Rating: 
Summary: Sofia Coppola's stunning feature film debut as a director
Review: Apparently those who cannot act, can direct. The legendary bad performance Sofia Coppola turned in for her father's "The Godfather, Part III," will now be reduced to being the prelude to what should be a stunning career as a director. Currently nominated for Oscars for both writing and directing Best Picture nominee "Lost in Translation," Coppola already proved her competence behind the camera in her first full-length feature, "The Virgin Suicides" (She previously made a 14-minute short, "Lick the Star"). They will be arguing heredity versus environment on Sofia Coppola for the next half-century.As our story begins, we are informed by the film's narrator (Giovanni Ribisi) that the first of the Lisbon sisters to attempt suicide, was the youngest, Cecilia (Hannah Hall). Told by the doctor that she is not old enough to know how bad life gets, Cecilia calmly responds, "Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a thirteen year old girl." Having watched "Thirteen" this week, I know bad that age can be, but that is not what "The Virgin Suicides" are about. This film is more about what the boys in the neighborhood thought about the Lisbon sisters than what drove them to suicide. Strangely enough, "The Virgin Suicides" is not a black comedy, although there are a few moments along those lines, mostly supplied by the adults in the narrative. The boys in the neighborhood worship the Lisbon sisters as icons of both feminine beauty and mystery, especially Lux (Kirsten Dunst), the second youngest of the quintet and the one who is most determined to have done some living before she dies. There is a metaphor at work big time in "The Virgin Suicides," because the Lisbon sisters might kill themselves, but the ideal they represented to the boys in the neighborhood will live forever. Coppola creates a wonderful romantic scene when the girls are pulled from school and shut up in their house in maximum security isolation by their mother (Kathleen Turner) after the death of Cecilia. The boys and girls exchange phone calls in which they play songs from their favorites records, never saying a word, but communicating a lot of emotions in their selections. What impresses you about Coppola's direction in this film is that she keeps the story and her camera under control. There really are not big moments in this film, just skillfully crafted small ones. The cast also features James Woods as the girls' father, Scott Glenn as Father Moody, and Danny Devito as Dr. Horniker. You get the feeling that daddy's name might have gotten them to read the script at which point the script sold them on participating in this one. Josh Hartnett plays Trip Fontaine, the one boy in the neighborhood who grows up to make a move for Lux (and who grows up to be played by Michael Paré). This 1999 film was adapted by Coppola from the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, which supposedly is Coppola's favorite book. "Lost in Translation" was an original story and script, so Coppola has already moved to the next level. On the basis of these first two films, we certainly have to look forward to what she comes up with next, because Coppola is getting off to a great start behind the camera.
Rating:
Summary: Intoxicating
Review: This movie is definatly one of the most intense, haunting, and body rattling movies I've ever seen. It leaves you suprised and shaken. Its seductive in the sense that its intensity magnifies as the story evolves. Kathleen Turner and James Wood are awesome, they're roles are so defined. See it its amazing.
Rating:
Summary: very interesting
Review: Very good film, its funny and morbid. This movie should be shown to parents as a what NOT to do with children label on it.
Rating:
Summary: Girls, come out from your rooms.
Review: Caged, the girls are kept inside, outside the boys are haunted by these untouched seem like vestals, in an all splendorous sensual atmosphere of adolescence and beyond reach love, the Lisbon girls are an everlasting obsession, frustrated by tragedy. So sad their sorrow, narrated with soft voice of nostalgia, the boys (all represented by the adult conscience), tell the story of the their object of desire, the sisters are away but much close to them in feelings, so very dearly loved and missed. Cecilia was the first one; third teen must be and unbearable weight to carry on aside long kept hopeless dreams , and so her suicidal tendencies crashed on the house fence. Lux was the last one to die, a glimpse of sadness can be catch when the boys encounters her for the last time, yes some tears are seen, but she does all what she cans to contain them, even sexually touch one of the boy's pants. For a moment everything is a male utopia, the sisters and the boys riding in a car in a lonely freeway from nowhere to nowhere, just for the ride and the human candor of the vestals, from here to eternity.
At the end, they are no more. The ones left behind (the boys), begin their painful process of trying to forget the girls, increasing only their desire of knowing the truth about the sister's nature and what drove them to take their lives. The family pictures left on the trashcans, the dairies, and the tenderness of unfinished feelings and memories, they never got to see their true cruel world, even though the sisters understood love and its manifestations, only Lux catch a touch of it, but even Trip deceive her.
The Virgin Suicides is a little jewel of fine taste and human love, with real human lust for life, compelling intrigue and boyhood perception of a now forsaken coming of age. Sofia Coppola wrote and directed the Virgin Suicides (her directorial debut), with tremendous insight of the story and their characters optics of decaying atmospheres (an outstanding adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenide's novel). It seems, in the Coppola family, talent is in the blood (What about Sofia's acting skills? Well, according to what we have seen on The God Father, Part III, that's out of the question). Always, the mystery is kept away, the clues are given, but they never fit each other, and we are put in the same situation of the boys, this is masterfully done by an insightful understanding perfectly blended into visual emotions, the key to obtain all the oblivious and provocative mood of the story, the result is lyrically spoken.
The songs and original score are in explicit accurate understanding of the screenplay (every time this happens, the cinematographic effect is accomplished with great results).
The handsome cast performs a veil of frustration and delirious lost innocence of psychological attribution, a great work by an ensemble in state of grace. Sofia's direction is emotional, rough and honest, each frame is a pleasure by composition and sound, enhanced by an excellent photography and still moments of virtuoso lighting and direction.
The DVD transfer is excellent, the sound captures the necessities of such a great film, with some nice extras (including the traditional Making of). Finally, all that the girls wanted is the question left in you to fully comprehend the quality of such an unusual proposition, lonesome, moving, and mysterious; so come out from your rooms girls, and reveal your will to undo your existence.
Rating: 
Summary: solid directing by sofia coppola
Review: Sometimes you just have to give credit where it's due. Sofia Coppola singlehandedly destroyed Godfather III (and therefore messed up the trilogy that makes me think of the Godfather series as just having one, rather than two sequels). The universe had to be set right for the rest of eternity. So Francis' daughter has no margin for error for the rest of her life. She can't be making any more bombs.
She succeeded with this nicely directed and written groove on five sisters who do the unthinkable. This movie is a great experience and worth viewing. James Woods is funny as the dad. Denny DeVito makes an interesting cameo. Kirsten Dunst is gorgeous. Josh Hartnett is excellent. Kathleen Turner is... Kathleen Turner. But Sofia Coppola has found her niche in the director's chair. Long may she create good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well crafted film, but it leaves you...
Review: This movie has excellent cinematography, very good acting and directing. But I have to be honest, I just didn't care too much about what was happening, maybe because the point is that you have to figure yourself what is the point of this movie. Sure: untamed, virgin, untouchable beings, lusted and adored by everyone, never aging, too perfect to be ruined by time, etc etc. But the film never captured my interest. It seemed detached, too far away from me to draw me into the universe of the virgin suicides.
Which is a shame, because I really like good cinema and I am often drawn and tend to appreciate many films that are like "hidden gems" and underrated by the mass.
But of course this film is much, much better than the majority of the garbage that Hollywood makes as a daily basis.
Thanks for reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Riding her Father's name, eating rice cakes, drinking milk
Review: Watch this movie if: a) you've never seen a movie before;
b) you want to compare and contrast Sofia Coppola's acting skills with her directing skills (may be a bit shy on the contrast side);
c) someone will pay you;
d) you just graduated film school;
e) you're super into like masochism and stuff;
f) you absolutely love Sofia Coppola no matter how bad a movie she can make. I wouldn't put this dvd in my worst enemy's player.
I hope this review helps anyone that is borderline Tijuana.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book Brought Over to Film
Review: It was the idea of the director to make this movie as much like the book as possible. As it is, this movie is seen by the viewer in a third person perspective, in which allowing the viewer to grasp the concept of the idea behind the movie easier rather than the characters. But unlike some movies, (Donnie Darko) this movie manages to present you with great actors which accentuate the film and keep you entralled, while still keeping your mind on the whole moral of the film. One of my favorite characters is Cecilia, which in her short film parts, gives you an understanding of all of the girls, and an intimate look at her attitude about suicide by her brief words and actions to the doctor. The partents are wonderfully clueless and perfectly innocent enough to make you feel for them. Yet the girls are lax enough to leave you in question as to why they did what they did. This movie might leave you wondering why, but either way, it will leave you in awe.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adaptation From the Book
Review: I'm always cautious when it comes to watching movies adapted from books I've read. Such miserable failures as "The Beach" have forever left a bad taste in my mouth. The directors and writers are almost always simply to lazy to make their own stories, so they just take someone else's, slap some ridiculous plot changes onto it, and obviously don't have the slightest idea what the novel is really about. They end up with a pointless failure that should never have tried to bridge the gap between reading and watching. "The Virgin Suicides" is a startling exception to this rule, directed and written for screen with care and simple beauty by Sofia Coppola. She obviously understood this book, and has done a great job editing the book down to a 100 minute movie. She takes very few "artistic liberties" that other directors might have been much more heavy-handed on, and those she uses enhance the feeling of the film. For instance, after Cecelia kills herself, she re-appears several times, giving her a strange, continuing presence. Also, she enhances several symbolic moments in the film, such as the film Lux and Trip watch about Hurricanes, or when Trip visits the Lisbon house, the show they watch is an obvious metaphor. Over all, this is a stellar adoption of the novel, with a great cast, director, and script. A great follow up to reading to book.
Rating:
Summary: One by one...
Review: I really liked the imagery in this movie. Kathleen Turner and James Woods were good choices to play the sisters' parents... they seemed so out of touch with their children, but on the outside they wanted to appear as the perfect family. Well, the title of the movie gives away the plot, so it is no surprise to say that the girls kill themselves... buy why? For being locked up? for having no social life? I guess that is the enduring question of the movie. I will be going in reverse order with this one... next I will read the book! Maybe the book provides a few more answers than the movie does!
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