Since it’s been almost three whole years since I was regularly posting here – and I didn’t have that many people reading the site to begin with – it’s refreshing to realize that this corner of the internet really is mine and mine alone at the moment. I’m not expecting hundreds, or even dozens, of people to suddenly discover that this place even exists. So why not use this as a place to get things out of my system? I can write freely about the nerdy stuff I love to do.
We began LAST NIGHT with a reintroduction of sorts, and we can continue in that vein for a while as I get my sea legs back.
Today, I finished rewatching season 1 of THE SANDMAN on Netflix. The three years in between seasons adapting Neil Gaiman’s seminal comics work were not kind to the chances for season 2. With the reports from earlier this year that Gaiman was not the role model so many had assumed, the series went from being a must-watch for comic fans to an obligation to finish the story. I was in the middle of reading my Sandman graphic novels when the news broke. After reading the reports online, I closed the collected edition and put it back on my book shelf. I’m honestly not sure when or if I’ll revisit the books.
But there was so much good work done on the NETFLIX show, standout performances, beautiful imagery and an adaptation that was much closer than anything I could have possibly hoped for when I first became a fan of the comic in college.
Tom Sturridge as Dream feels like he was ripped from the comic book page. His terse interactions with everyone around him belie the loneliness Dream feels after his century of capture. While she may have been physically altered from her comic book counterpart, Kirby Howell-Baptiste is an amazing Death, portraying the warmth and compassion needed for the role. And casting Gwedoline Christie as Lucifer may have been the most amazing casting decision made for a comic book adaptation.
The first season brought to life stories collected in volume 1, Preludes & Nocturns, and volume 2, The Doll’s House, with bits and pieces thrown in from later stories. The show covered maybe 20 issues of Gaiman’s 75-issue epic in the first 11 episodes and now must wrap up the rest to finish the story in Season 2. There’s a lot of filler that could be excised without hurting the narrative, though, so I’m not really worried about a disjointed story. I’ve looked at episode titles and descriptions for the first 6 episodes of the second season, which are available now to stream, and I think we’re in for a good time.
While I hope to begin season 2 this week (maybe even tomorrow) I know for sure I’ll be watching James Gunn’s new SUPERMAN movie Thursday night. I bought my tickets weeks ago, because there was no way I was going to wait to see my favorite hero on the big screen. After my social media was inundated with the Variety article quoting James Gunn saying “Superman is the story of America,” it’s good to see the acknowledgement of what Superman started as and what the character means in the grand scheme of things.
I’ve been excited for this movie since it was announced, and the anticipation just continues to grow.
Speaking of continuing to grow, that watch list I listed yesterday was woefully incomplete, as I flipped through the various streaming services and found even more stuff currently available I want or need to watch. I’m hoping to cut the list down as the summer goes on, but surely more will be added. So, it currently looks like this:
Sinners
The Bear season 4
The Sandman season 2
Poker Face season 2
The Last of Us season 2
The White Lotus season 3
Iron Heart
Heads of State
Thunderbolts*
The Duster
I will likely add more to it tomorrow. That’s going to be it for my evening journaling tonight. Drop some comments and encourage me to keep going over here! You can also find me on Threads @sjferrari1179 and over at BlueSky (though much less frequently) @stevenferrari.bsky.social.