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Wesley

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Netflix have been running their TUDUM event and have been showing off various films and shows that they've got coming in the coming months/into next year. We got our first glimpse at the adaptation of The Sandman and I'm tentatively optimistic going off of this first glimpse:

Its got the look but whats shown is one of the easier parts to adapt. With Gaiman involved, it should stay true to the source but it could still go wrong if they've not got the budget to cover what they want to properly (from what I gather the first series is supposed to cover Preludes and Nocturnes). So I'm intrigued but the books are probably my favourite graphic novel series so as much as I'm excited by this first glimpse, I'm not sure if it'll all stick the landing, though the casting choices are great.

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57 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

The intro to live action Cowboy Bebop looks nuts

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As someone who watched the anime all the way through for the first time just last month, man this kind of hurt to watch. I don't throw this phrase out a lot, because I think it's a lazy way of getting a point across a lot of the tone, but I've got to say it, and I don't say this lightly: this actually looks fan-made. Hilariously so. 

Like with the live-action adaptation of The Last Airbender that Netflix is doing, purely from a creative perspective: I don't get it. Cowboy Bebop is timeless, and a large part of its identity - and this goes for TLA too - is that it is animated. You can get away with a whole lot in animation in general that you simply can't in live-action, and there are few live-action projects like Avatar which, story aside, shows mastery over CG. Which takes money and a whole lot of time, which studios these days generally aren't willing to give (and especially those like Netflix) to get a faster turnaround time on projects. 

From a business perspective sure, it makes sense because they won't be having to constantly sort out deals for their own take (I would assume) like they would the original work. But it'll be outdated in five, maybe ten years maximum, whereas the anime has already stood strong for over two decades, and will no doubt outlive this live-action adaptation. 

It's a growing trend I'm really not a fan of. Sequels, prequels, expanded universes are one thing, but this just kind of ticks me off. 

It's different to, say, an anime adapting a manga, because the reach of anime is far greater than manga and so it can pull in a new audience meaning it makes business and creative sense, but I struggle to see why someone wouldn't just look up the original show on a streaming service - or even on YouTube, where there are plenty of playlists you can check out which show it for free - and instead watch this. Especially when the anime audience has grown exponentially over the last decade, it's not like it's a medium that was unheard of or actively avoided by the majority like it was a decade and a half/two decades back. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I can’t be the only one to have seen Squid Game can I? Thought it was decent, but the interesting premise fell apart during the last few episodes and it was like I’d seen it all before. Acting was superb apart from the

Spoiler

English speaking parts (the VIPs) They were truly awful - we’re talking Resident Evil 1996 quality but I read it was that bad by design. How odd.

 

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On 10/8/2021 at 8:06 AM, Dog-amoto said:

I can’t be the only one to have seen Squid Game can I? Thought it was decent, but the interesting premise fell apart during the last few episodes and it was like I’d seen it all before. Acting was superb apart from the

I just binged the whole thing today!

On 10/8/2021 at 8:06 AM, Dog-amoto said:
  Late spoiler (Reveal hidden contents)

English speaking parts (the VIPs) They were truly awful - we’re talking Resident Evil 1996 quality but I read it was that bad by design. How odd.

 

 

Spoiler

I watched the dubbed version…

1. I don’t care what anyone says, if you can’t speak the language (especially languages this far removed from your own) you’re really not gaining much by reading the subtitles and missing what’s actually happening.

2. The way Netflix does it’s localization you get two different translations in the subtitles and the dubs and having both gives you a better idea of what was actually meant to be there.

But my god, I wondered what the hell was happening when the VIPs turned up and why it had suddenly turned into a 90s video games. I had to rewatch the first part of it again to make sure I hadn’t missed something. The proper dubbing was actually really good - as is most of Netflix’ stuff. I watch pretty much everything foreign dubbed while we have the subtitles in Japanese for my wife.

Honestly though, welcome to Asian shows writing white people - there isn’t quite the same mindset of needing to write foreign characters properly over here. Just go for the stereotype that fits and it’s all good.

Other than that I really enjoyed it. I thought we were going to have a pretty close copy of Batle Royale after the first few episodes but it was far enough away from that that I didn’t mind. Really enjoyed all of the characters and the fact that nobody really came out on top is a refreshing change from most of the American crap we’re forced to suffer the majority of the time.

I guess a second season will be coming before too long, and I’m looking forward to it!

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I'm watching You season 3 and I must say that I think it's still rather enjoyable. This season is a nice change of pace with enough new elements and drama to keep it interesting. I'm 6 episodes in, and things are going well and stay interesting. I'm watching it with my wife (she started it) and she enjoys it as well (i.e. she doesn't fall asleep immediately to it).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Talking about Netflix movies with a big budget, I watched Red Notice last weekend. It stars Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. I guess it's a mix between a heist movie like Ocean's 11 and an adventure film like National Treasure. Enjoyable for what it is, plenty of humour although it does get a bit cringe at times. It's okay as a Saturday night no nonsense action comedy, but don't expect anything too high quality, especially knowing they had a $200 million budget.

 

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Spent all day binge watching Cowboy Bebop. For the most part I ended up really enjoying it. Despite being a bit worried about her from the trailer I’d say Faye ended up being my favourite part.

Spoiler

The change to the ending was a bit weird. I don’t necessarily hate Spike surviving but it was done without any real explanation.

Also I didn’t realise until that last scene how much I didn’t need to see Ed in this version of the show.

Edit: Apparently I was mis-remembering the ending of the anime and confusing it with the earlier episode so there’s still quite a lot they can work with so that’s good.

 

Edited by Happenstance
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Anyone watched Arcane?

Binged the first 7 episodes yesterday while off work looking after my sick son, and I'm really enjoying it.

I've never played League of legends, but that doesn't seem to matter? I don't know if I'm missing out on anything...

The animation is incredible - better than Pixar's output over the last few years. The art style is so good as well, you could pause the show at any point and every frame is almost literally a painting.

The writing is a bit clichéd, but that's one of the few downsides so far.

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10 hours ago, bob said:

Anyone watched Arcane?

Binged the first 7 episodes yesterday while off work looking after my sick son, and I'm really enjoying it.

I've never played League of legends, but that doesn't seem to matter? I don't know if I'm missing out on anything...

The animation is incredible - better than Pixar's output over the last few years. The art style is so good as well, you could pause the show at any point and every frame is almost literally a painting.

The writing is a bit clichéd, but that's one of the few downsides so far.

Watched it all.

I agree on pretty much all the points above. Utterly stunning animation.

My main gripe with the show is that hardly any of the characters were particularly likable, and the ones that are likeable are either killed off or change into unlikable fairly quickly.

Overall, it didn't bother me too much though and it's well worth a watch.

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I watched the last two episodes this morning.

Spoiler

I thought the ending was a bit crap. I would have preferred it if it wrapped up more of the story-lines, but it seemed to keep most of them open for a second season (i'm assuming). Like what happened with Viktor? It looked like the Hexcore was about to take control of him through his leg, or something? The way it flashed blue in his eyes as the Hexcore pulsed...? 

Obviously the whole 'Jinx blowing up the council' thing was meant to be a cliff-hanger, but i like it when seasons are a bit more self-contained.

 

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If anyone is into musicals, would highly recommend Tick, Tick...Boom! after watching it last week. Guess I would also recommend if you aren't into them, too :p

It's Lin-Manuel Miranda's film directing debut, and while it's not without flaws (it can get a little preachy and the pacing is a bit off at times), Andrew Garfield carries the entirety of the film portraying Jonathan Larson (the playwright for Rent who passed away on its first day of Off-Broadway previews), and I fully expect him to get an Oscar nomination for this performance. Dude can sing! 

I typically avoid musicals (they aren't really my cup of tea), but while there were still some performances I cringed at a bit, there are some great performances in there. Therapy might be one of my favourite sequences to lace together separate acting and singing performances, and there are some other songs I just haven't been able to get out of my head, like 30/90

Good stuff, worth giving it a watch :peace:

Edited by Julius
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