Lost in Translation

Kam Williams started her review by saying, “I suppose Bill Murray is still thought of as that Saturday Night Live wiseguy with a smarmy nonchalance whose blasé brand of comedy proved to be as charming on the big screen as it was on television. The pockmarked comic's enduring career has been marked by way too many hits to recall, with Caddyshack, Stripes, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, and Groundhog Day figuring most prominently.”

Williams continued, “In recent years, Murray's work in such movies as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums has been tempered by an emotional depth which has led to the sort of critical acclaim ordinarily reserved for only the most accomplished actors.” Now, after “Lost in Translation,” released in 2003, he looked like he finally got the Oscar nomination that has escaped him for years.

This caring character study was written and directed by Sofia Coppola, daughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola. Many film buffs say that she single-handedly ruined “The Godfather Part III,” when she came in as a last-minute replacement for Winona Ryder in the role of Mary Corleone. Now it seems that Sofia has found her calling in film, following in her father’s footsteps.

Williams mentioned, “Lost in Translation is a mood piece, set against the backdrop of the frenetic pace of present-day Tokyo, where Bob Harris (Murray), an over-the-hill Hollywood star, has just arrived to make TV and print ads for Santori whiskey.” Apparently, the elder idol couldn’t afford to turn down the endorsement’s $2 million paycheck. Besides, he could use a break from a 25-year marriage which has long since lost its spark.

Williams noted, “A good sport, Bob mindlessly obliges the fussy blur of the doting entourage which has mapped out his every daytime move during the week of his stay.” However, the language barrier prevents him from having any meaningful conversations with any of his hosts, even the outlandish masseuse someone send to his hotel room as a present to help relax him. Alone at night, he finds himself diagnosed by an insomnia which has him as a regular at the piano bar downstairs, which is where he talks with the equally depressed and sleep-deprived Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson, having a drink of her own.

Despite being considerably younger, and still technically a newlywed, Charlotte grows attached with the miserable middle-aged man, since they share the similar issue of being stuck in a soulless marriage. She has already become a virtual burden around the hand of her pestering photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi), who’d rather pay more attention on the self-absorbed actress (Anna Faris) he’s in town to take pictures of.

Bob and Charlotte make a fast friendship, more out of a sense of desperation than out of anything sensual. Williams said, “Yet magic happens for this pair of malcontents as they turn Tokyo into a personal playland, although we sense that they'd both really rather be anywhere else. Alternately laugh-out-loud silly and profoundly moving, kudos to Coppola for managing to capture an undeniable chemistry between Murray and his 18-year-old co-star, despite a certain asexuality. Praise is also in order for Ms. Johansson, whose considerable talent first caught my eye three years ago, as the irreverent Rebecca in Ghost World, the comic book adaptation which ended up number one on my Ten Best List for 2000.” “Lost in Translation” is a masterpiece that must have been under consideration for 2003’s list.

I had heard about this movie while watching the Nostalgia Critic, so one day I decided to check it out. This is hands down one of the greatest films ever made. I loved the chemistry between Murray and Johansson. You have to see this if you haven’t. Don’t miss your chance to see this because you will love this. Once you see it, you will be asking what Murray whispered in Johansson’s ear at the end of the movie. The same way people question what was in the briefcase when John Travolta opened it in “Pulp Fiction.” See this if you’re a fan of these lead actors because this is one that has to be seen to be believed.

Alright, we have now come to the end of “Bill Murray Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed this and hopefully everyone has checked out the films I recommended. Stay tuned next month to see more excitement.

Osmosis Jones

“Osmosis Jones,” released in 2001, is like the dark side of those animated educational films showing what goes on in the bowels. It takes us inside the human body for a tour of such unknown areas as the Lower East Backside, and such useful organs as the Puke Bottom. Roger Ebert described in his review, “These sights are depicted in colorful, gloppy, drippy animation, and then we switch to live action for the outside of the body in question, which belongs to a man named Frank (Bill Murray).”

Frank follows the Ten-Second Rule, which says that if food is dropped and stays on the ground less than 10 seconds, it’s still safe to eat. In the case of the hard-boiled egg in question, he might also have thought that before the egg dropped, he had to fight it from the mouth of a monkey. The egg is filled with germs, sending the inside of his body into immediate emergency.

At the cellular area, we meet Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock), a maverick cop, always being called into the chief’s (Joel Silver) office for a lecture. In the first animated cell version of a buddy movie, he teams up with Drix (David Hyde Pierce), a fearful-release cold capsule, to fight the viral invasion, which threatens to kill Frank after Thrax (Laurence Fishburne) introduces a new and deadly infection.

Ebert noted, “The live action scenes, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary"), use Bill Murray's seedy insouciance as a horrible object lesson in what can happen to you if you don't think all the time about germs.” His second, potentially lethal, infection comes when he visits a science fair where his daughter Shane, played by Elena Franklin, is displaying her project. Talking with another contestant, played by Will Dunn, he learns that the kid’s experiment has polluted oysters being cleaned. Assured that the oysters are cleansed, he eats one.

The animated scenes, which takes up two-thirds of the movie, were directed by Piet Kroon and Tom Sito. Ebert noted, “Imagine the journey through the human body undertaken by Dennis Quaid in "Innerspace" (1987), as if it were drawn by Matt Groening ("Life in Hell") on acid, and you will have an approximation. I especially liked the way various parts of the body represented neighborhoods in the City of Frank (the stomach is the airport, with regular departures to the colon; the Mafia hangs out in the armpit; lawyers can be found in a hemorrhoid).”

Inside Frank City, the Mayor (William Shatner) tries to maintain the status quo when he is campaigning against his opponent, Tom Colonic (Ron Howard), a “regular guy.” Outside, the unshaven Frank embarrasses his clean daughter with his uncivilized behavior, and really offends the science teacher, played by Molly Shannon, by purging on her after eating the wrong oyster. (Ebert said, “I am reminded of Dr. Johnson observing to Mr. Boswell: "Sir, he was a brave man who ate the first oyster."”) Back inside Frank, Osmosis Jones worries that he acted too quickly when he pushed the Puke Button.

Who is the movie for? Ebert said, “Despite my descriptions, it is nowhere near as gross as the usual the effort, and steers clear of adventures in the genital areas. It was originally classified PG-13, but was upgraded to PG after some trims, and is likely to entertain kids, who seem to like jokes about anatomical plumbing.” For adults, there is the excitement of the animation and the energy of the whole movie, which is just really smart.

I saw this movie in the theaters with my siblings and I really enjoyed the movie. I don’t know what my siblings thought of it, but I personally had a fun time laughing throughout the movie. Maybe the animated parts were what I found most amusing, but the live-action scenes were also funny and did have some emotion in it later on. Check it out if you haven’t because I think you will have an enjoyable time watching this movie.

Next week, we will be ending “Bill Murray Month” with one of the best movies ever made.

The Man Who Knew Too Little

Apparently, there was a time when Bill Murray seemed to have been in movies that people did not like. I did not know this because I have not seen “all” of Bill Murray’s films. However, when I was returning home from an overseas trip 2½ years ago, I was looking through the films they had available. I ended up watching “The Man Who Knew Too Little,” released in 1997.

Murray plays Wallace Ritchie, a Blockbuster video employee from Iowa who pays a surprise visit to his investment banker brother in London. The brother, James, played by Peter Gallagher, has an important dinner to attend to, however, so he looks for something to keep Wally busy for a few a hours.

What he finds is “Theatre of Life.” It’s a theater group with a twist: For a small price, you become part of the play. You improvise as the actors lead you through an insane murder mystery that takes you through the real streets of London. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

The twist here is that Wally accidentally gets involved in an actual international secrecy-type crime, but he doesn’t realize it – he thinks he’s in a play, and that all the people around him are actors.

Surprisingly little suspension of disbelief is required here. Once you can accept the idea of there being something called “Theatre of Life” – and it’s really not that unbelievable an idea. Perhaps something like this already exists – then you can accept everything.

Eric D. Snider said in his review, “Great use is made of every-day conversation that could be taken in two ways. Wally refers to “improvising,” “setting the stage,” “knockin’ ’em dead” — all expressions that he uses to refer to the “play” he’s in, but which the other characters use to mean the real-life situation they’re dealing with.”

Snider continued, “Robert Farrar did an excellent job adapting his book “Watch That Man” into a screenplay that is inventive, well-paced and funny.”

There is strangely little explanation in this movie, and the result is that the first half-hour seems like a long “Saturday Night Live” sketch. We meet Wally when he’s already arriving in London. We know very little about him as a person, which is how most sketch characters are: two-dimensional, one-joke people. The joke of him thinking he’s in a play when really, he’s not is hilarious, but how long can that tolerate itself?

Snider said, “I was relieved when a plot finally developed and the movie kept going.” The joke was still the same – Wally’s ignorance of the true situation keeps him happily entertained in the face of potential death – but enough variation was made to keep it funny.

Snider noted, “Murray plays Wally not as a bumbling fool — an Inspector Clouseau who stumbles from one mishap to the next — but rather as a fairly ordinary, spontaneous guy who is having the time of his life despite being in serious danger.”

The movie has only two or three offensive words or phrases. It’s a surprisingly clean, almost innocent movie – and yet it is insanely funny and very clever, too.

I don’t really see why people didn’t like this, but maybe it is because this wasn’t the type of comedy for everyone. I, however, found myself laughing throughout this movie. I personally think that this was a funny movie. See it if you haven’t and give it a chance. Judge it for yourself and don’t listen to everyone else. If you end up not liking it, I understand.

Next week I will be looking at a movie that I saw in the theaters with my siblings that I also found very funny in “Bill Murray Month.”

Ed Wood

Edward D. Wood Jr. must have been the Will Rogers of filmmaking: He never directed a shot he didn’t like. It takes a special eccentric person to be voted the Worst Director of All Time, a title that Wood has earned by applause. He was really passionately with every frame of every scene of every film he shot that he was blind to hilarious mistakes, awkward uselessness, and acting so bad that it earned a kind of majesty. However, badness alone would not have been enough to make him a legend. It was his love of film, sneaking through, that pushes him over the top.

Wood’s most famous films are “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (where Bela Lugosi died and was replaced by a double with a cloak pulled over his face), and “Glen or Glenda,” where Wood himself played the transvestite title roles. Roger Ebert said in his review, “It was widely known even at the time that Wood himself was an enthusiastic transvestite, and when Tim Burton, director of the "Batman" movies, announced a project named "Ed Wood," I assumed it would be some kind of a camp sendup, maybe a cross between "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Sunset Boulevard." I assumed wrong. What Burton has made is a film which celebrates Wood more than it mocks him, and which celebrates, too, the zany spirit of 1950s exploitation films - in which a great title, a has-been star and a lurid ad campaign were enough to get bookings for some of the oddest films ever made. It was a decade when there were still lots of drive-in movie theaters, cut-price fleapits and small-town bijous that thrived on grade Z double features.”

Ebert continued, “The people who made many of those films may have been hucksters and conmen, but they were not devoid of a sense of humor, and often their movies had more life and energy than their betters. America's theaters hadn't been centralized and computerized, and you couldn't book 2,000 screens with a single keystroke, and Ed Woods could thrive.”

Burton’s career has always shown a liking for touching outsiders, like “Beetlejuice” and “Edward Scissorhands,” “Batman” and Jack Skellington (the lonely star of “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”). In “Ed Wood,” released in 1994, he gives us a hero who is not simply an outsider, but one who attracts even more desperate cases to himself. Played by warmth and enthusiasm by Johnny Depp, Wood is a guy who simply must make movies – and who is do amazed by Hollywood legend that he mistakes poor Bela Lugosi, long past his prime and stuck in drug addiction, as a star.

There are others who fall into his trap: Bunny Breckinridge, played by Bill Murray, a camp master who would have stood out like a sore thumb in anyone else’s movies, but fit right into Wood’s. And the amazing Criswell, played by Jeffrey Jones, amazing mainly for being able to find employment for no apparent talent. And Tor, played by George “The Animal” Steele, physically clumsy but gifted according to Wood. And Vampira, played by Lisa Marie, the midnight movie hostess whose chest always looked moist. Finally, there is Lugosi, played brilliantly by Martin Landau, as a man who was partly Wood’s headliner, partly his patient. Ebert described, “When Wood assembled his casts, they looked like a cartoon portrait from Mad magazine.”

In Burton’s version, Wood is a man who not only accepts reality, but celebrates it. Far from being secretive about his love of dressing in women’s clothes, he treats it as the most natural thing in the world, putting on an angora sweater, skirt and high heels to help himself relax while directing a scene. “Are you a homosexual?” he’s asked. “No!” he replies cheerfully. “I’m a transvestite!” Depp plays Wood as a man wildly happy to be making movies. He rarely makes two takes of the same shot because the first one always looks great to him. (In one take Tor Johnson misses the door and walks into a wall, shaking the set, but when the cameraman in amazement asks Wood if he doesn’t want another shot, he replies thoughtfully, “You know, in actuality Lobo would have to struggle with that problem every day”).

Wood’s partner in his uncertain career is his long-suffering fiancée Dolores Fuller, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, whose misfortune is to view his situation clearly (“I see the usual gang of misfits and dope addicts are here”). She bravely tries to deal with is cross-dressing, however, and joins in to act along with the usual crew (Wood’s salaries were so low and infrequent that his actors bordered on volunteers).

Ebert said, “I am uncertain how much of the movie is based on actual fact, and how much has been invented by Burton and his writers, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. But I relished the process by which Wood's project "Grave Robbers from Outer Space" became "Plan 9 from Outer Space" after he raised the money from a church group which objected to grave-robbing, in the title, anyway.”

There is a wonderful scene were Wood grows livid when the church leaders try to mess with his vision, and breaks into Musso and Frank’s legendary grill room on Hollywood Boulevard, wearing women’s clothes and a wig. He spots Orson Welles, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, alone at a booth, turns to him for encouragement, and gets it – along with the movie’s funnies line of dialogue.

The movie’s black and white photography convincingly recaptures the look and feel of 1950s scandal, including some of the least convincing special effects in movie history. There are also running jokes involving Wood’s ability to write almost any piece of stock footage into almost any script.

At the center of the movie is Wood’s friendship with Lugosi, a man he really admired, and who comes to depend on him. We see Lugosi along and lonely in a weak little region house, surrounding the saddening despair of his obscurity and addiction (his first scene in the movie shows him trying on a coffin for size), and Wood is able to left the despair, if only briefly, in a final series of roles which gave him double immorality: As the star of some of the best horror movies ever made, and then of some of the worst.

This is a very good movie. Based on a director that I had never heard until I saw James Rolfe do a tribute to him, I thought this film was really well done. If you’re a Johnny Depp fan, you should definitely see this. Don’t skip this one over as I think this is one that you all can enjoy perfectly. Check it out and see the career of a director that people really thrashed throughout his career.

Next week I will look at a comedy that people really hated, but I didn’t when I saw it, in “Bill Murray Month.” Sorry for posting this late. I had a really tiring day at work.

Stripes

For the month of March, I thought of reviewing some of the films that one of the most respected and best actors of all time, Bill Murray, starred in. Let’s start this month off with the 1981 comedy classic, “Stripes.”

This is a radical good-for-nothing movie, a celebration of everything that is disrespectful, reckless, foolish, undisciplined, and occasionally scatological. It’s a lot of fun. Roger Ebert noted in his review, “It comes from some of the same people involved in “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” and could have been titled National Lampoon's Animal Army with little loss of accuracy. As a comedy about a couple of misfits who find themselves in the U.S. Army's basic training program, it obviously resembles Goldie Hawn's “Private Benjamin.” But it doesn't duplicate that wonderful movie; they could play on the same double feature. “Stripes” has the added advantage of being a whole movie about the Army, rather than half a movie (“Private Benjamin” got sidetracked with Hawn's love affair).”

The movie is not only a victory for its stars (Bill Murray and Harold Ramis) and its director (Ivan Reitman), but a type of evidence. Ebert mentioned, “To explain: Reitman directed, and Murray starred in, the enormously successful “Meatballs,” which was an entertaining enough comedy but awfully ragged. No wonder. It was shot on a shoestring with Canadian tax-shelter money. What Murray and Reitman prove this time is that, given a decent budget, they can do superior work--certainly superior to “Meatballs,” for starters. For Harold Ramis, who plays Murray's grave-eyed, flat-voiced, terminally detached partner in “Stripes,” this is a chance, at last, to come out from behind the camera.” Ramis and Murray are both former Second City actors, but in Hollywood, Ramis has been typecast as a writer, maybe because he sometimes looks too goofy for Hollywood’s unimaginative thoughts.

In “Stripes,” Murray and Ramis make a wonderful team. Their big strength is restraint. Given the tendency of movies like this to corrupt into disobedient slapstick, they smartly choose to play their characters as modest, laid-back rebels. Murray joins the Army in a why-not mood after his girlfriend, played by Roberta Leighton, kicks him out, and Ramis joins because one stupid gesture deserves another. They’re older than the usual Army recruit, less easily impressed with crazy marketing, and quietly amazed at their drill instructor, Sergeant Hulka, who is played by Warren Oates with a strict insanity.

The movie has especially good writing in several scenes. Ebert admitted, “My favorite comes near the beginning, during a session when recruits in the new platoon get to know one another. One obviously psycho draftee, who looks like Robert De Niro, quietly announces that if his fellow soldiers touch him, touch his stuff, or interfere in any way with his person or his privacy, he will quite simply be forced to kill them.” Sergeant Hulka replies: “Lighten up!” the movie’s plot follows basic training, more or less, during its first hour. Then a romance enters. Murray and Ramis meet a couple of cute young military policewomen, played by P.J. Soles and Sean Young, and they happily violate every rule in the book. One funny scene: Murray and Soles sneak into the kitchen of the base commander’s house and do extraordinary things with kitchen utensils.

There is not rule that says the last half hour of these movies has to involve some type of extraordinary development. Ebert noted, “In “Animal House,” it was the homecoming parade.” In “Stripes,” the climax has the Army’s secret weapon, which is a computerized, armored, nuclear weapons carrier disguised as a recreational vehicle. Murray’s platoon is tasked to go to Europe and test it. Murray, Ramis, and their girls decide to test it during a weekend holiday getaway through the Alps. After they cross the Iron Curtain, insanity starts happening.

“Stripes” is a complete success on its planned level – it’s great, disrespectful entertainment – but it was successful, too, as a breakthrough for Ramis, Reitman, and Murray, on their way to “Ghostbusters.” Comedy is one of the hardest film genres to work in. Nobody knows all its secrets, not even Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. Here’s a comedy from people who know some of the secrets most of the time.

I had seen posters to this movie before. Maybe I must have glossed over it when I looked at the library when I was trying to find a film to watch, but when I saw it on Netflix, I decided to check it out while I was exercising. This is one of the funniest movies ever made. If you have not seen this and you’re a fan of Ramis, Murray, and Reitman, check this out. This is currently available to stream on Paramount+, Showtime, and Hulu. See it and have a great time laughing at it.

Look out next week when I look at a film that is about a director that has been criticized harshly in “Bill Murray Month.”