Rating: 
Summary: Lost in Love
Review: Translation is about more than language. It's also about how we interpret each other's signs and behavior. It's so easy to be guarded in today's world. Charlotte would have every reason to put up a wall that would lock Bob Harris out. (Anyone notice that this fillm completely gives the lie to "When Harry Met Sally"?) In "Lost in Translation" two people learn how to interpret each other, and learn how to let the walls down. That's a rare and beautiful thing. I like what Tokyo brings to the movie. Set it in Paris or Venice, and it's just a hackneyed romantic background. A lesser director could even have turned Tokyo into a romantic background too. Instead Sofia Coppola makes it another world. I don't want to say whether Bill Murray or Scarlett Johansson gave good performances. I just want to believe in sad Charlotte and disillusioned Bob. And they live in these bodies. I wondered how such an honest film could get made. Cynics said it was because of who Sofia Coppola's father was. And then I read that in its first three weekends in US cinemas alone it earned MORE than it had cost to make it. That doesn't count the weekdays in between, and all the days it's been on since, and all the video sales. The good news is such an honest film got made because so many people wanted to see it. And the investors made a lot of money. Sadly that's always Hollywood's bottom line. It's nice to see the David of true and honest film-making stand-up to the Goliath of mindless action movies and stories about sex-crazed teens and pies. I am so happy this film did so well, and that as many people love it as much as I do. Maybe, that way, we'll see more like it.
Rating:
Summary: Ever been in a Zen garden?
Review: Boy, this is a divisive one. I have to come down on the side of the ayes. "Lost in Translation" was one of the best movies of last year. This and "Mystic River" both blew me away, but in completely different ways. One thing they both have in common is that they really reward repeated viewing. There's so much subtext in "Mystic River" that you catch a second time. And the same goes for this one. It seems everybody has said everything about "Lost in Translation" with this many votes, so I don't know what more can be said. You've got to try it for yourself. What some people love - the fact that everything isn't put into words - other people hate. For those who think that no matter how depressed and tired you are you should just go out and play pachinko or play tourist, this movie will never work. It's clear to Charlotte her marriage is not going to work. It doesn't seem clear to everyone who sees the movie though. It was to me. A modern dancer - the serious kind - said to me recently, "Audiences just keep wanting things to get faster and faster. They have no patience with waiting." It seems sadly true. I was happy to wait. Not a lot happens in Zen gardens either for some. Everything does for others. I can hardly fault this movie, although the DVD is a bit disappointing. We deserved more extras. Bill and Scarlett are great. Sofia Coppola - magnificent job. It's interesting that to those attuned to this movie, it's not vague at all. Nor is it boring. It's funny to see a one star review saying of Charlotte "If you're bored, you're boring", when the MAIN thing most one star reviews here say is "I was bored" When are we going to see a Japanese one set in New York? That would be equally strange. Oh, and to the guy who expected Bruce Lee to turn up in this "cliched view of Japan", it would have been funny if he did seeing he's Chinese.
Rating: 
Summary: tedious
Review: This is perhaps one of the most tedious, mind-numbing films I've ever seen. Can't imagine what all the hype was about. Don't waste your money or your time. It is dull, slow, and has no redeeming features beyond a tawdry view of Tokyo nightlife.
Rating:
Summary: Would anyone care if they carbonized this one?
Review: Hundreds of thousands of people gather around in huge circules to watch as millions of VHS and DVD copies of this movie are burnt into piles of carbon.
Rating:
Summary: Over Hyped =Terribly Dissapointing
Review: The best I can say for this film is: mediocre. It seemed to sluggishly ride the fence between romance and art film and did neither very well. There were some entertaining moments in the beginning with Bill Murray playing the has been Bob Harris. But even then he seemed to disdain the Japanese he'd come to work for more than feel that he was the one out of place. I kept waiting for the promised "valentine ... to the city of Tokyo" that never rose out of the mundane scenes.
The film was bogged down further by the tepid Charlotte. Here she is in one of the most beautiful and dynamic cities in the worlds and she can't begin to figure out how to enjoy herself. Proving once again that people who are bored are usually boring, Charlotte had me wanting to fast forward every time she came on the screen.
Perhaps the lack of depth is due to the fact that Sophia Copala is still young and simply hasn't experienced enough of life to make a more compelling piece. But I just kept wishing that she'd give her characters something to "say." Unfortunatly, I don't believe that she had anything particular to say herself. Hence the end, where Bob whispers in Charlotte's ear and the viewer is left to imagine for themselves that Bob had something more profound to say than: "I'll never forget you and we'll always have Tokyo."
If you subscribe movie channels already and nothing else is on you may want to catch this on Showtime, otherwise don't spend you're money on this movie. If your looking for a lovely, slow romantic art film, get Enchanted April. If you want to see great footage of Tokyo, turn to the Travel Channel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wispy Daydream
Review: This is an interesting one. I think it is the type of film you either get a feel for or you don't. And that's okay. Certainly not as miraculous or profound as some think, it's a wispy daydream carried by a quiet, little story, an etheral soundtrack and an ending that leaves you with, "what did he say?" The performances are consistently great in this fish-out-of-water romance. Did it deserve all the attention? Perhaps. But maybe it's just that we need more of this type of film in our drama-, effects-heavy world.
Rating:
Summary: The Other Side of the World
Review: It's ironic to see one reviewer criticising "Lost in Translation" for cultural insensitivity and then saying it presents such a cliched view of Japanese he expected Bruce Lee to show up. Is it too cruel to point out that Bruce Lee was not Japanese, but is actually a Chinese from my home town of Hong Kong? Asians really don't all look the same you know. I've seen comparisons with Wong Kar-wai, and I think that they have some merit. Wong is above all a romantic. So is Sofia Coppola. Wong is a director who focuses on the spirit of place. So does Sofia Coppola. Of course they are different in other ways. Coppola is less self-consciously "cool" than Wong for one thing. Anyhow, it's a mistake to expect director A to be a dead ringer for director B, and as regards relative merit, Oscars aside it's not a horse race. (I do think her screenplay award was well deserved though). What I like most about "Lost in Translation" is the love in it. Not only the love between the characters, but the love the writer/director has for her characters, and - yes - for Tokyo. Like all film makers she chooses what to show us to point up the mood of her characters. And she shows us the dissonances between them and the city. I fail to see why some people find the film negative about Japanese. Mostly these are good hearted people having a good time. They are just of a different culture. And yes, some Japanese do enjoy singing Sex Pistols songs in karaoke bars. (Here in HK we might prefer Celine Dion). Personally I don't have much use for the concept of the masterpiece, whether in movies, books, or music. Unless you're talking Shakespeare or Bach or Tolstoy, it's all a bit fan-boy and practically never applies to Hollywood. But there are excellent, good, bad and indifferent films. For me "Lost in Translation" belongs among the excellent. Murray and Johansson give the performances of their lives, and I must say that like many others I loved the very scenes - including the bed scene - that some question. If only there were more films like this, going to the movies would not be such a chore.
Rating: 
Summary: Just a mediocre film
Review: Don't be fooled, this isn't a great movie, certainly NOT A MASTERPIECE as many will have you to believe. Both of the leads give nice performances and the film does capture the mood of being an expatriate in a foreign land. BUT, this film is terribly naive and unfocused. It's incredible that Coppola got an oscar for this film, which I'm pretty sure, didn't have a script at all (at least not a script worth awarding). There's a moment about halfway in where the leads are on a bed, and talking about the problems with life, and if it's not a failure to the actors then I don't know what is. It's one of those instances where something great could happen if only the writer had given them something to say. The film is filled with such moments. Also, the depiction of Japanese people is cartoonish and stereotypical. I was sure Bruce Lee was going to pop out of a closet at some point. Now, you'd argue that the Japanese were seen through the vantage of the Westerners, hence the stereotypes, but that just doesn't cut it. It's akin to an Eastern filmmaker doing a film in America where everyone talks with a midwestern accent, likes to eat, and has no knowledge nor concern of the rest of the world. It wouldn't fly just as it does with LIT. THe film is too slow to be completely Hollywood fodder, yet pretentious enough to qualify as an "Art Film". But don't be fooled, this film is neither the former or the latter. It's a confused, naive, so-so film. And any comparisons to Antonioni or Kar-Wai are laughable...those men were/are real artists, Sophia Coppola is still trying to find her voice. Any comparisons to IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE are like comparing the show FRIENDS to ALL ABOUT EVE: not even breathing the same air.
Rating:
Summary: excellent movie, mediocre DVD production
Review: A quietly moving film. Slow burning, ambiguous romance, calls to mind In A Mood For Love, or perhaps music by Gloria Coates. There is no better way to do this film: the pace, the acting, and the morphing plotline are perfectly executed to capture the loss, the melancholy, and the bittersweetness of yearning for love. It is something you either see it or you do not. It'd be useless to try to convince people otherwise. The DVD production. on the other hand, is quite disappointing. The forced preview pretty much ruined the DVD experience. Quality of the transfer is also mediocre. This movie deserves a much better, and careful DVD treatment.
Rating:
Summary: Do I Need a Hearing Aid?
Review: This film left me wondering whether I needed a hearing aid. But I think the scene in question involved deliberate, sly ambiguity - already something clever for the viewer to appreciate. The film was a little slow moving (but only if your aesthetic sensibilities are principally shaped by video games), a little understated and, in short, it was a gem. The DVD contains "deleted scenes." Of those deleted scenes, I wished the one titled "Charlotte and robots" had not been deleted. Film buffs who enjoy finding cinematic allusions to earlier films should find allusions to "The Third Man" and to "Betelgeuse," as well as others which I failed to notice.
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