Rating: 
Summary: The Last Laugh
Review: There was no actress in recent memory that was more vilified than Sofia Coppola in Godfather 3! Although hers was no Meryl Streep or Nicole Kidman performance, she was not as bad as all the critics, bar none, saw her.Yet the damage was done, and everybody thought that the name Sofia Coppola will never again be on any other movie credits, let alone be credited as the writer and director. To everyone's surprise, comes Virgin Suicides,(her first long feature after the short Lick the Star)a fine film, although no classic,but it shows that talent must truly be flowing in the blood of the Coppolas!
Sofia Coppola was able with Virgin Suicides to demonstrate a good narrative and a fine eye for the visual, a making of a good director.
The story of the film itself (adapted from the Jefferey Euginedes novel, but written by Ms Coppola), is amibigious, and the suicides of the Lisbon girls, remains shrouded with mystery.(the novel is alledgedly based on factual accounts).This atmosphere remains throughout the film, despite the clues that are sporadically spread throughout. A religious and strict mother,less psychotic version of Piper Laurie in Carrie but as effectively fanatic,(a great comeback by Katheleen Turner), a gullible and weird Math teacher father (the great James Woods), they are over protective of their five beautiful daughters, the youngest of whom inexplicablly commits suicide early in the film. The mystery of the Lisbon household is overblown through the eyes of the boys who are intrigued, fascinated and perplexed by the girls and their lives. Yet the scenes in the prom dance, restores a air of normality, and we see for the first time the Lisbon girls as normal teenagers with strict parents. As a result the plot becomes slightly uneven, as this air of mystery which carried the film loses its grip, only to return with their mass suicide.
I liked the mood of the film,in parts the Lisbon girls' mystery reminding me a bit of Peter Weir's masterpiece Picnic at Hanging Rock.
All the actors are well cast, from Kathleen Turner, James Woods, Kristen Dunst (in my opinion it is her best role to date, she brings a lot of elusive charm and seductiveness to her role), Hanna R.Hall (who does a fantastic job in the yet to be released drama Amy and Isabelle), to the delightful cameos by Danny Devito and Michael Pare.
The soundtrack is also brilliant, and the choice of the French ambient duo Air to do the score was an inspiring choice.
So Virgin Suicides is as I said, no classic film, and it has its flaws, but overall it is an above average film that will compel you to watch in fascination.
Sofia has surely the last laugh!
Rating: 
Summary: WHAT A KNOCKOUT!
Review: THIS IS A GREAT FILM! IT TAKES U BACK -WELL I WASNT A KID OR TEEN OF THE 70S BUT I COULD FEELL LIKE I WAS AFTER THIS FILM! i could relate to the charcters and feel like i was in the 70s! the story was excellent as well as the actors.EVERY ACTOR PLAYED PART TO A TEE- THERE WAS LUX LISBON AS BEAUTIFUL SISTER AND THE OTHER SISTERS WERE VERY MESMERIZING and interesting. THE DVD MENU WAS COOL AND HAD EXTRAS SUCH AS A PHOTO GALLERY AND A MUSIC VIDEO WITH THE LITTLE TALKING GUM- ITS A piece of gum that sings and it was cool and funny -the little gum sings (( playground love)). WOW I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD LIKE AIR SUPPLYS MUSIC TILL NOW! - the story was so mesmerizing it had u in a spell like transe. SO COOL - WOW IS ALL I CAN SAY WHAT A FILM! KUDOS TO THE DIRECTOR AND ACTORS- U HAVE MADE A MEMORABLE REMARKABLE AND AWSOME FILM NOONE WILL EVER FORGET ! and to all the people who hated this movie in ur review - u are crazy. u have horrible taste in movies and i cant see how ur human if u cant relate to this masterpiece and feel the vibe of the mid 70s and the emotions the characters feel. THANK U VERY MUCH - HOPE I HELPED U. BUY THIS MOVIE AND LIVE THROUGH EXPERIENCE U WILL NEVER FORGET . ALSO DONT MISS THE SINGING GUM
Rating:
Summary: Weird but wonderful
Review: Virgin Suicides is the sort of the film that upon first viewing will leave you puzzled. It takes a while to sink in, but is actually a beautiful piece of film-making. Sophie Coppola's debut as a director is simply brilliant.Virgin Suicides focusses on an American family with five daughters in 1976. Tragedy occurs in the first twenty minutes of the film when the youngest daughter commits suicides for the second time and succeeds. What a brave film to tackle such a taboo subject ie. teenage suicide. And I'm glad they have, because too many films pussy-foot around this sensitive subject, but let's face it, suicide happens every day of the week. Sweeping it under the carpet does not help society understand it, or deal with it. This film explores the impact of suicide on the remaining family members but also the neighbourhood. Nothing can quite prepare you for the ending of this film. Overall, a very tragic film, and reasonably depressing to watch. However, on the other hand it is a beautiful film because it makes the viewer evaluate life and consider issues which are often not discussed. A film which has been overlooked by so many (probably because of the sensitive theme), yet deserves to be watched by all. Very pleased to own this DVD. DVD SUMMARY:
Presented in 1:78 widescreen with 5.1 surround sound. A great 70's soundtrack featuring Heart's "Magic Man". Extras include "Making Of" featurette.
Rating:
Summary: Good translation from book to film
Review: This was a great film although overlooked on release. The acting is superb from all of the actors and although there is one little minor change in the movie....the film stays mainly faithful to the book. If I could give anyone any advice on this though...Do NOT watch this film when you are drunk....you might end up blubbering like a baby by the time it's finished. Also I have to say it has a great soundtrack. Makes you really fit in with the time of when it was supposed to be set. Watch and enjoy
Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: this movie was one of the best movies that i have ever seen...its just beautiful...i recommend it to anyone...
Rating: 
Summary: Sphinx without a Secret
Review: I'm probably giving nothing away by calling this film a "mood piece," with no real characters or story. It seems to be about a certain, universal quality of memory. If it went into specifics (such as motivation), the bubble would burst. Anyone who's seen the trailers can sort of guess it's a wet-dream reminiscence. Children have trouble with empathy and can't read anybody, particularly the opposite sex, so it makes sense that the narrator has no insights into what is going on, even from the distance of twenty years. And maybe he doesn't want any: the time-mellowed haze of his voyeuristic memories is too exciting for him to willfully complicate. And the viewer? You'll probably have mixed feelings. For one thing, the redundant narration (mumbled by half-awake Giovanni Ribisi) punctures the delicate mood. Yes, we guessed already that he's "haunted" by these Lisbon sisters, that they embodied le mystique feminine, a je ne sais blah blah blah... His jarring, jaded voice-over banalizes the film's brilliance at every turn. I hated this "literary" narration so much that I made a note to avoid the novel at all costs. Interestingly, the author, Jeffrey Eugenides, appears in the featurette on the DVD, and he's surprisingly inarticulate. He is also (unsurprisingly) rather nebbishy, and seems painfully out of place on the set, among vibrant young people (the cast and director) who are still looking forward to life. The novel is the only one he has written, which makes me think that his own sun set long ago, circa 1976. There's amusing footage of a forced conversation between him and callow Josh Hartnett, trapped together in a pair of folding chairs between takes; it's a classic cool guy/nerd encounter, full of fidgety pauses ("Um, so...I read your novel, man. Really loved it"...) The real surprise here is Sofia Coppola; her direction, not to mention her ability to elicit perfect performances from a young cast, are phenomenal. At its best, her film is sort of a visualization of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" ("Who are these coming to the sacrifice?...") If you don't know the poem, read it! No wonder Kirsten Dunst can refer to Sofia (who also wrote the screenplay) as the material's "source," completely ignoring the novel. (I'm guessing the girls were kept far away from sweaty Eugenides). In Sofia's hands, the "trivial, mundane details" of the Lisbon girls' lives are the texture and soul of the film. All of these are handled just right, vivid and period-perfect yet ethereal, timeless: the jewel-like vials of seventies lip-gloss, the kitschy way the girls write their names, the songs, the spangled balloons at the prom. It's all surface, and all she's given to work with, yet she takes the proverbial sow's ear and a clammy whiff of adolescent sex/death fantasy and weaves them into a sort of tightrope to lift us somewhere, between dreaminess and darkness, for two hours. Only in recollection does it all fall apart. The whole "story" is just an elegy for a golden age of male libido and ignorance. These girls exist only to be watched; their mystery is shallowly contrived. Though they're all stunners--immaculately groomed, personally charming--none of them has any friends. That might tarnish their mystique. They float dreamily around campus, a sort of unbreachable blonde coven, showing no emotion, no thoughts, not even a pang of sibling enmity. During the months they are (implausibly) under house arrest, they all huddle together in a bedroom, grooming each other fatalistically. No squabbles, no fights. No one broods apart from the rest, except for Lux, who somehow lures strange men into sexual trysts on the roof (you'd think her control-freak parents would notice the guys scaling the house at all hours)... In short, everything they do--including, of course, their final act--is staged for the titillation/mystification of bland little boys, who have nothing better to do all day than obsess on impassive chicks. Whatever. Maybe I should disclose my complicated feelings about this film. (If personal notes offend you, stop reading). That song "Magic Man" wrenched me back 25 years, to the summer of '76, when it was a favorite song of the four blonde sisters who lived next door. They were a lot like the Lisbons: all beautiful in their different ways, all a bit strange (or so they seemed then), all herded off to church several times a week by right-wing parents. The difference is that one of them (Laurie, the second youngest) was my closest friend for five years, so I was able to see the family from the inside. On the surface, and in public, these girls were so serene; privately, they all seemed ready to implode. One summer, Laurie taught me a particularly foul word, which I made the mistake of repeating later that day in a car packed with all four of them. The three oldest flew into a sort of Bacchic frenzy, grabbing at me wildly, swatting me with their hair, choking me, each of them wrenching my face up to meet her angry blue eyes to be sure I felt her full outrage. For long afterward, this was one of my more delicious memories. Best not to tell more--such as what became of them. Just that I understand on some level why Eugenides needed to cut the Lisbons off at the height of their powers; to seal them forever in an amber of promise and mystery. To the grown narrator, they're still virgins in a bower (even Lux), unpenetrated by the wisdom of age. It may be a con, but it's an attractive one. I've watched this movie three times. If I ever need to see it a fourth time, maybe I'll add another star.
Rating:
Summary: A hidden jewel...
Review: This film is a phenomenal adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides' novel, that tells of the five Lisbon sisters, the subject of dreams and desire from all the boys at school, and their strict parents. Not necessarily a coming of age story, but a great insight into what adolescent girls' minds can do when pushed to certain limits. The book-to-film adaptation is particularly good, especially since this is not a simple, linear story to be told. However, Sofia Coppola (yes, Francis Ford's daughter, Nic Cage's and Jason Schwartzman's cousin) succeeds in both her screeplay writing and in her direction. The 1970's setting of the film is subtle but truly realistic, this is how life in that era was like. The basis of the story is the life of the five Lisbon sisters, Lux (Kirsten Dunst), Mary, Cecilia, Therese and Bonnie. Living with their oppresive parents (Kathleen Turner and James Woods, in a very subdued performance), the girls are kept from the outside world, being forbidden to go to parties and socialize. This makes them even more desirable and mysterious to high school boys, who see them as godesses. Their life is disrupted by Cecilia's suicide on the very night that their parents allowed them to have a party at home. Becoming truly disturbed by this event, their mothers decides to seclude them completely, leaving the house only to go to school. Throughout the movie, we join a few of the boys as they meet and talk about what they think the sisters are doing, what they're like, dreaming of chance meetings with them, only to be used by them for the film's climactic ending. All in all, this is a great film by a great filmmaker...
Rating:
Summary: They could have taken the easy way, they did not.
Review: Watching this film after a while (I bought it in 2000) I appreciate it more and more. How simple it could have been do just cast the mother of the Lisbon girls as cruel and insane, to have it be an update of Carrie, sans the prom mayhem. Instead we get a unique portrait of a disturbed but basically decent family who simply could not cope. The real main characters are, of course, the boys. They are obsessed with the girls across the street and who can blame them? Five stunning blond goddesses, ages 13 through 17, all devastatingly beautiful, Kirsten Dunst is as lovely as ever, she is always pretty but this film really takes advantage of the ethereal, dreamlike quality of her, throwing her hair around in slow motion and winking at the camera. It would look stupid on any other actress. It is also a perfect homage to the shampoo ads of the 1970's, not a parody but a respectful nod. Basically we have a dysfunctional family without a clear villain. The mother simply will not allow her daughters to grow up or to leave the house accept for school. The father (Played brilliantly by James Wood) is a dishrag. plain and simple, he won't stand up to his wife and just goes along with things, he is also seriously detached from reality. When his youngest daughter kills herself he watches a ballgame when the priest comes to comfort him, he never acknowledges what happened. This sounds very cruel and indeed it would be, but the girls have never known another life and so they endure it and rebel in there own ways. Lux ( Dunst) is a sexual dynamo and throws herself at boys and men alike, the trash man etc. She uses her beauty as a weapon, her only weapon perhaps, but an effective one. The youngest is the first to die, she kills herself in a deeply disturbing manor that would be much too gruesome in the hands of a lesser director, Sofia Coppala is as good as everyone says, I don't know if her father had his hand in this or not but whoever did this did it very well. Watching this film reminded me of real people, the pretty girls in the 70's who had less then no time for me but whom I would watch, form a safe distance of course! Girls that were never seen accept at school or church but who grew up anyway, for better or worse. The suicides are not realistic but that is part of the overall feel of the film, the boys watch as we watch, from the theater seats (or living room chair) not understanding the strange creatures we call girls. The mystery of the Lisbon girls untimely deaths is, I think, the mystery that cannot be solved and the deaths represent the end of obsession, of seeing the opposite sex as visions through a telescope (or a movie screen), of course they never get over it, even as grown ups whenever they met, they tried to put together the evidence to figure out why, they won't and neither will we. The Virgin Suicides is about life's mysteries and how we never solve them and we never should.
Rating:
Summary: nostalgic mesmerizing unique film
Review: the virgin suicides is a drama set in the 70's about 5 sisters and thier overbearing overprotective mother and disillusioned teacher father. they are never allowed to go out. a group of neighborhood boys become mesmerized with thier beauty and curious about thier lives. they get somewhat close to the sisters but cannot take them away from thier overprotective and unhappy environment they live in. one day one of the most popular boys at school asks the teacher father to allow him and the boys from the neighborhood who made a deal with him to take thier daughters to the dance for the night. he eventually convinces the father to let him and the boys take thier daughters which is a miracle in itself. but they go to the dance and one of the girls does somthing shes not suppoused to , im not gona giv away the ending but its basically about 5 girls and thier lives and the 70s and the events that lead up to a unforgetable and sad ending which u wont forget. excellent film , nostalgic , captivating , unforgetable. just a good film overall. i give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: the emperor has no clothes.
Review: when you read about this book or movie, it sounds a lot better than it is. sounds like an interesting idea, right, a household of sisters, in a repressive environment, all commit suicide? unfortunately the emperor has no clothes and everybody's afraid of looking like a dummy by saying so. the book, albeit weird, was well written but didn't translate to a movie. in an attempt to be deep and meaningful, it came out as merely pretentious.
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