Lost in Translation

Post by **Sloth** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:54 pm

Wow was that one a disappointment.

Did anyone like it?

Yawn.

What is the point of making fun of Japanese people because they don't speak English and act do like we do? We are way easier to make fun of than them.

Linda liked it at the beginning when the girl was lying around in her see through panties (that's what she just told me anyway). That was my favorite part as well. The scenes of Tokyo were beautiful, but the karaoke and the lame geeky people and parties ruined it for me.

I have a hard time believing everyone in Tokyo is a Elvis impersonator, a bowing subservant jerk, or a game show host.

mushi mushi

Post by **mccutcheon** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 6:26 pm

That was a great film. fucker.

Maverick · Post by **Maverick** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:26 am

I liked it, but the panties were by far the best part.

I also like when the commercial director kept saying "Loger Moore"

h. · Post by h. » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:34 am

I've got a date to see that next weekend. I'll give my opinion once I've seen it.

rosie · Post by **rosie** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 4:48 am

what about when they run through the arcade. corny.
see weathermen underground. that documentary is perfect.

marky · Post by **marky** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 1:10 pm

I was just about to post about this film and ask what people thought of it. Turns out someone beat me to it. I went and saw it on a total whim tonight. I was staring at this new fridge magnet a friend gave me of the Grand Canyon and remembered how funny it was that the back of it credited the photography to Kevin Shields. When I think of that name, I only think of the guy from legendary shoegazing band My Bloody Valentine. Then I remembered how Kevin Shields had done some new music for Lost In Translation and remembered I also had a theater gift certificate I never used. So I figured 'what the hell'.

For the first half of the movie, I was so bored. I expect Bill Murray to be funny, but there wasn't much to laugh at. I also didn't understand why it was necessary to base so much of the movie on making fun of Japanese people. But by the end of the film, somehow it had won me over. I'm usually so picky about believability in fiction and movies. Even if the film could have used some extra work, I certainly couldn't fault it for the usual reason: it was totally believable from beginning to end. I found that very refreshing. Too understated? Perhaps, but I still think she had the right idea.

I think the funniest part was that crazy talk show host with the brightly colored striped suit. Faggy as he perhaps was, that dude was like Austin Powers times three as far as entertainment value goes. If he's a real talk show host, I'm jealous of the Japanese.

martino · Post by **martino** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:37 pm

the underprivileged over here, living on the other side of the ocean have now also been able to see it.

i'm glad to say i was none too impressed. japlish jokes are funny; they appeal to everybody's inner bigot. (i am saying this as a person who spends time in tokyo on a regular basis). but have a whole movie evolve around the inability of the japanese to speak english? it sounds piss-poor, and it is.

some more thoughts:

we all like bill murray, but what is likeable about the bob character he plays?

why don't the two main characters go out and meet some interesting people? hell, when you get under the surface, lots of japs are full of personality. is karaoke and pachinko the only thing sophie coppola could think of?

virgin suicides, sophie coppola's first movie, was just great and had a wonderful attention to detail. what went wrong in tokyo?

speaking of japlish, why didn't they go the full monty? why not show people putting creap into their coffee? drinking pokari sweat? eating hamburgers at mcdonalds and pronouncing the new "i'm lovin' it" slogan as, "i'm rubbin' it"?

Post by **mccutcheon** » Wed Jan 21, 2004 4:19 pm

See I didn't get that it was making fun. there is a time when bob calls home and says we have to stop eating so much pasta and have to start eating like the japenese. I also think the movie is based around a love story, not toyko. I think Sophie was just trying out her Graeme Greene. And she is now getting divorced. life and art and all that. anyway maybe I'm wrong. I was too transfixed by S.J.

bfj · Post by **bfj** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 3:47 am

Ooh Sloth, I loved that film. I'd even call it a masterpiece. The film had so much tension in it. Bill Murrey was caught in this sexual desire/fatherly desire and couldn't quite figure out what to do. I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails wondering if I wanted him to go for her or not. I mean Scarlett Johannson was so desirable in that film, not just because of who she is or all the pantie shots but sofia created so much sexual tension!

I didn't think that they were making fun of the Japenese. The characters were so bewildered by the strange world of Tokoyo, that their reactions were so American and resistive. The reason that the film gives that vibe is that it is told from their perspectives...as it should be. But I thought there was a lot of wonder in that too.

How do I put my picture up. Do I have to have it posted somewhere else and link it. I don't get it.

Post by **mccutcheon** » Thu Jan 22, 2004 5:42 pm

I totally agree with Burnt Face on this on. And we even made a short film together, about ten years ago.

bfj · Post by **bfj** » Fri Jan 23, 2004 1:40 pm

Who has those tapes MC? I need them for my actor's reel.

I'm making a feature film this year. On a farm in Wisconsin. Dark farm drama, darker Jack, then the copy you read. It was too sunny for me despite the murder and molestation.

Anyone ever listen to Damien Jurado? He's local to Seattle. He said he would work on the score to my film. I am a huge fan and would advise all to pick up his stuff.