Comments on: And a little bit of mystery goes out of your life ...

And a little bit of mystery goes out of your life ...

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:34:47 -0800

Bob: "______________” Charlotte (Johansson): “Okay.” Lost in Translation's mysterious whisper finale revealed by audio processing. (via kottke)

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:39:21 -0800

So basically we still have no idea what he's said.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:39:31 -0800

And, also, "I just saved 15% on my car insurance by switching to Geico." Although something tells me that last one might be a little off.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:40:47 -0800

> So basically we still have no idea what he's said. If you listen to the video hyperlinked in the post, I think they make a pretty convincing case that that one is truly what he said. The others all claim to have garnered their answers via audio processing software, but Vid22's the only who released the enhancement to the public.

By: designbot

designbot — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:41:54 -0800

The "digital processing" adds almost nothing. You can still hear almost anything you want in that audio. (Anything but "I have to be leaving. But I won’t let that come between us. Okay?", that is. What are they, kidding? As the other examples point out, the closest thing to a word you can make out sounds like "truth", and that quote totally ignores the "t" sound.)

By: bluejayk

bluejayk — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:45:55 -0800

That line doesn't make any sense. If he had actually said that she'd have said 'huh?', not 'okay'.

By: ND¢

ND¢ — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:46:17 -0800

To me it sounded like "Giovanni Ribisi is kind of a douche huh?"

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:47:11 -0800

The audio in the linked video is also unintelligible. You can really pull anything out of it.

By: Pecinpah

Pecinpah — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:47:52 -0800

I like knowing what he said. I also like strangers to slap my face and having my fragile notions of perfection shattered right in front of me. Yay!

By: afx237vi

afx237vi — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:49:29 -0800

When I used to hang around on alt.music.radiohead, when people actually still used newsgroups, the most common question bar none: "What does the the guy say at the end of the Just video?!" At first it was kinda interesting, thinking of things for him to say, but it got kinda dull after the 1,457,642nd time.

By: Terminal Verbosity

Terminal Verbosity — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:50:28 -0800

THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE SAID REPEATED! WITH EXTRA DOUBLE CAPS LOCK! AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!

By: Mike D

Mike D — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:53:09 -0800

"I like how I actually had to read the spoiler to realize it was a spoiler." Add me to the list of people who are sick and tired of the Can't-leave-well-enough-alone crowd. The very ambiguity of that moment was part of the movie's graceful ending. And whatever was said, the point, clearly, is that the viewers aren't supposed to know. (In case you failed to grasp "shakespeherian"'s subtlety.) So crap in quantity on everyone who can't deal with that. Make your own friggin' movie if you're not happy with the director's choice. Oh, and by the way: Rosebud was his sled; two hours and change after hitting the iceberg, the ship breaks in two and sinks; and Dil's really a guy. Oops... Did I forget to say SPOILER? My bad.

By: whoaali

whoaali — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:53:28 -0800

I'm pretty sure the reason that the audio was obscured beyond all reason is because they decided to change the script and leave it a mystery what he was saying, so he could just be moving his lips or saying he's hungry and that the weather is nice today, it doesn't matter. Sofia Coppola didn't make it so that if people rewound on the dvd and listened closely they could hear, there isn't supposed to be anything to hear, the movie isn't written so that there is some secret that we are all supposed to decode.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:53:29 -0800

Frankly, I thought a very convincing theory wasn't a "spoiler," but people seem to be reacting that way. Jessamyn's being kind enough to move the theorized quote off the front page.

By: Terminal Verbosity

Terminal Verbosity — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:53:32 -0800

I can't believe this is merely the seventh post to use the versatile "in" tag.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:55:33 -0800

Did I mention that the movie's totally overrated and Sofia Coppola sucks as a filmmaker? Wanted to get that relevant bit in.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:55:42 -0800

Slightly interesting little movie, that.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:56:22 -0800

whoaali: Who gives a crap what Sofia Coppola wanted the movie to mean. It's my viewing experience, I'll make of it what I want.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:56:38 -0800

Here is what was actually said" BILL: Everybody needs a hug. SCARLETT: Go fuck yourself.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:56:44 -0800

I think what he said was "I'll just whisper silently in your ear so that, just when you thought this movie couldn't cop-out any further, whoops!, here's a whole new level of cop-out that you didn't know could exist, even at this level of self-indulgence." NOT INDIEHIPSTERIST

By: gompa

gompa — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:57:17 -0800

THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE SAID REPEATED! WITH EXTRA DOUBLE CAPS LOCK! AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!!! BUT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? THE VERY LAST THING TO HAPPEN IN A MOVIE SIMPLY MUST BE THE PUNCHLINE! THE CLUE THAT UNLOCKS THE RIDDLE!! THE CULMINATION OF ALL THAT PRECEDES IT!!! THAT'S WHY, FOR EXAMPLE, THE THEME OF CITIZEN KANE IS THAT FADED TITANS LOVE THE CHILDHOOD TOYS THEY GAVE TENDER NAMES TO!!!! AND NOT THAT UNCHECKED GREED AND EGO WILL LEAVE YOU BROKEN, LONELY AND WRACKED WITH REGRET ON YOUR DEATHBED!!!!! LOST IN TRANSLATION IS NOW ABOUT WHAT BILL MURRAY PROBABLY SAID IN THE FINAL FRAMES!!!!!

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:58:04 -0800

(In case you failed to grasp "shakespeherian"'s subtlety.) Believe me, it was a lot more subtle than I'd have liked it to be.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:58:18 -0800

"Charlotte???"

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:58:28 -0800

When I used to hang around on alt.music.radiohead, when people actually still used newsgroups, the most common question bar none: "What does the the guy say at the end of the Just video?!" He doesn't think that there's any point, that we're all going to die. That's it, that's why he's lying there.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:58:58 -0800

Bob: "If it weren't for my horse, I never would have spent that year in college."

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:59:31 -0800

I removed the quote entirely, people can click through and see it in the YouTube quotes or whatever. MeFi isn't really set up to deal with spoilers so including them in posts is not a super good idea.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:02:03 -0800

Add me to the list of people who are sick and tired of the Can't-leave-well-enough-alone crowd. This is by and large the same crowd that thought the Da Vinci Code was good writing. They do not inhabit my universe, so what they do or say is of no consequence to me.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:02:07 -0800

It was a good movie; the attempt to decipher what he "really" said is dumb.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:05:58 -0800

psmealey, I could listen to people bashing the DaVinci code til the cows come home. For really awful writing, check out Angels and Demons (devils?) by the same Dan Brown who perpetrated DaVinci. I read it on a plane and giggled pretty much the whole time. Sorry for the derail!

By: whoaali

whoaali — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:06:15 -0800

absalom - i think you're taking the movie a little too seriously, you are free for the film to mean whatever you want it to mean to you, but my point was just there wasn't some hidden secret that the filmmaker left for us to find so it's kind of silly to go searching for one by decoding the audio and whatnot, because there really isn't there in the first place.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:07:00 -0800

Get a shooting script. Get a shooting script, held open by a smiling Sophia Coppola to the page with the line typed out in the clear, while Bill and Scarlett stand by giving a big thumbs up. That'd be convincing. This is Yatta.

By: p3on

p3on — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:07:40 -0800

God, I forgot how much I loved this film

By: meehawl

meehawl — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:07:48 -0800

It was actually: That's where I'm a viking.

By: Peter H

Peter H — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:08:14 -0800

It's amusing to assume they really added any speech from Murray in that scene, just meexed eet reeely low. Come on now, It's a film, not a doc, with post-dub, etc. It's a polished piece, especially sound-wise. I expect whatever DSP is happening is just picking up other ambient noises and conversation. They are doing a street scene, and to pull that off in a film you need Lots of external secondary conversation mixed into the audio, which could all be raised to the surface through digital processing. Leaving in 'what he said' would be like allowing the last scene of the Sorpranos to just be reeally dark so that one day digital brightness can reveal Tony had a gun.

By: zippy

zippy — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:08:35 -0800

"Soylent green is people. It's peeeeeeople!" At least, that's what I heard.

By: jeffmik

jeffmik — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:09:35 -0800

The person who posted the video (8months ago!) just commented at youtube: What has happened? This video has been on youtube for 8 months but in the last two days it has doubled in views from 36,000 to over 71,000. How did you hear about it? Just curious as this is most unusual.

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:09:52 -0800

I used to date a girl with freakish super-hearing. Completely changed my entire world-view as to wht the human beings are capable of, and the powers of sensory input. It kind of sucked though because we always had to watch tv with the sound turned way down, and she didn't really like clubs or live music. She also would always assume that because she could hear you, you could hear her, so she would mumble a question from the opposite end of a supermarket aisle, and I would have to walk all the way over there to see what she said, and she's get all miffed. Or I'd yell something from across the backyard, and she'd get pissed at me for yelling, but my brain could never wrap itself around talking in a normal voice to someone 50 yards away. I haven't talked to her in years, but I'm guessing she knows what that last line was....

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:10:25 -0800

I don't know, I think that this is kind of interesting. Not because it unlocks the secret to the movie, but just because it's interesting. It's fun in the same way that it's fun to look for ghosts in the background in Three Men and a Baby, or the naked woman in The Rescuers Down Under. It's just something fun to do.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:11:34 -0800

"You're sort of like Communism; you look good on paper, but the execution's always lacking." "Okay."

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:12:46 -0800

"I used to date a girl with freakish super-hearing... haven't talked to her in years..." That's what you think.

By: aftermarketradio

aftermarketradio — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:14:21 -0800

Why would there be a line written for a part that was never meant to be heard by the audience? That's about as silly as writing text for a letter never meant to be seen by the audience.

By: edd

edd — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:15:01 -0800

Sounds like EVP. I certainly can't hear the claimed line.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:16:40 -0800

The whole aesthetic strategy of this OK-but-not-great movie is to leave lots of things unsaid in the hope that silence will suggest depth. So trying to figure out "what he really said" seems very much not in the spirit of the movie.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:21:56 -0800

whoaali: Oh, sorry if you misunderstood. I think what they say at the end is also pointless. I just think it's obnoxious when someone presumes that there is a "proper" way to consume media. Especially if that "proper" way aligns with "director/author intent."

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:23:15 -0800

whoaali: and it looks like we agree on the important stuff, at least. Cheers!

By: alidarbac

alidarbac — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:26:17 -0800

I thought he was saying, "This scene is a rip-off of the scene in In the Mood For Love of Tony Leung whispering his secret into a hole at Angkor Wat."

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:26:37 -0800

aftermarketradio: I would love to see an FPP collecting such freeze-frames.

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:27:42 -0800

I think it's something about "I don't even have to write a last line, my daddy will buy me the Oscar anyway." OK movie but weak weak script. It pisses me off when indie faux-teurs confuse vagueness for subtlety. The script is pretty obviously a first or second draft, so I can't imagine Coppola herself put much thought into it. She obviously didn't put much into structuring the rest of the story.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:32:24 -0800

I'd argue that any subtlety not in the script is supplied in spades by Bill Murray, whose character's behaviour is incredibly nuanced.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:33:22 -0800

eh, I liked the movie.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:33:31 -0800

It pisses me off when indie faux-teurs confuse vagueness for subtlety. This pretty much sums up why I hated it so much.

By: lampoil

lampoil — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:40:25 -0800

I don't really care what he said in real life. But I think that in theory, it's possible to try to find out what he said in real life, and still watch and appreciate that bit as an ambiguous part of the movie. Like roll truck roll, this strikes me as movie trivia, not cannon. If one were to find out what Bill Murray said, that same person could still watch that movie and not think that's what that character said. It's like the letter aftermarketradio links to. That's what the real life paper said. That's not what Mr. Cleaver's letter said in the world of Leave it to Beaver. But I don't really think what he really said is hidden in the audio of the movie.

By: tula

tula — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:42:32 -0800

I'm part of a minority of people who thought that film was Sophia Coppola's entitled daughter-of-deity spoiled-princess-stuck-in-boring-Japan narcissistic wankery. A tiny, vociferous minority. So I'll shut up now. And, on preview, exactly what drjimmy11 said.

By: billyfleetwood

billyfleetwood — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:42:49 -0800

I have figured out the contents of briefcase in Pulp Fiction by digitally enhancing the reflection in John Travolta's teeth. Next I will determine whether or not Deckard was an android by amplifying the audio and listening to see if his cooling fans come on during the fight scenes.

By: BrianBoyko

BrianBoyko — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:45:57 -0800

For those of us on dialup who can't access the video, what did he say? Or - you know, I really don't care. The whole movie was an episode of Seinfeld with all the funny sucked out.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:53:38 -0800

For those of us on dialup who can't access the video, what did he say? He said "HHHCHCHSSSSHHHRRR NSNHSHCCCHHH SHSEHRHRHRHHHHCKSHSHHHSHSHSHRRRRRR", or something very close to that. It's useless compressed/filtered/windtunnel-to-death noise. Compare with another film from another Coppola.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:54:03 -0800

Did Sofia Coppola already spill the beans on what he said? // spoiler!!! // spoiler!!! // spoiler!!! // spoiler!!! Something to the effect of "I want you to go back to your husband and tell him that you love him, OK?" I thought I read that in an interview somewhere. And I can kind of hear it in this clip, too.

By: Floydd

Floydd — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:58:49 -0800

You really have to see the movie in the original language to get all the jokes.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:02:03 -0800

I really liked the movie... whatever weaknesses and holes there were in the script were more than compensated by Bill Murray's tremendously nuanced performance, some very true to life supporting characters and, at times, breathtaking cinematography (the Tokyo night shots, its skyline by day, the trip to the shrine, and teeing off with Mount Fuji in the background are unforgettable). What I didn't get was the heroine's life situation. What is a 22ish year old, hottie Yale chick from New York City doing being married... particularly to a early 20s Brooklynish hipster photographer dude? I've known such people most of my adult life, and that particular detail (which was necessary to the plot from the infidelity angle) wasn't terribly believable.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:03:14 -0800

But, I think why I have such overwhelmingly positive feelings about the film is more than 80% due to Kevin Shields's score.

By: felix grundy

felix grundy — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:08:03 -0800

What I would like to know is what Laura whispers to Brendan at the end of Brick.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:08:43 -0800

Still another version: Bob: You know what phrase works as an alternate caption for every single New Yorker cartoon you've ever seen? Charlotte: Christ, what an asshole? Bob: Yeah.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:11:37 -0800

My money is on 'This is the volume of the line I'm using in this scene. This line is supposed to be so quiet that normal people can't hear it. If you can hear it, you're not normal.' When I was in University, I used a textbook, File Structures by Bill Zoellick and Michael Folk, specifically, that has a really pointless diagram in it meant to reflect different types of files. The third file type is a document, and has teeny tiny type on its teeny tiny pages. The teeny tiny type reads 'This is the size of the font that I am using in this example. The font is supposed to be so small that a normal person can't read it. If you can read it, then you are not normal.' I derived a great deal of amused from that when I first read it.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:12:25 -0800

Man, the fact that it stripped my paragraph/font size style out of that after I posted it sucked all the fun out of that post.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:26:58 -0800

It reminds me of another scene where a character embraces someone, whispers something in their ear, then gives them a big kiss. Bob: There's a plane waiting for us to take us to Miami in an hour. Charlotte: Alright. Bob: Don't make a big thing about it. I mean, it's the same scene, is it not? The hug, the whisper, then the kiss? She was trying to create a powerful scene, so she just copied the most famous one that her father ever did. But she couldn't think of what to have Bob whisper to make the scene as good as the Michael/Fredo scene, so she just had it be unintelligible.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:27:33 -0800

Small derail: Listen, to everyone who felt this post (when it had the original text in it) was a spoiler, I apologize. My mind did not process this as a spoiler when I was posting it, because the movie had been out for a long time, and because it struck me as a theory (even though I now realize that I worded the post as if it were fact). I say this because I want you to know that there was no malicious or trollish intent. Once I noticed that numerous people were getting upset, I sent Jessamyn an e-mail asking her if she could put the quote beneath the fold. Her fix was better.

By: spacely_sprocket

spacely_sprocket — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:31:29 -0800

What he actually said: [spoiler alert!] Bob [whispered]: What the hell, it's a paycheck, you know? Wanna get coffee later? Charlotte: Okay.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:33:17 -0800

If you want to see an indie-hipsterish Bill Murray movie with a cop-out ending, check out Broken Flowers. I liked it when I was watching it, because hey, it's Jim Jarmusch, but that ending veered too close to "THERE'S NO REAL WAY TO RESOLVE THIS STORY SO I'M GOING TO SAY THE POINT IS THAT THERE IS NO POINT." The result conclusion approached Caché levels of badness. It's not so much that I demand concrete closure (almost all movies are ten minutes too long anyhow, and I love elliptical storytelling) as I can see through the trick of buttoning a story - and creating the illusion of depth where this is none - by aggressively withholding information from the audience, or by determinedly creating an ambiguous ending in the hopes that the audience will keep on wondering what a particular moment was about. At least Lost In Translation (which is a good movie) had already established a pattern of silences and unspoken feelings, so it made sense to me there, which is why I'm incurious about the whole matter.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:41:27 -0800

MeFi isn't really set up to deal with spoilers so including them in posts is not a super good idea. While I thoroughly agree, I'm baffled by the idea that this is a spoiler. A spoiler gives away the end of a movie. This is a theory, ill-supported in my opinion, about what the Murray character might have whispered. What he whispered, assuming for the sake of argument that he actually whispered something coherent instead of rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb, is not part of the movie and thus cannot be a spoiler. Jeez, people around here will bitch about anything. [NOT PEOPLIST]

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:47:12 -0800

While I thoroughly agree, I'm baffled by the idea that this is a spoiler. Something central to the conclusion or resolution of a story is probably falling reasonably in the the neighborhood of spoilerdom for most folks. A fake spoiler—even a theory presented (however unintentionally) as fact—is still a spoiler. So, eh. The spirit is there, even if I agree with you for the most part and am generally unsympathetic about non-epic spoiler concerns.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:48:23 -0800

Sticherbeast: I had the exact opposite reaction to Broken Flowers (and I hope that doesn't make me an indie-hipsterish asshole). I, too, feel that most movies are ten minutes too long, and there is often a point at which I say to myself, 'This movie would be fantastic if it ended right now,' usually because I care much more about character/thematic resolution than stupid tidy plot resolutions. Broken Flowers is the one film that actually ended at the exact moment that I thought it ought to end.

By: naoko

naoko — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:59:10 -0800

Designbot - hey, I heard "mumble mumble tell the truth" - glad it's not just me. I like Cool Papa Bell's answer better than what these people came up with. Add me to the list of people who DID like the movie (and it looks like we might be the minority in here).

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:08:59 -0800

felix grundy: "What I would like to know is what Laura whispers to Brendan at the end of Brick." I think it's "Holy fuck, I don't want to go to jail."

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:11:39 -0800

I like Cool Papa Bell's answer better than what these people came up with. Yeah, but he didn't finish it: :"I want you to go back to your husband and tell him that you love him, OK?... because you're both well on your way down the same path my wife and I are... you'll both end up bored at middle age and you can harangue him about the color the dining room should be while he has empty meaningless sex with women he encounters in hotel bars."

By: terrapin

terrapin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:20:24 -0800

There is dialogue in the film? I usually just pause on the scene where Scarlet is lying on the bed in her panties.

By: edd

edd — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:34:28 -0800

jacquilynne reminds me of the Red Dwarf episode "Backwards", where an awful lot of the episode happens in reverse. Much of the dialogue is reversed. Details of one fourth wall-breaking line can be found here - search for 'stage manager'.

By: emd3737

emd3737 — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:39:10 -0800

I saw a version of this film in a foreign lanuage, with English subtitles, so I already knew what he said.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:43:13 -0800

Don't stop belieeeeevin.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:50:10 -0800

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb. (If you can decipher meaning from this, you are not normal.)

By: spaltavian

spaltavian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:52:32 -0800

Your favorite movie that isn't at all your favorite movie, but you liked it and you watched it for the first time with someone special so you get a little wistful about it sucks.

By: lucidprose

lucidprose — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:55:49 -0800

Michael Shermer gave a talk related to this at TED last year. The relevant part is 9:30 in:

In the absence of sound science, incomplete information can combine with the power of suggestion (helping us hear those Satanic lyrics in Led Zeppelin). In fact, he says, humans tend to convince ourselves to believe: We overvalue the "hits" that support our beliefs, and discount the more numerous "misses."

It would be interesting to see what other messages would sound plausible when you primed the viewer with subtitles.

By: Tommy Gnosis

Tommy Gnosis — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:56:39 -0800

Don't stop belieeeeevin. The mass emotional reaction to the Sopranos finale and the "controversy" over this frustrate me terribly. Whether they're revelatory of infantilized we've become as a culture, or else indicate that we're no longer able to separate the fictitious from the real, I cannot say. In either case, it's really annoying.

By: angeline

angeline — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:57:40 -0800

I always found the film to be boring. *shrug* But I did wonder what he said at the end. I'm not sure they got it right, but I guess it'll do. I had no idea there was such a fuss about wanting to know what Bill Murray said. For all I knew, it was always, "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown, okay?"

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:58:29 -0800

It's Suntory Time.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:01:37 -0800

If a whole minigenre were to crop up, on Youtube, of videos that splice in different "digitially recovered" lines from other Bill Murray films, I would not be displeased. Bob: "In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher'." Charlotte: "Okay..."

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:04:30 -0800

Bob [whispered]: Gunga galunga. Gunga... gunga galunga. Charlotte: Okay.

By: unsupervised

unsupervised — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:13:19 -0800

What I would like to know is what Laura whispers to Brendan at the end of Brick. She reveals that he's the father of Emily's unborn child and whispers "That makes you...a motherfucker"

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:13:19 -0800

Bob [whispered]: Chicks dig me, because I rarely wear underwear and when I do it's usually something unusual. Charlotte: Okay.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:15:09 -0800

IRFH: Tell the Dahli Lama hello next time you see him.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:17:10 -0800

Bob: In this universal catastrophe, the sufferings of Christians have tended to their moral improvement, because they viewed them with eyes of faith. - Augustine Charlotte: Okay.

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:21:14 -0800

The notion of a spoiler is tremendously self indulgent. It always frustrates me when it comes up around here.. On topic.. In this talk on the Big Bang, the lecturer demonstrates what happens when you play Stairway to Heaven backwards - the important section begins at 22 minutes. The upshot being, if somebody suggests words, your brain gets a bias toward those words. Also, the audio was more clear before the processing. And, it sounded like the go back to your husband version to me.

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:24:39 -0800

Bob: w00t! w00t! w00t! Charlotte: Okay.

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:25:59 -0800

If a whole minigenre were to crop up, on Youtube, of videos that splice in different "digitially recovered" lines from other Bill Murray films, I would not be displeased. Yes.. But by your logic, you'd also consider them all to be spoilers..

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:27:41 -0800

Bob [whispered]: When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney, and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter. From Punxsutawney, it's Phil Connors. So long. Charlotte: Okay.

By: Mike D

Mike D — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:29:05 -0800

"Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb" (If you can decipher meaning from this, you are not normal.) Uh oh. Standard "busy crowd" sound favoured by directors. "OK everybody, so now the DA ia going to shout dramatically, 'You honour, I beg a brief recess. Some new evisdence has just been brought to my attention.' When that happens, I want all the courtroom extras to mumble at the same time, 'rhubarb-rhubarb-rhubarb'." Amazing how that sounds like a whole lot of people actually reacting coherently at the same time. Plus it requires a lot of mouth motion, so it _looks_ like a lot of simultaneous chatter.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:31:26 -0800

Barring any supporting evidence I call this a case of pareidolia. If you aren't familiar with it, it's amazing how much the reinforcement of showing the text of a supposed transcription of ambiguous audio can influence what you think you hear. It's a classic trick for selling supposedly backmasked messages on reversed tracks of assorted devil music. Repetition reinforces the illusion. If you can't get it without being told what it is, it isn't really clear, is it? Experiments have shown that if people listen repeatedly to meaningless audio, with the intent of extracting normal language from it, not only will they find scraps of language, others can be "sold" a particular interpretation - but only if they are told what it is. Even with the textual prompting I thought this particular example was weak, anyway. Yeah, you can map those words over that sound but you could come up with any number of phrases that would convincingly map on top of that vague, garbled audio. You still don't know what he says.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:36:54 -0800

"The result conclusion approached Caché levels of badness." Easy, pookie-bear, easy, no need dragging filmakers into this discussion. Bob [whispered]: You're supposed to be crying, are you crying? Then I'll step on your foot. And agai- Charlotte: Ow, hey. Bob [still whispering]: You just won her the Oscar.

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:41:17 -0800

I'm with nanojath - although I didn't think of using "pareidolia" until he did. Even knowing what i supposed to hear I couldn't hear it - all I know is that when altered this way Bill Murray sounds like Satan.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:41:40 -0800

Seriously, I can't believe the people commenting on that video are so credulous. Even after watching it a couple times, after a few minutes, just listening to the audio and not watching the video, I couldn't hear shit. Presenting this as anything other than sheer speculation is ridiculous.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:44:33 -0800

I'll just say this one last time: movies are what you see on the screen. There's no 'reality' behind them (unless they're documentaries, and even then...) He didn't 'really' say anything. He leaned in, and then you there was a lot of ambient noise. That was it.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:45:31 -0800

Incidentally, one of the finer uses of intentionally ambiguous audio as a plot device in a film is The Conversation starring Gene Hackman. Apropos of nothing.

By: Kickstart70

Kickstart70 — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:46:45 -0800

Bob: "The anal bleeding will stop in a day or two and then we'll try again. Okay?" Charlotte: "You'll pay."

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:54:41 -0800

I usually just pause on the scene where Scarlet is lying on the bed in her panties. Those must be big panties.

By: From Bklyn

From Bklyn — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:58:14 -0800

I usually just pause on the scene where Scarlet is lying on the bed in her panties. Those must be big panties. Never been to Japan, huh?

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:01:27 -0800

Bob (select one): A. Oswald acted alone. B. No one really knows what the lyrics to "Louie, Louie" are. C. Luke, I am your father. D. I can't believe I got away with stealing Chevy Chase's career. E. No one marries "up the butt girl". F. "Rosebud" was Hearst's nickname for his wife's vagina. Charlotte: OK.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:03:21 -0800

Bob: I'm really gonna miss that prostitute who wanted me to "lip" her stockings. Charlotte: ok.

By: davejay

davejay — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:15:20 -0800

I liked this movie. Of course, I also liked Unnbreakable. But I hate reality television. Does this mean I'm doomed, or that there's still hope?

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:19:03 -0800

THE WORD OKAY MAKES EVERYTHING FUNNY.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:22:13 -0800

Bill: THE WORD OKAY MAKES EVERYTHING FUNNY. Charlotte: (stunned silence)

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:23:36 -0800

Never been to Japan, huh? No. Do they commonly dress their beds in undergarments?

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:24:12 -0800

Incidentally, one of the finer uses of intentionally ambiguous audio as a plot device in a film is The Conversation starring Gene Hackman. Apropos of nothing. Apropos of STEALING!

By: jefbla

jefbla — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:27:39 -0800

Bob: Wookin' pa nub in all da wong paces, wookin' pa nub. Charlotte: Otay.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:28:58 -0800

Apropos of STEALING! I can't be expected to click every faceless IMDB link and nevertheless yes, you beat me, and I am ashamed.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:36:10 -0800

I didn't meant to hurt you, babe. *whispers something inaudible in nanojath's ear*

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:37:11 -0800

Bob: You can't go. All the plants are gonna die. Charlotte: Okay

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:05:15 -0800

And what did Steve Martin do with the Process in The Spanish Prisoner, for crying out loud?

By: cazoo

cazoo — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:08:14 -0800

Bob: As Jean-Paul Satre once said, Au revoir Gopher. Charlotte: Okay.

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:31:57 -0800

Due to some incredibly shitty recent developments in my personal life, I'm fine with this movie having a happy ending after all.

By: ersatz

ersatz — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:32:08 -0800

LiT was good.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:37:21 -0800

Bob: I need some money to get the boat out of hock and rescue my bond company stooge who got kidnapped. Could we ask your parents to loan it to me? Charlotte: Okay.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:42:20 -0800

Bob: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it. Charlotte: Okay.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:46:20 -0800

Bob: It just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. Charlotte: Okay

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:49:59 -0800

Bob: I think I need a root canal. I definitely need a long, slow root canal. Charlotte: Okay.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:53:07 -0800

Bob [whispered]: I'm gonna give you a little advice, Charlotte. Scrape 'em off. You wanna save somebody? Save yourself. Charlotte: Okay.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:56:09 -0800

Bob: Riots in the streets. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria. Charlotte: Okay

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:00:00 -0800

Bob: Baby steps... get on the elevator... Baby steps, get on the elevator.... Charlotte: Okay.

By: box

box — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:08:38 -0800

Bob: Well, I'm sure Charles Dickens would have wanted to see her nipples. Charlotte: Okay.

By: rush

rush — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:28:23 -0800

A friend of mine told the rest of us, on the way out of the movie, that she had heard what he said. She didn't tell us what it was, because she "didn't want to ruin it." A mutual friend actually begged for weeks for her to tell him, leading to this moment: Her: "You better get checked." Him: What? Her: That's what he says. "You better get checked." Him: Wha - I don't understand. Her: Yeah, me neither. But that's what he says. The slight possibility that he is earnestly telling people that line is fantastic.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:33:16 -0800

Bob [It’s whispered that]: soon if we all call a tune, then the Piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter. Charlotte: [head humming] Okay. *wonders* “Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb” Bob: Badger, badger, badger. Charlotte: Mushroom, mushroom.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:34:36 -0800

Bob: This is the Nick Winters show and I do the entertaining, thank you. Let's go out with something really hot for these folks The big hit out of '77! Aww ... Star Wars, nothing but Star Wars. Give me those Star Wars! Don't let them end. Oh, Star Wars, if they should bar wars, please let these Star Wars stay. And hey! How bout that nutty Star Wars bar? Can you forget all the creatures in there? And hey! Darth Vader in that black and evil mask? Did he scare you as much as he scared me? Yeow! Star Wars, those here in bar wars. My 7th winter up here! Star Wars! Charlotte: Okay.

By: Brak

Brak — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:43:48 -0800

Your favorite movie _____.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:44:16 -0800

Bob [It’s whispered that]: soon if we all call a tune, then the Piper will lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand long, and the forests will echo with laughter. Charlotte: Okay. *remembers laughter*

By: Henry C. Mabuse

Henry C. Mabuse — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:49:19 -0800

That aint what he says. I'll stick it thru a notch filter later.

By: maus

maus — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:08:44 -0800

well of course it's going to sound like whatever words get put up on the screen. A discerning ear can tell that he's actually saying "Don't just eat that hamburger, eat the HELL out of it!"

By: Henry C. Mabuse

Henry C. Mabuse — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:46:52 -0800

"If your husband is (such a?) nice guy, he'll know (what you have?), tell him that you love him, OK?"

By: misha

misha — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:18:41 -0800

"Lens cap."

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:18:49 -0800

Bill: BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE! Scarlett: A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!

By: misha

misha — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:19:55 -0800

I really wanted to like LIT, but after about the twentieth shot of SJ sitting on the windowsill, looking down at the street, I completely lost interest.

By: Henry C. Mabuse

Henry C. Mabuse — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:49:57 -0800

Samuel Jackson was in it? Musta missed that.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:59:02 -0800

Bob [Whispered]: I want these muthafuckin' snakes off my muthafuckin' plane. Charlotte: Okay.

By: The World Famous

The World Famous — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:10:42 -0800

Bob [whispered]: Whether or not what we experienced was an 'According to Hoyle' miracle is irrelevant. What is relevant is that I felt the touch of God. God got involved. Charlotte: Okay.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:28:19 -0800

Bob [whispered]: We've been going about this all wrong, this Mr. Stay Puft's okay, he's a sailor, he's in New York, we get this guy laid we won't have any trouble. Charlotte: OK.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:28:42 -0800

Bob [whispered]: What's the fifteenth and eleventh letters of the alphabet? Charlotte: Okay.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:49:04 -0800

"This film was Sophia Coppola's entitled daughter-of-deity spoiled-princess-stuck-in-boring-Japan narcissistic wankery." "Okay."

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:03:13 -0800

For nanojath: Bob [whispered]: He'd kill us if he had the chance. Charlotte [whispered]: He'd kill us if he had the chance. Audience: OK. Wait, what?

By: micayetoca

micayetoca — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:32:16 -0800

Lucky for you people, I'm a professional translator. What Bill Murray says is: - Esta es la parte en la que tenemos que fingir que te digo algo muy importante. Después nos abrazamos, ¿ok? There it is, not lost in translation anymore.

By: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 22:25:55 -0800

Bob: I buried Paul. Charlotte: Okay.

By: Henry C. Mabuse

Henry C. Mabuse — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:01:58 -0800

(for those of you who wonder what a professional audio filtering -- unlike the one in the FPP which is worthless-- reveals from the whisper, see my post above.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:32:35 -0800

It pisses me off when indie faux-teurs confuse vagueness for subtlety Not to re-open the dialogue about the quality of the movie, but the vagueness was the whole point, wasn't it? Here you have a collection of seemingly intelligent people, in intimate situations with each other, but wholly incapable of communicating with or making themselves understood by each other. The very title of the movie tells you that. I grant that it's perfectly acceptable to dislike, be bored by, or even hate the film, but the complaint about its vagueness misses the point.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:39:42 -0800

Bob: I grant that it's perfectly acceptable to dislike, be bored by, or even hate thisfilm, but the complaint about its vagueness misses the point. Charlotte: Okay. This is great. I want this to become the new Metafilter:

By: Brak

Brak — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 09:40:33 -0800

Bob [whispered]: Young lady, you go straight back to New York and see your poor mother. She's still so ferklempt that you married that lousy goyim! Charlotte: Oy vey!

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:43:06 -0800

you know Henry C. you could always post your audio sample up on mefimusic.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:43:27 -0800

or... somewhere. please.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:39:25 -0800

Bob [whispered]: Did you ever go a-fishin' on a bright sunny day, sitting on the log when the log gave way, with your hands in your pockets and your pockets in your pants, watching all the fishes do the hoochie coochie dance? Charlotte: Uh, okay ...

By: spacely_sprocket

spacely_sprocket — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:02:12 -0800

jefbla Bob: Wookin' pa nub in all da wong paces, wookin' pa nub. Charlotte: Otay. Alternate Buckwheat (Farina?) quote: Bob: I will moon your tareer. Charlotte: Otay.