Absolutely fantastic.

"house of 9" meets "battle royale".. so we've already seen this 20 years ago in 2005 lol

What's with the ronald mcdonald look?

janeway wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:07 pm "house of 9" meets "battle royale".. so we've already seen this 20 years ago in 2005 lol

I'm going to go ahead and venture that the world has changed enough in those 16 years that a new prism might have new insight, or at least insight that is meaningful to people who were not intelligently consuming art in 2005.

Everything felt predictable yet worth a watch.

The dehumanizing and violent impacts of debt, especially connected to fulfilling family obligations (or perceived obligations), were super real. They should have done even more with this.

The gory parts of the "game" scenes could be nearly wholly cut. Gratuitous and titillating. I totally do not get what either the creators or viewers get from the blood and guts.

Ep 6 felt manipulative, but authentic. Not sure what to think there.

The "VIP" episode was on the nose and really gross, maybe the point.

In the end, the vapid solidarity with the contestants of the man in charge was a fantastic illustration of how disconnected from the experiences of others powerful people can be. Though lack of empathy is not restricted to powerful people.

iembalm wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:24 am

janeway wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:07 pm "house of 9" meets "battle royale".. so we've already seen this 20 years ago in 2005 lol

I'm going to go ahead and venture that the world has changed enough in those 16 years that a new prism might have new insight, or at least insight that is meaningful to people who were not intelligently consuming art in 2005.

squid game is from 2007 the script so it's the ring and ringu coming out a couple years apart to me.. they were looking to make squid game for many years lol so this is exceptional to compare exactly the similarities to house of 9 and then battle royale as the classic that invented the genre

but you are 100% correct that there's ways new insight and good can be derived from new takes on classic stuff.. olivia rodrigo is beautiful and has a great voice but stretching her in this angle filled video that seems real but is uncanny and mass production.. i don't like the show being put on and i'm blaming the industry the way they use artists who don't know better at that age making them whatever they say instead of letting culture define itself

That tomboy girl sure is beautiful. That's all I got.

It was OK.
It was mainly gripping in the way that the Saw films were gripping: waiting to see the reveal of the torture devices/games. The rest was mostly filler (except the second episode). I feel like they could have explored the social commentary more.

jason from volo wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:29 am

dontfeartheringo wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:53 pm 2. Interesting that all of the Korean actors seem very good (I am watching subtitled but with original audio) but the American actors are SO BAD. It seems like they just went with whomever was available in Korea and said "Here are your lines. Shout them. Be gross."

I noticed this, too. They seemed odd and out of place.

This actually reminded me of how the US military is portrayed in Bong Joon-ho's THE HOST, so there might be more commentary behind the performances being "bad".

iembalm wrote: Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:24 am

janeway wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:07 pm "house of 9" meets "battle royale".. so we've already seen this 20 years ago in 2005 lol

I'm going to go ahead and venture that the world has changed enough in those 16 years that a new prism might have new insight, or at least insight that is meaningful to people who were not intelligently consuming art in 2005.

I found it very interesting and fresh, really. I held off watching at first because I saw the preview and it looked like another version of things we've seen over and over again, but the focus on debt (with a lot of specificity to actual issues in Korea) and the twist in the second episode really differentiate it. There's bleed-through between the competition and the outside world, because the competition is not just an allegory for capitalism but is itself part of the capitalist universe. That's what really makes it tick.