Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

Finished off Sandman last night… and I didn’t really like it overall. It was watchable, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I guess the most damming thing I can say was that it was boring.

I can’t put my finger on it, but the series felt very meandering to me. I appreciated that it was somewhat episodic, but it also felt abrupt in many ways. I’d never read the comics and definitely felt like certain things were rushed or cut.

Lastly, but most importantly, I just didn’t like Dream. He was kind of an asshole. I didn’t find him very compelling and nothing was really a challenge for him.

To be fair, Gaiman's stuff usually doesn’t click with me at all so take all this with a big grain of salt. The only thing of his I’ve liked was Stardust.

I can see your point of view, and it's perfectly valid. My counterpoint would be that the character of Dream is very deliberate- he's an endless being with millennia to make mistakes and just a century to sit in silence and reflect on his life. Many characters comment on if he has changed and how much, and it's an ongoing theme of the story.

Also, the comic (which they are sticking fairly close to) consists of several distinct arcs, and several standalone tales which also are pieces of the whole story. This season tells the first two main stories and adds a bit from the standalone stories so I get why it can seem sort of disjointed. Also, I'm of a mind where the first story (told in episodes 1-5) is the weakest of the comics, and it doesn't get great until The Sound of Her Wings (told in the first half of ep 6). So, if you feel like you're still interested when they come out with more maybe give it another go.

Yeah, Dream being an asshole is definitely an important part of the story. That doesn't necessarily make him more appealing to watch, but there is a reason for it beyond aesthetics.

So I haven't watched the series yet, but its existence prompted my pastor to ask to borrow my copies of the books. Should be interesting to see where that goes.

I haven't been watching the show, but in the comics at least, Dream *is* kind of an asshole. Later on he's less of a traditional protagonist slash viewpoint character and more of a thread that ties a lot of very different stories together. There's an arc plot that concerns him closely, but the meat is in a lot of tangentially-related plots that surround it and typically give you a different and more relatable/sympathetic set of characters to follow.

PaladinTom wrote:

Also, the comic (which they are sticking fairly close to) consists of several distinct arcs, and several standalone tales which also are pieces of the whole story. This season tells the first two main stories and adds a bit from the standalone stories so I get why it can seem sort of disjointed. Also, I'm of a mind where the first story (told in episodes 1-5) is the weakest of the comics, and it doesn't get great until The Sound of Her Wings (told in the first half of ep 6). So, if you feel like you're still interested when they come out with more maybe give it another go.

Personally 24/7 affected me when i read it greatly. More than any other parts of the comics and stuck with me over the years. I thought they did a good job bringing it together in the show.

Dunno if it is watchable abroad, but Sweden's Kärlek & anarki aka love & anarchy is kind of funny - the first season at least. Binging the second season now is a bit more sex and less substance - but it seems that I am kind of almost totally assimilated to Sweden and really don't mind

Peoj Snamreh wrote:

Dunno if it is watchable abroad, but Sweden's Kärlek & anarki aka love & anarchy is kind of funny - the first season at least. Binging the second season now is a bit more sex and less substance - but it seems that I am kind of almost totally assimilated to Sweden and really don't mind

Topp! Den ska jag se! Sounds good. I love me some Swedish drama.

"Morpheus is an asshole" is absolutely a sign that they're doing right by the series.

I'm only through episode 3, and while I don't necessarily think they nailed it, I think it's quite enjoyable, not even close to what my worst fears thought it may be. Arguably, the early issues, being adapted here are the weakest because they are the most conventional, which probably makes them ideal for a streaming series because there they're obligated to tell a single and complete story each episode instead of the drawn out We're Never Reaching the Fireworks Factory that typifies so many streaming series. Seems like they're doing things that are arguably called for but also cause for concern (such as "bigger role for the Corinthian") the right way. It will be fun to see how they handle this past where I'm pretty sure this season will end, since that's about when the series parted ways with regular monthly structure and abandoned any check-ins with Mr Miracle and the Martian Manhunter.

Sandman: I binged it Friday and Saturday, and enjoyed it. I have no prior history with the comics, so nothing to compare/contrast against.

Spoiler: some specifics

I liked the portrayal of Morpheus/Dream, as well as the other supernatural leaders in the show. I thought that the whole Corinthian serial-killer / Florida manhunt arc was way overdrawn.

Carter: The teaser trailer was better than the movie, and given that the entire movie was basically an endless action scene, that's gotta be saying something. It felt like it was trying to ape Mission Impossible style movies, which is what got me interested. However, it used some really funky cinematography to stitch what were multiple shots together into a longer scene, to make it appear to be a Long Take. The transitions were painfully obvious and really detracted from the movie. Do not recommend, unless you want to see how not to simulate a Long Take.

Constantine: Watching Sandman resurrected (so to speak) Constantine in my consciousness, so I just had to go and re-watch Keanu being Demon Hunter Keanu.

Another thumbs up for The Sandman, enjoyed the series. It was basically 2 stories and I enjoyed the first one more but still an entertaining watch and I liked the setting.

Recently finished Sandman as well. I was aware of the comics coming from the Lucifer TV show but never read them. I thought ep. 6 was probably the best thing I've watched this year. Overall I liked it, my biggest complaints are probably that the fifth episode was nothing but one long tired trope and the second half was way done in a style as if the producers said "dial the bizarreness up to eleven"- the B&B and it's guests were just too over the top quirky and the cereal convention was ludicrous. That being said I thought the expose at the end that tied all the threads together was well done.

TL;DR I'll watch a second season.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also watched Uncharted on Sunday, and you know what? It wasn't half bad. It's a pretty blatant ripoff/homage to Indiana Jones-style movies, and certainly not treading any new ground, but I thought it was more enjoyable than the mediocre viewer reviews would have led me to believe.

The games are pure popcorn action flicks. If the movie does the same that's probably good.

Yeah, it's basically a feature-length Uncharted cutscene. Worth checking out if you're into that sort of game/movie.

I caught Uncharted while it was in theaters at my local cinema pub, and yeah, with a giant beer, I didn't hate it at all, it's just woefully miscast. Tom Holland's much too edge-less, he seems like someone 12 year old Nate could easily f*ck up, and Mahky Mahk is titanically incorrect as Sully. That said, Antonio Banderas fits quite well into the Uncharted villain crew.

SpacePProtean wrote:

I caught Uncharted while it was in theaters at my local cinema pub, and yeah, with a giant beer, I didn't hate it at all, it's just woefully miscast. Tom Holland's much too edge-less, he seems like someone 12 year old Nate could easily f*ck up, and Mahky Mahk is titanically incorrect as Sully. That said, Antonio Banderas fits quite well into the Uncharted villain crew.

Agreed. I assumed that they were anticipating making many more films in this franchise, and basically waiting for Holland and Wahlberg to age into their roles. Because otherwise those should obviously have been cast with Nathon Fillion and Bruce Campbell, respectively.

merphle wrote:

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also watched Uncharted on Sunday, and you know what? It wasn't half bad. It's a pretty blatant ripoff/homage to Indiana Jones-style movies, and certainly not treading any new ground, but I thought it was more enjoyable than the mediocre viewer reviews would have led me to believe.

It is a Netflix level, straight to streaming perfectly serviceable action adventure movie. But nothing more.

As other have said though both Tom Holland - although I can see what they were trying to do in a sort of Nathan Drake Origin story - and Mark Walberg were badly miscast.

It would interesting to see if they keep them both for the inevitable follow up.

The Indiana Jones formula is one that holds up pretty well to being ripped off every five or ten years, IMO. You ever go back and watch the first Brendan Fraser Mummy? It holds up surprisingly well, dated CGI and all.

The one "but," and it's a big enough "but" to satisfy Sir Mixalot, is that you've got to get past the fact that the heroes are a bunch of white guys rolling around jacking the cultural heritage of a bunch of brown people.

merphle wrote:

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also watched Uncharted on Sunday, and you know what? It wasn't half bad. It's a pretty blatant ripoff/homage to Indiana Jones-style movies, and certainly not treading any new ground, but I thought it was more enjoyable than the mediocre viewer reviews would have led me to believe.

Me and my son enjoyed it. We just finished a replay of the Uncharted games and loved how the movie felt like the games. As far as videogame movies go, this was one of the better ones.

Sorbicol wrote:
merphle wrote:

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also watched Uncharted on Sunday, and you know what? It wasn't half bad. It's a pretty blatant ripoff/homage to Indiana Jones-style movies, and certainly not treading any new ground, but I thought it was more enjoyable than the mediocre viewer reviews would have led me to believe.

It is a Netflix level, straight to streaming perfectly serviceable action adventure movie. But nothing more.

As other have said though both Tom Holland - although I can see what they were trying to do in a sort of Nathan Drake Origin story - and Mark Walberg were badly miscast.

It would interesting to see if they keep them both for the inevitable follow up.

I agree that Mark Walberg was miscast, but Tom Holland is a fine, young, Nathan Drake. Not sure who else they could have cast to play for that role.

I hope the drama going on with Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't kill off The Sandman.

It was so good!

Rat Boy wrote:

I hope the drama going on with Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery doesn't kill off The Sandman.

I thought the drama was between HBOMax and Discovery, or did I miss something?

Warner owns Sandman, and the new head of the Warner Bros. Discovery crawling doom (I believe his name is Mr. Honey Boo-Boo, please don't post corrections) has said they'll be focusing less on scripted fare, and more on high quality reality and documentaries. Given this was said my Mr. Honey Boo-Boo, people are justifiably expecting the worst.

SpacePProtean wrote:

Warner owns Sandman, and the new head of the Warner Bros. Discovery crawling doom (I believe his name is Mr. Honey Boo-Boo, please don't post corrections) has said they'll be focusing less on scripted fare, and more on high quality reality and documentaries. Given this was said my Mr. Honey Boo-Boo, people are justifiably expecting the worst.

This tells me everything I need to know, thank you for the succinct explanation.

I'm pretty sure them owning Sandman doesn't affect Netflix's current deals. I was under the impression that Sandman was approved for 3 seasons up front? Gaiman and the actors were talking about additional seasons on the press tour.

Aw Sandman is a masterpiece. It isn't perfect but I feel like I am watching art much like Sin City was ripped from its pages.
As far as 24/7, the first 35 minutes felt like a completely different show. David Thewlis is incredible. And then the last 10-15 minutes brought it back around and was incredibly powerful. It raises so many questions about hope, desire, and truth.

Quick question though. What happens when Morpheus puts people to sleep (perpetually)? He did it too the older son Alex. And I believe this son John too?

I know Gaiman tweeted recently that there are "mechanisms in place" to ensure the show doesn't prematurely get the axe. What exactly that means, I don't know, but I feel good about thinking that we will see more show down the road.

fangblackbone wrote:

Quick question though. What happens when Morpheus puts people to sleep (perpetually)? He did it too the older son Alex. And I believe this son John too?

I believe in the comic

Spoiler:

they show Alex waking up from a nightmare only to find that he's still in the nightmare, over and over again.

Bummer:

Spoiler:

Considering that lover in hell that Morpheus hasn't forgiven for 10,000 years.
Seems unusually cruel :(