Hobbit reviews Lost in Translation -- MUST SEE

[Josh]

<A HREF=http://www.filmhobbit.com/cgi-bin/movies/movies.cgi?action=showreview&review=lostintranslation>DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE!</A>

Review isn't quite done, but there you go.

[Evil Dead Junkie]

Tis Great.

Murray wins Oscar hands down. The end. No. He does.

God I can't believe what a GOOD Director Sofia Coppala has become. I think she did some voodoo ritual where after Apocalypse Now she drained all the talent that her father had, and forced him to make films like Rain Man, and Tucker.

[Matt]

yes I hope to see this flick as well.

[NotSoSecretAgent]

The best film of the year. Nothing will beat it. Nothing will even come close. It's one of my all-time favorites, too.

[Taln Hess]

Catching this and American Splendor over the weekend or early next week...

[Josh]

Don't miss it. Go go go!

I saw it Friday night, opening night. Every showing was sold out. The line was around the block at the only theater in 300 miles showing it.

And with good reason.

[Bordick]

Originally posted by Evil Dead Junkie

God I can't believe what a GOOD Director Sofia Coppala has become. I think she did some voodoo ritual where after Apocalypse Now she drained all the talent that her father had, and forced him to make films like Rain Man, and Tucker.
Coppola had nothing to do with Rain Man

[Evil Dead Junkie]

I know I like Rain Man.

I meant RainMaker. Boy was that ever a piece of shit.

[Taln Hess]

Wait, wasn't that the DeVito/Damon movie based on the Grisham novel? I didn't think it was that bad... and I don't even really care for courtroom dramas.

[Bordick]

It wasn't totally horrible, I mean it was all right

[Taln Hess]

Ed Norton was in that wasn't he? When has he done anything bad... that he was beind (not Italian Job).

[Evil Dead Junkie]

Originally posted by Bordick
It wasn't totally horrible, I mean it was all right


I'm sorry I have higher expectations the "Not Totally horrible" from the man that made The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation.

[Bordick]

Orson Welles made some crap after Citezen Kane. Every director makes crap, no matter how much insanely supreme good shit they do

[Bordick]

Anyways, back to Lost in Translation, it's wider release this weekend will benefit myself. I may just go to the movies for once. For the first time since FvJ

[phenotype31]

Damn. Not enough time in the night to see both The Rundown and Lost in Translation.

Guess I'll have to wait a week to see this film. :D

[Evil Dead Junkie]

Yeah but theirs a difference between the occasional Bad Film and not having a decent film since 1979

[phenotype31]

Anyone not seen this yet?

Stop procastinating and go NOW!

I'm too hyped from enjoying it to say it's my favorite movie of the year. I prefer to let it settle in, and have a few days to think about. But it's in my top 3 easily.

*spoilage below*













I'm not sure if this is a spoiler allowed thread, but I assume so. If not, sorry. This may be edited or manuevered as the mods see fit.

I just wanted to mention a couple of my favorite moments:

The Japanese Johnny Carson. So funny and exuberant. Murray's reaction to it all (everything in the film), in particular this, is priceless.

When Charlotte tells Bob that the woman is closer to his age. It seemed like nothing, but it was the moment in the film when the two characters examined their relationship.

At the end, when we don't hear what Bob whispers to Charlotte. Coppola didn't pander to the audience. Ballsy move, and kudos to her. If you'd payed attention to the rest of the film, then you have some idea of what he said. Not the words, but the idea. Go ahead and form your own dialogue, I'm sure that it'll be close to the truth.

The one complaint I have is the pacing was off at times. Beautiful shots of Charlotte sitting at the hotel window. Yet they felt slightly labored. My girlfriend described it best, "It was like certain scenes were two or three heartbeats too long. Nothing you really noticed, just felt."

[phenotype31]

Hobbit, I finally read your review and have to agree 100% with this:

Interestingly, there is never any true sense that their relationship is sexual. In fact, Lost in Translation defies any such convention at every turn. Instead, Bob and Charlotte develop a kind of deep, abiding, grasping, needing love of support and mutual loneliness appearing at just the right time in each of their lives. Any cliché Hollywood relationship manual that writers might have floating around out there has been tossed right out the window in favor of something more meaningful and authentic.

I loved that there were moments when I was preparing myself for sexual tension, and it never happened. It never felt that Coppola was avoiding sex, only that she knew it wasn't what the relationship amounted to.

This is also the exact reason why I love Charlotte's line regarding the lounge singer. It's so honest and truthful, and makes you realize there's something real between Bob and Charlotte.

Can I love this movie any more?

[Josh]

So Pheno... what do YOU think Bob said to Charlotte at the end?

Most of my friends think it is something along the lines of "don't worry, you'll turn out fine" or something. Me, I'm not so sure.

[Taln Hess]

Well, I don't think I liked this movie as much as everyone else so far. I did like it, but it won't be rated as high as Hobbit has placed it on his list.

I thought the performances were very sincere and honest, quite frankly a first for Bill Murray and a good continuation of Scarlet Johannson's career. Really striking imagery meshed with those honest performances really made me like this movie. I also liked that they didn't let you hear the words at the end. To me that did what I wanted Secondhand Lions to do - leave some form of suspense at the end.

It was good to see two characters in need of something or someone else, but not see that devolve into an affair... or have any notion that the friendship would continue after Tokyo. What they had was appropriate for where they were, both physically and in life in general. Bob obviously did need some form of physical need met as well, but it was good to see this not fulfilled by Charlotte.

Good characters, good direction, good writing!

[Evil Dead Junkie]

Originally posted by FilmHobbit
So Pheno... what do YOU think Bob said to Charlotte at the end?

Most of my friends think it is something along the lines of "don't worry, you'll turn out fine" or something. Me, I'm not so sure.

I think that he might be reitterating the "I'd rather be with you right now then with anyone else in the world."


"You guys must have had a lot to talk about LIKE GROWING UP IN THE FIFTIES" :D

[Cogito]

Caught this the other night, great, great flick.

Serious flick, yet typical funny Murray flick. True greatness. I'm awed.

[Josh]

typical funny Murray flick....

Really? I mean it had some of Murray's trademark quirkyness, but I really felt like he brought something pretty different than anything he's done before to it.

[Taln Hess]

Yeah, I thought it was anything but a typical Murry flick... which was one of his strengths. As my friend said: Finally a more recent Bill Murray flick that I can be proud of admitting I saw.

[Josh]

This is the first time I REALLY feel like talking about him getting an Oscar is totally warranted. He's done great stuff before (Rushmore) but this is just an entirely new level.

[Evil Dead Junkie]

Personally I prefer both the Murray's performance in Rushmore, and Rushmore as a film.

[Taln Hess]

I could definitely see Oscar nods in the future for most of this film: Writing, Cinematography, Direction, Best Lead Male, and Best Lead Female.

Unfortunately the powers that be most likely will decide Coppola too young and early in her career for direction. I would like to see this movie get some attention from the academy though.

[Josh]

Didn't she get some consideration for Virgin Suicides though?

[Taln Hess]

Won an MTV Movie Award (Best New Director), nominated for the Sierra, Empire and Brit. No lovin' from the academy.

[ReservoirSean]

just got back from seeing this...


...wow....just...wow. Really REALLY excellent movie. Like I said, I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible so I had NO idea what this was really about, and even with that in mind it wasn't what I expected, it was different, but better! And thus, Pirates gets the boot.

[The Chapman]

"I will always be gratefull for these last few days." Or somehting to that effect I think. Followed by assuranses of a good future and such.

Anway, I finally got to see it tonight. I screened it seeing as I work at the theatre.

In case those of you here don't know me, I spent the better part of August 2000 to August 2002 living and studying in Tokyo. Simply said, this film captures the atmosphere of Tokyo better than any other I have ever seen. Spot on.

Though I will admit that I was not exactly like the main characters in the movie. I took a sick pleasure in wandering around Tokyo and never getting homesick. Though I think that is partly what the movie was about too. It was not that they were in tokyo and Tokyo offered nothing. Quite the contrary, they were in a tough time in their lives and their friendship allowed them to explore their surroundings. Very similar to some of the experiences I had.

Most eerie of all is that the final goodbye scene takes place about two blocks from where I had a very similar and touching goodbye moment. Though not as poetic as in the movie. Not even the blathering manager sitting next to me could ruin it.

[Josh]

Blathering manager? Throw popcorn.

Nice to get the perspective of someone who has been there!

I've never seen a movie that really captured Tokyo this way... if what you say is true then it is also the only movie that captures it right.

[The Reel Yapper]

I prefer not to wonder what he says. I think Sofia Coppola's point at this juncture was that these were two people who shared something intimate and wonderful and pretty undefinable, and at the end of the film, she respects her characters so much, that she gives them a little something that nobody else gets. I doubt she even wrote what he said in the screenplay.

One little touch I liked was that the lounge singer's first number was "Are You Going To Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel (and I'm giving that title wrong. It was the opening number in "The Graduate" a film that tackles similar themes of isolation and desperation - although in a different cinematic language.

[Josh]

Oooh! Interesting thought on what was said at the end Nate.

Personally, I LOVE the fact that I don't know what they said, as you do, but I also LOVE the fact that my mind keeps wondering what it was afterwards. It sticks with you, even though you don't know the words, you understand their relationship and what they meant to each other.

Now you've got me wanting to read the script, to see just what was written there. That would be pretty interesting to see.

[Bordick]

couldn't find the PWYSI thread :(

So I finally saw this tonight.

DVD Review coming to DVD Blend soon.

[Bruiser]

Originally posted by The Chapman
"I will always be gratefull for these last few days." Or somehting to that effect I think. Followed by assuranses of a good future and such.

Anway, I finally got to see it tonight. I screened it seeing as I work at the theatre.

In case those of you here don't know me, I spent the better part of August 2000 to August 2002 living and studying in Tokyo. Simply said, this film captures the atmosphere of Tokyo better than any other I have ever seen. Spot on.

Though I will admit that I was not exactly like the main characters in the movie. I took a sick pleasure in wandering around Tokyo and never getting homesick. Though I think that is partly what the movie was about too. It was not that they were in tokyo and Tokyo offered nothing. Quite the contrary, they were in a tough time in their lives and their friendship allowed them to explore their surroundings. Very similar to some of the experiences I had.

Most eerie of all is that the final goodbye scene takes place about two blocks from where I had a very similar and touching goodbye moment. Though not as poetic as in the movie. Not even the blathering manager sitting next to me could ruin it.

Personally, I couldn't see the hype of this one. The only thing that kept me in the cinema was Murray. I failed to "oooo and aaahhh" over the whole flick like everyone else.
I lived and worked in Tokyo for 7 years and thought that it was somewhat condescending and derogatory to the Japanese in general.
I wonder if it's the fact the director is a Coppola it received the hype it has...
eh, I'll get off my soapbox now and duck the tomatoes

[Matt]

I liked it. Pretty good. I guess I'd give it **** . The thing with Murray is.. .he acts the same way in a lot of movies. That isn't a shot at his performance in LiT but it shows how underrated he is in many previous films. The pacing was a bit off but that can be easily explained as a tool by the director to show how time has slowed down for our lonely main characters trapped in relationships and locations that they don't want to be in. The pacing picks up as they become more interested in each other.

I will probably watch it again. I expect it ages just like a fine wine.