Murray shines in ‘Lost in Translation’

PEGGY J. ROGERS

Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is in his mid-50s and having a mid life

crises. Charlotte (Scarlet Johansson) is in her mid-20s and doesn’t

know what she wants to do with her life. The two cross paths when

they are staying in the same hotel in Tokyo for a week.

Writer and director Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola’s

daughter, gives the audience a different movie-going experience by

putting the viewer into the fish-out-of-water experience Bob and

Charlotte have in “Lost in Translation.”

Bob’s career as a movie actor peaked 20 years ago. He’s in Tokyo

to film a series of television commercials for a liquor company.

Although the Japanese adore him, and he’s being paid $2 million for

the advertisements, the fame and money he enjoys as a result of his

work no longer brings him personal happiness.

Charlotte has tagged along with her husband, a workaholic

photographer on assignment.

Recently graduated from Yale and still undecided about her work,

Charlotte feels uncomfortable and out of place with her husband and

friends who are passionate and successful about their work.

Bob and Charlotte feel out of step and at a loss in the world

that’s visually illustrated by placing the two Americans in a country

and culture where they do not speak the language or understand the

culture. They are two strangers temporarily drifting through life

looking for but not finding something that will make them feel alive

again.

While drinking in the hotel’s lounge late one night, they meet at

the bar and strike up a friendly conversation. Given their respective

personal identity crises, they instantly understand and connect with

each other.

In the television studio as Bob hits his mark and says his lines

for the whisky commercials the director perpetually yells at Bob in

Japanese. When the interpreter translates the director’s remarks to

Bob nothing makes sense. It’s a collision of American and Japanese

cultures and the source of comedic relief in the film.

Murray, as Bob Harris, has succeeded in his transition from comedy

to drama in the film. He’s gotten his second career wind with this

role, that will delight his fans and earn him new ones.

Lost In Translation provides an interactive human experience for

the movie audience without having to push a button. Viewers feel what

Bob and Charlotte are going through from their solitude to their

patience at waiting for the time when they will have the answer and

move on with their lives.

* PEGGY J. ROGERS, 40, produces commercial videos and

documentaries.

‘Underworld’ is underwhelming

You know Halloween is only a month a way when the malls are

showing horror movies and advertising Christmas sales. “Underworld”

isn’t really a horror flick. It’s a stylistic fantasy-action movie

about vampires and werewolves who all shop for clothes at the same

S&M; boutique. The obvious goal of the movie is to create a new

Hollywood franchise by mixing themes from “Blade” and “The Matrix”

with Calvin Klein underwear models. Despite some laugh-out-loud

moments this movie is actually kind of entertaining. It’s not worth

$9, but it’s worth renting in a few months.

Kate Beckinsale stars as a vampire named Selene. She’s a warrior

on the front lines in the fight against the lycans (lycanthropes

a.k.a. werewolves). Selene encounters a handsome doctor named Michael

Corvin (Scott Speedman) whom the lycans are chasing. As she tries to

learn more about what the lycans want from Michael, she also has to

deal with the politics of a decadent vampire nation. Selene has no

patience with those who’d rather wear red velvet than leather and

have grown complacent despite the ongoing war. As the story unfolds

there are plenty of gunfights featuring special bullets designed to

kill vampires and werewolves.

Beckinsale’s skin tight black leather body suit begs the question

whether vampires ever need to use a bathroom? It’s a sexy outfit, but

it would take all night to get her undressed. With her flowing black

cape covering two large pistols, Beckinsale’s character looks and

acts like she stepped right off the set of “The Matrix.” The only

thing that keeps this character from being a complete joke is

Beckinsale’s charisma. She’s what makes the movie fun.

Director Len Wiseman chose to keep the colors completely subdued

in “Underworld.” The movie’s tungsten-blue look makes the characters

appear ghostly pale and washes away virtually everything. The

majority of the characters wear black and most of the scenes are in

rooms with stone walls. It’s all very cold. The only real hints of

color are the gothic red clothes, Beckinsale’s pink pouty lips, and,

of course, all of the blood. The washed-out colors help everyone look

like they belong in a story about vampires versus werewolves, but

it’s also a look that’s overused by UK production companies. It’s

nice to see conscious and intelligent decisions made about the

cinematic look of the movie, but the blue thing is becoming a UK

cliche and is getting boring. It’s time for someone to show some

creativity and do something new.

Sony is billing “Underworld” as a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Maybe the sequel will have a love story as the back drop, and there

will definitely be many sequels, but this is an action movie. There

are hints of the emotions between Selene and Michael, but we don’t

see any real sparks. Just be thankful that these writers didn’t try

to create any poetic soliloquies.

There’s nothing special about “Underworld” that makes it worth

seeing on a big screen. Like a lot of big-budget studio movies, it’s

pretty much shot so it can go straight to video. My recommendation is

to wait and rent this one, unless you’re just dying to go see a

gothic action movie with a lot of big pointy teeth. The R is for

gore, but this is a pretty mild R compared to other current movies.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.

‘Cold Creek’ product of dismal filmmaking

Completely derivative, completely unrealistic, completely bad;

that is “Cold Creek Manor.”

City-slickers Cooper Tilson (Dennis Quaid) and his wife, Leah

(Sharon Stone), pack up their kids and all their possessions and move

into a recently repossessed mansion in the most rural area of New

York State. Once a grand and elegant manor, the house at Cold Creek

is now a money-pit, but Cooper and Leah have plenty of time and money

to spend. A series of frightening incidents at the house lead Cooper,

a documentary filmmaker by trade, to wonder who used to live in Cold

Creek Manor and what secrets were born from it.

Director, producer and composer Mike Figgis along with producer

and screenwriter Richard Jeffries attempt to turn the audience’s

expectations against them by planting red herrings and leaving hints

of other films that spun off into wild unimaginable tangents, only to

in actuality to provide a non-mysterious, straight-forward and boring

story. Figgis and Jeffries completely abandon reality by producing

the most hollow characters, with unrealistic reactions, who never

develop or grow.

Sharon Stone’s character is supposedly a writer, but we never see

her write. She professes to now being a housewife, but we never see

her in that role either. When first they peruse the manor, their

daughter turns up her nose at the old, dirty place, but then a few

minutes later she’s smiling and claiming how great the place is.

Later in the film the daughter is given a horse that she instantly

loves, who is subsequently murdered by the film’s antagonist and

thrown in the swimming pool, staining it reddish brown. Most

laughably, at the film’s resolution when we see the family going

forward with their lives, there is the daughter and son laughing and

splashing in the same swimming pool. As if those children would ever

step foot near that pool. Give me a break!

The performances of what could have been a fine cast are inhibited

by lack-luster direction and a ridiculous script.

Although this film is lousy, it and other films deserve to be seen

as the filmmakers intend. I watched this film at Edwards Metro Pointe

12 in Costa Mesa. I was alarmed to find that this theater now leaves

lights on during their films. Not only does one have distracting

bright lights overhead shining on them and all of the audience, but

the light interferes with the contrast of the film you are trying to

view. The increased light levels also make the audience respond more

like they are in their living room watching TV than in a theater.

Regal Entertainment Group which owns Regal Cinemas, United Artists

Theaters and Edwards Theaters, is based out of Tennessee and has not

responded to my phone calls. The theater in Costa Mesa states that

they are mandated by their regional office to leave lights on since a

person fell down the stairs in one of their theaters. One would think

installing special stair lighting would be wiser than detracting from

their customer’s enjoyment of the films. My other gripe with this new

procedure is that the theater does not post signs regarding this

policy anywhere, especially where needed -- at the point of purchase;

nor do they verbally bring it to your attention before you buy a

ticket and are forced to waste time and miss portions of the film you

paid to watch in order to complain.

My advice: don’t see “Cold Creek Manor,” and be wary of which

movie theater you patronize.

* RAY BUFFER, 34, is a professional singer, actor and voice-over

artist.