Lost In Translation

I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it again; I love Bill Murray. I love this style of acting and comedy.

I loved the typical Japanese jokes, especially the short jokes, like when Murray was in the lift and he was surrounded by small Japanese men. And the tiny shower! Also loved the jokes about mis-translation and miscommunication like with the prostitute and the ripping tights!

I thought it was very interesting to see how the people that worked at the hotel and with the advert people were so nice and kiss-ass to Murray‘s movie star character Bob. I wonder if all ‘celebrities’ get treated like that in hotels.

3 minutes in and we see the image that’s on the poster for this movie. I thought it was clever that they chose that image for their promotional material.

The themes for this movie are interesting, at least to me in my current state; loneliness, alienation, insomnia, existential ennui and culture shock. When I say my current state, I mean that I’m in a different country and am currently experiencing some of those themes but not all of them so there’s no need to worry, mum! I think its because of where I am right now is why I enjoyed this movie because I can relate to the characters. I think relating to characters is so key in making a movie and keeping the audience’s attention; there has to be some of the character in the audience.

I loved that in Bob’s photo shoot for the advert [the reason he’s in Tokyo], you can see that his suit is pinned at the back so that it fits better! The reason I loved that they showed this is because the audience, and ‘normal’ people aren’t supposed to know that that’s what they do to make the clothes look so good on celebrities! Very ballsy in my opinion!

Beautiful shots of Tokyo. I love cities, with their skyscrapers and everything. I’m not much of a country girl so I think that’s why I love the shots of this wonderful city.

Aw. The relationship between Bob and Charlotte [Johansson] is sweet in a weird ‘he’s-too-old-she’s-too-young’ kind of way. I did love how they both just light up when they’re around each other. And I love the hug at the end; there’s just so much emotion in it! It’s the most emotional hug I’ve ever seen on screen.

To be honest, this ‘review’ doesn’t do the film justice. It’s a great movie and I recommend it to all!

104/212

Kate
xoxo

Tootsie

I loved this movie! It helps that I love myself a bit of drag >.< But aside from that, its actually just really funny! I really enjoyed it. My dad walked into the living room as me and my mum were watching it and I told him to guess what we were watching and as soon as ‘Dorothy’ came on screen he went “Tootsie!!” I think this is going to be one of those movies that I’ll recommend to my friends, it’s a great comedy. Now onto my notes which I don‘t think will do this movie justice;

At the beginning, we have a kind of opening montage so we get to know the character in about 3 minutes rather than the usual 15. I liked that at the beginning we see him dressing himself and making up himself to look like an older man. It a nice contrast to the rest of the movie. Then we also see him teaching other people acting, going to auditions himself [and constantly turned down] and he’s waiter which is what most wannabe ‘actors’ lives are like. I think its important for people who want to be actors to realize that it won’t just come to you and you will be turned down pretty much all the time.

Dustin Hoffman [our main man/lady] is roommates with Bill Murray! Yay! I think Murray is slowly starting to become one of my favourite actors even though I probably shouldn’t admit that. I just love his humor, especially in this one, its just so dry and witty! My kind of humor! I could of quoted him so much in my notes but that would be a bit pointless as you’d have to watch it to really understand/get it. I did write one down but this probably won’t seem funny unless you’ve watched it; it’s the first time Murray’s character sees ‘Dorothy’ and he’s just woken up and he stares at him and goes “mum?!” See! Its funnier visually. And when he walks in on the actor ‘Dorothy’ is working with tries to kiss ‘her’ and when he leaves, Murray’s character looks at ‘her’ and goes “you slut.”

At first, I really didn’t like Hoffman’s [male] character because he’s the actor who takes himself too seriously and thinks he’s amazing and should do things his way. Those kind of actors piss me off. “I can’t work with this” type people, ergh, bugger off you ungrateful diva bitch. You should be grateful for what you have and the opportunity. But I suppose we’re supposed to be a bit pissed off with him and then love him when he goes female.

Now, when he does become ‘Dorothy’, he really does look like a woman! Well, that’s until we get a profile shot of him and then we can clearly see the man but that’s turned into a joke! So when they’re arranging the cameras and they want to get an emotional shot, the camera man asks how close and the production team scream “NOT TOO CLOSE!!” Once again, its funnier than I’m typing it out to be.

I really didn’t like Hoffman’s ‘female’ voice in this. I don’t know whether its supposed to be on purpose but I just thought it was a bit poor in some places.

I liked that as Dorothy, he could even fool his agent.

Me and mum made a little comment that the apartment that Hoffman and Murray’s characters lived in was rather big for two waiters who want to be actors and playwriters. They may of tried to make it look grudgy but it was still too big.

I thought it was good that Hoffman’s male character spoke of ‘Dorothy’ like she was an actual, real person. And that he gets really into the whole dressing up part [without going camp, though, which is great]. There’s a scene where he’s talking to Murray’s character; Michael [Hoffman] “No. I don’t have the right shoes for it, I don’t like the way the horizontal lines make me look to hippy, and it cuts me across the bust.” Jeff [Murray]: [slight pause] “I think we’re getting into a weird area here.”

Geena Davis is very skinny in this. Just to warn you. You may want to shield your eyes.

Like I said, I knew my notes wouldn’t give this film justice. Its mainly negative notes, isn’t it? Ooops. But, no, please, take my word for it, it’s a funny movie, it really is. I loved it.

I don’t like when somebody comes up to me the next day and says, “Hey, man, I saw your play. It touched me; I cried.” I like it when a guy comes up to me a week later and says, “Hey, man, I saw your play… what happened?”

55/212

Kate
xoxo

Rushmore

If I did star, I’d give this movie about *** … its good but I think I’d only watch it again if it were on TV. Nothing special but watchable.

Jason Schwartzman, in this movie, looks like a cross between Tom Cruise and Stanley Tucci. It’s a weird combination.

Schwartzman’s character, Max, is a very different kind of nerd. He does far too many extra curricular activities, he dresses smart, uses ‘posh’ language yet he’s failing all his classes. I thought this was a very clever idea for a character.

Bill Murray is his usual funny self but its in a goofy adult way rather than just goofy.

Max is psychotic. Proper mental. He’s like those obsessed people you see in those movies and they actually think they’re in a real relationship with someone but its all in their head. This is kind of a slight spoof on that, I guess…or just a funny take on it.

I loved the little childish war between Max and Mr Blume [Murray’s character]. They’re very smart men [Max’s maturity is well beyond his years] yet when it comes to a woman, they go back to being 10. Max puts bees in Mr Blume’s hotel room, he ruins Max’s bike. Max cuts the breaks on Mr Blume’s car, he reports him to the police. And its all done to a song that is all about being forgiven.

I liked that they used an actual Scottish person to play a Scottish character and not an American failing badly at an accent.

The plays in this movie, that are created by Max, are fantastic! They’re a million times better than the shit we did at school! The Vietnam play was amazing with explosions and everything! Our version of ‘Memory of Water’ looks like dogcrap compared to this! And then they have a proper after party which is still themed on the Vietnam war! Wish we’d done that…

Sorry the review is so short but that’s all I felt was worth writing down. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it but… y’know, I’ve seen better!

53/212

Kate
xoxo

Groundhog Day

This has been called one of those classic comedy films. And I can see why. The storyline is unique, well thought-out and just poised for comedy. But Groudhog Day manages to combine a lot of humor with some hard-hitting and borderline-depressing stuff! Obviously, its all in quantities you can enjoy.

I’ve never seen this film before but I’ve seen the poster a few times. This is a perfect example of never to judge a book by it’s cover. The poster looks like a really bad rom-com which is probably why I never had the urge to watch it before. I urge you, who ever you are, to watch this film wrapped up in a blanket or by a fire and just enjoy!

I was worried about how the déjà vu would be done through editing after I saw the ‘first’ day. The characters, other than Phil [Bill Murray], Rita [Annie MacDowell] and Larry [Chris Elliott], are wonderfully annoying but I couldn’t watch them do the exact say thing through out the whole film. Thankfully, as the ‘days’ progress, they cut parts of the day out so the audience doesn’t get too bored or want to throw a lamp at the screen. Phil’s reaction’s to the repeated days is very realistic and I can relate to it as I feel that its exactly what I would do. At first, you’d be freaked out but slowly you’d begin to embrace it and realize how much stuff you can do and get away with because tomorrow doesn’t come! You could drive on the train tracks [“I‘m betting he‘s going to swerve first“], steal money, anything! I particularly love it when Phil just eats anything he wants. He has this table that is groaning under the weight of cakes, doughnuts, bacon, milkshakes, ANYTHING! How amazing would that be to eat whatever you want and never gain weight! For a teenage girl, that’s a bloody dream come true there! When Phil shoves an entire piece of cake into his mouth, I’m reminded of my brother who does the same thing and I think you sisters out there know what I mean!

However, this happiness can not last and this film is excellent because it shows the different emotional stages that one would go through. The depression, at first, seems slightly comical but then it hits you how terrible it would be to live the same day over and over and never have a future and you’re just stuck. You see Phil try to kill himself countless times and you’re no longer laughing. You don’t want to laugh. You want to run into the screen and hug Phil and promise him it’ll all work out. There is also the painful fact about the homeless man. I won’t say what it is but my eyes welled up with tears and the chin was wobbling. It seems odd to have scenes of serious depression in a comedy but it works, trust me, it works.

This film could of gone wrong if the pacing was wrong. Thank goodness this film got it right! If they’d spent a little more time with the build-up to the Groundhog Day déjà vu then I would of become very bored and probably dislike the rest of the movie. Every ‘day’ is shown in perfect proportion, especially when Phil is trying to get it right with Rita and learning from his mistakes. We just want to see him learn, we don’t want to see him meet Ted again or do the report.

Then, finally, the film ends and because of everything he’s gone through [and feel you’ve gone through with him], the audience is so happy and relieved even though we kind of already knew th ending. That’s what makes this a good film. That, and Phil punching Ned.

4/212

Kate
xoxo