***Official LOST IN TRANSLATION Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Peter Kim]

Admin. note: For the Official Discussion Thread for this film, please go here.

I'm really beginning to appreciate Bill Murray for his more nuanced performances, ones in which I believe he's most funny...the guy cracks me up merely with a furrowed brow. Lost in Translation sounds like it right up my ally. It also stars Scarlett Johansson, an actress who caught my eye in Ghost World.

Anybody catch an early screening and can offer some thoughts? Although it's going to probably be a rare movie for me that commands a viewing at the theater.

Despite the depth of this film, Murray said he had never gotten bigger laughs. Asked if his recent more nuanced roles meant he would not make any more "stupid" comedies, Murray responded: "I'll never do anything stupid again," allowing a comic pause while he sipped a glass of red wine.

"I don't know what your question was, but I hope you're having a good time here," he said.

CNN article

 

[Peter Kim]

Found a clip + trailer at the official website. Reinforces my positive thoughts about this film.

Lost in Translation trailer & clip

 

[Guy_K]

Is this getting a wide release? Looks like a good one

 

[Ted Todorov]

Last Sunday's NY Times magazine had Sofia Coppola on the cover and a longer article on how she made Lost in the Translation. I'm sure it is still on the their website.

Definitely one of my most anticipated films.

Ted

 

[Nick C.]

Here's that NY Times article. I'm definitely anticipating this release, much more so than 21 Grams or any of the other dramas amongst Oscar talks

 

[streeter]

So funny that Sofia Coppola mentions the 800-number in the NY Times article (page 6 or 7 or somewhere around there, online). I've called that number a few times and I was lucky enough to be called back after the second message. Quite a thrill.

I can't wait to see this movie and I hope it will roll out quickly. Anyone know when it will expand to more cities?

 

[Nick C.]

So funny that Sofia Coppola mentions the 800-number in the NY Times article (page 6 or 7 or somewhere around there, online). I've called that number a few times and I was lucky enough to be called back after the second message. Quite a thrill.

which 800-number is this? nothing came up with googling (quite surprised) except this agency for booking celeb speaking engagements...

filmreleases.com lists
9/12 NY, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, D.C.
9/19 wider - adds Top 30 Markets
9/26 wider - adds Top 100 Markets

 

[streeter]

He has an 800-number where you can leave a message for him. There is also an option to do it as an emergency, but I didn't pick that option because it wasn't an emergency. This is pretty much the only way to get in touch with him - from what I've heard, even his agent has a tough time reaching him.
It's a private number that I was fortunate enough to get from one of his close friends for research purposes. I wrote my college thesis on the unreleased movie Nothing Lasts Forever last Spring, and Murray was one of the people that I interviewed. (Also Dan Aykroyd, Lorne Michaels and many others)

Great to know about the fast roll-out! I hope St. Louis is a Top 30 market, but probably not.

 

[Tom Brennan]

I haven't been this excited to see a film in quite some time. I am a huge Bill Murry fan and this looks to be like a Bill Murray signature film.

I saw Ebert and Roeper this past weekend and they both raved about the film and Murray's performance, both claiming that he should receive an Academy Award nomination for his role in the film.

I'll hopefully be seeing it this weekend.

 

[Jordan_E]

BILL! I can't wait!

 

[Roland G]

Did someone save that NYTimes Article?

I am dying to read it.

PS: No, I don't have a cc.

 

[Peter Kim]

Printer friendly version of article

Odd...When I'm automatically logged-in, I get the truncated/c.c.-required version. However, when I logout and then click on NickNC's link, I'm prompted for my Login/Password.

Once entered, the link takes me to the full article.

 

[Jason Whyte]

This is now the official discussion thread for "Lost in Translation".

For reviews, please visit the official review thread which is located HERE.

Thanks,

Jason
Home Theater Forum

 

[Ted Todorov]

From Michael Reuben's review in the review thread:

But the script gives these fine actors far too little to do, and it makes the almost criminal mistake of separating them for long periods of time after they meet -- and most of the time apart is just a bore (if I wanted a travelogue of Kyoto, I'd buy one). By the time the end rolled around, I was too busy looking at my watch to be moved.

Michael,

I am curious whether you saw What Time is it There? and In the Mood for Love and whether you found these films boring/tedious? Personally, Lost in Translation kept me on the edge of my seat, but I can certainly see that particular style of filmmaking not being everyone's cup of tea, and I'm just curious about where you are coming from.

I do vehemently disagree however that separating the protagonists is somehow a bad idea: I think that the only way for their relationship to make sense is to show what their lives are like when they're alone. Indeed I think showing them separately was one of Lost in Translation's main strengths, as indeed was showing the separate lives of the protagonists in the other two above mentioned films.

Ted

 

[Michael Reuben]

I think that the only way for their relationship to make sense is to show what their lives are like when they're alone.

I understand that argument intellectually, but I don't think the film delivers on it emotionally. In fact, we can't really see what their lives are like when they're alone, because both of them have been removed from the routines of their regular lives (and that's part of the point). To me the scenes that showed most effectively what their ordinary lives are like are the ones where they try to explain it to each other.

M.

 

[Tom Meyer]

I loved this movie. Yes, there are scenes where there is little or nothing said but this adds to the general ambience of the film and makes the ending all the better. As Roger Ebert said, it's not "Before Sunrise", where they talked on and on and on and on. It's more subtle. More realistic, if you ask me. Even the wordless scenes of them traveling through the country serve to isolate them in an alien land. If you've ever been alone in Tokyo without knowing Japanese (or any other country where you don't know the language and the alphabet is completely non-western), you'll know exactly how they feel.

Like said before, the ending was superbly understated and touching, just like the rest of the film. What do you think he said to her ?

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Patrick Sun]

Bob probably said "if I were 25 years younger..." or "Burgandy was a 12 week wait, so we told them to surprise us."

Anna Faris was a hoot. I almost didn't recognize her from the "Scary Movie" films.

I liked Charlotte's trips to the more quiet places in Japan (outside of the energetic city landscape), and being a philosophy major, I could see her doing that just to soak up and observe religion and spirituality in action/inaction.

I found it very telling, and her introspective side is what drove her inside herself at lunch after Bob had a tumble with the lounge singer. Bob understood that he needed to mend fences, and by finding her, and just being with her at lunch, that's what she needed emotionally from him, with no drawn out explanation of his infidelity to his wife and, in someways, to her on an emotional level as well.

I thought both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanssen did a wonderful job of crafting characters that engage the audience and delve into a slice of "does age matter when you encounter a soul mate or someone you just instantly click with" and "can it be more than just platonic without ruining the underlying intermingling of their mind and spirit"?

 

[Peter Kim]

I liked how we, the audience, were kept privy from Bob's whisperings to Charlotte.

As I suspected, Bill Murray's deadpan expressions were deeply hilarious.

For all that travel alone and are away from home for long periods of time, this movie resonates...because B. Murray & S. Johansson wonderfully perform and magnify the sense of being lost and alone.

I loved this film, almost entirely due to Murray & Johansson...but a hyper performance by Anna Faris added a spicy accent.

I saw this film on Friday in a packed Uptown theatre in Minneapolis. It's been a while since I last stood in long line for a film, but it was worth it.

For a movie that is currently only showing in 183 theaters, it pulled in an astonishing $2.8 mil (avg. of $15,337/site). In comparison, Underworld, which took this weekend's BO crown, racked in a tally $22 million at 2,915 theaters (avg. of $7,547/site).

Hope this reinforces the message to the studios that there is a segment of the population that craves alternative fare.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This film was only showing in one theater in metro Atlanta, and at the 1:25 p.m. Saturday showing, I was shocked at how full the theater was (I guestimate 200 seats, and over 85% of the seats were filled). The demographic had plenty of people over 45 years of age (probably 50% or more).

 

[john mcfadden]

I want to see this film very badly but here in delaware with a 14 screen theater they've got too much of the summers leftovers still playing to get a print !!! I hate it here !I hope it open way wide soon (limited openings suck ! )