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The new Dune movie.

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  • Patrick Thistle
    replied
    I knew there were some recent prequels / sequels. I didn't know there were 17 of them!

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    I have to say, I think I preferred the first one, which as I've said before was more of a tone poem set in the Dune universe than a conventional movie, at least taken as a standalone. This one tries to be more of a movie in its own right, but it cuts out, alters and streamlines the book plot so much that it almost becomes flat, narratively. Paul is way less interesting a character than in the book (though to be fair, Chani is more so, though it's a low bar), and his choices don't feel very motivated, more something that had to happen to get to the ending. Partly this is my bias, as the thing I enjoyed most about the book was the ecology stuff and how it feeds into Fremen society, and that's almost entirely excised from the movies apart from handful of throwaway lines. And it felt like some of the changes were to set up a cleaner third movie than would be possible sticking to Herbert. Which is fine, but who knows if we'll actually get that movie and when. As an adaptation of an "unfilmable" book, I preferred the approach of the first part, which was basically to give us a handful of disparate set pieces and just blow us away with the visual/aural mise en scene.
    Last edited by Ginger Yellow; 26-03-2024, 19:56.

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  • "Hold on, buddy!"
    replied
    Saw it yesterday on IMAX. Found it absolutely immense, easily one of the best times I've had at the cinema in the last few years - perhaps the best thing about IMAX and Zimmer's score in combination is that they either drown out gobby morons (two of them in a near-empty cinema) or else apparently pummel them into silence.

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  • Tratorello
    replied
    Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
    Isn't this lack of suspense common with most films? The hero of the film is unlikely to die (at least not before the final scene, when very occasionally they might)
    This is why the early seasons of "Game of Thrones" were so good (for those of us who hadn't read the books anyway), until season 5 onwards when the main characters all suddenly developed impervious plot armour.

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  • Ginger Yellow
    replied
    Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post

    ATIDKAUT?

    I don't use Letterboxd or any review site to choose the films I'm keen on seeing, just trusted reviewers, trailers or prior work of the cast & principal crew. I don't give scores on my Letterboxd either, just use it as somewhere to keep my movie watchlist.
    Yeah, this is me. Maybe it's my general aversion to social media but I don't see why anyone would want to review films publicly on it. And it really annoys me that the only way to add notes to a film in your watchlist (ie to explain why you added it) is to review it, ie claim you watched it.

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  • Patrick Thistle
    replied
    Originally posted by Wouter D View Post

    I found that a big problem with the film anyway, not just in the combat scenes. There is absolutely no suspense. Ooh, he's gonna have to pass a test by riding a sandworm, dangerous! Oh my, that is an exceptionally big worm he summoned there, I wonder if he manages to survive!

    Ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, he ends up riding that worm. Even I, as a non-reader of the books, could see that coming. And so it goes in every single scene, all the time.
    As a reader of the book, I knew he would ride the worm. I was looking forward to seeing it.

    I guess that's one thing about going in knowing the story - I was more interested in how they told it. Did they show the mechanics of worm-riding? How much exposition would that need? (Turns out, none)

    Another divergence from the book is the time-frame. The desert war goes on for years in the book. Alia is born and is sort of a superhuman because of exposure to spice in the womb. Paul has a son with Chani. The reunion with Gurney Halleck is after some years apart, not a matter of weeks. Etc.

    Everything is a bit condensed for films. But that's fine.

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  • Wouter D
    replied
    Even in the Marvel movies we occasionally have some of the heroes die. This felt James Bondian to me.

    (yes, yes, I know, "but in the last JB movie", well (A) spoilers, and (B) that doesn't change the general point)
    Last edited by Wouter D; 26-03-2024, 08:22.

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  • ad hoc
    replied
    Isn't this lack of suspense common with most films? The hero of the film is unlikely to die (at least not before the final scene, when very occasionally they might)

    Leave a comment:


  • Wouter D
    replied
    Originally posted by johnr View Post
    Just got back. Loved most of it, pretty gripping stuff, and much more interesting than the first one. They can always cut straight to the end with the hand-to-hand combat stuff though - it's so tedious, we know who is going to win.

    Mind you, one of the reasons I get bored of most films is that the central character survives peril, and wins out in the end.
    I found that a big problem with the film anyway, not just in the combat scenes. There is absolutely no suspense. Ooh, he's gonna have to pass a test by riding a sandworm, dangerous! Oh my, that is an exceptionally big worm he summoned there, I wonder if he manages to survive!

    Ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, he ends up riding that worm. Even I, as a non-reader of the books, could see that coming. And so it goes in every single scene, all the time.

    That's not to say that there weren't enjoyable things about the movie. Lovely shots, especially of the black-and-white fireworks, Elvis being an excellent weirdo, the parallels between Feyd-Rautha who is explicitly being called a psychopath and Paul who isn't called that yet but exhibiting symptoms. All very well done.

    Leave a comment:


  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
    So Dune Part 2.

    Was left feeling a bit nonplussed by the ending which felt like it was setting up Dune Messiah. But not heard any plans for that. Also I thought the point was Muad'dib wasn't going to embark on a jihad across the galaxy.

    But overall, it was very good. No complaints about the opacity of the story - it does feel like it was done for people who know it and its nice not to have something diluted for people who don't care about.

    The creation of water of life scene felt authentically true to the source material for me. The big sandworms were also properly done imo. No explanation of how riding them worked - if you've read the book you'll know and recognise the technique that was depicted.

    I've got some notes. I can see their version of Feyd Rautha was too intense to have for longer in the film but still, it felt like an odd character to cut back on. Turning Rabban into a coward was an odd move - can't remember if that was true to the book or not. Geidi Prime was as awful as it should be. What a hellhole. The negative fireworks were clever.

    I'd say the same about the score as for the first one, and that is Hans Zimmer only seems to have one trick - very loud atonal blasts. For everything. Shai-halud breaks the surface. BLAST! A spice harvester explodes and crashes. BLAST! An atomic bomb goes off. BLAST! Sometimes less is more, Hans.

    Looking forward to watching them both in a marathon session sometime.
    There are certainly plans to film Dune Messiah (Villeneuve alluded to them on the Kermode & Mayo podcast and, I'm afraid on your behalf, Zimmer said he was already writing music for it) and Part 2 is certainly deliberately set up for that to follow.

    It's not greenlit yet and I have seen comment that Villeneuve has lots of artistic and practical conditions to be met before he moves ahead. Chalamet's schedule might be an issue too.
    Last edited by Ray de Galles; 26-03-2024, 00:01.

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  • johnr
    replied
    Just got back. Loved most of it, pretty gripping stuff, and much more interesting than the first one. They can always cut straight to the end with the hand-to-hand combat stuff though - it's so tedious, we know who is going to win.

    Mind you, one of the reasons I get bored of most films is that the central character survives peril, and wins out in the end.

    Leave a comment:


  • Patrick Thistle
    replied
    So Dune Part 2.

    Was left feeling a bit nonplussed by the ending which felt like it was setting up Dune Messiah. But not heard any plans for that. Also I thought the point was Muad'dib wasn't going to embark on a jihad across the galaxy.

    But overall, it was very good. No complaints about the opacity of the story - it does feel like it was done for people who know it and its nice not to have something diluted for people who don't care about.

    The creation of water of life scene felt authentically true to the source material for me. The big sandworms were also properly done imo. No explanation of how riding them worked - if you've read the book you'll know and recognise the technique that was depicted.

    I've got some notes. I can see their version of Feyd Rautha was too intense to have for longer in the film but still, it felt like an odd character to cut back on. Turning Rabban into a coward was an odd move - can't remember if that was true to the book or not. Geidi Prime was as awful as it should be. What a hellhole. The negative fireworks were clever.

    I'd say the same about the score as for the first one, and that is Hans Zimmer only seems to have one trick - very loud atonal blasts. For everything. Shai-halud breaks the surface. BLAST! A spice harvester explodes and crashes. BLAST! An atomic bomb goes off. BLAST! Sometimes less is more, Hans.

    Looking forward to watching them both in a marathon session sometime.

    Leave a comment:


  • ursus arctos
    replied
    There's a typo

    https://www.onetouchfootball.com/for...ay#post2891061

    Leave a comment:


  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Originally posted by slackster View Post
    Letterboxd is ATIDKAUT for me. I might occasionally use Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic or IMDB to get a ‘score’ on films I’m tempted to watch, so that’s probably enough resources already.

    Anyway, I’m off with Mrs Slacks to see Dune 2 on Thursday, who’s a fan. I’ve gotta watch part one on telly first now. Read the book yonks ago, and suffered the original movie when it came out, but neither really grabbed me beyond the sand worm horrors aspect. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
    ATIDKAUT?

    I don't use Letterboxd or any review site to choose the films I'm keen on seeing, just trusted reviewers, trailers or prior work of the cast & principal crew. I don't give scores on my Letterboxd either, just use it as somewhere to keep my movie watchlist.

    Leave a comment:


  • Levin
    replied
    It does look as amazing as the first one, and Butler has real presence (I worry that Dave Bautista is going to get trapped playing idiots).

    I did catch myself thinking 'well this is all very silly' towards the end though. But it can be silly and good.

    Is the lack of the personal shields in the big fight a book thing, or a filmic thing? I suspect it's really hard to get across how they work.

    Leave a comment:


  • slackster
    replied
    Letterboxd is ATIDKAUT for me. I might occasionally use Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic or IMDB to get a ‘score’ on films I’m tempted to watch, so that’s probably enough resources already.

    Anyway, I’m off with Mrs Slacks to see Dune 2 on Thursday, who’s a fan. I’ve gotta watch part one on telly first now. Read the book yonks ago, and suffered the original movie when it came out, but neither really grabbed me beyond the sand worm horrors aspect. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

    Leave a comment:


  • ad hoc
    replied
    Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post

    My elder daughter also saw it recently and said it is only her fourth ever five star film on Letterboxd, if that means anything.
    It does to me as my daughter is a big Letterboxd user too. Only this week she handed out a very rare 5 to Anatomy of a Fall

    Leave a comment:


  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    My younger daughter is back from Uni and wanted to see Part Two so my son and I accompanied her for a rewatch. A second viewing only cemented my positive opinion of the film and the various strands of the plot coalesced even better (unsurprisingly as I'd already seen it) in to a smoother running whole. Even more impressed by Austin Butler's turn and kind of wish he was in it more.

    My elder daughter also saw it recently and said it is only her fourth ever five star film on Letterboxd, if that means anything.

    Leave a comment:


  • hobbes
    replied
    It was a bit long, mind.

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  • hobbes
    replied
    Saw this tonight. I like the differences from the book. Adeptly done considering how much I loved the book.

    Leave a comment:


  • Patrick Thistle
    replied
    I saw a funny comment that it's impossible to provide spoilers for Dune because if you reveal a plot point then you need to provide an explanation of why that's happened and when you do that you sound like a crazy person spouting nonsensical rubbish

    Leave a comment:


  • Lang Spoon
    replied
    Apart from the Dead Zone and maybe Annie Hall where the Walken thing worked, is the problem with Walken that he's a terrible terrible actor? King of New York, fucking hell. Though at least a big a problem for me there is king of stupid clever Abel Ferrara.

    Leave a comment:


  • Ray de Galles
    replied
    Saw Part 2 last night with my son. As with the first part I am still judging them as stand alone films as I’ve not read the book and I thought it was spectacular.

    The scale and world-building are obviously epic but I thought the characters and their development shone through much more than in the first film (which I rewatched the night before as revision).

    I know they are integral to the story but there were moments when I did wonder if the time being spent on the romance and religious elements of the plot were quite going to pay off but they do so in spades at the jaw-dropping climactic section of the film.

    The soundscape and music really worked well (though I missed the bagpipes) and I didn’t have the issues withe the dialogue I was expecting from others’ experiences.

    The new characters introduced were mostly a little peripheral (and Walken is a terrible bit of stunt casting as everyone is saying) but I thought Nazi Space Elvis was fantastic and stole every scene he appeared in.


    Leave a comment:


  • Hot Pepsi
    replied
    Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
    Seems weird with a film like Dune. How many people are going to go "Huh, I didn't want to watch the second part of this sci fi tone poem before, but now I know Chalamet is in it, I'm sold!"
    The actors go on the talk shows and do those junket interviews, and use their charm to help sell it.

    Perhaps the director doesn’t want to promote it now either, in solidarity.


    I’m inclined to agree, however; I’d think that you’re either all in on Dune or your not.

    But there seems to be a remarkably large number of people who goto see big budget genre epics despite not liking big budget genre epics. Or, at least, not having liked one since the 70s.

    That’s true of other genres too. Why did you go see it?*

    It’s like what Chris Rock said about people who hate hip-hop. “It’s not for you.”


    *The other kind of critic I find irritating are the ones that pontificate on a genre they never watch.

    Leave a comment:


  • Lang Spoon
    replied
    It would be nice if someone was brave enough to launch a film without promotion, but it won't be this one, too much money involved (even though I doubt actor interview stuff will do much for its box office). About half the budget of a big movie is shite like promotions.

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