Happy Waitangi Day (NZ)

gwyN should appreciate that. I only know thanks to my Dave Barry daily calendar. Thanks Dave! So my question is, what exactly is it, gwYn? Yes, I'm too lazy to look it up and you're the En-Zed-Head, so I figured you should know. :-]

I watched Lost in Translation last night. I've been wanting to see it for a while. I was pretty pleased, though a bit taken back since I didn't really know what to expect. I was mainly interested because it had Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansen (Ghost World), who both seem to have respectable taste in the movies they do.

Bill plays Bob Harris, a former action movie star who is in Tokyo for a week to work on a marketing campaign for whiskey. He is "lost", kind of going through pre-midlife crisis. He's been married 25 years and there is a distance between him and his wife Lydia (when you hear several phone conversations).

Lydia: "Do I need to worry about you, Bob?"
Bob: "Only if you want to."

Scarlett plays Charlotte; she is in Tokyo with her husband who is a photographer. The relationship between her and her husband is not developed too well in the movie, but you get the gist that things aren't quite right between them. They love each other, but the marriage is new (2 years), and she doesn't know what to make of herself, having just finished school with a philosophy degree.

Of course, both characters are American and know nothing of Japanese or the culture, so they're rather disoriented and just kind of float by. They eventually find each other and a unique friendship develops. They connect because they can understand each other, obviously, and also because of their disorientedness in life, not just Japan.

As you watch, it might seem like it's a perfect setup for an affair, but it's not (thankfully). There is a lot of subtlety that makes you wonder, but at the same time there is more reality to it than such a typical movie setup. There is a scene towards the end of the movie that captures their relationship well and you realize the connection they have. I think you just need to see it, because I can't quite do it justice with words.

There is an objectionalbe part of the film, about 30 seconds where they are in a topless bar. Although the situation that puts them there is kind of funny and there is a funny line, it wasn't really necessary. I think on a whole, though, the movie makes up for this transgression.

It's interesting because the movie allows you to think - it doesn't just come out and tell you what to think. I like those type of movies. I'm sure I could watch it a few more times and get more each time.

Charlotte: "I'm stuck. Does it get easier?"
Bob: "No... Yes, it get's easier"
C: "Oh yeah? Look at you."
B: "Thanks"

B: "The more you know who you are and what you want... the less you let things upset you."