‘Hugo’ adventurous holiday opener

If you're anything like me, dear readers, then you've been extremely busy with everything in your life and you haven't been home in, what feels like, years. 

One of my biggest highlights of the holidays is catching the latest movie with my family.  I have a little brother who's almost nine, so we usually have to watch something that's family friendly.  However, just because you have to censor your choices a bit doesn't mean you have to sacrifice entertainment.  This is why I'm excited for "Hugo" to come out this week. 

"Hugo" tells the story of a lost boy of sorts. He winds up living in a train station and stumbles upon a lot of friends and adventures along the way, including an angry Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") and some automatons to boot.  

It's based off the novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," which looks like quite the interesting read since it's a combination of a novel and a comic book.  

There are a lot of pros to this movie, and I really can't seem to find any cons.  For one, it's directed by Martin Scorsese—the Martin Scorsese.  This is the same mastermind behind "The Aviator" and "The Departed."  He tends to make some really dark, beautiful masterpieces, and if he's taking the time to direct this story, then it's a story well worth telling.

Another pro to this film, as a whole, is the cast.  The boy who plays Hugo, Asa Butterfield, was originally in "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," so you know this kid can act.  

Chloe Grace Moretz plays Hugo's best friend.  This is the actress that played Hit-Girl in "Kick Ass" and a vampire in "Let Me In."  She's probably the coolest 14-year-old I've ever seen.  The supporting cast includes Jude Law, so needless to say, the cast is magnificent and I'm very excited to see what they'll do with this story.   

On top of everything else, this looks like a really unique story.  Many of the elements that go into the story are familiar, like a lost orphan and a magnificent toy shop, but I've never seen them put together in quite that way before.  

This movie has influences of history. It's set in the 1930s, steam punk and adventure.  Plus, it doesn't look like it dumbs anything down or makes it happy go lucky, simply because it's more of a "children's movie."   

When I go home this week, I will sit down to a nice Thanksgiving dinner and then promptly fall asleep from turkey overload.  Then I look forward to going to see what looks to be a magnificent movie with my family the day after.  

If you feel like your turkey coma may be too severe, you can always go see this movie the day before Thanksgiving since it comes out this Wednesday.  

So here's to some great turkey and maybe a little journey with "Hugo" along the way.