Jane is away for a few days with work, and naturally, I have regressed to extreme caveman status. Cooked up a tasty pork butt on the weekend, and I’ve been getting through that at every meal. And last night, I caught up with a movie I had meant to watch on the big screen, maybe even iMax, but, you know… fucking Covid.
Dune.
Holy shit. What a movie. It runs long at nearly two and a half hours, but I was never bored, and every scene felt like it had good reason to be there. It captured the epic sweep of Frank Herbert’s original work. None of the world-building or explanation felt laboured, and the characters were realised in depth with full nuance.
I thought once or twice that this was what the producers of Foundation on Apple TV were shooting for and missed, possibly because Denis Villeneuve had to compress his story into a couple of hours rather than ten or twelve.
I hope the rest of this series gets made. It should have been as impactful as Lord of the Rings, but I fear the damage done to the movie industry by the pandemic might mean this is all we get.
I rented it, but Imma buy a copy because I think it’ll bear repeated viewings.
yeah I loved it. thought they really nailed it. Many great bits, but the thopters are worth a call out for interesting tech and getting it right
Also worth noting that Paul Atreides is not a whiny little bitch that can so often happen to that type of protagonist character (looking at at you star wars!!!!!)
It was so good! I was able to see it on the big screen thanks to living in the Independent Sovereign Nation of Westralia, but still had to mask up in the cinema when I wasn't eating my choc top.
What was odd for me was that when the final credits rolled I felt the movie had been too short and had compressed the time line on the events on Arrakis, because it seemed like Paul's family had only been there for 5 mins before everything went to shit. It was shocking to realise it was 2 and a half hours long and STILL left me wanting more.
You'll be pleased to know that according to IMDB part 2 is in production and allegedly slated for 2023. Fingers crossed!
Villanueve finally got it right. It could have been a mini series but 2 parts should cover it. I have read it at least 3 times over the yrs. It’s held up all these yrs. Timely even today. Doesn’t matter who’s in charge. The spice must flow
Agree: terrific film/interpretation. Also agree with Justin that the thopters were one of the best bits: all of the other Dune movies have had thopters that didn't make sense. These just totally fit in, and you can imagine them being real. In fact, I expect our drone-racing friends to start building them for real before too long: short-throw oscillation can be done quite efficiently in various ways (think loudspeaker coil).
The one thing that I had worried about, from the pre-release information, was Jason Momoa as Duncan: didn't fit my mental image from the book, but I thought that he really nailed it. Intense Duncan, just a little bigger.
So looking forward to the next one.
You do know that you can stream it multiple times, on the streaming services, right? (I did "buy" a copy though, because I couldn't wait that long...) Was good on the big screen, too, but it's a pity we don't have any Dolby Cinemas with the HDR laser projection in Australia.
Loved it. Big, thinky, the landscape was almost a character. Went with some friends who don’t have the longest attention span, and they did struggle. One of the comments was “ It wasn’t a Marvel film .”
I'm on a booze break at the moment but am planning to fork out some $$ to rent this in the coming couple of weekends when i break the seal. I too had plans to watch this at the cinema and was going to go on my bday - shakes fist at covid for that bday present scuttled. And then it was gone when i was able to go. Happy bday for the other day as well.
Would love to see an adaptation of the Legends of Dune trilogy, cymeks, omnius etc
yeah I loved it. thought they really nailed it. Many great bits, but the thopters are worth a call out for interesting tech and getting it right
Also worth noting that Paul Atreides is not a whiny little bitch that can so often happen to that type of protagonist character (looking at at you star wars!!!!!)
It was so good! I was able to see it on the big screen thanks to living in the Independent Sovereign Nation of Westralia, but still had to mask up in the cinema when I wasn't eating my choc top.
What was odd for me was that when the final credits rolled I felt the movie had been too short and had compressed the time line on the events on Arrakis, because it seemed like Paul's family had only been there for 5 mins before everything went to shit. It was shocking to realise it was 2 and a half hours long and STILL left me wanting more.
You'll be pleased to know that according to IMDB part 2 is in production and allegedly slated for 2023. Fingers crossed!
Speaking of pork butts, can we have a Big Green Egg update please?
I keep photographing the start of my cooks but I forget to shoot the finished product because I'm busy eating them!
Villanueve finally got it right. It could have been a mini series but 2 parts should cover it. I have read it at least 3 times over the yrs. It’s held up all these yrs. Timely even today. Doesn’t matter who’s in charge. The spice must flow
Agree: terrific film/interpretation. Also agree with Justin that the thopters were one of the best bits: all of the other Dune movies have had thopters that didn't make sense. These just totally fit in, and you can imagine them being real. In fact, I expect our drone-racing friends to start building them for real before too long: short-throw oscillation can be done quite efficiently in various ways (think loudspeaker coil).
The one thing that I had worried about, from the pre-release information, was Jason Momoa as Duncan: didn't fit my mental image from the book, but I thought that he really nailed it. Intense Duncan, just a little bigger.
So looking forward to the next one.
You do know that you can stream it multiple times, on the streaming services, right? (I did "buy" a copy though, because I couldn't wait that long...) Was good on the big screen, too, but it's a pity we don't have any Dolby Cinemas with the HDR laser projection in Australia.
I think Toto would have made a better soundtrack ...
TeeHee you said Butt.
I managed to catch it in IMAX during one of the troughs between the waves of COVID it was indeed brilliant.
Loved it. Big, thinky, the landscape was almost a character. Went with some friends who don’t have the longest attention span, and they did struggle. One of the comments was “ It wasn’t a Marvel film .”
I'm on a booze break at the moment but am planning to fork out some $$ to rent this in the coming couple of weekends when i break the seal. I too had plans to watch this at the cinema and was going to go on my bday - shakes fist at covid for that bday present scuttled. And then it was gone when i was able to go. Happy bday for the other day as well.
still on at the Nova if you're in that part of the world
unfortunately not - i'm in the other state next door. My little screen will have to suffice.
Really helps to have a good sub woofer. Worms make big noise. And the splosions of course.