Category Archives: Sunday Morning Sidewalk

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #23

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June 29

Spoilers

“Raspberry”

“Pickle”

This week we have two episodes of Win or Lose featured the mother-daughter duo of Vanessa and Rochelle. We get two completely different perspectives of Vanessa.

In the eyes of her daughter Rochelle, her mother seems to be self-indulgent person who is only ever on her phone, paying more attention to her followers than she is to her daughter. Because of that, Rochelle had to adopt a much more parent identity than she should have.

However, Vanessa had a much more difficult and responsible life than Rochelle ever expected. It truly gives us the look at a character in two completely different ways.

I really enjoyed how this story came full circle over the two episodes. The show took the story first from Rochelle’s POV and wound up with her in a certain location and then we saw Vanessa’s POV of the same time frame and how they ended up together at the end. It was an outstanding way to show how even two people who love each other can see and react to different things in a different manner, as well as not see the struggles of the other person. In Rochelle’s episode, she saw her mom as very superficial way and Vanessa saw Rochelle in an idolized manner. Both were only partial what they were like.

This series so far has been just tremendously well written and entertaining. It has laughs and the depth of characterization is surprisingly great. We are halfway through the series so far with episodes 5 & 6 next week.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #22

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Win or Lose

“Coach’s Kid”

“Blue”

The Sunday Morning Sidewalk starts its third series today. I have watched Band of Brothers and The Sandman so far and this week, the new show is on Disney + and is from Pixar. It is called Win or Lose.

This sets a precedent for Sunday Morning Sidewalk because this is the first time that I will be watching two episodes a week. I had looked at the run time on the episodes and they were all right in that 22 minute sweet spot, so I decided that I would do two a week.

I am very happy about that because the first episode was so good that I really wanted to watch a second one no matter the time.

The show’s concept is that every episode will center around a softball championship game and the lead up to it. Then, with each episode, we will see the perspective from a different character leading to the same point. First episode focuses on Laurie, the daughter of the coach of the Pickles, who is terrible at softball, but she desperately wants to do well. Second episode looks at the umpire of the game, a low self-imaged teacher named Mr. Brown.

I love this concept. What a wonderful idea for an 8-episode series and this show has some awesome Pixar magic throughout. In the first episode, Laurie has a little creature on her shoulder that was born from her self-doubt and who just kept growing as the week leading up to the championship game happened. Kind of an Inside Out-style creature that fed into Laurie’s doubts and anxiety.

Poor Mr. Brown. I related to this guy because it showed him as a teacher. The scene of the overbearing mother trying to prevent a punishment for her cheating daughter, well to say that I understand is an understatement. The magical armor that appears around Mr. Brown to deflect the slings and arrows of criticism and negative comments also keeps him isolated and lonely.

The animation is great. I mean, it is Pixar. That is kind of expected. I had no idea that this short little series on Disney + would be as poignant as it seems to be. I am excited to see who the next characters we focus on next week.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #21

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“Dream of a Thousand Cats”; “Calliope”

The second round of Sunday Morning Sidewalk came to an end this morning with the final episode of season one on Netflix. It looks like there will be a second season of the show, despite the word of cancellations over the issues Neil Gaiman has had. Either way, the Sunday Morning Sidewalk comes to the end.

Last week’s episode sure felt like a finale, and when I saw this episode, it makes it even more so. This week, there are two separate stories in the hour of the show that are completely separate from almost everything that happened in that first season.

It started out with an animated section called “Dream of a Thousand Cats” and it brings all the cats in a certain area to come and hear the message of a Siamese cat whose story tells of different time of cats and humans.

The animation was great and it really kind of reminded me of a couple of comic books that I have purchased the last couple of year. One was called Feral and the other Animal Pound. Both of these comics are told from the POV of animals, in many cases specifically cats, in their voices.

“Calliope” is the second part of the episode and it is live action. It has a minor connection to the season as they mentioned how Morpheus had been captured, connecting it to the way that Calliope, a muse, was bonded to humans. Specially humans who are trying to write books.

I wonder if these were also based on a comic issue because it does feel as if it could have been one of those filler issues that turn out so good.

With this episode, The Sandman ends and requires that there will be a new Sunday Morning Sidewalk show next week. So far, we have done HBO’s Band of Brothers and Netflix’s The Sandman. Starting next Sunday, I will be doing Pixar’s Win or Lose on Disney +. These episodes are shorter, so I am doing two episodes a week.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #20

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“Lost Hearts”

I may be wrong, but I believe this episode of The Sandman was designed as the season finale, and the eleventh episode was a surprise. “Lost Hearts” brought to an end the storyline of the Corinthian and and the Vortex, Rose Walker.

I have to say, the conclusion of these arcs and what felt like a season finale was extremely satisfying. I was very pleased with the end for Rose Walker, as she was able to live after Unity came to her and had her give away the Vortex. It seemed as if Unity was fated to be the Vortex but it happened during Morpheus’s imprisonment and so it passed along to offspring. This was a solid way to save a character that we had come to connect with over the last several episodes.

The Corinthian did go out with little fanfare. Gilbert’s return was great as he came to talk with Rose and Morpheus. The reveal that Fiddler’s Green was a place seemed to make perfect sense.

The tense showdown with Morpheus and Desire hinted at what could have been part of the future of the series, as did the final tag with Lucifer and Lord Azazel in Hell. Lord Azazel sure looked like a group of Venom symbiotes inside a body frame. It was not the best depiction of that character.

My favorite scene was Morpheus recreating Gault as a dream instead of a nightmare and how he now looked upon Lucienne in a different light. I have been critical of the character of Morpheus this season because it felt as if he was anything but the hero of this story. I like the fact that it seemed as if he had some growth too.

One more episode of the Netflix show remaining.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #19

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“The Collectors”

Things are picking up as the show reached it’s ninth of eleven episodes. And we are seeing how powerful and… dangerous (?) the Vortex, aka Rose Walker, potentially could be.

The setting… the creepiest of conventions you’d ever see. A Cereal convention? Killers, creatures, pedophiles.

The Dreaming is being damaged and Morpheus continues to show that he is not a heroic figure.

Gilbert returned and we discovered that he was one of the escaped nightmares, Fiddler’s Green. Fry is awesome and is absolutely wonderful in this series.

The Corinthian has shown his true side to Jed as he offed some convention attendees. This set up a huge confrontation for next week between Rose and the Corinthian.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #18

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“Playing House”

Last week, I was not very interested in the new story arc that The Sandman was starting off. This week, I am all in.

Funny how a week can change things. The whole story of Rose Walker and her search for his brother Jed was not catching my attention. I theorized last week when Rose showed up in the Dreaming at Morpheus’s throne room, business might be picking up and I was right. Right now I am fully engaged with this story of a sister trying to reunite with her brother.

We got more abut Jed’s life, trapped in a basement as his cruel foster father collected $800 checks every month and how Jed escaped into his dreams, with the aid of one of Morpheus’s missing nightmares, Gault, to become a super hero called The Sandman. Perhaps it was this dream that grabbed my attention, but, whatever it was, I thought this was so much more entertaining and gripping than it was last week.

The Corinthian was back again, being brutal and vicious in the most gentlemanly manner. When he showed up to take Jed, it was both a happy moment and one of anxiety. One thing is for sure, I was happy with the fates of the foster parents. They deserved every bit of what they got.

It seems more and more to me that Morpheus is not the hero of this story. On the surface, it appeared as if he wanted to help Rose find Jed, but it appeared that he only cared about retrieving Gault. His punishment of Gault was over the top too. I have to not think about Morpheus as a hero and instead thing of him like a force of nature. He is much like Galactus. Galactus consumes planets, but he is a necessary cog in the universe’s life span even if his actions could, at times, seem villainous.

The Lyta/Hector storyline still does not intrigue me near as much as the main story with Rose, but the dream baby does have some interest.

I am looking forward to next week’s installment, which is episode nine of eleven. We are coming to the end of the second program in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk series. I am actively looking for the third TV show to include after The Sandman concludes in three weeks.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #17

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“The Doll’s House”

This felt like a heavy set-up episode for the next arc of the show. Very little Morpheus and a lot of info on other characters, such as Rose Walker, the Vortex.

We also get more on the Corinthian as he is wooed by a group of “collectors” for a convention of sorts.

Matthew is sent to observe and report on Rose and her family. Her brother Jed is missing and they can not even find him in the Dreaming.

Another piece of info dropped here was the still missing entities: Gault the shapeshifter, The Corinthian and the supposedly reliable Fiddler’s Green.

Stephen Fry showed up to aid Rose in an alleyway, as she was about to be mugged. As we learned, though, she did not really need his help.

I struggled through this episode as I was not connected to much of the story. I did find it fascinating as Rose strolled confidently up to Morpheus in the Dreaming to ask him about her brother’s whereabouts. I am sure things will pick up again as we move toward the final 4 episodes of this show.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #16

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“The Sound of Her Wings”

This was an interesting episode that could be seen as two parts surrounding a common theme. That theme is Death and the preparation for it.

The first half is Morpheus following his sister, Death around while she approached those who were about or pass to the other side. He sees Death interacting with the humans that she was meeting and how she made them feel comfortable with the unhappy news.

After Death leaves, we move back to 1389 where we see Morpheus and Death once again at a pub. They overhear a man making a boast that he would never die. Death decided to grant his wish and Morpheus talks to the man, Hob Gadling, telling him he would return to this pub in 100 years to speak to him again.

Obviously, the man did not buy the comment at first. Morpheus expected the man to beg for death after awhile. Every year, fate had found Hob in a different circumstance, but always happy to be alive.

The episode showed Morpheus learning lessons from both opposite characters. Both Death and Hob helped create a fascinating episode and all the mini-stories they encountered were well done.

This feels like a middle episode before the next big struggle, which seems to be Morpheus’s other siblings, Desire and Despair, the twins. Still, I like a good transition episode and this is certainly that.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #15

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“24/7”

John Dee-centric episode took quite a turn.

With John having the dream ruby, he stops off at a diner for some coffee and truth-telling, bringing along everyone with the misfortune to come inside the diner.

This did not feature much Sandman. Outside of a shot of him still unconscious with Matthew trying to wake him, we do not see Morpheus until the final act of the episode. What we get is a tour de force from David Thewlis as John, just sitting back and observing the scenario he put into place about truth telling. There was something funny about John Dee watching everything unfold as he dug into a big container of ice cream.

The show provides a powerful theme about truth and lies, showing, I believe, the fact that we cannot survive by being honest all the time about everything. It reveals the darker side of human nature and destroys the idea that “honesty is the best policy.” At least in part.

The unfortunate people in the diner have to face their unhappy existences because John Dee has created a situation where they are going to tell the truth about everything. Even for one of the sweetest characters that we have seen so far, waitress Bette Munroe (Emma Duncan), who seemed to be engaging and friendly to everyone.

The show does a strong job of introducing these secondary characters quickly and providing enough details that make us intrigued, if not interested, in their lives and their eventual downfall.

There was a lot of darkness in this episode, and Morpheus is anything but a hero. He is just finally here to retrieve the power of the ruby, which he does in the final showdown. I was unaware that John Dee was the kid of the man who had captured and imprisoned Morpheus in episode one, and that made the story all the more interesting. John Dee seems to have found his own fate at the end of the show.

Is it just me or is Matthew the raven a better person than anyone else on the show?

There are six more weeks of The Sandman in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #14

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“Chapter Four: A Hope in Hell”

This morning, we take a stroll down the Sunday Morning Sidewalk onto the path to Hell.

And the path to Hell is lined with more than just good intentions. It is lined with tension, anxiety and suspense.

What a great episode this was.

At first, as Morpheus and Matthew traveled into Hell to regain his helm, I was more engaged with the second part of the story, John Dee being picked up by a woman named Rosemary. That conversation inside Rosemary’s car was scary and I dreaded what was going to happen to Rosemary, who was just trying to be a good person.

However, then Morpheus wound up in a fight with Lucifer Morningstar and the narrative of the episode switched. The ‘fight” between these two was amazing… and unlike anything I expected. It was truly sensational and brilliantly constructed. It could have easily just slipped into the big power fight that we see so often, but this was deeper, more intense.

The fight turned on the word of the raven, Matthew, giving Morpheus that last bit of motivation to overcome the ruler of the Underworld.

It also seemed as if Rosemary was able to survive the episode, and I was sure she was a goner. Sarah Niles played Rosemary so exceptionally that I immediately connected with the character and wished for her safety. John gave her the amulet of protection at the end of the episode after she had decided to wait for him instead of escaping to freedom. It was a sweet ending that I still was anxious about. I really wanted Rosemary, a good person, to not be killed off in this warped story. When it was clear that she was going to make it, I did breath a sigh of relief.

Nicely paired episode with two stories (which nearly crossed at the end) that I was very engaged in. This is my favorite episode so far of the season and it does seem as if the show is only getting better each week.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #13

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“Dream a Little Dream of Me”

Happy Easter. Happy 4:20. Happy Wrestlemania weekend.

There is a lot going down today. It is also Sunday Morning Sidewalk #13, the third episode of the first (and only?) season of Netflix’s The Sandman, entitled “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”

Morpheus was in search of his items and he started with the pouch of sand that was in the possession of Constantine. That is Johanna Constantine, not John, by the way.

We also get the debut of a new raven, Matthew. This one is voiced by everyone’s favorite comic book geek, Patton Oswalt. Oswalt has appeared in Agents of SHIELD, voiced MODOK, Uncle Ben, Chameleon, The Atom, made an appearance as Pip the Troll and played himself in the Boys. He has also written comic books over the last several years. He has a ton of irons in the geek fire.

David Thewlis continued to be as sinister as could be as John Dee got himself out of the asylum he was living in thanks to his mom, Ethel Cripps. He immediately met up with The Corinthian, who gave him a coat. This pairing of villains are compelling and these two actors, Thewlis and Boyd Holbrook, are great.

This was another solid outing. I am pleased with what I saw this week. Week one, I was uncertain if I was going to enjoy this series, but the last two episodes have been very good so I hope we are on a entertaining path moving forward.

I guess the path we are on will lead to Hell as that is where Morpheus and Matthew were departing for as the episode closed.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #12

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“Imperfect Hosts”

The Sunday Morning Sidewalk continued this week with the second episode of Netflix’s The Sandman. I was somewhat disappointed with last week’s episode and I was worried that the commitment I have made, watching an episode a week for eleven weeks, was going to be a toil.

Thankfully, I thought episode two was a considerable step up from last week’s fare and I have a renewed vigor for the series.

One strength of this week’s episode is that it featured more of a spotlight on Morpheus himself. Sure there were other characters involved, but it felt as if they were all contributing toward the story of The Sandman, and not their own tales. Last week there was so little of Dream that it did not feel right.

I loved the introduction of Cain and Abel in the Sandman world. First, with Gregory, the dragon that Morpheus had given to them right out of the nightmare, and then with the fact that Cain continued to kill his brother, these two characters presented a neat contrast to Morpheus. Abel’s confession to Irving, the gargoyle, that he understood the roles they must play, Cain the first murderer and Abel the first victim, was profound and was a cool way to incorporate them into the dream world.

The show built some antagonists more this week, with an increased look at The Corinthian and the introduction of Ethel Cripps, an art dealer who may have sold Morpheus’s tools along the way. This allows Morpheus a group of McGuffins to chase after this season.

They also introduced a Constantine, though not the one I was familiar with. Her name was Johanna Constantine, supposedly a descendent of John. I look forward to the interaction between these characters moving forward.

Again, I am approaching this without much knowledge of the comics so this is an all-new world for me. I did a little research after the episode an discovered that the character of John that we got at the end of the episode is a major villain, Dr. Destiny. I was unaware of that and it provides a neat little Easter egg for me.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #11

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“Sleep of the Just”

Sunday Morning Sidewalk started a new series this week, The Sandman, from Netflix. Based on a classic DC Comics comic book from Neil Gaiman, The Sandman was a show that I had always intended to watch, but just never got around to doing. It has eleven episodes on Netflix so it will be our new Sunday Morning Sidewalk into early June.

At least, that is the current schedule. I do hope that the remainder of The Sandman is an improvement over this first episode, because I was not very impressed with it.

Before I go into the negatives, the show looked absolutely amazing. The visuals were stunning and it was clear that this show did not skimp on a budget for it.

However, there was so much exposition that I had a difficult time keeping my focus on the story the show was telling. It bounced around at first and did not establish the feel well. Then, the story moved on to Charles Dance, a well known character actor playing a man named Roderick Burgess, who was able to capture Morpheus in some contraption. He then holds him for ten years.

The problem with this was that Burgess’s motivation was very muddy. Did he want his deceased son back from the dead or did he want immortality and wealth? It seemed as if he wanted all of that in order to free Morpheus. Poor Morpheus had to lay inside this glass container naked for such a long time. Get the man a blanket at least.

Then there was another son, Alex, who was ignored and verbally abused by Burgess. Alex accidentally killed his father and then he held on to Morpheus for an undetermined amount of time. The world suffered from some kind of sleep sickness, but the show really did not go into any specifics on that.

Oh, Boyd Holbrook is here too, as some kind of figure that opposes Morpheus. IMDB tells me his name is The Corinthian. I was not a Sandman comics reader so I do not know whom that was. He seemed to be a potential future antagonist. Not sure why.

The story of this episode was a mess and I was very disappointed in the show. The main story of the Burgess family did not grasp my attention and did not seem to be a worth story to kick off this series with. Again, I do not know if this is a vital comic storyline adapted or if this was completely new for the series, but I did not enjoy it much.

I do hope this gets better as it moves along or else I might have to looking into the possibility of adjusting the Sunday Morning Sidewalk schedule.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #10

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“Points”

Episode ten of the Band of Brothers brought the season to an end.

This episode dealt with the end of the war in Germany, dealing with the Easy Company having to handle the fact that they were still active without any enemies to fight.

There are some lovely spots that they recorded this episode at in Austria, creating a beauty that has not been seen much during the gritty, violent series.

This episode did feel like a lot of falling actions. It had a couple of powerful moments, in particular surrounding the shooting of Sergeant Grant.

Episode nine felt like the real emotional conclusion to this series as the trip to the concentration camp showed what they were fighting for.

This made sense as a concluding episode because of the situation. I did like the ending voice over from Winters that gave us the insights on the surviving members and the words from the real men that these characters were based on. This was so much better than the boxed text that sometimes pops on the screen at the end of films based on true events. This was much more active and kinetic.

This brings the first arc of Sunday Morning Sidewalk to an end. Next week, post #11 will start off with a new series. Starting next week on April 6, I will begin the watch of the Netflix series The Sandman, which has eleven episodes and will run into June.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #9

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“Why We Fight”

I was wondering if this was an episode we were going to get.

When the soldiers of Easy Company were sounding like they were questioning the reason they were fighting this war in the first place, I knew we were getting the scenes we would get.

Concentration Camps.

It was tough to watch the horror of the soldiers as they walked into the camp and realized what the people who were there were going through at the hands of the Nazis. The imagery the show provided in this time was heartbreaking.

The soldiers brought the German town folk to the camp to help clean up and bury the bodies of the Jews that were dead. The shock of what the people saw was powerful. I can’t imagine the idea that they realized that they were the bad guys the whole time.

The episode focused on Nixon, who received bad news from home… his wife is divorcing him and taking his dog. Nixon spent much of the episode drinking, a specific whiskey only. He spends much of the episode searching for it.