I tend to think of Scorsese as a master of genre films—he’s done gangster films (Goodfellas, Casino), comedy (After Hours, The King of Comedy), police drama (The Departed), psychological thriller (Shutter Island), boxing (Raging Bull), biopic (Kundun, The Aviator, No Direction Home), concert (Shine a Light), historical (Gangs of New York), literary classic (The Age of Innocence), even a remake Cape Fear) and a sequel (The Color of Money)—but he tends to bring such a distinct touch to the films, they don’t quite feel like genre films.

So when I heard he was taking a stab at a kiddie flick, Hugo immediately shot to my most anticipated Scorsese film to date (outside, of course, of the fictional film he was making with Larry David as the money-hurling mob boss in Curb Your Enthusiasm)—added to that who wouldn’t be interested in Scorsese’s take on 3D?

And Hugo doesn’t disappoint. It’s not the most compelling story, but for all its two-hour-seven-minute running time, I wasn’t bored once. There’s a lot more going on, and I’ll get to that in a moment, but first the rundown.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an urchin who haunts a Paris railway station in the early 1930s, repairing its clocks and stealing various cogs and sprockets to rebuild the homunculus he and his father (Jude Law) were working on right up to his death. While Hugo tends to remain out of the sight and mind of the station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), he’s less successful evading the eye of the toymaker he robs (Ben Kingsley). Caught trying to thieve a wind-up mouse, he’s forced to give up his father’s notebook, which includes all the instructions on repairing the mechanical man and provokes a strange reaction from the toymaker.

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Books are coming back in a huge way lately. I can remember being in school when Hollywood was having an outreach for kids to “read more.” now it seems like Hollywood can’t get kids to stop reading and loving books, to the point where just about every big book franchise is getting adapted into a movie.

Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and now Orson Scott Card’s epic series, Ender’s Game is getting the Hollywood treatment.

Movement on the project is picking up quickly, as critically acclaimed actor Ben Kinglsey is joining an already stellar cast. From THR:

Hugo actor Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld are starring in the pic, set in a future where the Earth is under attack by an insect-like race and mankind has created a battle school to train fighting forces.

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Martin Scorsese is a genius. No, I don’t mean he’s just talented or gifted or lucky (well, he may be those too). I mean he’s a certified genius. He’s one man who found his calling early, stuck with it and over the years has created some of the finest moments in cinema history.

And now, it looks like he’s done it again with his latest film Hugo. Based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, the film tells the story of orphan Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who lives inside the walls of a Paris train station.

His days are spent trying to unravel a mystery that links his late father to an ill-mannered toy shop owner living below him and a heart-shaped lock which seems to have no key. With the help from an eccentric girl named Isabelle (Chloe Moretz), he embarks on an adventure to solve the mystery. The film also features Jude Law as Hugo’s father and Ben Kingsley as Georges Melies, Isabelle’s godfather.

Based on this trailer alone I can safely say the movie looks terrific. Plus, Scorsese and Cholie Moretz. Forget about it, I’m in.

Hugo is set to arrive in theaters on November 23. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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While Hollywood has proven that magicians may look cool, they definitely don’t always rake in the big bucks across the globe. It’s been shown time and time again with films like The Prestige, The Illusionist, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Though, for that last one, we blame Nic Cage.

It looks like Working Title films, the company behind the series The Tudors and the film Hot Fuzz, are now working on a brand new adaptation of the classic Merlin tale, which will take the old wizard to modern day.

The script comes from historical novel author Jay Basu, who plans on rebooting King Arthur’s spiritual wizard in a “contemporary setting.” Expect to see the film to keep a prominent British cast, as most of the films from Working Title are done out of the UK.

Not much is known about the script or what we can expect from the film, but you can expect to see plenty of respect paid to the character, as legendary actors like Sam Neill, Ben Kingsley, and Donald Pleasence have donned the robe and pointy hat at one point.

Keep it here for more news on this film as it develops.

Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something.

• Megan Fox is out of Transformers 3. Who will take her place? Heidi Montag or Ben Kingsley? Your guess is as good as ours.

• Speaking of replacing Megan Fox (only in the movie, not in our hearts) it looks like it may actually be this Victoria’s Secret model. Wonder what she had to wash to get the part?

• Patton Oswalt + Firefly + Comics = a nerdgasm the likes of which we’ve never seen.

• Who wouldn’t want to watch a video about Gwyneth Paltrow’s Shrimp Taco? There’s no further explanation necessary.

• Ever wonder what video games your favorite porn stars like to play? Well, wonder no more.

• What the hell is going on with Owen Wilson’s career? Pajiba breaks it down for us.

• NBC Exec Jeff Zucker runs a once-great network into the ground, and then gets a $30 million severance package. Ain’t life sweet?

• Finally, a comprehensive list of The Best and Worst Vampires in Film History…take that, shiny Robert Pattinson!

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In Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Jake Gyllenhal stars as Prince Dastan, a former orphan who caught the eye of the king with a heroic deed, and was adopted into the royal family. Alongside his adoptive brothers he learns to fight like a warrior, but he is a bit scrappier that the other two, and can’t resist a good street fight from time to time.

He can nimbly traverse the city’s rooftops and his fancy footwork allows him to escape many a predicament that would have felled a lesser man. Prince Dastan is definitely supposed to be a throwback swashbuckler like Indiana Jones, or Richard O’Connell from The Mummy. Jake Gyllenhal almost pulls it off, but in the end, this story felt like a wanna-be Indiana Jones movie. Unfortunately, it comes up a bit short in every way.

The story begins when the Persian King believes that a neighboring kingdom harbors weapons of mass destruction, so they must invade and occupy the city. This will be Dastan”s big chance to to lead the army and prove his worth.

And so they invade the neighboring kingdom of Alamut under false pretenses. In Alamut, they encounter a beautiful, stubborn princess named Tamina, who takes a an instant dislike to Daston, but later, when Daston is accused of a committing a horrible crime, Tamina (Gemma Arterton, of Clash of the Titans) leads him to safety.

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Earlier this week, we brought you three exciting new clips from the upcoming Disney blockbuster Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. We got our first look at the drama between Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Nizam (Ben Kingsley), as well as some of the immense action that the film plans to deliver.

Today, we’re bringing you even more. The screenplay comes from Boaz Yakin who was set to originally write the Batman Year One project directed by Darren Aronofsky. That film later became Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins. Also, the team of Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard helped move the Prince script along. They also wrote the script for Disney’s upcoming The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

In the clips today, we get our first look at Alfred Molina in the film, sporting a spiffy tan. Also, we get a bit more action and roof-jumping from Gyllenhaal’s Dastan, and a cool “Sand Trap” scene showing off some of the CG effects of the film.

Check out those clips after the jump. Catch Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as early as midnight tonight across the U.S.

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This week could mark the the continuation of an epic summer blockbuster season as Disney comes out of the box swinging with Prince of Persia. Robin Hood and MacGruber had pretty lame opening week’s, while Iron Man 2 and Shrek Forever After took home a nice chunk of change. Disney, along with Bruckheimer and most of Hollywood, believe they will continue that success with this Jake Gyllenhaal-starring vehicle.

In the film, Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, a character made famous by the classic side-scrolling video game Prince of Persia. The movie is set against an epic historical backdrop, with plenty of fantasy elements thrown in for good measure. Joining Gyllenhaal are Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans), Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina.

In the first three clips we’ve got for you (that’s right, there will be more), Dastan and Nizam (Kingsley) prepare for battle, we get some nighttime sneak attacks, and Dastan and Tamina (Arterton) have a lover’s quarrel.

Check out the clips after the jump, and catch Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in theaters Friday, May 28th.

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Martin Scorsese’s latest potboiler bears the unmistakable markings of a classic film noir. Cigarette smoke  hangs heavy in the air  and tendrils about the characters, almost taking on a life of its own. Dream sequences become engulfed in flames and smoke. The camera lingers on one character taking a drag off of a cigarette and inhaling the smoke directly into his nostrils.

The smoke  is so pervasive that I kept thinking there has to be a reason for it, beyond atmosphere.  My conclusion is that the smoke is an allegorical symbol for “smoke and mirrors”, quite apropo because on Shutter Island, nothing is as it appears.

Leonardo DiCaprio (with a thick Boston accent) plays Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshal who has been summoned to the mysterious Shutter Island, a foreboding chunk of land surrounded by rocky precipices. This makes the island ideal for housing dangerous and severely disturbed psychiatric patients. The movie takes place in 1954, when psychiatric patients were routinely given lobotomies, and other “treatments” were inflicted that are considered unethical and inhumane today.

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Many people are speculating that Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer’s upcoming Prince of Persia will carry on the financial mantle of the team’s previous franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean. After we took a look at the very first trailer, we’re now inclined to agree with that theory.

The film could also be what finally puts Jake Gyllenhaal on the map as an action star, which may be the logical next step in his career. Alongside Jake, the film stars Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), and comes from a script by Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (The Uninvited).

Disney just released three new character posters, showing off Kingsley, Arterton, and Gyllenhaal looking stoic. Even Ben has a bit of a photoshop’d twinkle in his eye for some reason. Check them out after the jump, and be sure to “Defy The Future” with Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time on May 28th.

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We’ve been trying to cover the brand new Disney epic from the creators of the Pirates of The Carribbean trilogy, with the little promotional material that the studio has already released. That seems to have changed in the past few days, as the first trailer for the film has finally hit the ‘net.

The film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Star Trek’s Gemma Aterton, is based on the classic action/adventure video game about a A rogue prince who reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

The film is directed by Mike Newell, director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and also stars Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. Check out the first full trailer, thanks to our friends at Trailer Addict, after the jump. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hits theaters May 28th, 2010.

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With both historical fantasies and video game adaptations hot properties to snatch up in Hollywood, how could a new film starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an “adventurous prince who teams up with a rival princess to stop an angry ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world” NOT be an amazing idea for a movie? Well, if this new picture tells us anything, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time may actually be a fun flick.

Entertainment Weekly had the pic up over the weekend (bigger size after the jump), which is the first of probably many to come. The film features only a few other names besides Gyllenhaal, which is surprising given the nature of the film, and the fact that it’s a Disney and Bruckheimer project. These include Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, and rising star Gemma Arterton (Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace).

UPDATE: The first poster for Prince of Persia has also been released online. Check it out after the jump!

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