Lost in Translation, Tigerland
Feb. 2nd, 2004 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
It must be nice to be Francis Ford Coppola's daughter. That's the only reason I can see that Lost in Translation would garner so many accolades when there was very little to recommend the film. Don't get me wrong; I liked both Bill and Scarlett, and I liked their characters, even. But where was the story? Okay, they're lonely and isolated. I get that. But WHO CARES? I sure didn't. Other than the comedic moments in the beginning, the whole rest of it was one big snore. The scene where Bob and Charlotte go to party w/ Charlie Brown and the Gang? Made me want to bleed my veins, it was so boring. And it kind of gave me a headache.
Speaking of Charlie Brown and the Gang -- correct me if I'm wrong, but they seemed to be Japan natives, so I assume Charlotte and Mr. Charlotte met them there. And yet Charlotte seems utterly displaced, like she can't make any friends, etc. I could see that when Kelly was there -- but she seemed to enjoy hanging out w/ Charlie and his peeps. So what was up with that? But okay, whatever, I get the sense that she's mostly lost herself, because the implication is that she's really smart and went to Yale and all that, but here she is, kind of like her husband's groupie, and she has no identity of her own.
Part of the problem, though, is that I think we're supposed to sympathize w/ how alone she feels, but I don't, really. I mean, if that's something that's two years in the making, then I really needed to see more than just her ONE WEEK in Japan and her husband just doing his job. It's not like they were there for months and she never saw him. It was ONE WEEK. Suck it up. I didn't get enough about Charlotte previous to meeting her here, to make me fully be able to sympathize w/ her, especially since Giovanni seemed like a perfectly nice husband. It was clearly her own issues bogging her down (just like Bob), but I couldn't empathize w/ it. I actually empathized more w/ Bob -- Sofia did a lot more to show why he was feeling so blah, in terms of his past and his current situation, etc. I felt like I knew Charlotte a lot less.
I hope people don't see this movie and get turned off of visiting a country like Japan because of it. I mean, I'm sure it IS like that to an extent, but the point of the movie was also to show Bob and Charlotte's isolation, so I thought a lot of extra effort was made into making it look strange/bizarre/foreign, and not in a good way. It was one aspect of a country, and we didn't get to see the things, I think, that would make it a great place to visit. I was there once as a little girl, but don't remember much. I've always wanted to go back.
Lastly, I didn't believe the way Charlotte and Bob started talking was all that believable, the way she sent a drink to him because she saw him sitting at a bar. Presumably, she sent it to him because he looked bored/lonely/whatever, and not because he's a movie star (she doesn't seem the type to be taken in by that sort of thing, which was what make her likable), but just like love at first sight, I don't really buy this sort of instantaneous connection. Which is my own issue, but probably affected how I was able to enjoy this whole movie.
I would SO have nominated Whale Rider before this one. Why was it overlooked, when it has everything a good film ought to have?
And now that I've seen it, I also can't in good conscience vote for Sofia in the "best screenplay" category, I don't care how likely it is that she'll win it. It's not deserved, man.
Did a whole bunch of tidying up this weekend, which is so exciting, you don't even know. Found myself tossing out all the XF fanfic I had printed and saved ... that's when you know an obsession is dead. I can only hope that one day, I'll be able to watch my DVDs and recall some semblance of what I used to feel for the show.
Have also tagged about 100 CDs that I don't want, as well as 30 or so VHSes. I don't even want to think about how much money I'd have if not for spending it on those things (at $10 each, about $1,300 -- d'oh, don't think about it!!!).
Also saw Tigerland this weekend. If you're into war films (as I am), or films about comaraderie between guys in the military, or, you know, just want to see Colin Farrell bare-ass naked and having sex (with a woman, although it was so twu wuv between his character and his army buddy), I recommend this film.
Speaking of Charlie Brown and the Gang -- correct me if I'm wrong, but they seemed to be Japan natives, so I assume Charlotte and Mr. Charlotte met them there. And yet Charlotte seems utterly displaced, like she can't make any friends, etc. I could see that when Kelly was there -- but she seemed to enjoy hanging out w/ Charlie and his peeps. So what was up with that? But okay, whatever, I get the sense that she's mostly lost herself, because the implication is that she's really smart and went to Yale and all that, but here she is, kind of like her husband's groupie, and she has no identity of her own.
Part of the problem, though, is that I think we're supposed to sympathize w/ how alone she feels, but I don't, really. I mean, if that's something that's two years in the making, then I really needed to see more than just her ONE WEEK in Japan and her husband just doing his job. It's not like they were there for months and she never saw him. It was ONE WEEK. Suck it up. I didn't get enough about Charlotte previous to meeting her here, to make me fully be able to sympathize w/ her, especially since Giovanni seemed like a perfectly nice husband. It was clearly her own issues bogging her down (just like Bob), but I couldn't empathize w/ it. I actually empathized more w/ Bob -- Sofia did a lot more to show why he was feeling so blah, in terms of his past and his current situation, etc. I felt like I knew Charlotte a lot less.
I hope people don't see this movie and get turned off of visiting a country like Japan because of it. I mean, I'm sure it IS like that to an extent, but the point of the movie was also to show Bob and Charlotte's isolation, so I thought a lot of extra effort was made into making it look strange/bizarre/foreign, and not in a good way. It was one aspect of a country, and we didn't get to see the things, I think, that would make it a great place to visit. I was there once as a little girl, but don't remember much. I've always wanted to go back.
Lastly, I didn't believe the way Charlotte and Bob started talking was all that believable, the way she sent a drink to him because she saw him sitting at a bar. Presumably, she sent it to him because he looked bored/lonely/whatever, and not because he's a movie star (she doesn't seem the type to be taken in by that sort of thing, which was what make her likable), but just like love at first sight, I don't really buy this sort of instantaneous connection. Which is my own issue, but probably affected how I was able to enjoy this whole movie.
I would SO have nominated Whale Rider before this one. Why was it overlooked, when it has everything a good film ought to have?
And now that I've seen it, I also can't in good conscience vote for Sofia in the "best screenplay" category, I don't care how likely it is that she'll win it. It's not deserved, man.
Did a whole bunch of tidying up this weekend, which is so exciting, you don't even know. Found myself tossing out all the XF fanfic I had printed and saved ... that's when you know an obsession is dead. I can only hope that one day, I'll be able to watch my DVDs and recall some semblance of what I used to feel for the show.
Have also tagged about 100 CDs that I don't want, as well as 30 or so VHSes. I don't even want to think about how much money I'd have if not for spending it on those things (at $10 each, about $1,300 -- d'oh, don't think about it!!!).
Also saw Tigerland this weekend. If you're into war films (as I am), or films about comaraderie between guys in the military, or, you know, just want to see Colin Farrell bare-ass naked and having sex (with a woman, although it was so twu wuv between his character and his army buddy), I recommend this film.
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LEAVE SOPHIA ALONE !!!
Date: 2004-02-02 10:39 pm (UTC)OH and...I'M BAAAACCKKKK!
Miss you Blind my wife!
I love you, but you're on crack.
Date: 2004-02-02 11:22 pm (UTC)2) I in no way dissed Sofia (that is how you spell her name, btw; since you appear to be her biggest fan, I thought you'd want to know) for going into the family business. I just don't think that because she did go into the family business, it means that she gets instantaneous respect in her field. She has to earn it like everyone else, and she certainly didn't do that for me w/ LiT. If this film had been made by an unknown, it would have gotten nowhere near the attention that it has.
3) Did you even read my post? You're either making things up -- or at least, extrapolating erroneous conclusions about what I actually said. Did I say she didn't have more talent and insight than Michael Bay, Brett Ratner, and McG? I compared her to the others in her peer group, which she should be able to stand up to. The directors you named are not up for an Oscar in Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, and I don't have to hold them to a high standard, which I do for Sofia, or I wouldn't even be talking about this. Would I go through an in-depth critique on Bad Boys II or Charlie's Angels? No, I don't think so. But since you bring it up, maybe I was too generous when comparing LiT to other quality films. Frankly, I'd rather see Pirates of the Caribbean and Gore Verbinski win an Academy Award before I'd see Sofia and LiT win one.
4) I know what she was going for in LiT. As you so kindly reinforce, I clearly understood it. Whether or not her purpose had merit is another question, and that's where I differ from you. There's such a thing as making a film about characters and their circumstances without sacrificing meaning -- see American Beauty or The Shawshank Redemption. I enjoy movies that have a point; mood pieces aren't my thing. And as I said, that's my own issue and probably colored how I saw the film. That doesn't change the fact that I thought there were far better films made this year that should have been nominated in its place -- movies that were well-rounded in all respects of what I look for in a film, and Whale Rider tops amongst those.
5) You loved Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, which is a shitty movie with an even shittier title, and it stole two hours of my life that could have been better spent scratching my nails on chalkboard over and over, and I will never, ever get them back. That fact pretty much negates my having to even respond to your claim of LiT being such a fantastic movie with points 2-4 from above, but because I love you, I did it anyway.