What did you think about Martin Scorsese's 2011 movie, 'Hugo'?

I watched a pretty cool movie a few days ago, one that I’ve wanted to see for quite some time, 2011’s “Hugo.”

Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie stars Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law and Christopher Lee. It was released in theatres on Nov. 23, 2011, and it was rated PG. Its producers included Scorsese and Johnny Depp.

The movie is about a young boy who comes to live in a Paris train station after the death of his father. His uncle, a drunkard, is the clockmaster at the train station, and the boy, Hugo Cabret, learns the job from his uncle. The uncle dies, and the boy is left to fend for himself, while continuing to carry out his dead uncle’s duties. The boy’s only memento of his dead father is an “automaton” that is badly in need of repair. As the story progresses, Hugo befriends a young girl, who happens to be the granddaughter of the automaton’s inventor.

I was interested to learn that this movie was based on Brian Selznick’s 2007 historical fiction novel, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” The winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal, this 533-page book was published by Scholastic Press.

“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is actually the first true novel to ever receive the Caldecott Medal, which is given annually to recognize “the most distinguished picture book for children" published in the United States. The hardback edition of the novel contains 284 pictures, which allowed it to be considered for a Caldecott.

Selznick is a 45-year-old writer and illustrator from New Jersey, and “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” is one of five novels he’s written. His other books include “The Houdini Box” (1991), “The Robot King” (1995), “Boy of a Thousand Faces” (2000) and “Wonderstruck” (2011). He’s credited with illustrating 21 books, including “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

The film version of the “Hugo” received mostly positive reviews and has won a lot of awards. At the Academy Awards earlier this year, “Hugo” was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won five Oscars, including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing. Scorsese also won a Golden Globe for Best Director for his work on the film.

“Hugo” fared well at the box office. Shot on a budget of around $150 million, the movie reaped box office revenues of over $177 million. As of this writing, it has made more money overseas than in the U.S. Box office revenues in the U.S. were around $73 million, while overseas revenues were around $103 million.

In the end, I enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy adventure movie. How many of you out there have seen this movie? What did you think about it? Did you like it or dislike it? Why? Let us know in the comments section below.

For more information about “Hugo,” visit the movie’s official Web site at www.hugomovie.com.