Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Django Unchained is almost definitely going to be one of the best films of 2012. That’s pretty much a given. The casting has been so good so far, and currently includes Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony LaPaglia, and to top it all off, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Essentially, there are already about a million reasons why we should be excited about this. Actor Garret Dillahunt, via Collider, said that he visited the set of Tarantino’s next film, and was nice enough to post a few photos of the set too. And they look pretty awesome.

Tarantino’s “Southern,” his take on the Spaghetti Western set in the South, is centred on Foxx in the role of Django,

“a slave who’s liberated by a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter and taught the tricks of the trade by his mentor. Django’s major goal in life is to recover his wife, and to do it he needs to get past the villainous ranch owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), who runs Candyland, a despicable club and plantation in Mississippi where female slaves are exploited as sex objects and males are pitted against each other in “mandingo”-style death matches. Candie is a slave’s worst nightmare, and that is where Django’s wife Broomhilda is an abused slave.”

Apparently the film is shooting on the same set as HBO’s now-cancelled Deadwood, and so fans of the show might well recognise these sets. As Dillahunt says in one of his tweets, “It’ll always be #Deadwood to me.”

The film will open in the US on Christmas Day and then come to cinemas in the UK on Boxing Day this year, putting it in prime position to go to the Oscars this time next year. DiCaprio will be competing against himself, in a sense, at the box office for the final week of December, with Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby also set for a Christmas Day release in the States. All signs point to a fantastic end to the year at the cinema. I can’t wait. As always with these first images, click to enlarge.

And in case you missed it, with awards season currently in full swing, you can catch up on Tarantino’s Top Films of 2011 that we reported last month and see how they compare to your own favourites from last year.

Paramount have released this new commercial / trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie, The Dictator which is set to hit the UK 18th May. It has an amazing cast which included Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Jason Mantzoukas, Anna Faris, Fred Melamed, Rock Kohli, Megan Fox and John C. Reilly but after watching the previous trailer and this new TV spot, it seems to have one of the most risque scripts that we’ve seen from Cohen. The man is used to being sued and causing controversy however so I guess he’s not too worried.

This new clip comes courtesy of The Sun who have debuted the ad ahead of the Super Bowl this Sunday night.

Everything about Tom Hooper’s upcoming film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s renowned novel, and the subsequent stage musical, Les Misérables, sounds perfect so far.

Russell Crowe will be playing the male co-lead of Jean Valjean, with Hugh Jackman joining him as Inspector Javert, and Anne Hathaway will be bringing to life the female lead, Fantine.

When Hooper announced last month that he wouldn’t be using 3D for the film, he also said that we should expect to soon hear casting news about the roles of Éponine and Cosette, and it looks as though we could well be getting confirmation soon now.

Twitch are reporting, via The Playlist, that Taylor Swift and Amanda Seyfried have been offered the roles of Éponine and Cosette, respectively, after Hooper’s search in the past few months, with Swift beating the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Lea Michele for the role.

It was also announced last month that the cast of the film is expected to sing live on set, in front of the cameras, rather than pre-recording their vocals in a studio, which sounds like such a novel approach to me. Naturally, this means that the actors and actresses will need to be able to sing themselves, rather than use voice doubles. Swift of course has a background in music, but I hadn’t realised that Seyfried has been trained in opera singing herself, so both should come in handy for the hopeful pair.

The rest of the casting so far announced includes Sacha Baron Cohen and Eddie Redmayne, and the production is set to begin this spring. This could potentially cause a scheduling conflict with Swift, who has a tour lined up forAustraliaandNew Zealand, but hopefully this is something they can work around.

Les Misérables is set to make its US debut on 7^th December this year, perfectly lining it up for the Oscars in 2013. With a bit of luck, we’ll be getting it here in theUK at the same time to enjoy it before the end of the year too. I can’t wait. More news as we get it.

Already pencilled in as an Oscar contender with a release at the end of next year, news surrounding Tom Hooper’s follow-up to The King’s Speech with Les Misérables has just been getting better and better.

Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman will be taking the roles of the male co-leads Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert respectively, and Anne Hathaway will be gracing the big screen adaptation in the role of Fantine, the female lead. And joining them will be Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen, who’s really been mixing up his career in the past few years.

We heard back at the start of the month that Hooper had decided against using 3D for the big screen production of the world-renowned novel by Victor Hugo, which of course spawned the musical that has become world-famous in itself.

We now have the very interesting news, courtesy of The Sun via Collider, that the film’s cast will be doing something beyond what is ordinarily asked of film musicals’ casts. Rather than recording their vocals in a studio, and miming the words in front of the cameras, they will instead have their vocals recorded live before the cameras, which sounds like it should definitely bring a sense of immediacy, not to mention authenticity, to the film.

“Unlike most film musicals, the cast will record their vocals live on camera rather than go into a studio first then mime on film to the pre-recorded vocal… First they have to learn the complex songs, then they’ll have to get it right on set in front of the other stars and crew.”

Hooper clearly isn’t making things easy on himself or the cast, but it sounds like a thoroughly interesting path to take with the film, and I’m loving everything that we’ve heard about the project so far. I’ve never seen a musical that’s been made like this, and can’t wait to see how it translates on screen.

Les Misérables will be released in the USon 7^th December next year, and though theUK is yet to have a release date announced, I’d imagine that we’ll be getting it around the same time too. The date really does set it up to be an Oscar contender in the following year’s awards, and it’s not too far a stretch to imagine that Hooper’s production might well see a similar success to his last film.

Just to add a little context/random information, the last weekend of November and the first two weekends of December this year saw Hugo, The Muppets, The Artist, A Dangerous Method, My Week With Marilyn, Shame, Young Adult, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy all released in the States, and pretty much all of them are being talked about as potential Oscar candidates for the Academy Awards next February. So with a little bit of luck, we’ll be saying the same thing about Les Misérables by this time next year. I can’t wait.

We got the brilliant first trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator yesterday, which immediately set up the controversy by opening the trailer with footage of a speech from Obama, and promised that fans of his earlier films can sleep safe in the assurance that this is going to be a lot of fun too.

Following on from that, we’ve now got the film’s first poster to share with you, via IMP Awards, in which Baron Cohen has posed for his immortalising portrait, whilst still wearing his green sunglasses. Brilliant.

The film reunites the leading man with Larry Charles, the director of Borat and Brüno, with a script coming from Baron Cohen and former Seinfeld writers Alec Berg, David Mandel, and Jeff Schaffer, all of whom have since been writing Curb Your Enthusiasm, for which Charles is executive producer and frequent director.

Alongside Baron Cohen will be Sir Ben Kingsley, Anna Faris, Megan Fox, John C. Reilly, and J.B. Smoove. Fox and Reilly both looked brilliant in the first trailer, and I think it was such a good move to keep Faris, the film’s female lead, out of our first look at the film yesterday.

I think a lot of trailers spoil the movie in some ways by putting in all the best bits, so when you go into a movie, you’ve seen most of what’s good about it already. With this, though, Faris being entirely absent from the trailer means we’ve still got a lot to look forward to that we’ve not yet seen anything of, and that is awesome in my books.

The Dictator is coming to our screens on 18^th May next year, which is a date I’m looking forward to even more now that we’ve seen the trailer. Couple it up with this new poster, and I think Baron Cohen and Charles have another success on their hands. As usual, click to enlarge.

Here we have our first look at Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest The Dictator and it’s not a subtle affair.

Following on from the wild and untamed successes of Borat and Bruno, not to mention a couple of supporting roles for Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese in the meanwhile,  this film reunites the actor with director Larry Charles and looks like a return to the character-fuelled outrage we’ve come to expect.

Lining up in support are his Hugo co-star Sir Ben Kingsley, Megan Fox, Anna Faris and John C. Reilly.

The trailer has Fox selling herself, a throwaway reference to a Kardashian and the usual conversative-baiting. It feels like more of the same, but it’ll be interesting to see Sacha Baron Cohen parading his latest creation alongside the assembled supporting cast, who may tame the bearded beast.

Moviefone have debuted the trailer, check out the man and his beard below,

Paramount Pictures have released the very first trailer and poster for Dreamworks Animations’ Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, the third instalment in the highly successful Madagascar series.

Directed by Eric Darnell, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Frances McDormand, Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer.

Alex (Stiller), Marty (Rock), Melman (Schwimmer) and Gloria (Smith) join a traveling circus in an effort to get back home to New York City.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted will be released in the U.K. on October 19, 2012. And, if this trailer is an accurate representation of what’s to come, then we’re in for a hysterical treat.

Watch the trailer below:

It’s been a long time since we threw our collective voices into the podcasting arena but the Mouth Off Podcast is back with a revised format, some very special guests and an excellent film to get us back on track as we talk about Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming 3D extravanganza Hugo.

We are joined by Cassam Looch from Movie Vortex, Simon Thompson from 5USA’s Inside Hollywood and Matthew Turner from View London  to discuss the merits of Scorsese’s foray into the third dimension and if the film, billed as a family friendly adventure, is as enchanting as we had hoped.

You can read my review of the film here and if you do then you’ll see where I’m coming from but there’s a good amount of discussion on the film’s successes and failures to be had; such a divisive film deserves to be delved into and delve we do.

We hope to do as many of these as possible in the future so if you listen and you like do let us know and we’ll tame this podcasting beast once and for all.

Listen below or subscribe in iTunes here.

 HeyUGuys Mouth Off Drop-In: Hugo by heyuguysblog

Hugo is an intriguing premise for a film, with Martin Scorsese’s love for the showmen and pioneers of early cinema aligning perfectly with one of the integral elements of Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Add to this the fact that this is a Martin Scorsese film ostensibly aimed at children and his first film shot in 3D and we have a project which we’ve had our eye on for some time and one which arrives with high expectations.

It arrives in cinemas on the 2nd of December and there are thrilling elements to this often charming adventure story, with a fine cast and a wonderfully evocative visual design, but there’s more beneath this impressive surface to bring to light.

There are spoilers here, but scroll down to the final paragraph for my final word which won’t spoil the plot details for you.

Asa Butterfield is Hugo Cabret, an orphan whose life lies within the walls of a Parisian train station as he hurries himself through the building winding the clocks and trying desperately to scavenge enough spare mechanical parts to complete the building of an automaton he was renovating with his father before his tragic death. Hugo’s belief is that when completed the mechanical man will go through the motions dictated by his clockwork mechanics and convey a message from beyond the grave. Struggling to survive without his father and determined to find some escape from this existence Hugo watches the station come to life every day and spies a toy shop, whose workshop may yield the essential parts his needs to complete his project and conjure the spirit of his father one last time.

Ben Kingsley is a triumphant presence as the cantankerous Toy shop owner Papa Georges whose identity is revealed to be the legendary, and now forgotten, cinematic master Georges Méliès and Kingsley teases out every nuance of the anger and sadness of the loss of his former life, his reason to be. Scorsese clearly revels in the chance to show his two young stars pouring over the newly discovered works of Méliès and there’s a real, and unexpected, treat for fans of the director towards the end of the film. For this is his story, and Hugo’s discovery which forms this initial part of the film fades quickly into the background and never engages us again, though there is some incredibly overt metaphors brought to life in his disturbed dreams and some jarring and unsubtle moments of dialogue which betray any trust for the audience to make connections and feel the narrative and emotional echoes on a visceral level.

Chloe Moretz continues to impress and she is given the best lines early on in the film, with a literate and precocious quality to her which means that she, thanks to her unwavering ability to breathe a fresh and charming air into her characters, is the one who draws us in to Hugo’s mystery as well as revealing the true identity of her Godfather, Papa Georges. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector is a wildly uneven character only made bearable by the actor’s talent for grounding the more cartoonish and slapstick moments with a trace of pathos and he works very well as Hugo’s nemesis, the man who snatches vagrant children and sends them off to the orphanage. Note must be made here of Kevin Eldon’s far too brief cameo which was pitch perfect and far more effective than some of the other, more prominent members of the supporting cast who circle the film without ever being given the chance to engage the audience.

Howard Shore’s rich and jaunty score is given prominence in the first ten minutes of the film which introduces us to Hugo, the station and the clockwork labyrinth which constitutes his world in the walls of the Parisian station and yet there’s very little held back; it, like the emotional message of the entire film, is writ large and loud. What does work is the production design which renders Paris and the central station beautifully though a little anonymously but there are a few breathtaking sweeps across the snow covered cityscapes – though I could easily do without the crossfade of the mechanics of a watch overlaid onto the streets of Paris (which is a great image and works perfectly as just that – there was no need for the metaphor to be explained). Much of the film was made at Pinewood and something of the legendary studio’s history plays in well with the themes of the film and it has a sumptuous quality without ever looking ostentatious or like ‘Tourist Paris’.

The film has been hailed many, many times as Scorsese’s love letter to cinema, and there’s no doubt his genuine affection for the evolution of the artform and the feelings the most potent directors can conjure but Hugo lacks the vital component which inspires us. Despite a glorious opening scene the narrative runs wayward in the vital first half an hour and the story of Hugo’s discovery of the automaton’s purpose is drained of the emotional impact it needs to engage us in the ongoing adventure of the story and when the story finds its feet (or slots nicely into the rails to use an appropriate image) it’s a bumpy road rather than a smooth voyage of discovery.

The 3D worked very well in most parts, and was among the most impressive I’ve seen for a long time. Seeing the city of Paris miles below from the vantage we are given through the clock tower windows induced the requisite vertigo and awe in equal measure and there were moments, particularly during the scenes in Hugo’s ‘lair’ behind the walls which made great use of 3D to convey the space very well indeed. Rather surprisingly the 3D was among the more subtle of the elements in play here.

Thanks to a number of sledgehammered metaphors and emotions so aggressively conveyed it was as if a director’s commentary was used instead of a script and there was very little discovery to be had here. I remember discovering Méliès as a kid watching documentaries on Star Wars and the evolution of special effects and then later on from Terry Gilliam’s own long forgotten TV series The Last Machine and I was enthralled by the invention and the wit of the early masters. I would have liked to have seen that illumination and discovery present in Hugo and I believe that was the original spark of the project from both Brian Selznick and then Scorsese himself.

It’s a handsome film with Chloe Moretz’s charming performance standing out along with Ben Kingsley’s savage and vulnerable man recapturing the spirit of his life but ultimately the heart of the film is more mechanical than magical.

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Martin Scorsese seems unlikely as the next director to try his hand at 3D. He has given us plenty of visual spectacle in his films, but 3D always seemed like the sort of gimmick that would go against his artistic sensibilities. Well, like it or not, a director with credentials as impeccable as Scorsese’s has now gone over to the dark side and we will see the fruit of his labours before too long.

With the release date fast approaching, Howard Shore, composing for Scorsese for the umpteenth time (they collaborated on The Aviator, Gangs of New York and The Departed most recently) sat down with Variety to discuss how this score came together. The opening 10 minutes of the film is apparently virtually dialogue free, leaving Shore’s score very much front and centre:-

“The score uses a lot of themes and motifs and variations,” says Shore, “It’s written in an older style. In the first reel of the film, the first 10 minutes, you hear seven main themes of the film. It’s a very through-composed piece. … The score is about an hour and 45 minutes — a really extensive score for one of Marty’s films.”

Shore adds that he was greatly assisted by the copiously illustrated 2007 issue of the source book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” and sought to work with instruments that would have featured in the time period – turn of the (20th) century France:-

“Not only is the writing very good, but the illustrations and the design of the book are wonderful. So it brought me into the story very early, in a very vivid way. The Ondes Martenot (an early electronic keyboard from the late ’20s) was used. Other solo instruments included guitars and percussion from the late ’20s/early ’30s. Piano was also used very specifically for a sound from the late ’20s … (I also used) musette, a French accordion. Symphony orchestra was the primary instrument used, and then there’s a sextet, a small group, that was really part of the orchestra, and they became the soloists that you hear through the film.”

With his work on Hugo now done, Shore has returned to Peter Jackson, with whom he successfully worked on the Lord of the Rings films, to score the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit.

Source: Variety.

Martin Scorsese’s next film, Hugo, is just a couple of weeks away from its highly anticipated release now, and if you’ve missed out on our coverage of the film so far, you can catch up on it all right here.

Based on the novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, the film has been penned by the brilliant John Logan, with whom Scorsese has previously worked on The Aviator, earning both its writer and director an Academy Award nomination.

We’ve now got a new clip to share with you, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, entitled, ‘Big Machine’, as well as five great new international character posters from the film, via IMP Awards.

“Synopsis: Adapted from the Caldecott-winning Brian Selznick​ novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret​,” Hugo is the story of a resourceful boy who lives in a train station and teams up with a spirited young girl to solve a mystery that is based in his past and affects both of their futures.”

The film stars Asa Butterfield as the eponymous Hugo, with a terrific supporting cast that includes Chloë Grace Moretz, Sir Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Christopher Lee, Emily Mortimer, Ray Winstone, and Helen McCrory.

Hugo will be with us in just under two weeks, coming out on 2^nd December, and it’s expected to do fantastically. Early reviews have been singing its praises, so I’m naturally more than a little excited that it’s only a short time until it hits the big screen. Without further ado, here’s the new clip from the film, followed by the five character posters. As usual with the latter, click to enlarge.

And if you’re reading this before midday on Wednesday 23rd November, then you can click here to enter our competition to win a pair of tickets to the Royal Film Performance of Hugo in London on 28th November. Good luck!

A new clip and over 50 images of Martin Scorsese’s first 3D film, Hugo, have been released this week.

The images consist mainly of stills from leads Chloe Grace Moretz and Hugo himself, Asa Butterfield, but also some of the characters we are yet to see from the trailers, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Griffiths, and Emily Mortimer as well. There is also an image of Scorsese directing and one of him on-camera in a cameo. These pictures bring a whole new understanding to the film, highlight the magical ‘30s Paris, some wonderful costumes, and a general care to details that Scorsese puts into his films.

Based on Brian Selznick‘s award-winning best-seller, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo is a young orphan boy, living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station in the 1930s. The story follows him on a magical adventure involving his late father and an automaton to unlock a secret that will transform his life and reveal a place he can call home.

The film also stars Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Ray Winstone, Christopher Lee, and Michael Stuhlbarg, and is set to be released in UK cinemas on 2nd December and next week (23rd November) in the US.

Here’s the new clip, courtesy of CinemaBlend:

And here are some of the images, and you cansee the entire gallery here:

To celebrate the release of Martin Scorsese’s HUGO, in cinemas December 2nd we have a pair of tickets to the Royal Film Performance™ to give away. The event is black tie and will be  taking place on Monday 28th November in Central London.

We’re truly excited about Martin Scorsese’s first foray into the third dimension and the trailers we’ve seen so far have looked spectacular.

Here’s a little more about the film and look below for your chance to win.

Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. The legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3D film, based on the award-winning New York Times best-seller, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

HUGO is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful orphan boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him.

The film’s amazing all-star cast includes Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer with Jude Law.

All you need to do is answer the following simple question in the form below,

Who wrote the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, on which the film is based?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Competition specific T&Cs follow:

•    Closing date is Wednesday 23rd November at midday.
•    This competition is not open to employees of, or writers for HeyUGuys, Entertainment Film Distributors, their agents or anyone else associated with this promotion.
•    The competition is open to UK residents.  If the winner is under 18 years of age they must take a parent or guardian as their guest.
•    Normal film certificate restrictions apply.
•    The first prize is 2 tickets (1 pair) to the Royal Film Performance™ on the evening of Monday 28th November 2011 in central London.
•    The event is black tie.
•    Travel and any accommodation is the responsibility of the winner.
•    The first prize winner will be notified by phone on Wednesday 23rd November to check their availability and if they cannot attend or be reached within 24 hours another name will be drawn. We will make all reasonable efforts to notify the winner. If the winner cannot be contacted within this time we reserve the right to draw an alternative winner.
•    The promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize for one of greater or equal value. The decision of the promoter in all matters is final and binding.
•    The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence shall be entered into. Entertainment Film Distributors (EFD) cannot be held responsible if the event is cancelled or details changed due to unforeseen circumstances which are beyond their control. In this event the winner will receive tickets to another EFD premiere happening in 2011/12 which will be specified by EFD.
•    Tickets are non-transferable.
•    All prizes are subject to availability.
•    Details are accurate at time of publication.

www.entertainmentfilms.co.uk

MOTION PICTURE © 2011 GK FILMS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

We’ve known him as Ali G. We’ve known his as Borat. We’ve known him as Brüno. We’ll soon be getting to know him as The Dictator (due out in May next year).

And now Variety report that none other than the Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-, BAFTA-, and Oscar-nominated actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, is close to finalising talks to star in Quentin Tarantino’s next highly anticipated feature film, Django Unchained.

The news is the latest in a slew of roles cast over the past few months, the most recent being Kerry Washington being chosen as the film’s female lead and Joseph Gordon-Levitt hopefully signing on, pending scheduling possibilities.

The film is being led by Jamie Foxx, with an immense supporting cast that also includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Don Johnson, and now hopefully Baron Cohen too. Foxx will play the titular Django,

“a slave who’s liberated by a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter and taught the tricks of the trade by his mentor. Django’s major goal in life is to recover his wife, and to do it he needs to get past the villainous ranch owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), who runs Candyland, a despicable club and plantation in Mississippi where female slaves are exploited as sex objects and males are pitted against each other in “mandingo”-style death matches. Candie is a slave’s worst nightmare, and that is where Django’s wife Broomhilda is an abused slave.”

Baron Cohen’s role is said to be one of the last major roles cast for the film, and provided talks go well, he’ll be playing Scotty, a gambling man who buys Washington’s Broomhilda to be his companion. And according to Variety,

“Though the part is small, sources said Tarantino was very particular on who he wanted to play it, given the character’s importance to the story.”

He might be a bit of a divisive actor, somewhat surrounded in controversy, but I think Baron Cohen is a brilliant and talented actor, not to mention something of a genius, and it’s interesting to see that he’s mixing his career up a bit and taking on roles we’re not used to seeing him in. We’ll next get to see him, for example, in Martin Scorsese’s anticipated Hugo (due out on 2^nd December), and I’m sure just a few years ago, there wouldn’t be many who’d think Baron Cohen would be signing on for a Scorsese film, and a family film no less.

Tarantino’s films are always nothing short of amazing, and I’ve been loving the casting news so much over the past few months. If Baron Cohen’s part is one of the last to be cast, then the slew of news that we’ve been getting recently is probably going to be coming to a slow now, with production scheduled to begin at the start of the year. Django Unchained is set to be released on Christmas Day in the States next year, and I’m hoping it will get the same release date here, because it cannot come fast enough.

Here’s another new poster for Martin Scorsese’s new movie, Hugo. I do like this poster but it has to be said that it looks just like the Robert Zemeckis movies, The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol but it’s quite possible the same designer was responsible for all three.

I’ve just done a bit of research and it would actually that BLT & Associates were responsible for creating both the Christmas Carol and Hugo posters while The Cimarron Group were responsible for The Polar Express poster. I guess it’s the trademark of a company to create similar looking posters but when I look at this new Hugo poster, I really do just see the Christmas Carol marketing campaign. Check out all three posters below and see what you think.

Hugo stars Chloe Moretz​, Jude Law​, Richard Griffiths​, Ben Kingsley​, Christopher Lee​, Sacha Baron Cohen​, Emily Mortimer​, Helen McCrory, Ray Winstone​ and should be with us 2nd December this year.

Synopsis: Adapted from the Caldecott-winning Brian Selznick​ novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” Hugo is the story of a resourceful boy who lives in a train station and teams up with a spirited young girl to solve a mystery that is based in his past and affects both of their futures.

Source: IMPA

Entertainment Films have sent us this new 90 second UK trailer for Martin Scorsese’s new movie, Hugo which is set for release 2nd December 2011. I’ve called it a trailer but it’s more of a featurette with Scorsese giving information on what the story is about throughout it but it’s a really nice way in which they’ve done it. Scroll down to have a watch and I’ll get the HD version up here as soon as I can get it uploaded.

The movie stars Chloe Moretz​, Jude Law​, Richard Griffiths​, Ben Kingsley​, Christopher Lee​, Sacha Baron Cohen​, Emily Mortimer​, Helen McCrory, Ray Winstone​ and should be with us 2nd December this year.

Synopsis: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in a series of unforgettable films. The legendary storyteller invites you to join him on a thrilling journey to a magical world with his first-ever 3-D film, based on Brian Selznick’s award-winning, imaginative New York Times best-seller, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”

HUGO is the astonishing adventure of a wily and resourceful orphan boy whose quest to unlock a secret left to him by his father will transform Hugo and all those around him.

You can catch the rest of our Hugo coverage here.

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve had a few great pictures and a featurette for Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated next feature film, Hugo.

The film is set to be a slightly different affair to his last two films, The Departed and last year’s Shutter Island, with more of a family adventure film feel expected in Hugo.

A new international poster for the film has arisen over at FilmoFilia, giving us a look at Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) as the young lead, Hugo Cabret.

“Based on the best-selling children’s historical fiction book by author Brian Selznick, Hugo tells the story of an orphan boy Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. With the help of an eccentric girl, he searches for the answer to a mystery linking the father he recently lost, the ill-tempered toy shop owner living below him and a heart shaped lock, seemingly without a key.”

The film, written by the awesome John Logan (The Last Samurai, Gladiator), has an absolutely terrific cast alongside Butterfield, including Chloë Grace Mortez (Kick-Ass), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings), Emily Mortimer (Shutter Island), Sacha Baron Cohen (Brüno), Sir Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island), and Ray Winstone (The Departed).

A rough translation of the French text on the poster, via Google Translate, reads, ‘Unravel the mystery on 14^th December,’ or (roughly) literally, ‘Discover the key to the mystery on 14^th December,’ which fits in with the imagery of the key we’ve seen on the first official poster that came out back in the summer alongside the trailer.

Luckily for us, we’ll be getting this a little earlier than France, with a UK release date scheduled for 2^nd December, just a month and a half away. Without further ado, here’s the brand new poster to enjoy with a beautiful shot of wintertime Paris behind the young Hugo Cabret. As usual, click to enlarge.

If you were one of the lucky ones who took a chance on the secret screening at this year’s New York Film Festival then you can feel pretty pleased with yourselves as it was revealed yesterday that a ‘work-in-progress’ print of Martin Scorsese’s 3D adaptation of Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, or Hugo to his mulitplex friends, would be that secret film.

To say I’m jealous would be a terrifying understateent, as I’ve followed the production with great enthusiasm since it was announced that Scorsese would be taking on the project,  a beautiful story wrapped up in a love of the magic of cinema, and everything I’ve seen so far has done nothing to dampen my spirits.

Today we see a new featurette from the film with Scorsese himself talking us through his take on the tale with some new footage spliced in there too. Also a couple of new pics have emerged which show off the wonderful production design.

A Thanksgiving release for a 3D kids film from Scorsese will be a new experience for director and audiences alike but if there’s as much magic in this film as in the lost world of silent cinema it celebrates then we’re in for something special.

Pics from Empire,

Video from The Playlist

I’m still a little miffed that it was decided to excise ‘The Invention of’ and then ‘Cabret’ from the title of Brian Selznick’s wonderful novel to leave us with the rather dull title of ‘Hugo’, yet I’m still very much looking forward to Martin Scorsese’s first dalliance with the third dimension as he tells the story of the titular orphan discovering the truth and legacy of the old toymaker whose shop sits in the Paris railway station in whose walls he lives.

There’s a cracking cast for this film with Asa Butterfield and Chloe Moretz leading  Jude Law, Richard Griffiths, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen, Emily Mortimer, Helen McCrory and Ray Winstone in this 3D extravaganza which takes in everything from automatons to the magic of the silent cinema.

The only trailer we’ve seen was a lot of fun and given the period setting every new glimpse we get of the film is riddled with detail and essential for those looking forward to this one.

So, here are two images from the fine people at The Playlist which show off the toy shop of Uncle George (whose true identity cineastes will know) with Ben Kingsley looking appropriately severe and there’s also a look at Jude Law as Hugo’s Father building a robot which becomes very important to the whole shebang.

It’s a magical story, one which Scorsese has hopefully translated perfectly to the big screen. The 2nd of December is the date to mark in your diaries.

This film has me intrigued. Not only is it Martin Scorsese’s first foray into the world of 3D but it is primarily a film for children, as well as the fan of the magical era of silent cinema.

I enjoyed Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret immensely, quite why the film has followed Disney’s nonsensical title shortening of its John Carter of Mars movie to become, first Hugo Cabret, and finally Hugo, is beyond me but the enchanting tale of the titular orphan living in a Paris train station is a captivating love letter to the magicians of early cinema.

With the help if a young girl and her grandfather, who is inextricably linked to the young world of moving pictures, Hugo struggles to cope with the loss of his father and help a reclusive man step back into the public spotlight.

We’ve kept a close eye on this film since it was announced that Scorsese was taking charge as the promise of the recreation of some of the famous silent films was too good to ignore, and you can see some set videos and images here.

Sir Ben Kingsley appears alongside Chloe Moretz and Asa Butterfield who lead the cast of Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helen McCrory, Emily Mortimer, Michael Stuhlbarg and Christopher Lee.

Apple have the trailer in HD.