Best film of 2011

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2011)

Orphaned Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) takes over his drunken uncle's job caring for the clocks at the train station in post World War I Paris. He eventually discovers that a shopkeeper's goddaughter, Isabelle, may literally have the key to solving the mystery of an automaton left by his father. I highly recommend enjoying this surreal adventure in 3D in the theatre. It deserves several Oscar nominations including Ben Kingsley as the shopkeeper and Chloe Grace Moretz as Isabelle. Sacha Baron Cohen's campy performance as the station inspector detracted slightly from this otherwise excellent film (8.9 out of 10). The PG rating is mostly for a dream sequence that might creep out the little ones, but it is definitely suitable for ages eight and above.