The New Dune Movie Trailer…

Well I finally watched the movie, I think I have mixed feelings about it. On the one side visually is fantastic, and I think it recreates the Dune atmosfear really well, on the other side the story seems barely an introduction, with no transcendence, I wonder how must feel people that have not read the books. I guess the director wanted to give the movie a slow pace but with such a base material, he is going to need much more than 2 films to make something that ends not being just .... not enough.

Mostly all characters are really flat, you do not get to know them well, particularly Leto Atreides, and I miss Feyd Rautha. Mostly nothing of the political battles is explained, barely insinuated.

Liet Kynes being a black woman .... I am getting old, and tired of all this political correctness / diversity thing, aren't they just perpetuating conflicts just for the sake of their own idea of the world?

My bottom line is .... it could be a good first out of ten episodes, but if it is going to be only 2 movies, it will be a failure, unless you don't care about the original story.
 
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I think the Denis Villanueva version has the best sound design ever, but the two most important things, the directing and the acting, just have very little feel of character. Last night I watched the 2:58 long SpiecDiver fan edit of David Lynch’s version, combining the theatrical release, deleted scenes, and the bs mini-series version, and to me, it’s by far the best version to enjoy if you just love great acting. Everyone is so intense in that version, with the best feel. I especially love the earnest performance of Jürgen Prochnow and the extra screens with him.

And did anyone notice they left out so many of the great lines in the new one? The sleeper must awaken? Mood’s a thing for cattle and loveplay?

The one big thing I give the new one is Javier Braden; he’s always incredible. Everyone else mostly just lacked personality, in my book.
 
It's like Hollywood is trying to squeeze 3 or 4 BLOCKBUSTERS (at minimum!) out
of every story. Tech can be great, because that is where we are as a civilization,
but damn if I don't agree that in the process of doing so a lot of storytelling 101
essentials get watered down in the process.
 
la szum said:
It's like Hollywood is trying to squeeze 3 or 4 BLOCKBUSTERS (at minimum!) out
of every story. Tech can be great, because that is where we are as a civilization,
but damn if I don't agree that in the process of doing so a lot of storytelling 101
essentials get watered down in the process.
Click to expand...

That's the thing right now: I feel like the all the people involved in film who have nothing to do with acting or directing are the best they've ever been: costumes, set design, cinematography, music composition, sound design, even foley work. And a million other areas; they're all the best. But conversely, I feel like producers are just casting models instead of actors. Even in the periods before method acting took over, actors generally had personality and feel. I mean, I think right away to two of my favorites, James Cagney and Sidney Poitier; both of those dudes were pure feel, and more character than anyone could handle. They could just walk in front of the camera and I feel love. But like, this Timothée Chalamet, I felt like he didn't have the ability to emote, like his goal was to have no feel, or like he just naturally has no feel; when he spoke it was like the rest of his face didn't move, like he doesn't understand facial expressions or something; it was unnerving.

There are so many people who live and die for acting, people who can be found on stages all across the world, who really really try to infuse every movement with meaning, and those are the people whom producers should be elevating. And some of these people are going to be weird and creepy, and awesome, like Brad Dourif, and some are going to be normal, but full of character. But this thing of hiring people based on headshots, or "bankability," makes me go flaccid every time, and makes me lose interest in modern movies overall. My great joy is that at least much of the history of cinema is at our fingertips on demand these days, so if I want character, or just great actors / directors at their height, I can always find it.

I could write a book on my feelings about this.
 
I think what hurt the Lynch version the most was the portrayal of the Baron. I know my wife, who never read the book, hated the movie for that alone
 
State of Epicicity said:
. But this thing of hiring people based on headshots, or "bankability," makes me go flaccid every time, and makes me lose interest in modern movies overall.
Click to expand...

The anti-viagra!

You kind of nailed it, in my opinion. It's about putting an handful of actors and actresses
in EVERY MOTHER FUCKING BIG BUDGET HOLLYWOOD MOVIE!

One of the things I think about with present day cinema is will it be pleasant and interesting
to watch----because odds are the acting, script, and dialogue are going to be shit more often
than not.

So I think about how it is shot and where it is shot, and if it will transport me to another world
where I will inevitably realize that all the inhabitants there are embodying played out Hollywood
tropes and lacking in any and all depth or conviction. ;)
 
Tonedeaf said:
I think what hurt the Lynch version the most was the portrayal of the Baron. I know my wife, who never read the book, hated the movie for that alone
Click to expand...

I just started rereading the book (it's been 30 years), so I don't remember the difference. Funny, my wife last night was reiterating how much she loves Kenneth McMillan in general, but especially that performance. But she's never read the book. I love that performance too!

But that's another thing I forgot about the new one. I don't generally think anything much of Stellan Skarsgård, but I thought he was phenomenal in the new one.
 
la szum said:
One of the things I think about with present day cinema is will it be pleasant and interesting
to watch----because odds are the acting, script, and dialogue are going to be shit more often
than not.
Click to expand...

For me, I always go for film that feels more like a play, because I see the focus more often put on the substance and the quality of the performances. Like one of my favorite films, Equus, with Peter Firth and Richard Burton. There's nothing fancy about it at all, just, to me, the greatest writing, directing, and acting ever. My favorite film, by the same director, is called Fail-Safe, from 1964. Again, nothing fancy at all; it doesn't even have any music haha. But the acting and the writing and the directing are the very best, to me.

Thinking again about the David Lynch Dune, the hyped intensity of everyone's acting reminds me of The Last Temptation of Christ, where everyone is just insanely intense, but scarily believable; it's thrilling to watch. In the David Lynch version, I think my favorite performance is actually Siân Phillips, who plays the Reverend Mother who tests the main character. The delivery of every line is so other-worldly (no pun intended) creepy, I just want to hear everything she has to say haha. I've seen a bunch of Charlotte Rampling films, but I've just never really cared about her, even though she's in another of my favorites, The Verdict. But in this new Dune version, again I just didn't really care about her playing the same Reverend Mother. I was more in awe of the cinematography and Dude, THE SOUND!!!
 
And again with Stellan Skarsgård, did anyone else notice the full on homage to Marlon Brando in Apocalypse now? With the shot running his hand over the shaved head, in the same way? Man, that was thrilling.
 
As a Sci-Fi freak, I just cannot get Dune. It just misses me.

I made it finally through the Lynch movie without falling asleep like 3 years ago. After trying maybe 10 times.

Me and my kid watched the new one on HBO when it came out. What great photography. But the pretense and the scripture just fucking miss me by a mile.

I'm excited for the 3 Body Problem films. I grew up on Foundation, but it's an impossible film, and hear exactly what I'd expect.
 
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