Hugo & Act of Valor

 

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch two (relatively) new movies, Hugo and Act of Valor.  As I mentioned in my last post, my wife enjoys watching movies that are nominated for best picture, which Hugo was, so we went that route.  I was ok with watching this movie because on Blu-Ray it looks great on my tv.  The movie itself however, was disappointing to me.  I understand how it was nominated for best picture and won so many awards, and it’s mostly because the movie, at its core, is about movies.  Between Hugo and The Artist, which won best picture and I have not seen, they won nearly every major award, and both films are about movies.  You have to love the ego of the Academy that basically pats itself on the back.  Is there a group more out of touch with what people actually like/want that the Academy?  I cannot even think of a comparison to relate to this voting, but maybe by the end I will come up with one.  Now back to Hugo, which was directed by the great Martin Scorsese; the movie was pretty boring and the climax was nothing to write home about.  I don’t care to go into details about the plot because it didn’t interest me while watching, so it definitely won’t interest me to write about it.  Hugo is classified as a kid’s movie, but that’s only true in the sense of putting it on for your kids to fall asleep to.  The effects were great and the film was well done, but that’s really the only thing that saves this film.  Scorsese should stick to what he’s good at; making films where everyone dies. All in all, Hugo receives a 3.4 for Story, 3.6 for Originality, 5 for Quality, 3 for Entertainment, and 2.8 for Pace for a Total of 71.  My score is lower than the average viewer score of 82 and Rottentomatoes 93, but obviously I wasn’t a big fan. 

The second film I watched, Act of Valor, benefited from the fact that I viewed it in the theater, something that may or may not have helped my experience of watching Hugo.  Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs and gives a fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations.  My expectations going in were mixed as the previews looked exciting, but the reviews were poor.  In the end, this movie did not disappoint.  The action and suspense more than make up for the poor acting, which was to be expected from non-actors.  The strategies and tactics used by the SEALs was something I have never seen in any film, and I expect to see them used in more future films.  The extraction scene in the first third of the movie was one of the best action sequences I have seen in any film and was highly entertaining.  After seeing the way these men risk their lives with the thought of only protecting their fellow soldiers, I gained an even deeper respect for our military.  Act of Valor receives a 4 for Story, 4.5 for Originality, 2.5 for Quality, 4.8 for Entertainment, and 4.6 for Pace for a Total of 81.8.  This score is far more representative of the average viewer score of 85 than the 29 it receives from  Rottentomatoes.

Oh and I got one (kind of)!  The Academy selecting The Artist and Hugo as the major award winners would be like the Westminster Kennel Club judges selecting Air Bud as their winner for best film.  Just a mockery.  The problem is, the People’s Choice awards are just as bad because, as a rule, people are mostly stupid.  I don’t know how this can be fixed, and I don’t care enough to come up with a solution (though I do enjoy complaining about it.