Lost in Translation - Anyone else seen this?

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

Has anyone else seen Lost in Translation? I wasn't expecting much with Bill Murray as the lead but he and everyone else (and everything) in this film were excellent. Talk about your F'd gaijins.

I guess I am dating myself but where is the Park Hyatt in Tokyo?

[ramchop]

I am dating myself

Given up on finding suitable women-folk in NY? :P

[Taro Toporific]

.... where is the Park Hyatt in Tokyo?

It's "new"...built in 1994 just west of Shinjuku Station, the New York Grill and Bar (235 metres 70?th floor) is great not that they want real riff-raff FG in there.



http://tokyo.park.hyatt.com/tyoph/location.html


http://www.parkhyatttokyo.com/hyatt/general/arch/

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[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

I am dating myself

Given up on finding suitable women-folk in NY? :P

How positively droll of you.

[kamome]

Gai--

There are a few other threads on FG regarding this movie. I also saw an interview with Sophia Coppola in Time magazine regarding her life and the creative process for the movie. I think it also took an award at the Venice Film Festival.

I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. Can't wait 'til it comes out here.

[cstaylor]

I am dating myself

Given up on finding suitable women-folk in NY? :P

How positively droll of you.

[Taro Toporific]

...I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. Can't wait 'til it comes out here.

ALREADY I SEE A SEQUEL IN THE WORKS....

Suntory's Yamazaki whiskey gets gold medal at int'l competition---LONDON, Sept. 26 Kyodo - Japanese beverage maker Suntory Ltd.'s Suntory Yamazaki 12-Year-Old whiskey has won a gold medal in the whiskey category at the International Spirits Challenge, industry officials said Thursday. (12 :42).

[Caustic Saint]

I'll be checking the DVD racks next time I'm in the electronics market for this one. They've already got Matchstick Men and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, so this can't be far behind.

Nothing like $8 new releases.

[Taro Toporific]

I'll be checking the DVD racks next time I'm in the electronics market for this one. They've already got Matchstick Men and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, so this can't be far behind.

Nothing like $8 new releases.

$8!! Last time I bought screeners under the table in Shanghai they cost $2. Damn pirates are going upscale.

[Caustic Saint]

Prices in China are always lower than Korea (for illegal stuff). You can get 100 movies for $100 in China.

They actually tried raising the prices here a while back. W15,000 for new releases and W10,000 for older titles. Didn't last long. People just stopped buying the new stuff and waited for the price to drop.

Going to the DVD-bang costs W8,000, so why not own it for just a little more?

[Crispy]

I enjoyed it. Bill Murry is the perfect fucked gaijin. It gets bonus points for having an ass on screen through the entire title sequence.

[J-Popper]

friends back in America said this movie was great and Bill Murray was perfect. After watching the trailer, it looks like it portrays Tokyo nightlife accuratelyl so I have to see this.

[yellowlightman]

Anyone else bothered by the lack of real content in this movie? I liked it a lot, but it seemed like just a bunch of pretty pictures and little events, no major story or relationship.

[Big Booger]

Anyone else bothered by the lack of real content in this movie? I liked it a lot, but it seemed like just a bunch of pretty pictures and little events, no major story or relationship.

THAT IS the story of a gaijin:

"no major story or relationship" sums up 90% of us.. I think.

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

Anyone else bothered by the lack of real content in this movie? I liked it a lot, but it seemed like just a bunch of pretty pictures and little events, no major story or relationship.

THAT IS the story of a gaijin:

"no major story or relationship" sums up 90% of us.. I think.

Yes, I say that the movie really nailed a feeling that is very difficult to evoke in a movie. I almost felt it was me in Japan. They hit so much: 1) the crazy producer who barks his senseless orders, 2) the photographer trying to capture America by making references to long ago entertainers, 3) drunks, 4) young kids who know how to party, 5) crazy older Japanese women, 6) obsequious Japanese employees of large corporations, 7) the great service provided by waiters and waitresses in bars/restaurants insane neon, 9) cleanliness alternated with oppressive dirt.

I could go on but the movie's movements and story line jolted me into almost a virtual reality of Japan. I am so glad that they didn't dwell on some love story. What love story that was there was very realistic. They got the "desire" and near miss that really is closer to reality.

Here is a girl that the lead character really likes. And, no more than a kiss. The ending, unclear. This is life portrayed interestingly and really. There is no conclusion. Just like in life there is no conclusion.

Nice movie.

[Taro Toporific]

...They got the "desire" and near miss that really is closer to reality...interestingly and really. There is no conclusion. Just like in life there is no conclusion.

But they got to LEAVE the LAND-o-CONCRETE(tm).

[yellowlightman]

I could go on but the movie's movements and story line jolted me into almost a virtual reality of Japan. I am so glad that they didn't dwell on some love story. What love story that was there was very realistic. They got the "desire" and near miss that really is closer to reality.
Here is a girl that the lead character really likes. And, no more than a kiss. The ending, unclear. This is life portrayed interestingly and really. There is no conclusion. Just like in life there is no conclusion.
Nice movie.

I agree that I'm glad it wasn't some sappy love story, although the lack of a major plot kinda bothered me... I do tend to like work that focuses more on mood or a place, to create a real sense of being somewhere.

Methinks everyone in my Japanese class will be surprised when they see it, they all think it's a comedy.

[Taro Toporific]

Methinks everyone in my Japanese class will be surprised when they see it, they all think it's a comedy.

It's 110% truth....from what I can tell. The only "flaw" in the film trailer is that it's filmed from the 'Century Hyatt" point of view rather than a true FG reality.

[Caustic Saint]

I am dating myself

Given up on finding suitable women-folk in NY? :P

How positively droll of you.

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2003/db030907.gif

More advice from New York.

[Taro Toporific]

[Jack]

I saw it and I am kind of neutral on it. I think it accurately describes how a foreigner would feel in Japan when there on business for the first time. Not liking it at first but gradually he begins to appreciate and suddenly wants to eat "healthy like Japanese people everyday". I think if someone has no Japan connection the film may apear very boring. Lines like "I am going to this sushi place in Dankanyama, would you like to come?" has no meaning to the average joe.

Nice images of Shinjuku at night and Shibuya during the day. It gives a positive image of Tokyo. But overall, the majority of the movies takes place in a hotel. Even I found it a bit boring near the end even though I could identify with the character a bit.

I would have liked it better if at the end when he gets off the car on his way to the airport to wish her goodbye, both would decide to stay in Japan.

[Crispy]

Hey, be careful what you wish for, a lot of movie endings are better being ambiguous.

[yellowlightman]

And the Hollywood "happy ending" of them staying together would have been a bit cliche, would have taken away a lot from the originality of the film I think.

[GridReaper]

I finally got a chance to watch the flick.

I must say, the movie really captured the feel of what it is like to be trapped in Japan when you really have no reason to be there.

[American Oyaji]

Excellent movie.

It's not a "Hollywood" movie at all. Bill Murray had the FG'dness dead on perfect. Like looking underwater at the pool and seeing nothing but fat asses.....and swimming away.

And the partying......partying in Japan with Japanese gets pretty rowdy...but Japanese can be TOO friendly.

I liked the scene in the hospital where he is talking to the old lady. The two women in the background were crackin up like crazy.

What I want to know is what he said in her ear before he walked away.
I'm glad he didn't bone her. But he still got his rocks off. :P

As for that prostitute scene, it's not uncommon for companies to send a prostitute to a mans room in the entertainment business. They know that he may want some booty, but won't be too sure how to go about it or might be worrying about discretion and secrecy. So they send someone up. And if he doesn't want her, there is no harm or foul. She still gets paid to keep her mouth shut, or if he wants her later, he can ask for her later.

This is my opinion and not to be taken as fact.

[Speed]

What was Scorcese trying to point out w/ the bar altercation and ray-gun scene? Was it to show the safety of not having guns readily available in Japan?

Not trying read too much into the movie but I was asked this by an American friend of mine and got me to wonderin'.

[Caustic Saint]

What was Scorcese trying to point out w/ the bar altercation and ray-gun scene? Was it to show the safety of not having guns readily available in Japan?

Scorcese? Are we still talking about the same movie here?

[American Oyaji]

It was Sofia Copolla and those were BB guns.

[Speed]

What was Scorcese trying to point out w/ the bar altercation and ray-gun scene?

Sorry about that. Sophia Coppola and Martin Scorcese' uncanny resemblence threw me off.

So those were BB-guns! I thought they were toy laser guns that light up and don't shoot anything.

But still I ask.......what was the point of including that scene? Was it to show the relative safety of not having deadly firearms readily available in Japan

[Andocrates]

But still I ask.......what was the point of including that scene? Was it to show the relative safety of not having deadly firearms readily available in Japan

I'm still not sure if I liked this movie or not. But that scene was simply a device to change the direction of the relationship. One minute they are slightly stiff acquaintances, after this scene they are friends.