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The Sandman - Netflix

Since I didn't read the books I can't be mad about sticking to the books or not. I did think it was a good show, and I enjoyed it very much.
 
In all these sorts of things, I increasingly remember the end of "Jaynestown" in "Firefly", where Jayne feels bad that this town has made him into a hero and he doesn't feel very much like a hero, so Mal says something to the effect of "In my opinion, most people who've had statues made of them were one type of bastard or another." I'm still going to like Louis CK's routines. I'm still going to like "The Sandman" comics. Fuck, I fucking hate Roman Polanski. But "Chinatown" doesn't stop being on par with "The Maltese Falcon." "Rosemary's Baby" is pretty good IIRC. Depending on your political views you're either going to hate Mel Gibson or Danny Glover. And some of the story hasn't aged particularly well, but "Lethal Weapon" remains the 2nd greatest Christmas movie ever. So say we all.
 
I'm sorry if this makes me a big WOKEFLAKE BABY but it still makes me sad when I remember some of Gaiman's beautiful writing and realise we'll never get anything like that again (though I wasn't really that into anything he wrote in the last 20 years anyway, to be honest) or that we'll never see an adaptation of his work again. Yes him being a bad person doesn't totally ruin things, I was still able to enjoy this show, but it does make a difference. Who can be Neil when he's gone (to prison for rape)? ((He'll get away with it.)) (((It's a civil trial he wouldn't be going to prison anyway.))) ((((I just think it's sad.)))) (((((I'm not good at articulating things.)))))
Gaiman is the best fantasist currently alive. Overall I'd rank him right up there with Bradbury and Harlan. That his career is over because he's allegedly a fuckhead makes me both sad and furious. Like I should bring the asteroid already and put this stupid planet out of its misery.
 
There's one more episode out now by the way (about Death) but I won't watch it for a few days.
 
I was wondering when that would come out.
 
Oh, one thing I forgot to say: in a show of mostly very good acting, Lyta Hall's actress really stood out...as being not very good at all. I never felt any rage from her or anything really.
 
2.12 ('Death: The HIgh Cost of Living')

I'll just do the "IN THE BOOK" thing first: Sexton is a teenage boy there and Death takes the form of a teenage girl. Because they have an adult woman playing Death here and didn't want to recast her for one episode, Sexton becomes an adult man too. He's played by Colin "Merlin" Morgan though so that's good. It feels really close to the comic, in fact. Some details are changed obviously, but I remember things like Hetty looking for her soul and the girl with the gloves very clearly. I think this worked well as a standalone story. Kirby Howell-Baptiste is always very watchable and it was nice she got an episode on her own. It's a shame they didn't/couldn't do more like this.
 
I am back watching and will finish the season. I am up to ep4. Will post thought once I'm done. I have liked all three more than the first episode.
 
It's been so long I can't even remember what arc that was.
 
I don’t really have much to say now I think about it. It was uneven, but I’m glad I watched it. I thought the petition for the key to Hell storyline was done really well, but then it faltered with the Orpheus material, which dragged. I’m not sure how I feel about Destruction. He was fine, I guess.

Likewise, Delirium was fine but not quite there, which is kind of how I feel about the show in general. Not the actress’s fault, she did a good job, but the way everything is presented feels a bit off.

One of my favourite Sandman stories is Ramadan, and it’s a shame we didn’t get to see it in live action. I get why, from budget to tone, but it’s still a loss.

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Looking back at the panels and artwork from that story reminds me what the show never quite nailed: a sense of wonder and colour that the graphic novels embraced. Sandman has an intangible quality too (fittingly enough) that I never felt in the series. Instead, the live action went for a drab, dour palette even during its “magical” moments. It suffers from the Netflix’s house aesthetic that really irks me as well.

I did think they handled Daniel as the new Dream King fairly well. And while it is clearly an adaptation that takes big liberties, you can still tell it is trying to be faithful to the source material rather than veering off on unrelated tangents like The Witcher.

It might be unfair to say it never got close to the graphic novels, because it did have some very strong moments. Like I said, it is uneven. And to be fair, it must have been bloody difficult to even attempt, so props there too.

I’m glad the show exists. Shame Gaiman turned out to be a piece of shit, because that makes the whole thing feel muted and strange in ways outside the show’s control. And let’s be honest: between that and the sheer scale of the material, this was probably the one and only time we’ll ever see Sandman brought to life.
 
I was wondering if everything was supposed to be so dark all the time.
 
Colour costs money!
 
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