Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Movie beautifully directed
Review: Lost In Translation is probably one of my favorite movies ever, the cinematography captured Japan so beautifully. I wouldn't recommend this movie for bloated Americans who are engrossed by the latest Vin Diesel or Ben Affleck movie, please save your time because chances are you won't understand anything about this movie. Although the plot revolves around two Americans who are jetlagged in Tokyo, there is so much more going on with their lives and their brief relationship. This movie deserves every acclaim that it has received.
Rating:
Summary: been there
Review: I have to preface this review by noticing how many people have trashed this movie because it went nowhere. Hmmmmm. That's just inability to relate. I can say that I have been almost all the people in this movie. Like Bob Harris, I am now middle-aged, have made many of the choices he has made in life and been dealt the consequences. I have actually been to Japan and experienced the hyper-artificial texture of the culture there. And I have met women several years my junior while trapped in hotels for three or four days at a time and can say that it is entirely plausible for love to be implanted, bloom and fade in the time that it takes to check in and check out.Okay, having said all that, I think I can objectively say that this movie is going to be an all-time classic. If "Sex Lies and Videotape" became the most influential indie film of the 1990s, then "Lost In Translation" will probably spawn 100 bad May-December love stories posing as independent film. This movie, in fact, could have easily collapsed under the weight of lesser talent. It's all about Bill Murray's performance, which is funny and heartbreaking. Scarlett Johannson comes out of nowhere to complete the chemistry. I don't know what made Sofia Coppola cast these two, but I can imagine other actors that would have wrecked the movie with overacting or an inability to grasp the story. Imagine Dustin Hoffman and Julia Stiles. Or Alec Baldwin and Kirstin Dunst. Or Harrison Ford and Jessica Alba. There are bigger, handsomer male leads than Murray and more beautiful and talented young actresses than Johannson, but this movie's sex appeal is generated mostly above the neck and between the ears. Much has been written about Murray's karaoke scenes, but I guarantee that Johannson will steal your heart singing the Pretenders' "Brass In Pocket." I am now in the process of renting every movie she's been in.
Rating: 
Summary: Unusual movie with one of Murray's best performances
Review: Lost in Translation is an apt metaphor for the sense of dislocation, alienation and mid-life crisis felt by movie star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) upon his arrival in Japan. Sofia Coppola's terrific new film captures Harris' little boy lost quality particularly well during the sequence when he's first met by his Japanese hosts in Tokyo. "Translation" focuses on the disconnect that we all can feel when lost in the maze of an alien culture (whether it be the culture of youth or another country). Bob's in town to shoot a commercial for Japanese television when his path crosses that of Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) a woman who's marriage to her photographer husband is crumbling. These two lost souls manage to connect and a friendship blossoms between these two strangers in a strange land. Bob and Charlotte venture through the maze of Tokyo sharing a unique adventure that captures Bill Murray at his comedic best. I have to admit I had my doubts about "Translation". When neophyte director Sofita Coppola created the film "The Virgin Suicides" I was less than impressed. It seemed to borrow heavily from many other directors and projects without having a unique voice of its own. I'm happy to say that "Translation" demonstrates that Coppola's talent has blossomed. While her screenplay does occasionally teeter over the border into cliche, her writing demonstrates a surprising freshness missing from much of what we see from Hollywood. An anamorphic widescreen transfer, "Translation" looks very good. The higher definition seen with an anamorphic transfer benefits the film particular during the night sequences. The DVD transfer isn't without flaws however as there are some compression artifacts. On the whole, though, the film looks quite good. The sound mix is subtle but quite effective. This isn't an action movie, so the "sound" isn't as noticeable. Sound designer Richard Beggs creates an environment for the viewer that puts everyone in Bob's shoes. Considering the high profile of the film, it's pretty weak on the extras. There is a by-the-numbers documentary on the making of the film. We also get "A Conversation" with Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola. It's not something you're likely to watch more than once. The inclusion of the "City Girl" music video and the standard extended and deleted scenes section isn't anything all that special. The latter does demonstrate that Coppola and her editor Sarah Flack knew exactly when to cut the various scenes in the film. The extended scenes, unlike some movies, don't provide any additional depth to most of the scenes.
No commentary to note which is a pity as I'd love to hear Murray riff on the various scenes particularly with his various co-stars. Oh well. "Lost in Translation" is a surprisingly memorable film. Sofia Coppola's original screenplay and direction bring what could have been a by-the-numbers film to life. It's not a film for everyone, though, as the slow pace (which captures the dreamy quality one feels when suffering from jetlag)will put some viewers off. Murray and costar Johansson have amazing chemistry on screen. The only question not answered is what Johansson whispers to Murray at the film's conclusion. I guess for that we'll have to use our imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I think this movie just passed right over the top of my head. Yes, I know the differences in foreign travel but.....I kept waiting for the story to develop and something to happen in this movie. Sorry, a waste of talent, movie money and my time.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious? Don't make me laugh. No, wait ...
Review: ... on second thoughts, DO make me laugh. After all, this film is described as "Hilarious" by Rolling Stone or something. "Two Thumbs Up"! Well are you in for a slow-moving piece of mood music. Yes, if you keep in mind that it's about loneliness, etc. and there's a great performance by Bill Murray, and you have a couple of hours to kill without wanting any recompense, go ahead and watch it. It does succeed in immersing you in its molasses-paced arthouse study of whatever it is the critics said it was a study of, but it's hardly hilarious. Sure, Murray might have turned in a great performance. But so what? It's like following a complete stranger around for a week, and not a terribly interesting one at that. His subtle performance is stretched out over too much time. You might have guessed I don't have much patience for movies that don't go anywhere in two hours. You might also have guessed I'm not paid to watch stuff like this, but instead have to pay for the privilege. All I know is, I didn't enjoy it much, and I want my money back.
Rating: 
Summary: Not even a vodka tonic
Review: Could make this movie interesting. I tried. I wanted to like it. I went in with all the best intentions in the world, but wow. I can't imagine what would have redeemed it. Perhaps if someone had DONE something at one point or another...
Rating:
Summary: I FELT MY BODY DYING!!!
Review: When the first credits began to roll at the end of this torturously long & boring movie, I fled the theatre, arms spread wide, eyes ablaze, looking for something, anything, to get my mind off of the last 100 minutes. I wanted to bathe in bleach, or perhaps gouge my eyes out just to feel clean again.
40 minutes into Lost in Translation (which, by the way, is a new code word amongst friends, meaning GET ME OUT OF HERE!), I could actually FEEL my body DYING! I would have collapsed on the theatre floor if the movie had gone on much longer. No, seriously,
Most scenes went on for minutes (MINUTES!) too long, and were boring in both their content and meaning when it came to the paper thin storyline and simplistic character development. I want both my money & my 100 minutes back!
Unfortunately, I'm forced to give this movie at least one star. There's not an option for zero.
Rating:
Summary: I FELT MY BODY DYING!!
Review: When the first credits began to roll at the end of this torturously long & boring movie, I fled the theatre, arms spread wide, eyes ablaze, looking for something, anything, to get my mind off of the last 100 minutes. I wanted to bathe in bleach, or perhaps gouge my eyes out just to feel clean again.
40 minutes into Lost in Translation (which, by the way, is a new code word amongst friends, meaning GET ME OUT OF HERE!), I could actually FEEL my body DYING! I would have collapsed on the theatre floor if the movie had gone on much longer. No, seriously,
Most scenes went on for minutes (MINUTES!) too long, and were boring in both their content and meaning when it came to the paper thin storyline and simplistic character development. I want both my money & my 100 minutes back!
Unfortunately, I'm forced to give this movie at least one star. There's not an option for zero.
Rating:
Summary: LOST DIRECTOR AND VERY LOST MOVIE
Review: Lost in Translation is probably one of the worst movies ever produced. It was badly concived and terribly executed. There is nothing there but the lack of knowledge, multiple mistakes, and the non-existant talent. Why do we lie to ourselves and to others? Why is it nominated for anything? I do not know anyone who liked it and I hated it. It was so boring, wrong and predictable. Cinemas are empty when they show this film but they still show it. Well, maybe the answer is in the family. This family controlls business and there are many in the family. I wish Sophia all the best but this is not the way to enter business. I think she should try to use talent instead of connections.
Rating: 
Summary: mistranslation
Review: good movie, that's worth seeing but with what i thought were odd problems -- ok, just odd for me. the movie centers around Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a hollywood actor now past his prime who finds himself in Japan doing a whisky commercial for easy money. arriving in Tokyo, he is jetlagged and blinks at the high tech pulse of city (reminded me a bit of Blade Runner with the electronic ads) and the very surface problem of verbal translation as his horrendously bad translator relays dialogue between him and the director of the commmerical. finding some refuge in the nightclub/lounge in his posh hotel, he catches the eye of Charlotte (Scarlett Johanson), a newlywed to a photographer on assignment in Japan. she feels displaced because her husband is never around and there is no emotional anchor that ties her to Tokyo; her plea to her friend at the start of the movie describing going to a shrine and feeling nothing quickly establishes her disassociation. Bob and Charlotte quickly develop an affinity for each other that goes beyond being Americans in Japan... but more likely that they are both adrift in their relationships -- the term soulmates comes to mind. i am reminded of moments of my own trip to Japan three years ago, many of the familiar places, the kinship felt among visitors to a foreign land and other foreign tourists... but there are things that definitely is jarring and seem implausible. how Charlotte (who doesn't work and is a 'sophisticate') can afford a posh hotel on an assignment photographer is beyond me. the day trips to Kyoto and wherever Bob teed off are unlikely -- Kyoto isn't all that easy to navigate and you lose over four hours just sitting on the shinkansen; meanwhile Mt. Fuji is barely visible from Tokyo so you do the math. neither Bob nor Charlotte spoke Japanese, which becomes an issue outside of Tokyo proper. two side trips that really didn't serve the movie in a meaningful way and seemed like orphaned scenes. i know many viewers feel this movie rings true to being a tourist -- simply put being concious of being foreign. i agree and gave this movie three stars but i felt that the overall issue of cultural displacement, the path of the movie and the dialogue were all done in a more effective way in the movie Barcelona.
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