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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If you’re as big a fan of writer/genius Aaron Sorkin as we are here at The Flickcast, this news will make you very happy. HBO has picked up Aaron Sorkin’s hourlong cable news network pilot and will take it to series.

In case you haven’t been following the developments of this show, it is as yet untitled (but used to be called More As This Story Develops) and centers on a cable news anchor (Jeff Daniels), his new executive producer (Emily Mortimer), his newsroom staff (Alison Pill, John Gallagher Jr, Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski), and their boss (Sam Waterston).

In true Sorkin fashion this ragtag team of individuals gradually comes together as they explore the world and the news taking place around the, and, in some cases, right in front of them. The number of episodes is yet to be determined but it is generally believed to be at least 10.

This is great news but not really that surprising. Sorkin is a well known commodity and coming off an Oscar win for The Social Network so it’s not hard to believe HBO would be interested in working with him.

It’s also a great deal for Sorkin as well as he can finally have a series on a newtork where ratings are not all that important. Sems like a good fit and we can’t wait to see the show.

Far too long has Paul Rudd been cast as the “good lucking cutesy guy with a sense of humor.” It’s about time he dirties up and tries out the look that put Zach Galifiniakis on the map, and that’s just what he’s doing in his newest film, Our Idiot Brother.

The role actually plays very different to what Rudd is normally cast as, and not just in appearance. He’s finally taking on the idiotic comic relief, instead of the constant straight man that we love him for. Here’s the official synopsis.

Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz (Emily Mortimer), Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned (Paul Rudd), an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence.

Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and so, after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Emily and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother’s unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines.

Check out the first trailer for the comedy after the jump, and catch Rudd, Deschanel,Banks, Coogan, Mortimer, and plenty more in Our Idiot Brother on August 23rd.

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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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We haven’t covered the new comedy City Island much here at The Flickcast so far, but with a potentially great cast like this and direction by Raymond De Felitta (Cafe Society, Two Family House), we’re going to start. To kick thing soff we’ve got the brand new first poster for the film. On it, you meet the cast, which includes Andy Garcia and Juilanna Margulies, and get a bit of insight into the secrets these characters may have.

The film, which was also written by De Felitta, centers on the Rizzos who are, according to the studio: “a family that might get along a lot better if only they could tell each other the truth.” Of course, hilarity ensues when a person shows up and Vinnie (Garcia) character has to finally tell the truth and explain to his wife (Margulies) who this new person actually is: his illegitimate son. Sounds like a lot of families I know.

Check out a larger version of the poster after the jump. City Island, which in addition to Garcia and Margulies features Alan Arkin and Emily Mortimer, hits theaters later this year.

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