Rating: 
Summary: Longing...mystery....obsession
Review: A ravishing film with an equally ravishing soundtrack. It seems like a meditation on a particular area of human feeling. Vertigo covers some similar territory - mysterious/unknowable/out of reach woman (women) inspires unbearable longing, and then nostalgia.It's not about tragedy or about the relationships between the characters exactly. (so stop complaining - you've missed the point) It's a meditation on some inexplicable and melancholoy events.The film and the story are a mystery and they're about mystery - not to be explained. That's where much of their beauty comes from.The cinematography is exquisite and painterly. The demonstration of cultural awareness and is very sharp and perceptive. But the sense of style does not come at the expense of content or strong feeling. By the way, it's also a HILARIOUS black comedy. This film is formula-free so check preconceptions at the door. If you like to be spoon fed familiar plot lines, you won't enjoy it. Period. Perhaps this is why it's been unjustly snubbed by the Oscars. That said, enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal of suburban life
Review: This movie is very,very good. Although there isn't much character development, you can identify with the girl's sense of loneliness and desperation to be free. This film is a perfect example of suburban teenage life. I guess I can really identify with it because I'm from suburban Detroit and I grew up in a rich neighborhood so I know how tough some parents can be and how most parents truly don't understand their kids. If you haven't seen this yet, watch this movie. It's the perfect movie for 21-24 year olds from suburbia.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriuging
Review: After viewing this film, my friends and i were left first dumbstruck and then we couldn't stop talking about it, but as yet, we have found no answers to why the girls commited suicide. The film's sucess lies in the fact that it makes suicide very ordinary and mundane even. The plot gives no answers as to why the girls would commit suicide, and when they are speaking they are seen to be happy and laughing. I am very intrigued by this film and the point it was trying to put across. Worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the book, you'll love the DVD
Review: This is one of the few films that I can say was as good as the book. The story of the Lisbon girls takes place in Grosse Pointe, MI an affluent suburb north of Detroit in the early 70's. The story at times is dreamy and surreal as the neighborhood boys follow the plight of an unusual family with a bevy of beautiful yet mysterious teenager girls, the Lisbon sisters. With parents that are extremely strick and virtually no social life outside their house, the Lisbon girls seem untouchable. When the youngest of the sisters suffers a failed suicide attempt, things begin to change. There is the party at the Lisbon house and the homecoming dance group date at which the boys get a closer look at the Lisbon girls than they ever imagined possible. This is not a "feel good" film, nor is it a romantic date movie. It is the story of 5 teenage girls and their unusual family and the boys across the street whose lives have been permanantly marked by the events of that summer when they got a glimpse of the magic and mystery surrounding the Lisbon sisters.
Rating:
Summary: lovely, but not as good as its preview
Review: Creepy, film noir-inspired music sets the tone for a tale about sisters who feel out of pace with the rest of their small, affluent town. Coppola was right on when it came to the saturated, incestuous, Twin Peaks a la' 1970s feel of the Michigan burbs, infusing a memorable sense of place throughout the movie in lethargic, lingering camera shots. Less time was spent developing the characters. Whether or not intentional, the names and personalities of Lux, Mary, Bonnie, and Therese blend together. Everything we know comes from the boys who live on the same street and commiserate about their teenage obsessions with them. The story is being told by one of the boys, now a grown-up, in retrospect. Despite popular praise for Sofia Coppola's direction, I think the movie speaks more for her promise--which no doubt is great--than her performance here, though she did make some crucial decisions about its look and feel. Had the quality of the best moments been consistant throughout, it would have left little to be desired. In the DVD there is a behind the scenes feature in which Francis Ford Coppola talks about how Sofia's adaptation of the Jeffery Eugenides novel was so good he knew he had to produce the film. I sort of disagree. People who have read the book will appreciate how the movie basically captures the feel of adolescence and sexuality, and the tunnel vision of teenagers. But they will lament how thin the story became. The focus shifts more heavily to the Lux-Trip relationship, less on the degeneration of the Lisbon's lives. The scene when the bodies were discovered, which had so much cinematic potential (and promised to be a payoff considering it's a real cinematic movie), came off lukewarm. Nonetheless, it is more thoughtful and more memorable than most movies. It will go down sort of as a "Heathers"--a small, meaningful movie that people will think about now and again. Beautifully cast (except for Trip, who I expected to be more like someone the local mothers had crushes on, as told by Eugenides) and acted, it is definitely to be seen. But be warned, if the story were adapted to movie 100 times, this would be only in the top 15. Perfectionists will have wanted more.
Rating: 
Summary: boring and depressing
Review: this movie was obviously adapted from a novel; it has the timeline, pacing, and internal dialog problems that come with a poor adaptation. as some one who grew up in michigan during the 70s. i found the setting to be entirely inaccurate. from looking at all the italians, the exteriors, the interiors and etc. i would swear i was looking at long island, rather than lansing, ann arbor, flint, battle creek, detroit, or another MI city. i gues the midwest has some sort of exotic fantasy appeal to bicoastals. it reminded me of gummo in a way. i did appreciate the directors feminine interpretation of all the characters and the story. i also enjoyed the 13 year old girl details and nostagia.
Rating: 
Summary: two flaws
Review: there are two flaws here, one with the story and one with the casting...you don't spend half a film developing the romance between the perfect couple only to have this relationship unbelieveably dropped.....and kathleen turner, who played in 'body heat, is totally wrong for the strict mother...without those two catalysts, the film flops.
Rating:
Summary: The not so virgin suicides
Review: This captivating film about a family even more messed up than yours is, will capture even the most cynical. The Virgin Suicides is captivating look into the world of a family in New England. The family dynamic is that of an oppressive and over protective mother (Kathleen Turner) and a forgetful professer father (James Woods). They have five beautiful daughters (Mary, Therese, Bonnie, Lux, and Cecille). They seem like a normal happy family living on a very suburban street. Then one day the most horrible thing happens, the youngest of their five daughters, the angelic Cecille, tries to take her own life. The family begins questioning itself. Cecille can't explain why she did it or what pushed her. The family tries to put it behind them and have a party, but the party turns tragic when Cecille tries again and succeeds. The film takes off from this moment on a journey narrated by one of the boys who fell in love with the Lisbon sisters without ever really knowing them. The girls are allowed to go to a dance and feel normal, but when Lux, the now youngest of the sisters, doesn't come home until the next morning, the mother locks them in the house and won't let them leave even to go to school. Their father begins to lose his mind, talking to plants and such. Their mother turns into a lunatic blaming rock and roll albums for her misfortune. Being locked in the house causes the girls to go a little crazy themselves. Lux begins having nightly trysts on the roof outside of her room, and the girls begin to have private cals from the neighborhood boys where all they do is play songs for each other expressing their melancholy. The girls figure out a way to escape and ask the boys for help. Little do the boys know, the Lisbon sisters know of only one way to escape... Cecilles way. This movie will bring to light the anger, frustration, and melancholy that even the happiest of teenagers can go through. A must see.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Good Movie
Review: I just rented "The Virgin Suicides" this past weekend and I liked it. I wanted to see it when it was playing at the movies, but I guess it didn't play in my area. Anyway, this is a pretty good movie. It's nice, bittersweet, and sad at the same time. It shows the danger that can come from overprotecting kids the way the parents do to their five daughters in this movie. The way the parents overprotect the five Lisbon daughters is definitely not good for them. It hinders their emotional, social, and intellectual growth. Because of their parents' overprotection, the girls kill themselves. Now, I know that suicide is not the answer to any problem, but I can understand why. They feel trapped, isolated from the outside world in which they can develop into their own people. This movie also shows the bittersweet romance that develops between Lux Lisbon and Trip Fontaine, the school hunk. I thought it was really beautiful. You can also see the sadness in the girls during the scenes in which some neighborhood boys (who are fascinated by them) play them songs from records over the phone. The songs they play, such as "Hello, It's Me", "So Far Away", and "Run To Me" reflect the girls' sense of isolation. This is a movie that will stay on your mind for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: "Heathers" meets "Welcome to the Dollhouse"
Review: Her acting skills criticized in the past, Sofia Coppola makes a stunning directorial debut in this dark comedy reminiscent of "Heathers" and "Welcome to the Dollhouse". A dark movie woven with careful humor, "The Virgin Suicides" explores the sexual awakening and adolescence of the Lisbon Sisters who, by all appearances, are the picture of perfection to the neighborhood boys, when in fact, the teenage girls are just as awkward and self-conscious as any of their peers. Kathleen Turner and James Woods are incredible. They actually have little dialogue, but it's so well acted, few words are needed. Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine is spectacular and had to have watched hours of Welcome Back Kotter-era Travolta to pull off such a stud factor. Set in Suburbia 70's, Coppola has clearly targeted the 30-something audience and hit the bullseye. Supported by a great soundtrack, well-written dialogue, and superb cast, Sofia Coppola make an awesome directorial debut in this must see film.
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