Finally saw "Lost in Translation"

[Delarage]

and was highly disappointed. There was nothing funny in it (contrary to the reviews on the DVD cover) unless language misunderstandings during a commercial filming do it for you. It was absolutely horrible.

[Southsideirish]

1. I have never seen Bill Murray's appeal other than the "Lounge

Lizard" on SNL. He ALWAYS plays the same dead-pan character with the mugging and not-so-subtle sarcasm. Ugh!

[swag]

2. It's a weird one.

Sophia Coppola is a very atmospheric director. And a lot of right-minded people think that atmospheric sucks for movies.

In fact a lot of my friends in the GOP, and I do have many, assure me that atmospheric films truly suck.

I don't doubt their sincerity.

[Delarage]

5. Ick!

Does that mean I'm right-minded? I did like the Japanese scenery at least. I almost stated earlier that the cinematography was good. I just hate Bill Murray and I thougth the film tried to milk too much out of too little.

[swag]

10. No, sorry. I was just parodying part of McCain's speech.

Right-minded was intended as complimentary.

I don't really have any friends in the GOP.

Just workmates in the GOP and the nuclear family just past.

No reflection on you. A lot of folks were disappointed.

[Delarage]

13. How embarassing.

I hate it when I miss humor (although I think it's kind of funny when others do). In my defense, I hadn't seen McCain's speech because I can't stand to watch any Rethuglicans on TV.

[swag]

16. My reference was too arcane to be a reference

so it didn't really qualify as humor.

Just wasting everybody's time.

[Mr. Blonde]

3. Apparently it really speaks to middle aged men

and 20 something women. If you are neither of those you might not see much in the film.

[dsewell]

9. No, sorry.

I'm a middle-aged man. I like Bill Murray but found this a thoroughly forgettable movie. Unless you count thinking Scarlett Johannson's rear end is cute being "spoken to".

[Chovexani]

28. For what it's worth

I'm a 20-something woman and I thought the movie sucked.

Overrated P.O.S. in my opinion. And I found it just a little bit offensive.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

4. It's all atmosphere. I loved it.

And the soundtrack is fantastic.

[Delarage]

19. To my shame

The only music I remember is the song they were playing at the strip club scene. The friends that I watched it with and I occasionally sing it just for kicks. "Sucking on my........like you wanna" over and over. It's kind of base, but what the hell. I'm a Democrat.

[mitchum]

21. But did she notice that almost all of the music was from neither...

of the characters' eras? He was too old for 80s underground and new wave, and she was too young. The music was just right for Sofia's adolescence, though. Hmmm...

[mwdem]

42. My SO was in Tokyo on a business trip, felt it captured the whole feeling.

....and, no, there was no Scarlett Johansen on his trip. He really didn't like Tokyo, couldn't sleep, so the movie hit a chord with him.

[Gothic Sponge]

6. It's a good film

That got hyped beyond people's expectations. If there was no hype, and you saw it one night on IFC, you might think differently.

[bobthedrummer]

7. It was a real drag for my wife and myself too

we expected more from Ms. Coppola-this was vapid with a couple of interesting scenes that couldn't save the overall effect of
:wtf:

[The empressof all]

8. I thought it was over rated

And I love Sophia and Bill

[kixot]

11. HATED IT!!!

Sorry, but poorly written, guerilla filmed, documentary-styled mood pieces are not my cup of tea. Sophia Coppola f'ed up Eugenides' "Virgin Suicides" - completely castrating a powerfully mature story into a teenybop angst piece - and I don't feel that she's done this work any favors. Slow, full of dead air, and motivationally impotent.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

12. The Virgin Suicides was a terrible movie.

[kixot]

14. Thank you.

For such a powerful novel to be so pitifully misinterpreted - it should be a crime.

[On the Road]

15. Yes, It Was Overhyped, But...

I thought it was one of the year's best movies. Very subtle. Very deeply felt. But if you're not a connoisseur of alienation and emptiness, it might not have registered that way.

[jpgray]

30. Its depiction of alienation and emptiness was paint-by-numbers

And the black and white view of Japanese culture and the puerile satire (ditzy blonde starlets, beware! Someone has found the courage to make fun of you!) just didn't grab me at all.

edit: I'm critiquing a movie that took years of effort and I have a bunch of spelling and grammar errors in my own post. It's so easy to be a critic. :D But I really didn't care for the movie--isolation and emptiness by someone who has no clear idea of what either is about.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

17. eh I thought it was pretty good

but then I didn't read any reviews so had exactly zero expectations for it.

I found it kind of navel-gazing.

But ok.

I thought the scenes of Tokyo night life were very interesting.

[Bluebear]

18. Mr. Kazo sent premium fantasy.....my stockings.....LIP THEM.

Lip my stockings!

What an odd movie....

[stranger_with_candy]

20. I thought

it started out with a few good laughs. then it went bad fast. then worse. how did it end? ;)

[mitchum]

22. The Coppola Nepotism Program is usually not a source of quality

[Misunderestimator]

39. That about sums it up.

[Susang]

23. I'm sorry you didn't get it, personally I loved it

I lived in South Korea for six months, staying in various hotels for weeks at a time. Most of my time was spent in Seoul, one of the largest cities in the world, it was immense and overwhelming. Lost in Translation was exactly like my trip, strange, awe-inspiring, frightening, funny, hysterical and very lonely. I thought it was a brilliant film

[MirrorAshes]

24. 23 year old male here...absolutely loved it.

Sorry if you didn't get it.

[Chovexani]

31. I "got it"

And I thought it vapid and shallow, much like Sofia Coppola's work in general.

I find it patently offensive when people assume that just because someone has a different opinion about something, it means they didn't get it. Everyone has different taste. :shrug:

[MirrorAshes]

36. No, I really don't think you did.

My apologies if I've offended you, but I stand by the statement. Its not generally something I would say, but in this specific instance I believe it to be the full truth.

I'm not saying it went over your head, I'm not saying you're wrong in your interpretation. I'm just saying that there is a certain magic about this film that some people seem to appreciate and some people don't. If you are in the latter category, thats fine, but it is something that I care for deeply. Quite honestly, I have no problems with being frank about it. There is a certain undeniable quality about this film that some "get" and some do not.

I was captivated by this movie from start to finish. There was not a single moment where I felt anything but a deep connection and love for the characters. I see it as more of a work of art than a movie. And I, to be completely honest, find it "patently offensive" when someone undermines *my* reaction to it.

Judging by your profile, you and I might share quite a bit of "taste". In this instance, however, I really have no problem whatsoever in standing by the notion that Lost In Translation is an aquired taste that will be beloved by some and disdained by others. I'm really quite sorry you did not get what I got out of it, because it is something I feel quite blessed to have experienced.

[jpgray]

43. Wait a minute

Just because one person likes a movie and another does not doesn't mean there is something there to 'get' that the former is incapable of 'getting'. Leave it at taste and let it alone--no need to question someone's ability to perceive and understand a film, because regardless of what you mean, people can take it that way.

[MirrorAshes]

46. Read my post again. Thats not what I did at all.

I quite clearly said "I'm not saying it went over your head, I'm not saying you're wrong in your interpretation", which is true.

There is *SOMETHING* about this film, though, that some people tend to get and some don't. I'm not talking about some sort of intellectual point that some people aren't smart enough to understand, I'm just saying theres a quality about it that some appreciate and some don't. Please don't put words in my mouth!

[jpgray]

47. That was the followup post, and I 'got' what you meant :-)

It just wasn't clear in the first post. I'm only saying people can take 'you didn't get it' the wrong way.

[MirrorAshes]

49. Well, your response wasn't clear either then...

God, this is really silly.

To be totally honest, I don't really care if people took it the wrong way or not. I've explained myself and I stick by everything I've said.

It is a very simple, self-evident truth that some people get this movie and some people don't. Are the people who don't wrong? Are they dumb for not appreciating it? No. Are the people who do get it smart or hip or intellectual? No. They just like the freakin movie.

[sundog]

25. Agree, I'm sorry you also had to endure the pain

--

[rockymountaindem]

26. I agree.

It sucked.

[mondo joe]

27. Loved the nuanced adult characters and relationships.

I can imagine this movie happening so many other awful ways - some sort of Richard Gere/Sandra Bullock thing that ends with him carrying her onto the plane.

Instead we got a sad/sweet story about people with other lives who brush up against each other in a far away place.

[fujiyama]

29. I caught it on STARZ

the other night. It was OK. I think it was a bit overrated. It wasn't terrible though.

It started off interesting but got stale soon after. I also agree with the poster who said that Murray is always the same character. He seems likable enough, but I haven't seen much breadth in his acting.

[DrWeird]

32. I'm sorry there weren't enough car chases for you.

Maybe they should put "really cool explosions" and "misplaced bad jokes during action sequences" next to the ratings, so you know which films to go to.

[Dem2theMax]

33. I saw it and really enjoyed it.

Maybe it had something to do with traveling overseas. All the language problems, the differences in culture, I've experienced that many times. Maybe it's why I appreciated it. And I love Bill Murray. Someone in another post said they couldn't stand him. Did they ever see 'What About Bob?' :)

[WindRavenX]

34. I loved it

I thought it captured the emptiness of human existence in a huge, foreign city. It doesn't need to be a foreign country- it could be NYC or any other large city where you as a person feel out of place.
I adored it.

[bookfreak]

35. I agree, it was rotten

My friends and I watched it two weeks ago and kept waiting for the funny stuff. What the heck were all those critics raving about???

[ellie]

37. I really liked it a lot

[Misunderestimator]

38. Tried to watch it this weekend ... absolutely dreadful

had to change to something else after an hour.

[lil-petunia]

40. subtle? Hardly. boring to tears, or worse.

I can read camus in the tub and be enthralled. Wait. I DO read Camus in the tub.

The only reason I kept this waste of plastic and magnetic recording on was in the faint, and ultimately pointless hope that there would be a plot. Something not as predictable as a Bush campaign speach. nor as boring as examining Rush Limbaugh medical records. Anything. Any spark. Any redeeming quality would have helped. It had absolutely none.

between gigli and that dustin hoffman middle east monstrosity and waterworld, I am hard pressed to say which movie is the worst. The problem it, this one is so inane and predictable, and the acting is so poor, that it doesn't even qualify for "so bad that it is fun to watch" in the attack of the killer tomatoes vein.

[kixot]

41. I liked it much beter the first time I saw it.

When it was in German and about two brothers under the title "Enlightenment Guaranteed".

[NashVegas]

44. I Didn't Find It Funny

Enjoyed it very much, all the same. And I can also see why many people wouldn't care for it. When someone makes a film about Hollywood or its characters, they're making a film about people and experiences that non-entertainment industry types don't exactly encounter everyday. It's easy to fall into the trap of self-indulgence. LiT seemed, to me, a lot more about SJ's character's bewilderment with her husband's lifestyle than Japan itself.

[Ilsa]

45. It was well-directed, but I didn't care for the story.

It fell flat for me as it just wasn't that interesting a story. I enjoyed the setting and acting.

[Pale Blue Dot]

48. I loved it.

Anybody going into it expecting a "Bill Murray comedy" ala "Stripes" is going to be disappointed. I think it does an excellent job of dealing with real human emotions, and Murray was fantastic in it.

I love the scene in the pool where he is talking to his wife on the cell phone, and she asks, "Do I need to worry about you?" He replies, "Only if you want to."

That is the essence of marriage boiled down to two lines. Brilliant.

[gollygee]

50. I have a friend who downloaded it illegally but accidentally

got it in Spanish. hehe

I saw it on an airplane and thought it was OK but not great.