Villeneuve's DUNE

[Tallguy 3,381]

3 hours ago, AC1 said:

She's too much of a sweet normal person, a concerned mom and not enough a member of the creepy Bene Gesserit.

 

Agreed. I love the movie, but Jessica isn't the towering figure she should be. And it's not like Ferguson can't pull that off.

[Jay 37,323]

‘Dune’ Prequel Series at HBO Max Casts Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson

 

Johan Renck (Chernobyl) is directing the first 2 episodes

 

Quote

Officially titled “Dune: The Sisterhood", the show is set 10,000 years before the events of “Dune” and is based on the novel “Sisterhood of Dune” by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Per the official logline, the show “follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit”

 

Watson will play Valya Harkonnen and Henderson will play Tula Harkonnen. The character descriptions say the two sisters “have risen to power in the Sisterhood, a secret organization of women who will go on to become the Bene Gesserit.”

[Romão 2,274]

It's impossible for me to get excited for anything based on Brian Herbert's horrendous books.

 

And now not even Dune is safe from over exploitation in the guide of so-called "content".

 

Aren't 3 potential Villeneuve-directed movies more than enough?

[mstrox 6,647]

Watched the recent Dune movie on Friday and thought it was gorgeous but also pretty bad.  The only actors showing signs of life - Isaac and, somehow, Momoa - died, leaving me hoping for Zendaya to somehow unsink the ship in the sequel.

 

(that’s not entirely true, because Skarsgård also acquitted himself well).

 

Zimmer’s score, at least in the movie, was unremarkable, beyond the fact that our subwoofer made the door to the rec room chatter.

[A24 4,327]

2 hours ago, Romão said:

It's impossible for me to get excited for anything based on Brian Herbert's horrendous books.

 

And now not even Dune is safe from over exploitation in the guide of so-called "content".

 

Aren't 3 potential Villeneuve-directed movies more than enough?

 

Nothing is safe anymore except 2001: ASO. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

3 hours ago, Romão said:

Aren't 3 potential Villeneuve-directed movies more than enough?

They are!

[A24 4,327]

2 hours ago, mstrox said:

Zimmer’s score, at least in the movie, was unremarkable, beyond the fact that our subwoofer made the door to the rec room chatter.

 

 

Being a non Zimmer fan I felt it gelled perfectly with the images. Couldn't have done it better myself.

 

However, having recently rewatched Villeneuve's Dune (I've split the film in three episodes/acts of 50 min.), the graph below illustrates how the movie gets weaker with every episode/act.

 

 

I= Start

IS= End

[Tallguy 3,381]

No no, that graph is Alien 4.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

Here's the thing: although, imo, Villeneuve's DUNE will in no way ever compete with Lynch's DUNE, and although I don't like Zimmer's score within the context of the film, I find it interesting to listen to, as pure music. 

Funny, that 

[mstrox 6,647]

4 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

 

However, having recently rewatched Villeneuve's Dune (I've split the film in three episodes/acts of 50 min.), the graph below illustrates how the movie gets weaker with every episode/act.

 

 

I= Start

IS= End

Seems about right!

 

I’m looking forward to listening to both Zimmer albums, but of all the very effective Zimmer scores in his career, this one stood out to me during the movie only as a big loud fart.  A surprise that this is what he got the Oscar for.

[Edmilson 7,398]

9 hours ago, AC1 said:

Nothing is safe anymore except 2001: ASO. 

And Back to the Future. It's remarkable that they have left the three movies as they are - so far. Maybe when Zemeckis passes away...

[mstrox 6,647]

I’m certain we’ll never see a BTTF4 with the original cast, but we will see a remake or reboot in our lifetimes, after Zemeckis and Gale kick th bucket.  If they do it while Lloyd is still alive, he’ll cash a paycheck.

[A24 4,327]

They'll do a new BTTF when they perfected the deepfake technology.

[Tallguy 3,381]

If they ever "revisit" BTTF I suppose they could explain 2015 as an alternate timeline that was caused and erased by... Something. 

[mstrox 6,647]

Assuming the same time stretches, a BTTF remake today would take them back to…1992.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

10 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Here's the thing: although, imo, Villeneuve's DUNE will in no way ever compete with Lynch's DUNE

You're right, Villeneuves film is playing in a whole different league.

[A24 4,327]

What league is that?

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

The Vauxhall Conference League 

[mstrox 6,647]

Sure, Villeneuve can remake Dune acceptably - but let’s see him pull off something like Mulholland Drive!

[Mephariel 451]

17 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

You're right, Villeneuves film is playing in a whole different league.

 

Truth. Try watching the first 5 mins of Lynch's version today...

[Naïve Old Fart 9,508]

I do. I watch all 137 minutes, regularly.

[blondheim 1,157]

On 06/10/2022 at 12:11 PM, Naïve Old Fart said:

I do. I watch all 137 minutes, regularly.

Same.

[mstrox 6,647]

Aint nothing regular about it, Richard!

[A24 4,327]

On 06/10/2022 at 5:32 PM, Mephariel said:

 

Truth. Try watching the first 5 mins of Lynch's version today...

 

What is wrong with it? Don't you like what you see?

 

[GerateWohl 4,344]

On 05/10/2022 at 5:19 PM, mstrox said:

I’m certain we’ll never see a BTTF4 with the original cast, but we will see a remake or reboot in our lifetimes, after Zemeckis and Gale kick th bucket.  If they do it while Lloyd is still alive, he’ll cash a paycheck.

I don't mind watching movies with and about old people. Can be great. But these 20+ years later sequels of dated franchises with original cast where you are afraid that in the action scenes the actor's denture falls off is often rather embarrassing than entertaining.

[Mephariel 451]

16 hours ago, AC1 said:

 

What is wrong with it? Don't you like what you see?

 

 

Ugh! The zoom in sound effect, the overly long and "oh I forgot to tell you" dumb speech, the star wars background, the "please confuse me with princess Leia" hair style...

 

Everything reminds me of why this movie flopped. 

 

 

 

 

[A24 4,327]

Despite that hairstyle and the stars in the background, I never confused Lynch's Dune with Star Wars. It looks and feels completely different. 

 

 

Anyhoo ...

 

Nolan on Villeneuve's Dune:

 

"It’s one of the most seamless marriages of live-action photography and computer-generated visual effects that I’ve seen. It’s very, very compelling at every turn."

 

 

He seems to admire it ... on a technical level. 

 

[Tallguy 3,381]

4 hours ago, AC1 said:

He seems to admire it ... on a technical level.

 

If a person can't admire DV's Dune on a technical level at minimum then I don't see where a conversation could go from there.

 

Even in our glut of big budget special effects spectacle, Dune is just different.

[blondheim 1,157]

Dune looks great. I would have loved some more extras to fill up those massive spaces. It feels like there are maybe a dozen people on the entire planet sometimes. Other than that, the adaptation is rather stale. I will never understand why the plot to kill Leto wasn’t actually a plot point. Why split the movie up if there’s still no time for that?

[A24 4,327]

I dunno, guys.

 

- Hey, what did you think of Dune, man? Wasn't it the coolest thing you've ever seen?

- Well, erm, I liked the effects.

[Chen G. 3,944]

I enjoyed Villenueve's Dune and continue to enjoy it.

 

Its maybe a little slow here, a little unexciting there (I think most the action scenes are meh), but on the whole its as sure-handed and as expansive a motion picture as they come.

 

Not patheon-of-the-all-time-greats stuff...but its good!

[blondheim 1,157]

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I enjoyed Villenueve's Dune and continue to enjoy it.

 

Its maybe a little slow here, a little unexciting there (I think most the action scenes are meh), but on the whole its as sure-handed and as expansive a motion picture as they come.

 

Not patheon-of-the-all-time-greats stuff...but its good!

It’s definitely good, I would just argue that it is still not great.

[Edmilson 7,398]

4 minutes ago, blondheim said:

It’s definitely good, I would just argue that it is still not great.

Exactly my opinion. It's pretty good, but not as great as it could've been.

 

I guess this is an impopular opinion, but I even prefer Blade Runner 2049.

[greenturnedblue 372]

Me too but I generally prefer Sci-fi over fantasy. I still like Dune quite a bit

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

7 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I enjoyed Villenueve's Dune and continue to enjoy it.

 

Its maybe a little slow here, a little unexciting there (I think most the action scenes are meh), but on the whole its as sure-handed and as expansive a motion picture as they come.

 

Not patheon-of-the-all-time-greats stuff...but its good!

 

It is a good movie. Maybe even nearly a great movie. Perhaps even the best Dune movie there could be, given the considerable challenges in adapting that particular source material.

 

But, I don't know, there's something...missing. It's almost one of those films whose ambition exceeds, or overshadows, its greatness, if that makes sense. It almost falls into The Northman territory as far as that goes, another movie that should be great but isn't quite as great as it should be.

 

I think I end up admiring films like Dune and The Northman (and to a certain extent, Ad Astra) because they are at least attempting to do something different, and ambitious, even if their reach exceeds their grasp. I guess I give them credit for breaking the mold from the current environment of endless sequels, franchises and superhero movies. I want more genre films that are ambitious, even if they don't always nail the landing.

 

But it just may be a thing with Villenueve, Arrival didn't particularly connect with me either. His films end up feeling like less than the sum of their (admittedly impressive) parts and somewhat...cold. There's a sense of detachment I feel from his films. 

 

And Nolan obviously figures into this conversation as well, but I digress.

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

11 hours ago, blondheim said:

I will never understand why the plot to kill Leto wasn’t actually a plot point. Why split the movie up if there’s still no time for that?

 

That's what bothers me. I really liked the film and was very impressed when seeing it in the theatre, and after watching it again on Blu I still figure it's mostly well made and enjoyable… but I can't help thinking it would have been at least twice as good if they hadn't removed everything the book does to actually build tension and characters, and I can't figure out why they did.

[Mephariel 451]

1 hour ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

It is a good movie. Maybe even nearly a great movie. Perhaps even the best Dune movie there could be, given the considerable challenges in adapting that particular source material.

 

But, I don't know, there's something...missing. It's almost one of those films whose ambition exceeds, or overshadows, its greatness, if that makes sense. It almost falls into The Northman territory as far as that goes, another movie that should be great but isn't quite as great as it should be.

 

I think I end up admiring films like Dune and The Northman (and to a certain extent, Ad Astra) because they are at least attempting to do something different, and ambitious, even if their reach exceeds their grasp. I guess I give them credit for breaking the mold from the current environment of endless sequels, franchises and superhero movies. I want more genre films that are ambitious, even if they don't always nail the landing.

 

But it just may be a thing with Villenueve, Arrival didn't particularly connect with me either. His films end up feeling like less than the sum of their (admittedly impressive) parts and somewhat...cold. There's a sense of detachment I feel from his films. 

 

And Nolan obviously figures into this conversation as well, but I digress.

 

I agree with this. I think Dune is an impressive movie, but maybe not a great one like Lord of the Rings. I think Villenueve clearly has a lot of passion for the stories that he wants to tell, but for some reason, he has trouble directing a complete narrative from beginning to end. Prisoners is probably his best work top to bottom where there is a satisfying, definitive ending. All his other movies like Blade Runner and Arrival ended like there is a void left to be filled, and Dune obviously did so deliberately. 

 

And like you, I agree that I support the existence of Dune regardless because there needs to be a market for ambitious serious epic films beyond the stuff Marvel is churning out year after year. And yes, The Northman falls into that category, but I have less pleasant things to say about that film than you do. That film was just too occult, too weird for its own good. I had a hard time finishing the film. 

 

Nolan is where I completely disagrees. Nolan is a bit more conventional to me. His movies tend to follow a very traditional storytelling arcs, usually with a high-concept that elevated his films beyond your typical fare. But a lot of traditional movie elements that hook you are there: propulsive action, straight forward heroes and villains, world traveling intrigue, etc. I think Nolan is closer to Cameron and Villenueve is closer to someone like Alex Garland or maybe Malick.       

[Jay 37,323]

WB moves Dune Part II from November 17 to November 3, 2023

[A24 4,327]

12 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

I think I end up admiring films like Dune and The Northman (and to a certain extent, Ad Astra) because they are at least attempting to do something different, and ambitious, even if their reach exceeds their grasp.

 

Ad Astra (which I thought was not good) is just another variation of Event Horizon, as is Sunshine (written by Alex Garland).

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

2 minutes ago, AC1 said:

 

Ad Astra (which I thought was not good) is just another variation of Event Horizon.

 

I didn't get that. I thought more "Apocalypse Now in space".

[A24 4,327]

4 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

I didn't get that. I thought more "Apocalypse Now in space".

 

That too.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

I thought Ad Astra was decent until the last act, which fell flat with me. 

[A24 4,327]

Non-Event Horizon 

 

https://colinedwards.medium.com/ad-astra-or-non-event-horizon-b316fe4e271f

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

41 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

I thought Ad Astra was decent until the last act, which fell flat with me. 

 

I liked it until then, but in the end it didn't fall flat to me but rather became absurd.

 

 

54 minutes ago, AC1 said:

Ad Astra (which I thought was not good) is just another variation of Event Horizon, as is Sunshine (written by Alex Garland).

 

The difference being that I've always liked Sunshine from beginning to end.

[Nick1Ø66 4,689]

11 hours ago, Mephariel said:

I agree with this. I think Dune is an impressive movie, but maybe not a great one like Lord of the Rings.

 

Yeah. The thing is, The Lord of the Rings is much more adaptable for the screen. There are more opportunities for action, the characters are more archetypes and less complex, and the story is much more straight forward. A big thing that kept LOTR from being adapted so long was that the technology really didn't exist to put the tale on screen in a convincing way. 

 

Dune is another matter, it's such a complex book, with so much inner dialogue among the characters, and fewer key action sequences to build around. As I said, given this I think Villeneuve made about the best Dune film we could reasonably expect.

[A24 4,327]

6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

The difference being that I've always liked Sunshine from beginning to end.

 

I know, it's your favorite science fiction movie. 

[blondheim 1,157]

I think we could have gotten a movie that at least had the Duke Leto plot as well as the world-building. It’s hard to say this is the best we could have gotten when that one ball was fumbled so badly.

[Marian Schedenig 8,179]

5 hours ago, AC1 said:

I know, it's your favorite science fiction movie. 

 

Hardly.

[Jay 37,323]

‘Dune: The Sisterhood’: ‘Game Of Thrones’ & ‘Obi-Wan’ Star Indira Varma Joins HBO Max & Legendary Prequel Series As Empress Natalya

[Mephariel 451]

I wonder who will score the TV series and will Zimmer's music set the style or will this be completely separate thing.