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On 10/24/2021 at 9:27 AM, munchmemory said:

Streamed Dune last night.  First, the movie is gorgeous visually.  Just beautifully shot/constructed with very impressive effects, etc. ( LOVED the flying machines which looked like dragon flies.)  And as others have said, Hans Zimmer's score is incredible.   The guy is a genius.

That said, I was disappointed in the flick.   Why?  Because unlike Lynch's version we only get half the story and are left hanging.  Now, we wait a couple of years until they make a sequel to see its conclusion?  Ridiculous.

The movie was also very slow to develop, plodding in many sections sacrificing story for visuals.  I also think the actors were not given very much to do. Everyone is fine in their roles, with Rebecca Ferguson and Timothée Chalamet as standouts IMO. (And apart from a cliche ending for his character, Jason Mamoa was okay, too.) But everyone else's screen time was limited.  Brolin, Zendaya, Bardem and a bunch of others are on screen for what seems like 20 seconds each.  No real time for us to comprehend their characters.

Overall, I did not hate Denis Villeneuve's movie.  But I liked Lynch's original version so much better.  Just a more complete treatment of the story.  More emotional, too.   And I missed seeing Paul Atreides riding the giant worm.

6-7/10, mostly for the visuals and music.

This was my take away as well.  Visual and audio was incredible.  Legit, incredible.  The story, plot, flow?  Terrible.  It moved way too fast introducing characters and worlds, then plodded along, it took way to many liberties and assumptions from the audience, things were being introduced and layers were being layered and all the while, you're like wtf is going on?  I knew the story line, so I was somewhat following but not really.  lol For someone like my wife, who was being introduced, she was totally lost and her response after it was done was, "that was the biggest most beautiful piece of sh*t I've ever seen".  lmfao 

 

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14 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

This was my take away as well.  Visual and audio was incredible.  Legit, incredible.  The story, plot, flow?  Terrible.  It moved way too fast introducing characters and worlds, then plodded along, it took way to many liberties and assumptions from the audience, things were being introduced and layers were being layered and all the while, you're like wtf is going on?  I knew the story line, so I was somewhat following but not really.  lol For someone like my wife, who was being introduced, she was totally lost and her response after it was done was, "that was the biggest most beautiful piece of sh*t I've ever seen".  lmfao 

 

My wife had seen the Lynch version (although not since the original release) and shared your wife's reaction. lol  Yeah, lots of family names, allegiances and tons of other information/situations up front which could easily confuse the audience.   I kept waiting for Denis Villeneuve to get the story going forward.   Never really happened until the end section.

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1 hour ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

I hope so. I wonder if Momoa was signed to a multi-movie deal? That would be interesting....But in all honesty, the later story gets really out there. No-Ships and Kwizatz Haderach Gholas and Hybrid Leto. Weird stuff. ? 

I would assume so. It's been a long time since I read Messiah but I recall Duncan having a big role and everyone that works with Villaneuve loves the guy. Hard to imagine anyone that signed on to part 1 not committing to his long-term vision.

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1 hour ago, JiFapono said:

This was my take away as well.  Visual and audio was incredible.  Legit, incredible.  The story, plot, flow?  Terrible.  It moved way too fast introducing characters and worlds, then plodded along, it took way to many liberties and assumptions from the audience, things were being introduced and layers were being layered and all the while, you're like wtf is going on?  I knew the story line, so I was somewhat following but not really.  lol For someone like my wife, who was being introduced, she was totally lost and her response after it was done was, "that was the biggest most beautiful piece of sh*t I've ever seen".  lmfao 

 

So, bring back the opening monolog from Virginia Madsen??

 

Yes!!

 

"A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then...."

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1 hour ago, munchmemory said:

My wife had seen the Lynch version (although not since the original release) and shared your wife's reaction. lol  Yeah, lots of family names, allegiances and tons of other information/situations up front which could easily confuse the audience.   I kept waiting for Denis Villeneuve to get the story going forward.   Never really happened until the end section.

Especially if you have no background on it.  I get the fanbois will enjoy it but for someone only familiar because of the 80's movie and someone totally unfamiliar altogether, it was a very very hard follow. 

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A bit of a deep dive that I really liked....Paul has a vision of Jamis,  where he is a friend to Paul and tells him he will "teach him how to live in the desert"... but they wind up dueling to the death and Paul kills him (the first person Paul ever kills). I thought it was really cool to see how Paul's visions are fluid, and things change based on the decisions people make. He isn't omniscient.  Yet. Just a cool take on the Paul and Jamis fight.

 

 

 

 

Also, Duncan Idahos last stand was ******* awesome. I thought Idaho was the stand out character,  but I've always liked Duncan....but Momoa was so much better than those who played him before. I mean, Richard Jordan? Really?

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Just saw Dune again,  in IMAX this time. I actually preferred the Dolby Cinema theatre, the more powerful directional sound was better for the experience imo.

 

Anyway, second viewing caught a bunch of small details I missed. And man, Jamis was prominent in so many visions...its actually sad when he dies instead of just being a throwaway character and a**hole like in the book and extended version 1984.

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As an MCU fan, I'm getting some bad vibes from all the mediocre Eternals reviews. I'm getting an Ang Lee Hulk vibe from the reviews where you have a very talented director trying to make an art house movie out of a comic book and the results being very mediocre.  

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57 minutes ago, maury77 said:

As an MCU fan, I'm getting some bad vibes from all the mediocre Eternals reviews. I'm getting an Ang Lee Hulk vibe from the reviews where you have a very talented director trying to make an art house movie out of a comic book and the results being very mediocre.  

I’ve been a big comic book nerd for close to 50 years and even I’m sick of the MCU at this point.

Disney and Marvel want to continually adhere to some formula created in a lab to reach the broadest audience possible. Everything is completely by the numbers and as safe as can be.

The DC movies were vastly inferior for a long stretch, but at least they take some risks and are finally getting on the right path it seems.

The MCU should’ve ended after Endgame.

The only thing I’m even vaguely interested in moving forward is the Moon Knight series. Otherwise, making a proper, dark Daredevil or Punisher movie is the only thing that could reignite my interest. But I seriously doubt that Disney and Marvel have the balls to do such a thing.

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48 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

I’ve been a big comic book nerd for close to 50 years and even I’m sick of the MCU at this point.

Disney and Marvel want to continually adhere to some formula created in a lab to reach the broadest audience possible. Everything is completely by the numbers and as safe as can be.

The DC movies were vastly inferior for a long stretch, but at least they take some risks and are finally getting on the right path it seems.

The MCU should’ve ended after Endgame.

The only thing I’m even vaguely interested in moving forward is the Moon Knight series. Otherwise, making a proper, dark Daredevil or Punisher movie is the only thing that could reignite my interest. But I seriously doubt that Disney and Marvel have the balls to do such a thing.

If you say you’re not excited for Molina back as Doc Ock you’re lying. 

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1 hour ago, Untouchable said:

I’ve been a big comic book nerd for close to 50 years and even I’m sick of the MCU at this point.

Disney and Marvel want to continually adhere to some formula created in a lab to reach the broadest audience possible. Everything is completely by the numbers and as safe as can be.

The DC movies were vastly inferior for a long stretch, but at least they take some risks and are finally getting on the right path it seems.

The MCU should’ve ended after Endgame.

The only thing I’m even vaguely interested in moving forward is the Moon Knight series. Otherwise, making a proper, dark Daredevil or Punisher movie is the only thing that could reignite my interest. But I seriously doubt that Disney and Marvel have the balls to do such a thing.

They are definitely formulaic, but I still enjoy them and I thought they tried some different stuff with Wandavision and What If? I'm definitely looking forward to Moon Knight as well as the Fantastic Four (which has always been butchered on film). 

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Watched Dune on HBO Max last night.  Read the first three books, probably 40 years ago, when there were just 3.  So I had pretty much forgotten the entire story.  Sorry I didn't decide to reread the books instead.  So, my question to anyone who has read the series more recently. 

Was the movie true enough to the original book that I can just pick up book 2 and not be lost, or am I better off going back and re-reading the first in the series.  I am assuming I should go back to book 1, but would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

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18 minutes ago, RutgersJetFan said:

If you say you’re not excited for Molina back as Doc Ock you’re lying. 

Kind of

And if they really bring in the multiverse as rumored with McGuire’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, etc then that’ll be really cool.

But by and large, I’m pretty much done with it.

Hell, if they would let Sam Raimi go wild and give him full control over the next Doctor Strange then I would be excited. But there’s no way they’re going to let him do that. They’re going to make him stick to the formula, let him add his own little personal flare here and there and the movie will probably end up being painfully mediocre.

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6 hours ago, Lith said:

Watched Dune on HBO Max last night.  Read the first three books, probably 40 years ago, when there were just 3.  So I had pretty much forgotten the entire story.  Sorry I didn't decide to reread the books instead.  So, my question to anyone who has read the series more recently. 

Was the movie true enough to the original book that I can just pick up book 2 and not be lost, or am I better off going back and re-reading the first in the series.  I am assuming I should go back to book 1, but would appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Very, very true to book. Said this as soon as I left the theater: It actually felt like I watched Dune. That said you should start from The beginning as there are levels of detail in Books 2 and 3 that you may not get if you don’t go through 1 again, at least in my opinion. 

Also worth noting that Villaneuve technically did not end at book 1. He actually carries over into book 2 quite a bit.
 

P.S. Go watch it in a theater. Streaming is not the same film at all. 

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3 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

Very, very true to book. Said this as soon as I left the theater: It actually felt like I watched Dune. That said you should start from The beginning as there are levels of detail in Books 2 and 3 that you may not get if you don’t go through 1 again, at least in my opinion. 

Also worth noting that Villaneuve technically did not end at book 1. He actually carries over into book 2 quite a bit.
 

P.S. Go watch it in a theater. Streaming is not the same film at all. 

In the book, it states; The reports of his (Duncan Idaho) death were in the library. The Sardaukar who'd slain him reported his prowess: nineteen of their number dispatched by Idaho before he'd fallen. Nineteen Sardaukar!" 

 

Count the kills in the chamber. 

 

19.

 

Thats how by the book Villaneuve was.

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On 10/30/2021 at 5:11 PM, RutgersJetFan said:

Very, very true to book. Said this as soon as I left the theater: It actually felt like I watched Dune. That said you should start from The beginning as there are levels of detail in Books 2 and 3 that you may not get if you don’t go through 1 again, at least in my opinion. 

Also worth noting that Villaneuve technically did not end at book 1. He actually carries over into book 2 quite a bit.
P.S. Go watch it in a theater. Streaming is not the same film at all. 

So how far did the original movie in the 80s go?  Villaneuve said he only did half of the material.

I enjoyed the movie.  I was not put off by it ending the way it did as I had seen it was greenlit for part two.  I saw a video that explained how Hollywood can end a movie that is part of or can be part of a 'series'.  It is either left off with an anticipated sequel or it ends abruptly.  Villaneuve obviously choose the latter.  

I understand some of the negative points made.  Do not disagree, but I think as some have pointed out, if you read the book you can follow along a little better.  I just do not think he could have explained every detail without the movie being 4 hours.  I totoally forgot the Mentats until seeing a review.

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4 hours ago, PFSIKH said:

So how far did the original movie in the 80s go?  Villaneuve said he only did half of the material.

I enjoyed the movie.  I was not put off by it ending the way it did as I had seen it was greenlit for part two.  I saw a video that explained how Hollywood can end a movie that is part of or can be part of a 'series'.  It is either left off with an anticipated sequel or it ends abruptly.  Villaneuve obviously choose the latter.  

I understand some of the negative points made.  Do not disagree, but I think as some have pointed out, if you read the book you can follow along a little better.  I just do not think he could have explained every detail without the movie being 4 hours.  I totoally forgot the Mentats until seeing a review.

Fair question. My 2 cents:

I think Lynch's movie is a campy 80's movie that isn't necessarily Dune. Frank Herbert (and Asmiov and a few others) reinvented science fiction books a long time ago by combining the philosophies of previous writers and giving an epic scale to it. But, the overall theme was the same: Good science fiction should critique the present by portraying the future (or some sort of alternate reality). Dune was really the first piece of work to ever do it on such a grand scale, but the most important part of the entire book is Herbert's plea to the entire world that collective action should be valued over the idea of individual rulers. The ending of the original Dune is not a happy ending. Lynch and the studio completely did away with that, and essentially killed the entire point of the book. There are other aspects that are horrible as well, (i.e. the portrayal of Baron Harkonnen), but by and large the screenplay simply makes no sense because you can't cram Dune into one ugly movie. Not possible.

I think Villaneuve and WB were very clear about that from the outset, so I'm not sure about the backlash to only half the book being done. They told everyone they were doing it that way 3-4 years ago.

There's a reason that the vast majority of people that love the 1984 movie are people that were young and watched it a bunch of times as kids and/or teenagers, nostalgia. And just to be clear that's totally fine. I still love The Wizard and by every measure imaginable that movie is a heaping pile of sh*t. 

I look at Villaneuve's interpretation the same way I look at Kubrick doing 2001. If you want to know what that movie is about, it's simple, read Clark's book. But decontextualization is a common technique used in filmmaking and I don't see how putting Dune up on a big screen is possible and staying true to the book in any other way. IMO not possible.

 

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Departure from the Dune discussion:  I just finished watching Todd Haynes' documentary The Velvet Underground on Apple TV+.  If you are a fan of the band, Lou Reed, John Cale or the NYC art scene of the early 60s, this film is for you.  Wonderfully realized, constructed, edited and art directed.  Haynes is a gifted filmmaker.   Gorgeous, impressive film.  10/10

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23 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Departure from the Dune discussion:  I just finished watching Todd Haynes' documentary The Velvet Underground on Apple TV+.  If you are a fan of the band, Lou Reed, John Cale or the NYC art scene of the early 60s, this film is for you.  Wonderfully realized, constructed, edited and art directed.  Haynes is a gifted filmmaker.   Gorgeous, impressive film.  10/10

Thanks for that info!  It's just on Apple TV?  I want to see it.

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On 10/30/2021 at 10:06 AM, maury77 said:

As an MCU fan, I'm getting some bad vibes from all the mediocre Eternals reviews. I'm getting an Ang Lee Hulk vibe from the reviews where you have a very talented director trying to make an art house movie out of a comic book and the results being very mediocre.  

Took my daughter to see Eternals today, and it was awesome.  I really liked it a lot.

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Caught Finch last night on Apple TV+.   My wife and son loved it.   I was less enthusiastic.   Thought it was fine, but had several story holes which bothered me and felt it was a bit cliche.  

Tom Hanks is his usual superb self (although you've seen him do this character a bunch before).  But I came away thinking this flick was a combination of Castaway and Wall-E.  

Wife and son rating: 8-9/10

Me: 6-7/10

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Watched The Harder They Fall last night, the Netflix revisionist western starring Idris Elba (mostly in a cameo role). 

Gotta say, pretty damn entertaining. A mostly all black cast (I hope I can say that, right, not African American because Elba is British) but it totally worked. Very Quentin Tarantino-ish with supreme violent mixed in with clever dialogue (although Elba’s esoteric monologues could have been cut back by 30 seconds each). 

Some great character development, you LOVE some and hate some but it all works. Funny, sad, violent, treacherous, not preachy, just a solid shoot-em-up western with a different look than we’ve typically been fed. 

Delroy Lindo makes a triumphant return to the big screen and Zazie Beetz is a doll.  

Deserves the number 1 slot for a week or 2. 

Honestly a bit surprised how good some Netflix originals have been. 

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