I saw Gran Torino too and liked it a lot. Clint Eastwood was great and all that racist stuff he had to say managed to be over the top to the point of being funny. I noticed that people in the theater were afraid to laugh at the things he said, but as his friendship developed with the Hmong family, it seemed okay to laugh.
I saw it at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and enjoyed it quite a bit, though it was a little predictable. It was still a fresh take on the vamp genre, and had a lot of good humor interspersed between the spooky/creepy parts. But I think I would have liked it to either be darker or lighter, and not in between so much. The pacing dragged a little too, in general, maybe because the director was trying so hard to be atmospheric or something...
*SPOILER ALERT*the_pangolinJanuary 21 2009, 23:11:26 UTC
Ahhh, Swedish cinema.
Where else can you find homosexual pedophilic/pederastic vampirism? ;) It still amazes me that so many reviewers of the film missed that, but I suppose I am fortunate enough to have read through the book so I already knew what to look for. I also thought they did a great job of making the actress look and sound suitably androgynous.
Re: *SPOILER ALERT*chibimermaidJanuary 22 2009, 01:06:07 UTC
Yeah, same here.
Seems like Oskar was destined to end up like the other guy who had been Eli's caretaker in the beginning of the movie.
I heard that he was a pedophile in the book......?
I liked the movie. I felt bad for some of the characters....
Interesting how its being seen mostly as a love story. I feel more like Eli preyed on Oskar's desire for revenge, his lonliness. Maybe she needed the "humanity" he could offer, but it became clear she wanted to use him.
Re: *SPOILER ALERT*the_pangolinJanuary 22 2009, 01:26:09 UTC
Now that I've got my own computer back, I can't do all the proper awesome Swedish characters.
Anyway, yeah, Hakan was a pedophile to begin with and it's strongly implied that that's what drew him to Eli in the first place. That was downplayed in (or maybe cut from the final edits of) the film.
I definitely didn't see it as a love story. I saw Eli as a predator in every sense. He used his size, his apparent age, and his charm to his advantage. He trained certain vulnerable people to be his hounds while feeding on the rest. That's part of what I enjoyed about the film and the book's take on vampirism: Eli wasn't just a mopey human with super-powers who liked his steak rare. Despite all appearances to the contrary and despite his behaviour towards Oskar and Hakan, Eli is a predator and he cannot see even those closest to him as anything other than pets and cattle.
Re: *SPOILER ALERT*chibimermaidJanuary 22 2009, 04:49:15 UTC
So since you read the book, what was up with the guy who came to visit Oskar's father? He was playing games with his son and then all of a sudden a guy shows up with socks and sandals in the snow....and giving him a drink becomes more important. Was this to show that Oskar's dad put "lesser" things in life ahead of his son and thus maybe was a bad parent? Was this a gay lover? Was this someone he was afraid of--relating to Oskar's inability to face up to his bullies? Was this a creditor coming to collect?
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:)
What movies have you seen lately?
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There was a time in my life when I'd watch 15-20 movies in a weekend. Those days are long gone. I just don't have the attention span for it anymore.
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Where else can you find homosexual pedophilic/pederastic vampirism? ;) It still amazes me that so many reviewers of the film missed that, but I suppose I am fortunate enough to have read through the book so I already knew what to look for. I also thought they did a great job of making the actress look and sound suitably androgynous.
Did you enjoy?
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Seems like Oskar was destined to end up like the other guy who had been Eli's caretaker in the beginning of the movie.
I heard that he was a pedophile in the book......?
I liked the movie. I felt bad for some of the characters....
Interesting how its being seen mostly as a love story. I feel more like Eli preyed on Oskar's desire for revenge, his lonliness. Maybe she needed the "humanity" he could offer, but it became clear she wanted to use him.
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Anyway, yeah, Hakan was a pedophile to begin with and it's strongly implied that that's what drew him to Eli in the first place. That was downplayed in (or maybe cut from the final edits of) the film.
I definitely didn't see it as a love story. I saw Eli as a predator in every sense. He used his size, his apparent age, and his charm to his advantage. He trained certain vulnerable people to be his hounds while feeding on the rest. That's part of what I enjoyed about the film and the book's take on vampirism: Eli wasn't just a mopey human with super-powers who liked his steak rare. Despite all appearances to the contrary and despite his behaviour towards Oskar and Hakan, Eli is a predator and he cannot see even those closest to him as anything other than pets and cattle.
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Seemed neat though. :)
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