November Media Review: Jennifervanias

Caught up with some Death Game media. That is media about people playing games, and dying. In Japan, Korea, the US, the past, the future. Everywhere!

Squid Game

Finally got a chance to watch this. Pretty good! The first season rocks. The second season… let’s just say I aborted the attempt after episode two. It felt like the director is pushing this out because the studio told him to. Looking at guns like Rambo, gearing up for a fight… Did this really need a sequel? Or did the forces of capital do their favourite thing: subvert an anti-capitalist narrative by turning it into another mindless spectacle? Who knows, I did not watch season 2, or 3.

Alice in Borderland

One of those K-Drama review sites had a commenter saying that Alice in Borderland is akshually much better than Squid Game. Squid Game is, of course, just western dreck for western audiences. Eh. The first episode of AiB is pretty rough, looks like a film-school project. Not sure I’ll continue watching.

Hunger Games

Skipped this one back in the day. Pretty well done, a simple story told straightforward. And a sequel is coming out now?! How many films are there? Wonder how long Jennifer Jennifer (forgot her last name) stuck around.

Bob Dylan

Listened to some Bobby Folk, because the ongoing penetration of our lives by the forces of AI is making me long for the old days. Just a guitar and a raspy voice. Not sure if I like him. Some of the lyrics are just a little bit too close to kitsch. Whatever. Some of it is good.

Mickey 17

Sci-fi film by the guy who did Parasite, I believe. Haven’t seen that one. Anyway, Mickey 17. Didn’t like it. Was all over the place. What was the point? And why. The story itself wasn’t that exciting. The duplicator thing, yeah. But everything else, idk.

Timex Ironman Classic 30

A watch I bought. Ordered. It’s not here yet. But it looks cool, if you like goofy 90s watches. Figure I could use this to track time, and do Pomodoro units for writing. There’s plenty of apps doing that shit, but when I take a break I have the timer on my wrist. It’s simple and there’s buttons I can press. Yay.

BMW 3

A new BMW 3 model is out, looking like - well, not like the old one. Uncommon for BMW, it’s actually an improvement. Looking good. But as with all the other EVs, there’s too many screens inside. A screen on the dash, another screen on the dash, one behind the wheel. A-blablabla. Where will it all end? Will we all have screens, everywhere? Will I be a walking screen?

Nixonland

Continued this scorching book about the 60s by Rick Perlstein. Amazing, excellent. I’ve written about it before. I’m 40% percent through, because I’m using Kindle and there’s no pages, just a percentage that tells you how far you’ve gone. 40 good percent.

AD&D Spelljammer

Bought this back in the day. Then returned it, because I thought it’s a stand-alone game. And not just a supplement for D&D. But it looked cool. And it looks cool now! Ships in magic space, shooting cannons at other ships, Hippos as heroes. With guns. Tangentially related to something I’m currently working on, that’s why I’ve taken another look at this.

Afterimage

A game I bought on sale. A metroidvania. I’m currently exploring metroidvanias, because I’ve previousy ignored them. But this one is fun. Very Anime visuals. Nice controls, and a very RPG-like talent- & spec-system. Feels like I’m playing Assassin’s Creed. Let’s see how long this will hold my interest.