Talk About Movies: Part 4
Somehow threads merged, so here's part 4 of our ongoing movie discussion.
Flipping through the Guide last night, saw one channel listed "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation."
Just moving one little colon makes quite a difference.
I was able to find a solid bootleg source, so I was able to get Song of the South on Bluray
In the light of something like American Fiction I don't really understand what the issues are for this movie's portrayal of the deep Georgian South.
It's a fond portrayal of the local peoples.
I had plans to see Dune part 2 with three other people today and all three of them cancelled separately for various reasons. Pretty amazing.
Dune Part 2. 9/10. The speech is an all timer and I thought we were about to go to 10/10 epic level at that point. Didn’t quite get there but everything about it is great. DV is a rockstar.
4 hours til Dune, I am excite.
I don't get the Dune love? I tried to watch the first one and hated pretty much every second of the first 20 minutes before I pulled the plug. I understand tastes can be very different. Some like chocolate and some like vanilla. But just nothing about the little bit I saw made me want to see anymore.
I don't get the Dune love? I tried to watch the first one and hated pretty much every second of the first 20 minutes before I pulled the plug. I understand tastes can be very different. Some like chocolate and some like vanilla. But just nothing about the little bit I saw made me want to see anymore.
DUNE: PART TWO (2024)
Director: Denis Villeneuve (<i>Dune, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival</i>😉
Anticipation Level: Through the Roof
Where To Watch: Theaters
Thoughts:
I basically never hand out a 10 after a single viewing, but I walked out of Dune: Part Two completely blown away and it’s hard to imagine this film isn’t considered a sci-fi blockbuster masterpiece years down the road. It’s tremendous. I think there was a single scene in the film I didn’t like - one Harkonnen character had a sudden and underwhelming demise. The rest of the film? Cinematic perfection.
Visually and sonically this is one of the best movies ever put to film. Denis Villeneuve directs with a visual flair that only Christopher Nolan can possibly match among his contemporaries. The sound design and Hans Zimmer’s score are incredible. It’s only March and it already feels impossible that Dune: Part Two could ever lose the Oscars for Best Sound, Best Score, or Best Visual Effects. I was planning to watch this movie in IMAX first and then take my dad to see it on a normal screen (that’s much less of a drive for me) later, but having seen it on IMAX myself, I feel like I would be a **** son to deprive him of the same experience. Everyone should be watching it on the best screen possible.
The cast is so good in this movie.
Timothee Chalamet was solid in part one of Dune and after seeing Wonka (a painful watch for me), it was refreshing to see him absolutely crush it as Paul Atreides in the second part. He exhibits a level of authority and bad assery that I really wasn’t sure he was capable of. He owns this role and though we are mega early in the 2024 movie release schedule, he might be doing Oscar nom level work here.
Zendaya gets a ton of screen time and is really the heart of this film as Chani. Her presence is so powerful it almost brought tears to my eyes in the last act.
Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin all also really good in their roles.
Austin Butler though. Goddamn. I have to be honest, I didn’t know who was playing Feyd-Rautha while I was watching this, but I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to see the end credits to see an actor’s name before. This is going to go down as an all time level villain performance and I think there’s a strong chance Butler gets a Supporting Actor nom. He’s so damn good.
I could probably keep rambling about how great this is but I’m going to stop here. This movie is a masterpiece. Denis Villeneuve is a treasure. He’s basically in a league of his own when it comes to crafting the ultimate cinematic experience and Dune: Part 2 is probably his best work yet. Run, don’t walk, to see this ASAP on the best screen you can get to. Movies don’t get much better than this.
Rating: 10/10 (Masterpiece)
Replay Value: I really enjoyed my second viewing of Dune and this second part is even better. It’s a long movie but we are talking about one of the best movies ever made here.
Sequel Potential: There are like six Dune books. I don’t know much about them but I did recently read that Denis is open to adapting the next one and finishing Paul Atreides’ story.
Oscar Potential: It will be nominated for everything and probably win a lot of categories. All the technical categories are probably lock wins. Austin Butler is probably a lock nomination with Chalamet, Ferguson, Zendaya, and Bardem all possibly getting some level of consideration. What I would really love to see though is Denis get a Best Director win after somehow not even getting nominated for the first film.
Hear Hear...
Yeah, I wanted to immediately see it again.
No one has shot the desert so beautifully since David Lean.
I barely remember Feyd-Rautha making actual appearances in the original book, seems more like he was just a guy spoken of until the fight with Paul. It has been a long time though. Does he have a major presence in the film?
Yeah they turn him into something special for sure.
One thing I remember from the books that wasn't in this movie was the "sound" weapon Paul teaches the Fremen - an offshoot of the Voice. And I didn't miss it.
One thing I remember from the books that wasn't in this movie was the "sound" weapon Paul teaches the Fremen - an offshoot of the Voice. And I didn't miss it.
I remember in the Lynch movie they somehow became what looked like laser guns, which were pretty silly.
Did they do anything like that, or just leave out the whole thing?
Dune: Part Two was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it greatly. But I'd also be lying if I said it didn't have things wrong with it or things that didn't bother me.
It's obviously tough to take source material like that and adapt it faithfully, do it justice or keep everyone happy (not that I think that's the point, though). I'm not judging it against the book though, I enjoy both immensely. It's been maybe a dozen years since I last read Dune and I remember it fondly, but certainly the latter half of the book is way more warfare focused. I think Part Two suffers in that regard when I compare it against Part One, for me. I just enjoy the world-building aspect of the first half more.
If I had to describe it, I would say Part Two was a touch too performative. I thought a few roles were overacted, but I thought the majority of them were acted really well. Cinematography, sound, visual effects, all landed for me.
Walken was just ridiculously miscast as the Emperor, I don't know what Villeneuve was thinking with that. I also didn't really believe Austin Butler as Feyd, several scenes like his whole gladiator celebration didn't hit for me. On the other hand, Chalamet, Zendaya, Ferguson, Brolin, and particularly Bardem were all great.
Sounds like I'm down on it, but I still give it a solid 4/5. I think after rewatching Part One last week to hype up for this weekend, I'd have Part One as the slightly better film.
TDK, I can't take that review seriously lol, that praise was way too effusive. I do agree about the Harkonnen demise.
One thing I remember from the books that wasn't in this movie was the "sound" weapon Paul teaches the Fremen - an offshoot of the Voice. And I didn't miss it.
i'm now worried that i'm now confusing the 80s movie with the books but definitely recall in the books talks of them developing this secret weapon that was sound based which was the entire reason why the emperor made a move, not only was he very popular but he could also potentially develop the strongest military as well
i don't recall much coming of it, instead they just focused on the fact that the freemen were naturally badass fighters and they had worms
Dune: Part Two was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it greatly. But I'd also be lying if I said it didn't have things wrong with it or things that didn't bother me.
It's obviously tough to take source material like that and adapt it faithfully, do it justice or keep everyone happy (not that I think that's the point, though). I'm not judging it against the book though, I enjoy both immensely. It's been maybe a dozen years since I last read Dune and I remember it fondly, but certainly the latter half
I like slow burn world building so I have One slightly ahead of Two. I disagree with you on Butler though. Thought he was great.
Watching Quo Vadis like a boss
Spoiler
wat
Dune Part 2 is more straightforward and action filled than the first one while retaining some of the madness and mysteriousness. There are some incredibly inventive visuals that could be used as definitions for the word 'epic'.
What's most impressive is the tactility and crunchiness of the CGI. I think the use of sound has a lot do with that. All these giant machines and helicopter-like vehicles feel real and imposing.
The acting is good, but the idea that anyone is doing Oscar-worthy work, with the possible exception of Rebecca Ferguson, is laughable. These are not dramatically demanding roles.
