Jeff Lerner
Well-Known Member
I can't remember ever being this emotionally invested in a character before. This show is remarkable.
Television
- Thread starter gouis
- Start date
CroutonBoy
Active Member
Yeah, have been watching this through development and am super nervous. Sandman is an all-timer but it always felt difficult to adapt unfilmable to me. But they did better than I expected with The Witcher (admittedly a vastly inferior work) so fingers-crossed.
Tortured Diaper Baby Dept
Well-Known Member
I thought that Starz did American Gods well, as far as Neil Gaiman goes. I remember when I first read Sandman, the thing I loved was how the paneling was done and the flow it created in the beginning (when Dream is imprisoned; it's been a while since I've revisited the series so imma be light on details). But this may just be a limitation of going from one medium to another. Although, live action may open up some new avenues of storytelling not possible in print.
I think the biggest issue when adapting these things is pacing and scope. The original run was paced out over what - like 7/8 years? And it drew in so much mythology, depth, crossovers (Constantine, Swamp Thing, Lucifer, etc). TV has its own set of rules and expectations. It is capable of great storytelling but it can also suffer from rounding corners.
Sandman is a magical world. Because of expectations, I don't think there will be a middle ground. Either it will meet those expectations and be amazing; or, if it doesn't, fans will not overlook any perceived shortcomings and - even if executed with some degree of mediocrity - will be hated.
Gavaxeman
Well-Known Member
Big fan of “only murders in ..” ...really great tv .
Also a shout out for “Sweet Tooth” on Netflix..great series
CroutonBoy
Active Member
Season 1 of American Gods was indeed good...I'd actually forgotten about that! And the more involved Neil Gaiman is the better. In the right hands a visionary director and show-runner could really take some cues from the paneling and the dreamlike way it was laid out and inked to make something really magical.
Interestingly I think Sandman was often at its best after it established the character of Dream and the other Endless and became less of a narrative and more of an anthology. That way it could explore a particular corner of mythology or the subconscious and tease out moments of beauty and human tragedy. The serialized nature of TV leads to more of an emphasis on plot beats, although that's by no means always the case (see also: the Coach Beard episode of "Ted Lasso"). Striking that balance will be essential.
But you're 100% right...it will either hit it right or get absolutely demolished on the fanboy message boards. Either way I'm watching it.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
We binged half the series of 'Clickbait' today.
I didn't really expect much going in but it's actually quite captivating. Plenty of cliffhangers to keep you hooked on each episode.
I didn't really expect much going in but it's actually quite captivating. Plenty of cliffhangers to keep you hooked on each episode.
My wife and I have two episodes left, and probably will finish it tonight. I have to say E6 (the marbles) was a near masterpiece...but E7 had some really bad acting. The VIPs were ridiculous. Overall, we're really enjoying it though.
Did you finish it @wokeupnew ?
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Out of interest are you watching it with English dubs? I think that has a big part to play when it comes to certain performances or scenes feeling overly cheesy or bad. These been a few articles online about the dubbing being particularly bad.
No, we are doing subtitles which I always prefer. I love hearing the language even though I don't understand a word. It was the un-dubbed English speaking characters that were nearly impossible to watch/listen to - their dialog was sophomoric and irritating. I'm glad they weren't main characters.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Ah I see, yeah it was a bit jarring for us as well. Pretty much the whole scene of them watching the game was cringe.
wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
yup! I finished it a while ago I have my thoughts in the spoiler box below. I agree that the two episodes before the finale were the best. The VIPs were definitely cringe, but could have been because of how goofy their masks were. They weren't really that vitriolic for what they were participating in. other than that one guy who went with Jun-ho to the other room. It would have been much more interesting to learn more about them, like if one was a world leader or a famous person. Just some additional background would have given them more substance.
I started watching with dubs and subtitles and then noticed that the dubs and subtitles were both differently translated. I switched it off to only english subs with korean voice acting after the first 10 minutes in the first episode. It was much more enjoyable after that.
mrjoshuamccormack
Active Member
The VIPS kept making me think of NPCs from games like Skyrim, where the dialogue was sooo stilted and on-the-nose. Like the line "oh, another student of the Bard" was so awful, but somehow I still enjoyed the episode because of the actual stakes involved.
Yeah, so cardboard...all that dialog was throwaway, but the scene end up being very important. It didn't ruin it, and I'm looking forward to watching the rest tonight.
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
I got so excited about Succession last night, and if I hadn't been asleep by 9 I would have been all over it.
#infantlife #dadstiredkids
Melt Face Molly Drop
Well-Known Member
Just finished and thought it was very well done.
My mom is here visiting from out of town and watched it with us and I think she put it best when she said "it's got all the elements of a Lifetime movie but it doesn't feel like a Lifetime movie", which I think we can attribute to the excellent performances and well-crafted dialogue that lends an incredible amount of respect to a difficult topic that doesn't get talked about enough.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Got it queued up for tonight. Will need to watch some funny vampires afterwards to wash the slime off.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
The Guardian interviewed the actors that played the VIP's and its an interesting read. The actor that played the 'main' VIP comes across as equally obnoxious as his character, but the others provided quite a lot of interesting context which goes quite a way to explain why it seemed so wooden.
To summarise, they state that often the non-native dialogue is loosely translated using mediocre means (google translate) which means the sentence structure isn't always accurate. It also means that certain phrases come across incorrectly and because the people doing the editing are not English language speakers, they cant detect any errors or wooden performances. “My first line in Squid Game, you see me say: ‘Listen, I’ll give anybody some slack.’ That’s not what people say. They say ‘I’ll cut anybody some slack’.” In all subsequent takes, Giuliano made sure to say ‘cut some slack’. But in the final version, “they went with the ‘give’.”
The actors were only given a localised script of their scene, so they didn't have the overall story for context either. This meant that they had to create their own backstory. On top of this, they say that Korean acting is typically heightened anyway, so what might come off as cartoonish to us is actually the norm in Korea. They also add that they were not hired to portray a typical westerner, but instead, they were to portray what a Korean interpretation of a westerner is (which has clearly happened in reverse for decades).
A really interesting article, I certainly learned a lot.
‘They didn’t just pick us up off the street!’ Meet the globally derided Squid Game VIPs
The K-drama is the hottest show in the world – so why do its English speakers sound like they’re reading off Google Translate? We meet the men accused of dire, stilted acting to see how they’ve found being catapulted to fame
www.theguardian.com
That was a really good read...thanks for posting it.The Guardian interviewed the actors that played the VIP's and its an interesting read. The actor that played the 'main' VIP comes across as equally obnoxious as his character, but the others provided quite a lot of interesting context which goes quite a way to explain why it seemed so wooden.
To summarise, they state that often the non-native dialogue is loosely translated using mediocre means (google translate) which means the sentence structure isn't always accurate. It also means that certain phrases come across incorrectly and because the people doing the editing are not English language speakers, they cant detect any errors or wooden performances. “My first line in Squid Game, you see me say: ‘Listen, I’ll give anybody some slack.’ That’s not what people say. They say ‘I’ll cut anybody some slack’.” In all subsequent takes, Giuliano made sure to say ‘cut some slack’. But in the final version, “they went with the ‘give’.”
The actors were only given a localised script of their scene, so they didn't have the overall story for context either. This meant that they had to create their own backstory. On top of this, they say that Korean acting is typically heightened anyway, so what might come off as cartoonish to us is actually the norm in Korea. They also add that they were not hired to portray a typical westerner, but instead, they were to portray what a Korean interpretation of a westerner is (which has clearly happened in reverse for decades).
A really interesting article, I certainly learned a lot.
‘They didn’t just pick us up off the street!’ Meet the globally derided Squid Game VIPs
The K-drama is the hottest show in the world – so why do its English speakers sound like they’re reading off Google Translate? We meet the men accused of dire, stilted acting to see how they’ve found being catapulted to fame
As far as how it ended...
I didn't like that it was left open for a sequel, but maybe that's just how I interpreted it. And I agree with @wokeupnew - didn't love that the old man was behind it. I loved his character throughout the show and I'll admit, I didn't have even the tiniest clue that he was behind it all.
Do we assume that was his one and only time in the game?
And for Gi-hung - wasn't his entire motivation to make money so he could travel to se his daughter? It doesn't seem like his final decision matched his motivation to go back the first time.
Do we assume that was his one and only time in the game?
And for Gi-hung - wasn't his entire motivation to make money so he could travel to se his daughter? It doesn't seem like his final decision matched his motivation to go back the first time.
wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
this is why I think it mirrors Breaking Bad a lot. Gi-hung at the end liked the game and he was good at it. His motivation changed.