Sofia Coppola - From style with substance to style over substance

Sofia Coppola is a director who inspires very mixed feelings in me. To me she's much like M. Night Shyamalan, where she started off as a very promising and innovative filmmaker, but after her few first acclaimed hits takes a very sudden drop in quality. It's almost worse in this case since it happens even quicker, and it's not until I got to view Virgin Suicides much later on that I realized she's not all-around bad after all. It's one of the most heartbreaking and harrowing movies I have ever seen. Truly something special. And recently I saw Lost In Translation, which was similarly thoughtful with a perfect blend of stylish flavor and subdued human emotions.

So even if she continues just making awful movies, I respect her a little bit more for the first two she made.

My ranking so far:

Virgin Suicides:
Lost In Translation:
Somewhere:
The Bling Ring:
Marie Antoinette:

I haven't seen A Very Murray Christmas, her remake of The Beguiled or On The Rocks, but haven't heard the best things about them.

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You should watch The Beguiled, most of the criticism comes from comparing it to the original film starring Clint Eastwood. Sofia's The Beguiled is told from a different point of view than the original so fans of the original are prone not to like the story told differently.

Style is substance

So far, in varying degrees, I like all her movies except Marie Antoinette. Bailed out of that one.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

My wife told me we liked that film I can't remember watching it though.

LOL. Took me at least one hour last week to realize I had seen Boyhood before. I must have fell asleep during the first watch.

Both Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation are brilliant films.


Bling Ring is fairly interesting.


Can't remember much about Somewhere, but I think I thought it was alright.


Virgin Suicides has some inspired moments, and there is probably a good movie in there somewhere, but its desperation to overstuff itself with as many weird little details as possible ultimately sinks it. She simply doesn't have a very good idea for the softly surreal tone it creates and has the feel of bad highschool poetry. It's kinda dog****.

LIT is my total fave. Agree with you on Bling. Had to check to see if I saw Somewhere. I did & I think I thought it ok.

VS was a good movie except for Hartnett’s wig.

I have never been blown away by any of her movies, they all have their virtues and they all have problems IMO, but don't think I've ever rated any of her films over