Hugo

Well, The Academy and I agree on something. Hugo is a phenomenal film. Lovingly directed by Sir Martin of Scorsese, it's the story of Clockmaker Hugo (Asa Butterfield), an orphan who lives in the train station in the city of light, Paris. Before his father (Jude Law) dies, he finds an automaton in the museum he works in and brings it home for he andHugo to repair. After his father's death, Hugo focuses on repairing his precious gift as its the last link to his dad. In the station lives a crusty old toy maker, George (Sir Ben Kingsley) who is tormented by Hugo as he tries to prevent him from pinching various toy parts. George is Godfather to Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz, with an IMPECCABLE British accent), and she befriends Hugo. When Hugo discovers that Isabelle is wearing the heart shaped key that he's been looking for to make his automaton work, it sets a chain of events off that will change everyone in the station's life....forever. The images of Paris are so magical and haunting, it's as If they've been sprinkled with dairy dust. Forget Disney, it turns out Scorsese is in fact Tinkerbell as well as Taxidriver. The acting is superb. Asa Butterfield does a terrific job, his huge blue eyes and dark mop of hair are enchanting. There are lots of familiar faces and they all do a wonderful job of bringing love to the screen. Sascha Baron Cohen is the Station Master and for once, I do not detest his screen persona, which is a pleasant first for me. For,this is a true love story, to the craft of filmmaking and a gentler time that is lost forever. If I was to have one little criticism, it is tht whilst the child actors are great, at times, as there is so much dialogue between them, it is a little stilted at times. As if they're waiting for the next one to speak. That is a little nitpick in this sweeping fable of love, loss and finding the truth about yourself and the people in your life. HUGO: The love in this film writes itself, and is the key to the heart of this great movie. 8/10.

Sarah's Key

This is a harrowing tale of the holocaust based on a novel. The fact that it's not fact has raised some eyebrows. I feel that anything that sparks people's interest in this dark time in history is a good thing. It is sympathetically scripted and very sensitive to the subject. The film follows American in Paris Julia (consistantly beautiful and brilliant Kristin Scott Thomas), who is married to Bertrand, who's a little bit selfish in my opinion. Julia and Bertrand are about to move into architect Bertrand's parents apartment. During her research into a terrible real incident, where the French rounded up their Jews, and kept them in a cycle stadium the velodrome for 3 days before shipping them off to the death camps, Julia discovers that their new flat's previous occupiers, the Starzynskis,were a family that were taken away to this stadium. Interweaved in the modern day story, we follow the path of Sarah, the little girl from the flat as she hides her brother from the French and is taken away with her mother and father. The film slowly unravels and we learn what the terrible fate is of the Starzynski family. Julia also has her own troubles, her selfish husband for one, more like a child than a partner, her teenage daughter and the possibility, after years of trying, of becoming a mother again. After Julia finds out the terrible story, she sets about trying to track down the surviving members of this heartbreaking time, with some surprising consequences. The film is extremely well acted, especially by the dear Melusine Mayance who plays Sarah. The skipping back and forth over time is not confusing and is edited well. The subject matter is of course, chilling, and completely devastating.there are some nice touches. The younger journalists that Julia works with are initially indifferent and ignorant to the horrors of world War 2. The guilt that haunts people in the present over the past is evident. It's a many layered film, with a nice return to the screen by Aidan Quinn. Sarah's Key: Will unlock the tears. 7/10