As I have established in my review for the Father of the Bride (1991), both of these are movies I grew up on. Not only that, but we had them taped on VHS (remember those?) back to back, so every time the first movie would finish, this one would start playing. And I believe almost every single time, we would watch them both, back to back, with no regrets.

Father of the Bride Part II is one of those rare sequels, that to me doesn’t loose any of the charm of the original film, but builds up on it. The main story revolves around Kimberly Williams-Paisley‘s character being pregnant, while there is another, slightly more unexpected pregnancy, as Diane Keaton‘s character is also pregnant. And thus hilarity ensues.

I think where this film “wins” is this is the biggest stretch, that viewer needs to get on board with, that both mother and the daughter are pregnant at the same time. But it doesn’t really go overboard on anything else. And this is where other comedy sequels don’t deliver. They try to do everything the same, but bigger, and plenty of times the characters suffer from it. Whereas this film feels like a logical continuation of the first one, where all characters we know actually still act the way we would expect them to. Steve Martin‘s character is trying to come to terms with becoming a grandfather, while also having to deal with a fact he needs to raise a baby no. 3, both “most important women of his life” are having the usual pregnancy struggles and Kieran Culkin‘s character is preparing for a new role, being the “big brother” for the first time in his life.

As with the previous film, in its core, it is a really simplistic movie. And yet again, it wins because of its simplicity. It’s not trying to go over the top with any situations (well, maybe with the sleeping pills towards the end, but then again, that scene gives Steve’s character the comedy highlight of this movie, so it evens out) and it still feels relatable and down to earth. Especially with its message about not only moving on, but moving a way further on the opposite side of the USA. And to me, a somebody, who has done that and moved to Scotland from the Czech Republic (I refuse to call it Czechia!) almost 10 years ago now, that hits really close. Unless you go through something like that, it’s hard to describe not seeing your family “live” for a year or two, missing out on all birthdays, anniversaries etc. Especially on my latest re-watch, that part really resonated with me. The hopelessness/hopefulness when your loved one moves away, and you are both happy for them, but also sad, as you won’t spend as much time together as you might want/need. Except in my case, I was the one moving away.

But back to the movie – it’s exactly the same as his predecessor. Meaning, if you enjoyed the previous movie, you will most likely enjoy this one too. If the first film wasn’t your cup of hot cocoa, you would probably want to avoid it, as it won’t offer you anything new. But sometimes, you don’t need/want anything new. Sometimes, you just want to watch a warm blanket of a movie, that makes you feel cosy, happy and comfortable. Father of the Bride Part II is that movie. Realistically, it’s not flawless movie, but I cannot rate this any lower.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I think we can all relate to some things, no matter who we are and where we come from. And one of them is having “family movies” – films, you not only grew up on, but continue to watch even today every once in a while, to remind yourself why you like them. And every single time you watch those movies, you get transported back in time, where the world seemed to have been just you and your family, watching these films. And for those precious couple of hours, everything was great with the world. This is what Father of the Bride is to me.

To my surprise, it still holds up. On my most recent re-watch, I have realised why it might be and why I love this (and the sequel, Father of the Bride Part II) movie so much – in a core, they feel like a family. Sure, this movie might have some moments that you can say are too sweet or sentimental, which is fair. But one thing I don’t think you can argue, is they do feel like a family, not just actors. Every time I watch both of these, I have a hard time believing Steve Martin isn’t actually married to Diane Keaton and that they didn’t raise Kimberly Williams-Paisley alongside Kieran Culkin. Because they feel so natural, they sell the movie. Not those sentiments, or anything else. Just these four brilliant actors, doing what they do best. Steve has the most laughs (naturally, as before he became an actor, he was a stand-up comedian) Diane has the gravitas, the matriarch of the family, who keeps everybody in check, Kimberly is the daughter who’s no longer their little girl anymore, and Kieran is just starting to figure out the world.

For the longest time I didn’t know this is a remake of Father of the Bride (1950) and I still didn’t get the change to see it, which is a shame, as I really want to see how much alike are these two movies, as I must have seen this film about 20x, at least. It would definitely be interesting to compare the original against something I know very well.

I believe the main reason for Father of the Bride standing out amongst “modern family comedies” of today, is the fact that the film is not mean. It has some snarky moments, but almost every comedy nowadays feel the need to be almost mean, or too snarky, too “mature”, too edgy. Which sometimes works perfectly, but when everything you see is like that, it’s hard to differentiate between those movies, not making any one standout. Whereas this movie firmly stands out by being kind, where even if the family goes through some hardships, there is never that one moment, where there is THE biggest fight ever. No, they have a normal fight, cool down a bit, and then they talk it out, as any normal family would do. This movie definitely isn’t trying to be cool, but it’s striving to be a relatable fun, you can put on a rainy Sunday afternoon, where you and your family would gather around to watch it. And to me, it always succeeds.

Realistically, it’s not a perfect movie. But again, this is one of those movies I grew up on. Every time I re-watch it, I always go back to my childhood and feel like a kid/teenager, no matter what stage of my life I was, I could always watch this movie, feeling great. Give it a try, maybe you will see what I am talking about.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

This movie could have easily been subtitled “John Wick: Chapter 3 – John Against the World” and that would sum up this third movie quite neatly. As with its predecessor (my review for John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) can be found here), the assassin world is getting bigger (I am starting to feel like the only person on the planet who isn’t a professional assassin at this point) the stakes are getting higher, the rules/world building is expending and Keanu is in the middle of it, kicking more ass than ever. But this time, he’s got Halle Berry alongside him (for about 20 minutes). And I loved every second of it.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum starts where the previous finished – without getting into spoilers, let’s just say something big has happened and now, John has to deal with consequences. Thus begins the longest chase throughout New York you can imagine, where almost every New Yorker is a semi-professional assassin, and Keanu kills not just one, but TWO people by using a horse. I don’t think this is a spoiler or very major detail, it’s just so funny and great, it needed to be mentioned, as I honestly can’t remember if I have ever seen a movie death so unexpectedly funny.

Thinking about it, this is how we could describe Chapter 3 – unexpectedly funny. It felt like more than the other two movies, this one has the most laughs, but it doesn’t feel any cheaper because of it, if anything it makes certain scenes standout (Mark Dacascos‘ character almost fan-girling on John right after they’ve fought, for example) and again, it fits well within this story.

With every new John Wick movie, the action set pieces are getting bigger and more imaginative and I love it. Some of the highlights in this movie include the motorcycle chase with katanas (Japanese swords), the “John travels to a different country” part of the movie and the very end. Let’s talk about the end (without spoilers).

This is the first time it felt like the creators behind this movie knew, there will be more movies to come, so the story almost accounts for that, by trying to have some twists (can you even call it like that?) It will be interesting to see whether the next two movies (that’s all that’s been announced, but you know how it is, if they make money, they will make more movies) will keep the high standard/bar as the first 3 movies, or whether it will start to slip up. Personally, with what I know based on the end of this movie, I am intrigued to see where the other movies will take John and us and I am ready to give the creators the benefit of the doubt on this one, as they have proven by now that world building and action set pieces are their bread and butter. I just hope they won’t go the route of “it’s John Wick, therefore he can survive anything”, as that would be the only thing worrying me about upcoming sequels, as in this movie, John survives a lot. Like a normal person would be dead 10x prior the end.

I need to mention something else, one more thing John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has done perfectly. Even big budget movie like Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) tried, but ultimately failed to do this properly. This film gave the guys from The Raid movies (Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian) roles, that allowed them to showcase what they know and go toe-to-toe with Keanu. I don’t think that’s a spoiler, as from the moment they show up on the screen, you know that two real-life skilled fighters must have a fighting scene here and they do. That is how you utilise those guys, Star Wars, and not by having them be there for a pointless cameo, just for them to die within 5 minutes (oh yeah, spoilers for Star Wars, but honestly, it has no impact on the story, so the same as that movie, I can’t be bothered to do better).

Overall, if you liked the previous John Wick movies, the chances are really high you will like Parabellum too. It’s true that so far, this movie pushes you to suspend your disbelief the hardest, when comes to “he survives this” but I still haven’t found it outrageous. Or, more likely, I am still having fun with the movie, so that doesn’t bother me as much. If I had less fun with it, it would have bothered me a bit more, and that’s my only worry for the upcoming two movies. But so far, I am actually hopeful, as the people behind these films seem to know what they are doing. And I am hoping for Halle’s return, as she only gets better with age and she stood her own alongside Keanu.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

As I mentioned in my previous review here, I didn’t need several viewings for John Wick: Chapter 2 to become my favourite out of this (so far) trilogy. Something clicked and even upon my latest re-watch, I still consider this film to be the best out of the ones we have gotten so far (and yes, I know there are at least 2 more movies coming our way).

Paradoxically, one of the main reasons I like this movie as much, you can tell they have a bit more money to spend, which is usually a downside for any sequel, as with more money filmmakers usually forget what made their first movie such a success. But not this franchise. They took the money and utilised them for bigger set pieces, new locations (I love the Italian part of this movie) and added a few actors (reuniting Keanu with Laurence ‘Morpheus’ Fishburne, for the first time since the Matrix Revolutions (2003)) but most importantly stayed true to what the first movie was. Yes, in Chapter 2, everything feels bigger, but it naturally bigger, it never felt forced, unlike other sequels.

I believe part of the reason for that is the subtle, but great, world building. We have a few hints of that in the first John Wick (2014) movie, where you get the basic gist of it (there is a secret society of assassins, they use golden coins as their currency, they have some rules they follow, John Wick was the best out of them all and managed to get out from that world) and what this sequel does so well is expend on that idea, give you a bit more rules, that make sense. Whenever these films are discussed, plenty of people focus on the action and the action only, which is great, don’t get me wrong. But people often overlook the simple, yet effective world building. They don’t try to force feed you the rules in one go, every movie you have a set of “new” rules we didn’t know prior and it never feels forced.

My favourite part of this movie, as mentioned prior, is the Italian mission. Where we meet Franco Nero, who runs the “Italian Continental”, Peter Serafinowicz gives Keanu some weapons and off he goes for another “impossible” mission. The entire sequence is honestly great, the level of planning (simple details such as Keanu leaving his weapons scattered throughout the underground, knowing he needs to reach certain points, is a great touch) is smart and you can tell John Wick is kind of a super human. But somehow, it never feels laughable. Some moments might make you question what else can he survive (or maybe a better question what would actually kill this guy?) but you let it go, because the action scenes are so entertaining and well shot, you just go with the flow and don’t have a time to nitpick. That’s always a great sign, movie being so entertaining you don’t really stop and think about any plot holes, because you are fully transported to this movie’s world.

This is yet another thing in which these films succeeded where others failed – you could nitpick this and other two movies to death, but you will not, because they are quick and entertaining. They might suspend your disbelief a bit, but never to something like Fast and Furious level, where they literally became superheroes with cars. John Wick is close to a superhero, but something always happens where you not only see him bleed, but also suffer and that makes him more relatable. Plus, he’s on plenty of medicine, so you could make an argument that he’s reached a super level of functioning junkie, because he needs something to numb all that pain (next time you watch these movies, notice how often he gets and takes pills).

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 2 was the film that convinced me that I will watch any future sequels and that I am fully on board with this becoming a franchise. As long as it’s always directed by Chad Stahelski (credit where credit is due, this guy has worked himself up from stunt coordinator to a movie director, who can shoot action sequences like almost nobody else today) I will be on board. And Keanu. Without him, there is no John Wick.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

We live in the age, where there are plethora of animated movies released on almost a monthly basis, and because of giants like Pixar, DreamWorks etc., there is so much content (and usually really great content), that constantly, when there are discussions about the best animated movies, Ice Age gets often forgotten. To a certain extent, I do see why, as every single Ice Age movie after this one is really aimed towards kids, so it’s playing for the laughs. With that, people frequently forget that the very first Ice Age movie was and still is a different film all together.

I’ve recently re-watched it and was pleasantly surprised how well this holds up, story wise. Even the animation isn’t bad, even though at certain scenes you can tell this was done some time ago (which is crazy, as it’s “only” been 18 years, to see how CGI has evolved since then). But the story elements is where the cookie crumbles and that is why, no other movie from this franchise compared to this one, and there have been a lot of those, can hold a candle to the original.

The main reason for its brilliance is quite simple – the movie is not afraid to have quiet moments. Ever since I’ve seen this film for the very first time, when I was much younger, there was something odd about this movie that struck me every single time, but I could never put my finger on what it was, until I’ve re-watched it now. It’s those quiet moments. Nowadays, we are so used to everything (animated movies especially) being quick, fast-paced, witty, snappy, that we often forget to take a moment. This is what Ice Age does really well – it takes a moment here and there for audience to breathe. It does not feel the need to shove “a funny joke” down our throats every 10 seconds, it has a simple, human story in the middle that captures you and you can’t help but root for all of our main characters.

One fact I’ve realised while re-watching Ice Age, it was a very different movie, not just for its time, but overall, at least when comes to animated films. Because it’s not really funny. Don’t get me wrong, there are laughs and especially children will have a great time with this movie, but it’s nowhere near almost every single animated movie ever made, that’s usually filled in with jokes. This film is more focused on the story of pack of animals trying to get a human baby back to “the people” before it’s too late. The jokes are almost extra, a delicious side with your main course.

It’s pretty strange for me to comprehend how all sequels that followed kind of lost touch with what made this film so different. Maybe it was one of those cases, where the filmmakers thought “our movie was successful because of this, this and that, therefore we need to repeat that” and they misinterpreted what made the original movie standout. Because it wasn’t just Scrat the squirrel, chasing the corn, or Sid, the dumb, yet lovable sloth. No, it was all of them together, but most importantly in a story that made sense. The sequels had to raise the stakes, but unfortunately, they (unintentionally) lowered the quality bar, because the main reason the first film works as well, it almost plays as a decent drama. Whereas higher stakes in a kids movie usually equals more comedy, because we can’t have the movie to be dark.

I would highly recommend re-watching Ice Age, especially if it’s been couple of years since you last seen the first one, and all you can remember are the other ones, that are… honestly fine. But they are heavily aimed at children, kind of like the Minions (2015), where the adults won’t get much out of those movies. But I have feeling if you were to re-watch this one, you would get a bit more from it than you think.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

After writing about my favourite movie of all time (my review for Lost in Translation (2003) can be found here for those who missed it) I thought it’s a perfect time to re-visit my second favourite movie of all time, Airplane!. Unlike Lost in Translation, where I need to be in a certain mood to watch it, I can pop this comedy in any time I want and just relax, forget about the world for about hour and half and simply enjoy the delightful disaster…

To this day, Airplane! is the only movie that made me physically roll on the floor laughing. I am not exaggerating, when I watched this film for the very first time and the “calm down, lady!” scene came up, I just gave up and slid down on the floor, laughing and thinking this might be the funniest comedy I’ve ever seen. I was fairly young (I reckon I couldn’t be older than 15/16) and now, almost 15 years later, that statement is still true. I have seen a lot of comedies, TV shows, improvs, and plenty of them had me laughing hysterically, but nothing prior or since “the” Airplane! has made me laugh so hard I’d end up on the floor.

The biggest thing (and why this movie was a bit of a revolution when it came out) was because of the way they made it – a parody movie with a straight face! Can you imagine? Until then, it was unheard of for a comedy (especially American one!) to have such a silly script, silly scenes and plenty of what we would today call “dad jokes” delivered with almost a poker face (with the occasional wink at the cameras) as if the actors were in a dramatic Oscar movie. It’s by no accident this style quickly became the golden standard on how to deliver lines, do visual gags… well, at least for the ones who pay attention.

Plenty of people watched this movie and thought “Parodies are easy! We just need to take scenes from different movies, put our silly twist(s) on them, and job done!” And that is why in the late 90’s/early 2000’s we’ve gotten so many bad ones. Because that never was THE strength of this movie, even though they have done it here a few times. The biggest strength of this movie is the fact the movie works without you having to know the references. Who actually knows/remembers this movie is one giant parody of Zero Hour (1957)! A movie, I dare to say, most people who watched this movie, never even heard of, but guess what? That’s perfectly fine! Because this movie works without you knowing this material, it works because they throw plenty of jokes your way and most of them stick. Plenty of jokes you will only notice when you watch closely (again, you could argue this movie set a standard on how to do visual gags too) and it works because the movie is actually trying to have a story. Yes, that story is told in a funny/silly way, but it’s a story nonetheless you can still follow and be somehow invested in.

Just to make sure I am clear – I am not claiming this movie started the parody genre, or established visual gags. I know it didn’t. All I am saying is this movie worked so well, it brought back this genre, re-introduced certain techniques (like visual gags, delivering funny lines without characters realising how funny they are, playing it straight) to the masses and made Leslie Nielsen into the comedy legend he was. People often forget he’s had a really decent career prior this movie (he was acting since 1950!) but if it wasn’t for this movie I dare to say the world would have been a bit poorer not knowing his name. We were extremely lucky to have him for as long as we had and he definitely shines in this movie.

Airplane! is one of those films that even those it shows its age, it somehow stays funny and doesn’t feel “that” dated. There is something about these jokes and the way they are delivered, it just makes it for me. I’m always slightly afraid of re-visiting this movie, because what if those jokes aren’t as funny as I remember them being? But every time I re-watch this movie, I laugh and I’m reminded of that one evening, being really young and rolling on the floor. This movie will always have a special place in my heart. And I am serious, so please don’t call me Shirley 😉

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

No matter who we are and what we stand for, I think this is something we can all agree on – there is nothing better than a great “whodunit” movie. Unfortunately, this genre either consists of stories we’ve seen done before (Agatha Christie novels being constantly made and remade) or movies that aren’t that great to begin with and rely only on some sort of twist, that doesn’t necessarily work upon multiple viewings. This is where Knives Out comes out and surpasses all expectations. I can’t even think of any new(ish) movie that would come anywhere near to the quality of this one, in the same genre.

You can think anything you want about Rian Johnson, but he doesn’t like to make predictable, boring movies as he’s always trying to do something slightly new. Sometimes, it doesn’t necessarily work for some people, so he might have created one of the most divisive movies of all time (my review for The Last Jedi can be found here) but some other times it works brilliantly (for almost everybody) and then we get films like this one.

What makes Knives Out unique in its “whodunit” category, is not only the fact the movie tells/shows you early on what has happened, but it’s based on an original story. Which works wonderfully, because even if you know what happened (or do you…?!) you are not quite sure where the rest of the film will lead you, so you follow it. And it might, or might not, surprise you several times along the way. I have seen this movie in the cinemas (oh, cinemas… I miss you so much) and I really, really liked it. But I had a feeling that a second viewing would be where a movie like this can be properly tested – once you have all the details at your disposal, you can be the “detective” and see whether the movie holds up, or whether some scenes and details don’t make sense.

And upon my re-watch, I am happy to report that Knives Out only gets better. The film moves well (it’s over 2 hours long, but you never feel it, it just flies by you) it’s genuinely funny, packed with a stellar cast and the great, original story is just a cherry on top of a delicious… in this case it wouldn’t be a cake, but doughnut. But there is a hole inside of that doughnut. 😉 What makes this movie truly great is the fact it’s half an homage to this “whodunit” genre, half almost a parody of it. But not a mean, spiteful parody, it’s parody done with heart and by somebody, who you can tell loves (and knows!) this genre really well.

Let’s talk about the cast for a bit, as a big part of this movie’s appeal is not necessarily the fact most of the actors are proper stars, but the fact they all act against their “stereotypes”. Daniel Craig is playing not so serious, yet brilliant detective with southern accent and you can tell he’s enjoying every second of it. Chris Evans is playing proper douche (complete opposite of Captain America) whose “Eat shit” scene always makes me laugh and Ana de Armas, who’s usually typecast as “the hot girl” in plenty of other movies, is portrayed here as nurse known for her brain/work ethic rather than her looks. These three actors stand out the most out of the entire cast as those were the most surprising “against the type” choices for their respective roles, and that’s a part of what makes this movie great – they all needed to go outside of their comfort zone and try something “new” and it worked. And mainly with Ana, I was slightly disappointed to see her not be at least nominated for the last year’s (or technically this year’s) Oscars, because as much as this movie is an ensemble piece, she carries a lot of it and if her character wouldn’t work, the movie would just fell apart.

It’s already been announced there will be a sequel, and I honestly hope it won’t be a traditional sequel. Rather than, what I could imagine and would be up for, is Daniel Craig’s character solving a new case, someplace else. Just him, as Benoit Blanc with his crazy, over the top southern accent, in a new detective story about something completely unrelated to this film and I’d be on board, 100%. It will be interesting to see where Rian Johnson will go with this and whether we might have something more here. I will be on a lookout and need to admit, I need to checkout more of Rian’s filmography. So far, he hasn’t disappointed me, as Knives Out is definitely one of the best movies of 2019.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

It’s hard to put into words what this movie means and has meant to me for the past more than 15 years now. But I knew starting this blog, that sooner or later I need to review Lost in Translation. The movie, that’s been at the very top of my favourites for more than 15 years now (I believe the first time I’ve seen it was around 2004/2005). On my most recent re-watch I’m happy to say nothing has changed. Which either means this movie is still as close to a perfect movie as possible, or I’ve stopped growing mentally and have peaked when I was 15. For the sake of this review, let’s presume it’s not the latter, and move on. 😉

I still remember my very first time watching this movie, as everything came together nicely – it was one of the very first movie’s I’ve seen with subtitles and not over-dubbed (believe it or not, it’s still not common on Czech TV to have movies or TV shows in their original language, so we dub movies and TV shows, which doesn’t sound that weird when you are born into it, but once you get used to English and other languages, it’s striking how it can change and sometimes ruin a movie), it was just after my birthday, it was just at the time when I was getting into watching not just your “typical” Hollywood movies… One Czech TV had a summer thing, focusing on “indie” cinema, something you wouldn’t find someplace else (again, this was 2004/2005, way before streaming services became a thing) and this was one of the movies they were showing that summer. I remember watching all of them (one movie a week) but no other movie stayed with me for as long as this one. There was something about it I knew I loved, even though I couldn’t precisely pinpoint what is was.

That’s when I’ve started to realise I seriously love movies, as you don’t have to understand every single detail, you don’t have to “get” every single scene, hint, or symbolism, as great movies will let you in and make you live the story. Lost in Translation certainly does that. It drew me in with its almost documentary like cinematography, with its soundtrack, that is still unique but not in some “hipster” way, with the performances of the main stars, the ever so great Bill Murray and really young, but already perfect Scarlett Johansson just before she became THE Scarlett we know today.

I’d like to stop and talk about her, as I don’t think she gets the praise she deserves. People tend to focus on Bill Murray’s character, as he’s the funny, more “relatable” character, but Scarlett is the humanity of this movie. You could make an argument that Bill Murray is the brain, but Scarlett is the heart, potentially the soul of this movie. Before she became the sex-symbol and later the Black Widow, she was Charlotte – the girl next (hotel) door, who if played just a tad differently, would became annoying character, and the movie wouldn’t have worked as well. But Scarlett understood the character so well and knew how to portray her strong, yet vulnerable, confident, yet not sure of what to do, and most importantly, slightly terrified of things to come, doubtful of herself, looking for a purpose. And she plays it so honestly and with no hesitations, it seems like she’s not playing any character, it’s just who she is. Honestly, looking at the different awards and nominations, I can’t help but think Scarlett was snubbed that (Oscar) year big time, she deserved at least a nomination. This is the movie that made Scarlett Johansson into the superstar she is and I am so grateful.

The main reason I fell in love with this movie and why I still admire it today, is the beautiful direction by Sofia Coppola. And I am not just talking about shots and composition, no (even though this movie is beautiful to look at!) I am mostly talking about her establishing a relationship between Bill and Scarlett that feels so close, real and beautiful. Any lesser movie would’ve tried to have “something” happen between these two (either a really big fight, or some sort of bullshit romance) whereas this one takes its time to develop a friendship, that feels genuine, where there ups and there are some downs. But because both of them are written like actual people, there is no big fight, or over the top emotional scene, they just acknowledge that “the down” was a bad “move” on both of their parts and move on, almost instantly, but it feels like real life. The same goes for any hint of romance – any lesser filmmaker would’ve gone for something like that, but not Sofia, as it wouldn’t fit and the movie would’ve lost the connection. They were never meant to be together, they might not even see each other again in their lifetime after they both say goodbye, but they will always have that week or so in Tokyo, where they found each other, where each found something in the other person they needed at that very moment, that particular time. I am not sure whether any director would be able to give us something like this, where we have a man and a woman, in a really close relationship, without any hint of romance, sex or sleaziness involved.

As I was saying prior, I was just lucky enough to stumble upon this film at the right time, where I wasn’t sure where my life is going. And to be honest, I still don’t sometimes. But you know what? That’s ok. Just take it one day at the time. And maybe fly to Tokyo, go to a hotel and see if Scarlett Johansson is hanging around… 😉 As the movie tagline says, “Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle”.

Lost in Translation is the perfect movie to me. I wouldn’t change a single frame, scene, actor or a song. I can’t see any way this could’ve been improved. Everything, and I mean everything, fits just right. Every time I watch this movie, no matter what stage of my life it is or where I am, for those 102 minutes, everything is alright with the world.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke