist” Mark Bridges

“Hugo” Sandy Powell

“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor

“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Alexander Payne

“Hugo” Martin Scorsese

“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen

“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

“Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione

“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Kevin Tent

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

“Bullhead” Belgium

“Footnote”

“In Darkness” Poland

“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada

“A Separation” Iran

Makeup

“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

“The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource

“Hugo” Howard Shore

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias

“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)

“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa

“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane

“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George

“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce

“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

“Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

“Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

“War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan

“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius

“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor

“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen

“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Film Review “Hugo”

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz and Ben Kingsley
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Rated: PG
Running time: 2 hours 6 mins
Paramount

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

High above the crowds in the Paris Train Terminal, young Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) tends to the clocks, making his way through a seemingly never ending maze of tunnels and catwalks. Orphaned after the sudden death of his father (Jude Law in a nice cameo), a clockmaker, Hugo is put in the charge of his uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), a heavy drinker who brings Hugo to live with him in a small apartment behind one of the great clocks. Apparently the knowledge of gears and springs runs in the family. When not spying on the comings and goings of the people below, Hugo is attempting to repair an automaton: a mechanical man his father had discovered at the museum where he worked and had brought home as a kind of father and son project. He only needs a few more gears and a mysterious heart shaped key to wind it up.

Based on the award winning book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, the film is a faithful adaptation that unfolds beautifully thanks to its heart, director Scorsese. While the film is centered around the mechanical man, the main character here is the quiet owner of a toy shop (Kingsley, who should most definitely receive an Oscar nomination for his work) whose past is celebrated without his knowledge. To say more would give away a major plot point but when it’s revealed you realize that not only was Martin Scorsese the perfect choice as director, he might possibly was the only choice.

The cast is aces across the board. As young Hugo, Butterfield shines. His wide eyes taking in the world around him, while still projecting the sorrow behind them, Hugo is wise beyond his years in some ways. As the book loving girl he meets in the train station, Moretz (“Kick Ass,” “Let Me In”) continues to add to an incredible early career that puts her on the same track as Jodie Foster and Kirsten Dunst…a child actress that will seamlessly grow on screen before our eyes. Kingsley, who is surely this generations Robert Duvall (the man NEVER gives a bad performance) makes the character of Papa George come to life. Credit also to Sacha Baron Cohen as a local constable, Christopher Lee as the book seller and, in smaller roles, Richard Griffiths and Emily Mortimer. And though he doesn’t say a word, I should point out that the actor who plays early jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt is Emil Langer. I say this because he bears an uncanny resemblance to Johnny Depp (I heard more than one whisper during the film). Further confusing is that Depp is a producer on the film.

If I have one problem with “Hugo,” it’s that no one in authority seems to know that Uncle Claude is no longer working the clocks. You’d think that his paychecks would stack up in the office. Just a quibble but something that occurred to me.

 

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