TV/Movies Megathread

[FunkMonk]

Villeneuve is the most talented director currently living. His Dune will define cinema for years to come.

[Barrister]

I may give the book another try. I've bounced off of it several times.

I read it. But I wouldn't rave about it

But I kind of love the Lynch version and it's vision and would love to see that as maybe a more typical film. With the vision maybe dialed back just a tad. And a more normal cast. And less Sting.

Less vision and less Sting wouldn't make it the flawed but awesome movie that it is.

[frunk]

Jason Momoa isn't the first person I would have thought of for Duncan Idaho, but that is a pretty inspired piece of casting.

[Valmy]

I'm so hyped for this, especially after Blade Runner 2049.

Me to! I haven't been this pumped for a movie in a very long time.

Jason Momoa isn't the first person I would have thought of for Duncan Idaho, but that is a pretty inspired piece of casting.

Yeah that one caught me by surprise. But why not?

[Valmy]

The first novel is a true SF classic, the rest of the series is skippable.

I disagree. I thought all the first four were excellent and very cool.

Also: the Sci Fi miniseries is pretty great. Especially the Children of Dune sequel.

[celedhring]

Villeneuve is the most talented director currently living. His Dune will define cinema for years to come.

I really like him but his films are a bit too cold and cerebral sometimes. Then again Dune suits him fine on that regard.

[celedhring]

Season 2 of What we do in the Shadows is on HBO Spain 

[The Larch]

The other is the guild space / navigators / space travel element, which is admittedly represented in a much abstract / trippy way in the Lynch movie (and not super well explained in the books, which I usually think is one of its strengths). IIRC, the guild navigators use spice to calculate the correct trajectory for space travel, which is then performed by the ship, not by them.

Also, IIRC navigators are mentioned and talked about in the novel, but they don't really appear on it, while in the movie they appear openly in front of the Emperor to promote the coup against the Atreides. And of course they are freaky as hell.

In general terms all the differences between the novel and Lynch's movie come from the failed Jodorowski project from the 70s (the most influential movie to have never been made, as it's sometimes called), which is a much more idiosyncratic retelling of Herbert's story rather than a faithful adaptation (in Jodorowski's own words, he wanted to metaphorically rape Herbert's novel for his vision of the story to come up, which is much less cynical and political and much more mystical instead). For instance, in the movie Paul, once he becomes the Muad'dib gains straight up magical powers (he even creates rain in Arrakis by the end of the film, something that Herbert apparently hated), while in the novel Paul never stops being "somehow" human.

[Sheilbh]

Less vision and less Sting wouldn't make it the flawed but awesome movie that it is.

You're right on vision.

I'm not convinced Sting is as crucial to the movie

[viper37]

Funnily enough some of those changes seem to have somehow become part of the official Dune lore, rather than the novel's portrayal.

Please elaborate
I have never read the novels, but I am curious.  I like the movies and I've played all the games

Mmm, now I realize I should have said "popular depiction" rather than lore, given that it has more to do with visual and cosmetic traits. For instance, most of the Harkonen's freakier stuff in the Lynch movie doesn't appear at all in the novel. First thing that comes to mind is the depiction of Baron Harkonen, in the novel it is mentioned that he wears an antigravity contraption to be able to move properly due to his grotesque obesity. In the movie this is updated to straight up flying device. Almost all the visually grotesque Harkonen stuff from the Lynch movie is an original creation.

thanks

[viper37]

From memory:

Yes, the sonic devices are the biggest change - which the Dune games took on. In the books, the Weirding Way is a martial art. IIRC, it was a change Herbert was okay with, because of the difficulty of representing the potential of the weirding way in a sufficiently foreign way.

The other is the guild space / navigators / space travel element, which is admittedly represented in a much abstract / trippy way in the Lynch movie (and not super well explained in the books, which I usually think is one of its strengths). IIRC, the guild navigators use spice to calculate the correct trajectory for space travel, which is then performed by the ship, not by them.

Harkonnen heart plugs did not exist. Vladimir Harkonnen is played way over the top for his cunning and scheming ways. The movie made him gross, as a shorthand for decadence and corruption. This was also taken on by the video games.

The "Voice" has a clear audible character, whereas, again IIRC, it's really just hitting on subconscious brain compulsions.

Paul is supposed to be much younger. This may work better with Chalamet's juvenile face.

However, Lynch's biggest contribution has been to the aesthetics of the world Dune, which most subsequent games have taken on, in one way or another. 

ah, thank you too.

I shall definately read the first book at some point.

[KRonn]

Killing Eve season 3. Villanelle speaking Catalan 

I started watching this again, season 3. I think I'll like it, and recording the season. I'll have to read up a bit to see what the first two seasons were about but it looks good. Thanks for posting about the show as it got me interested. 

[celedhring]

You definitely should watch the first two seasons. The show is really entertaining anyway.

[Syt]

"Colorful metaphors" in old Star Trek vs new Star Trek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqn0WhG53uA

[Savonarola]

General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait (1974)

An upbeat film about the ruler of a small African nation who lets nothing get him down.  The pressures of government mount as he continues to wage economic warfare with the west, he plans to invade the Golan Heights, and the head of his foreign service office is eaten by a crocodile; yet through it all he keeps a smile on his face  .  Knowing that he'll go on to become King of Scotland makes this film the feel good hit of 1974.   

Idi Amin gave Barbet Schroeder near unlimited access to make this film; the result is indescribably weird.  Idi Amin is incredibly charismatic (if obviously a narcissist) and almost always in a jocular mood.  The film isn't so much the banality of evil; it's more like the situation comedy of evil.