The MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s Countdown

The Pianist is excellent. I found Lost in Translation to be boring and dull.

Not a big fan of Lost In Translation. I think more of it now than I once did, and I always love Murray.

The Pianist is my #19. The performances and Polanski's direction are mindblowing with kudos to the art direction.

My List

1. The Incredibles
8. Up
10. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
11. Everything Will Be OK
19. The Pianist
21. Pride & Prejudice

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Lost in Translation The Pianist
Two really solid films, that I need to rewatch one of these days. Glad they made the list!

I don't know, man. I only work here.

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No votes from me. But both are really good films.

Two movies that are very high on my todo list. I started both before. I quit Lost in Translation because at the time it bored me, and I have trouble dealing with movies centering around Nazi oppression.

The Pianist is my #1 and in my mind the most touching film ever created, by the greatest director. Masterpiece in every sense of the word, thrilled to see it so high. There's many great holocaust films, but this one captures the horror greater than the rest.

Liked Lost in Translation enough, hard to find a Bill Murray film I don't

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Looks like a guy from The Electric Company peaking around a corner of a low budget scene.

I had Lost in Translation at #20. I find it's simple, straightforward, quiet storytelling very effective, and Bill Murray is able to make it work. The inner lives of the characters is more felt than dramatized, but I can feel the loneliness, the isolation, the need for meaning in their lives these characters are struggling with, and I think it's a quietly beautiful movie.

My List:
3. Synecdoche, New York (#46)
8. Sin City (#47)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (#53)
14. The Lives of Others (#41)
16. The Royal Tenenbaums (#35)
18. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
19. The Incredibles (#36)
20. Lost in Translation (#32)
22. The Man Who Wasn’t There (#84)
24. Moon (#48)

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I really loved Lost in Translation when I saw it, probably should have been on my list but just kind of forgot about it lol. also remember enjoying The Pianist well enough.

Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation was all the way up at #7 on the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium List while Polanski's The Pianist moves up five spots from its #36 position.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Lost in Translation was my #5.

Such a melancholy film about two lonely souls who connect in a foreign city. And that last scene where he whispers to her something private that we may never know the contents of.

The Pianist was a late cut from my list, although it probably should have been included somewhere.

Both worthy films.

I flat out adore Bill Murray and Lost in Translation was in the mix before I cut it, but I am a big fan Polanski’s films, and The Pianist is certainly one of his top tier masterpieces. I had it at number ten on my ballot. No matter what one thinks of Roman Polanski post-1977, the story of his childhood and rather miraculous escape from the Nazis in a very similar fashion to Władysław Szpilman’s is harrowing, and he powerfully used his own tragic autobiography to flesh out the details of Warsaw on screen. Adrien Brody was one of the biggest surprise Oscar winners ever when he took Best Actor over Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Michael Caine, and Nic Cage, but he also richly deserved it. I happened to catch most of it flipping around cable a couple days ago, as stunning as ever, and it could have been even higher on my list.

That's eleven of mine, so far.

HOLDEN’S BALLOT
1. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (#86)
2. Dancer in the Dark (#49)
9. The Lives of Others (#41)
10. The Pianist (#31)
14. Synecdoche, New York (#46)
15. Moon (#48)
16. Fantastic Mr. Fox (#70)
17. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (#92)
18. A Serious Man (#66)
19. Adaptation. (#43)
20. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (#51)

I slightly prefer Lost in Translation but both are terrific movies. No votes from me.

• I saw The Pianist in the theatre when it came out and couple more times in the later years. I have the DVD in my collection. No matter of the banal theme, this is a very good storyline masterly created by a top level director such as Polanski. In my view, Adrien Brody is superb here and deserved the Oscar he got for the role.
This film is #12 on my Ballot.

• I was in the theatre for Lost in Translation too as well as I got the DVD and have seen it couple more times. Good movie, kind of a new approach. I briefly considered it for my ballot, would probably be my #33.


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my stats
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Top 100 seen 38/70.
(seen one pointers 3/38 • seen 101-110: 5/10)
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My list:
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4. Snatch [#71.]
5. The Royal Tenenbaums [#35.]
...
8. Sideways [#39.]
9. Amores perros [#81.]
10. The Wrestler [#54.]
...
12. The Pianist [#31.]
14. The Man Who Wasn't There [#84.]
...

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"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

In my view The Pianist was a great film, with excellent acting by Brody, direction by Polanski, and cinematography by Pawel Edelman (one of Europe's finest). It's impossible to watch it and not get involved in the suspense and the emotion of it all.

Lost in Translation was a cute film.

Seen both, voted for none...

I love The Pianist. It's one of my wife's favorite films, so I've seen it a couple of times. I think it's a film that has so many great little moments in there that convey that chaotic desperation of living this hell... like the family sharing a piece of chocolate for the last time, or Szpilman finding himself in the middle of a firefight, or the quietness of that first moment he plays the piano for the Nazi guy... It's great, but I didn't vote for it.

Lost in Translation I haven't seen in a good while, which is probably the reason why I never considered it. I remember bits and pieces, but it's overdue for a rewatch. As of now, it remains known to me mostly as the source of a quote one of my older brothers told me when we were about to get our kids "Your life... as you know it... is gone. Never to return". I remember liking it a lot, but again, I should rewatch it.


How far am I?...

Seen: 53/70

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #32, Lost in Translation...



It currently has a 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 7.7/10 score on IMDb (with 439,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★★ and said:

"Well, I loved this movie. I loved the way Coppola and her actors negotiated the hazards of romance and comedy, taking what little they needed and depending for the rest on the truth of the characters. I loved the way Bob and Charlotte didn't solve their problems, but felt a little better anyway. I loved the moment near the end when Bob runs after Charlotte and says something in her ear, and we're not allowed to hear it."

Meanwhile Donald J. Levit, of ReelTalk Movie Reviews, said:

"Because it lacks focus, as well as confidence in its story and stars, Lost in Translation squanders a good opportunity."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @Skepsis93 said:

"Simply put, an incredibly heartfelt, impeccably acted and directed, bittersweet yet uplifting film that blows me away every time I see it."

And @Gideon58 said:

"Coppola is to be applauded for setting the story on foreign soil, but the story is often fuzzy and devoid of focus, never really clarifying what the movie is supposed to be about. The fish out of water elements of the story are the strongest... watching Bob Lewis deal with the Japanese and their sensibilities was a joy to watch, but the relationship with Charlotte is kind of sketchy and never really makes clear how Bob and Charlotte feel about each other."

Critics

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Critics thoughts on our #31, The Pianist...



It currently has a 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer score among critics, and a 8.5/10 score on IMDb (with 786,000 votes).

Roger Ebert gave it ★★★½ and said:

"This is not a thriller, and avoids any temptation to crank up suspense or sentiment; it is the pianist's witness to what he saw and what happened to him. That he survived was not a victory when all whom he loved died; Polanski, in talking about his own experiences, has said that the death of his mother in the gas chambers remains so hurtful that only his own death will bring closure."

Meanwhile John Anderson, of Newsday, gave it ★½ and said:

"Cartoonish in some parts, ham-handed in others and very un-Polanski."

As for our MoFo reviewers, @TheUsualSuspect said:

"The Pianist is no Schindler's List, but it never tries to. It's no second rate Schindler either, it's telling it's own story and the two are powerful on their own merits. Polanski even adds in his own personal experiences, thus making it more personal."