I just saw this movie today, I LOVE IT! what are your thoughts on it?

anything with the jesus and mary chain on the soundtrack is AOK in my book.

ps. i liked the movie.

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its one of my favourites!

and its my favourite scarlett johansson film too. shes so gorgeous in it

and I agree with debaser! its probably the best soundtrack I own

I love the movie.


This might sound weird but I'm just like Scarlett. That is me. I had just broken up with a demon lover when I saw the movie and it was such an intense emotional experience for me. I cried all through out the film and the way back home and that is really uncommon in me.

I'm just like Charlotte, I'm shy, insecure, I'm ignored and taken by granted by everyone, I am soooo lonely it's asfixiating, I'm completely lost in life. I struggle to find a purpose to my existence.

It's funny, I saw that film in 2004 and I'm still at the same point three years down the road.

i saw this film in the theater as an aide to the screenwriting class i was taking at the time. i wouldnt have gone to see it had it been completely left up to me, but ill see anything if i can learn from it (which is basically everything).

im probably in the minority here at KR< but i didnt really like the virgin suicides. i respect sofia coppola as a director and as an artist, but her movies do nothing for me. lost in translation didnt change my opinion about her, but unfortunately it did fall flat for me.

i watched it and i felt the story was so misplaced. as if the moments she chose to show on screen weren't the ones that wouldve served her story the best, regardless of how lonely and reserved the characters were. again, just my opinion.

after all the raving, i tried to go back and take another look and see if there was something there i had missed and would appeal to me. but still, nothing.

i was almost tempted to go see marie antoinette, maybe the visuals and concept appealed to me... but i cant really bring myself to sit through two hours of something, no matter how beautiful it looks, if it has no STORY..


its my perhaps *unpopular* opinion that there ARE some stories and characters better left to novels. i think this has been the case with virgin suicide and lost in translation. there is something very, very valid to be said for what and WHO is "cinematic". there IS a certain way of telling a story via the screen, and not every story and character in existence is cut out for that... sofia seems to like the challenge of taking these stories and characters and making films, which i respect a lot, its a huge risk, its a challenge. but the end result just reaffirms my thoughts about that.

but it did win an oscar for best screen play. Let's discuss that.

michelle, i totally agree with you. i found it really boring, overrated and self-indulgent..

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i think there may be something on my head.

i loved the cinematography

well the people voting for that are just as opinionated as you and me, and i dont think there's a specific "standard" to which they judge those things. perhaps they reward originality, novelty, legacy, technique who knows what, im sure it changes from year to year. technically, academically, the screenplay could be flawless, but that doesnt necessarily mean the characters it's about will grab everyone, or anyone at all. doesn't necessarily mean the subject is cinematic...

all i know is that it wasn't BAD movie, it wasn't badly written... to me personally, it just seems a strange choice that it was written for the screen at all. it was hard to sit through. a book would've suited it much better imo.

and in the end, i realize there are people out there who will judge a film on different standards than i do. shitty films are praised by people all the time, great films are lauded....i personally judge the merits of a film 99% on story, and if it doesnt grab me, i dont tend to like it too much. people rewarding a screenplay might not be looking at the from a cohesive film standpoint, rather more technical things. again, i really cant say.

i think she approaches film making as a way of creating emotional atmospheres through the surroundings. the set/ location is very much a character in all her movies.

i thought it worked well in the first two films. in lost in translation, the sense of feeling lost in big cities reflected the characters' own struggles throughout the movie. they were lost in their lives. it also reminds me of what anthony minghella said on the commentary for the talented mr. ripley. its not verbatim, but he said soemthing like, " when you are in a foreign country, and you see someone from your native country, you feel a certain bond with them. no matter how much you wanted to run away from that country, its still a part of you."

in the virgin suicides, the hazy days of spring and summer were perfectly captured. the whole movie felt like it was finding ways to pass the time, much like the girls probably had to find ways to pass time whilst in their isolation.

all im trying to say, is that the story is secondary to the scenery. they have to be related in order for the film to work though. the story is still important, its just not #1 priority. in marie antionette, she forgot the story. i know they didnt do much, but it had no focus and the attempts to make it relatable were not well thought out. aside from the costumes and the set design, everything was wrong. the cinematography wasnt even that great. it looked "indie" in the worst way.

it would have made a great book actually. storywise, it kind of has a similar tone to shopgirl. i havent actually seen it in a while, but as i remember it.

the first time i saw it at the cinema i loved it sooo much. then i watched it when it came out on dvd and was kind meh about it... but i watched it again recently and loved it again. i think you have to be in a certain frame of mind to watch it.


i love the part where bill murray says "i'm not worried about you"

i thought shopgirl was pretty good. did you like it?

i only liked bill murray. like when he wears that gaudy shirt and then when she comments on it, he turns it inside out and wears it the wrong way to a party. and when he's posing for the filming of the advertisements. he is wonderful.

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except i hate you.

yeah, simply put, i think that's what it is. ive heard many people say sofia's strong suit is her eye, her visual taste (and her musical taste as well), rather than her storytelling. im gonna have to agree.

there's a certain faction of filmgoers who like that, prefer it actually. i think its akin to people who listen to music not for the music, but rather the lyrics. they're a minority, but they exist and their taste/opinion is valid. you've just gotta be that kind of person... i suppose im not. in that sense id have to call myself a true blue "traditionalist", even though i dont think its traditional (vs. nontraditional) to ultimately prefer story. i think story is what film is all about, always has been and always will be, no matter how far filmmakers stray from convention, that'll always be the ultimate marker for 99% of people...it's something natural i think...

yeah, he was definitely the best thing about this film.

i put off watching it for a really long time because my friend kept raving about how great it was and i didn't want to be disappointed or hurt his feelings if i didn't like it. so he tried to make me sit through it when i was drunk and i basically refuse to sit still when i'm drunk. so he was a bit upset about that.

but watched it again and liked it. i think it's overrated, but i liked it.
i liked the virgin suicides better. i need to see this marie antoinette thing too.

i half watched it when it was on filmfour a while ago, i couldn't really concentrate on it because i was on the phone but i didn't think much of it.probably worth me actually trying to watch it properly though.

oh, it is. it's one of my favourite movies ever! i really love it.

I love everything about LiT. I fell hard for Scarlett in this movie and remembered how much I love Bill Murray too.

It pisses me off when some people complain about Scarlett's character spending all her time in the hotel room because THEY would be out exploring and enjoying themselves if they were in her position. I completely identified with the lonliness of her character (while in a foreign country) and her performance in LiT is one of the reasons why she's a far better actress than most other stars her age.....& older.

Oh, please! That's just like when Sex and the City fans are all tardy, "OHMIGOD, I'M LIEK TOTLY CARRIE!"

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Breathe in, come out