View Poll Results: A Man Called Ove

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    7 77.78%
  • Nej

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Thread: A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm)

  1. #1
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    A Man Called Ove (Hannes Holm)

    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  2. #2
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Boy, I really liked this a lot. I don't want to blow it up too much, because it's probably best experienced as the small, unassuming film that it is. But I was thoroughly taken in by this character and his story. Excellent lead performance. Wonderful blend of dark humor and sentimentality.

    Make sure to include this on your end-of-the-year checklist.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  3. #3
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    This came to me with high marks. I look forward to it.

  4. #4
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    Likewise. This is near the top of my "must see" list

  5. #5
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    Huge yay.

    This starts out darkly funny and becomes warmly sentimental. It was exactly the kind of film I was looking for. I moved it up on my list after reading Spinal's reaction, and he nailed the film's tone and attraction.

    Particularly liked the flashbacks, which were well integrated into the main story and well developed, too. Also: The Saab/Volvo shorthand to describe the friendship between two grown men who've had a falling out.

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  6. #6
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Irish (view post)
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    Yes! Good point! So glad you enjoyed it.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  7. #7
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    The continuity between old Ove and young Ove is really quite remarkable.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  8. #8
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    The continuity between old Ove and young Ove is really quite remarkable.
    How do you mean?

    (Possibly related: There's a sequence late in the film where Ove is standing at his front window, and when he turns away, his younger self and his wife are sitting on the couch. There's a brief over-the-shoulder with the three of them in the frame, then it cuts to just the young people. I found it almost remarkable how often the film introduced the flashbacks in a creative way, without slamming the audience in the face and yelling "THIS RIGHT HERE IS A FLASHBACK -- like distorting the audio so that voices initially sound more distant, etc, or shooting in black and white, or any of the inane shit American TV does.)

    Also appreciated:

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  9. #9
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Oh, I wasn't clear. I meant in the performances. The two adult actors are very plausible as older and younger versions of the same person. But I like your points as well.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  10. #10
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    Oh, I wasn't clear. I meant in the performances. The two adult actors are very plausible as older and younger versions of the same person. But I like your points as well.
    Ohhhhhh yeah! That's a good point. I'm kinda curious how they worked that out creatively. They managed to capture the same character without overtly referencing the other guy's work.

    Another thing I liked, somewhat related: That Ove develops his own value system from within the film. Like first with the wallet on the train, then trying to return his dead father's pay. Later, with saving lives. I thought that was a nice touch that made a mean old man more likeable --- here's a guy who steadfastly always does the right thing.

  11. #11
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    Liked the present scenes a fair bit, which thankfully makes up most of the film, but I can feel myself internally yawning during every extended flashback. How well-acted they may be just can't mask how tired this structure feels to me. At least Ida Engvoll as Sonja has the charm to liven up the latter half of those flashbacks, and the lead Rolf Lassgård is stellar throughout. Mild yay because it ends strongly.
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  12. #12
    At first I was like, "Ehh, this is type of film my grandma would like." And then I was like, "Aww! This is the type of film my grandma would like!" Good movie.

  13. #13
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    I can't tell if you guys are serious... this is an awful, awful movie.

    By the time the film has Ove letting in a homeless gay man, loving Persian food and being a pioneer in building facilities for the disabled I was basically stunned - I couldn't believe how phony and vomit inducing a film could get. I suppose it has some formal qualities but the rotten, hypocritical soul of the movie was too much for me.

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