onetwothreefour
Bluelight Crew
wow. those of you not familiar with sofia coppola (daughter of francis ford coppola; cousin of nicolas cage) should go and see the virgin suicides, probably. but you should *definitely* see this.
though tvs had praise heaped upon it, i always thought it was a little overrated - critics seem to start frothing at the mouth whenever they see potential, leading to a lot of directors being overhyped for their first films. but coppola did show her talent in that film - it was beautifully shot, and the scripting was natural, believable, and reasonably enjoyable. the film just seemed to lack a little spark, imo - being slow isn't a fault, but it can be if the characters aren't quite interesting enough to hold your direct attention through the slower portions of the narrative.
in lost in translation though, her latest film starring bill murray (who, luckily, after a terrible phase through the late '80s, then again after the awesome groundhog day until wes anderson came across him, has had some amazing films recently) as almost washed-up hollywood star actor, bob harris. honestly, murray used to be one of the most underrated actors in hollywood (and he still is, a little, but at least seems to be getting some credibility now - he deserves an oscar for this role, too), but the more he takes roles like this, the more it will dissapear.
strangely enough, this was actually written with murray in mind, and though that's usually the death knell of most scripts, coppola's deft hand at creating believable, flawed and real characters is highlighted by the fact that murray fits her character like a glove. murray has long had the ability to play characters with many intricacies, but it is rare that he was able to find such roles - this though, is absolutely perfect for him. and though the role of charlotte, the tag-along wife of disinterested in everything but work rock-star photographer john (giovanni ribisi, as reliable and appealingly-odd as ever), wasn't written for her as was murray's, scarlett johanssen's co-starring appearance as the early-twenty-something charlotte is stunning.
she was good in ghost world, and the man who wasn't there, and taking note that she's still only nineteen years old (eighteen when this was filmed, oh my god!), she was just amazing in this film. johanssen brings a subtle sexuality (see only the scenes with the supremely ott hollywood starlet-friend of her husband's to prove this point) to the role, which is matched only be coppola's direction.
and i really think this is an amazing film - the scene in which we watch an entire conversation between charlotte and bob (murray) in the reflection, whilst simultaneously gazing out (and occasionally getting lost in) the night-time tokyo skyline is one of the most beautiful ever committed to film.
and coppola isn't afraid to liven things up - though the film has a feeling of yearning, self-doubt and dissapointment throughout it, it can also be uplifting, and the bouts of slapstick humour (i'm sure you've seen the trailer, but there's a few other scenes too) scattered throughout are welcome additions.
i guess i haven't gone over the film's plot too much - but i'm really only looking for discussion from people who've seen the film, what i wrote really wasn't supposed to sound so much like a review as it did!
anyway, this is already challenging lotr: rotk as the best film i've seen all year (and that's a *big* task), so i thoroughly recommend it. thoughts, everyone?
though tvs had praise heaped upon it, i always thought it was a little overrated - critics seem to start frothing at the mouth whenever they see potential, leading to a lot of directors being overhyped for their first films. but coppola did show her talent in that film - it was beautifully shot, and the scripting was natural, believable, and reasonably enjoyable. the film just seemed to lack a little spark, imo - being slow isn't a fault, but it can be if the characters aren't quite interesting enough to hold your direct attention through the slower portions of the narrative.
in lost in translation though, her latest film starring bill murray (who, luckily, after a terrible phase through the late '80s, then again after the awesome groundhog day until wes anderson came across him, has had some amazing films recently) as almost washed-up hollywood star actor, bob harris. honestly, murray used to be one of the most underrated actors in hollywood (and he still is, a little, but at least seems to be getting some credibility now - he deserves an oscar for this role, too), but the more he takes roles like this, the more it will dissapear.
strangely enough, this was actually written with murray in mind, and though that's usually the death knell of most scripts, coppola's deft hand at creating believable, flawed and real characters is highlighted by the fact that murray fits her character like a glove. murray has long had the ability to play characters with many intricacies, but it is rare that he was able to find such roles - this though, is absolutely perfect for him. and though the role of charlotte, the tag-along wife of disinterested in everything but work rock-star photographer john (giovanni ribisi, as reliable and appealingly-odd as ever), wasn't written for her as was murray's, scarlett johanssen's co-starring appearance as the early-twenty-something charlotte is stunning.
she was good in ghost world, and the man who wasn't there, and taking note that she's still only nineteen years old (eighteen when this was filmed, oh my god!), she was just amazing in this film. johanssen brings a subtle sexuality (see only the scenes with the supremely ott hollywood starlet-friend of her husband's to prove this point) to the role, which is matched only be coppola's direction.
and i really think this is an amazing film - the scene in which we watch an entire conversation between charlotte and bob (murray) in the reflection, whilst simultaneously gazing out (and occasionally getting lost in) the night-time tokyo skyline is one of the most beautiful ever committed to film.
and coppola isn't afraid to liven things up - though the film has a feeling of yearning, self-doubt and dissapointment throughout it, it can also be uplifting, and the bouts of slapstick humour (i'm sure you've seen the trailer, but there's a few other scenes too) scattered throughout are welcome additions.
i guess i haven't gone over the film's plot too much - but i'm really only looking for discussion from people who've seen the film, what i wrote really wasn't supposed to sound so much like a review as it did!

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