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Watch, Watched, Watching : Series or Stand Alone? Home or Theater?

Zorral

By Zorral,
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Veltigar Council Member

Veltigar

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Saw Dune last night. It was alright and I hope it makes a ton of money so Villeneuve gets to do ever more ambitious projects, but I wasn't very impressed by it. Definitely surprised by how much love it gets from critics. The best thing about the film by far are the visuals, while there are definitely problems with the story.

Firstly, there is a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing going on. Secondly, certain problems I had with the original novel are further exacerbated by translating the story to the silver screen.

Spoiler

e.g. The Fremen being portrayed as ace fighters able to eliminate Sardaukar (which in and of itself is a stretch that either of those forces could be superb given how shitty their life circumstances are) but then their best fighter is easily bested by the Lady Jessica. It's not very consistent with each of these people's prowess. 

I'm not sure whether I'd see a second film in theatre, even though I hope it gets greenlit. 

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Ran Council Member

Ran

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3 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

The best thing about the film by far are the visuals, while there are definitely problems with the story.

What a surprise. :P Sounds like my assessment of Blade Runner 2049, and pretty much what I expected of Dune.

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Veltigar Council Member

Veltigar

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3 minutes ago, Ran said:

What a surprise. :P Sounds like my assessment of Blade Runner 2049, and pretty much what I expected of Dune.

I think Blade Runner 2049 is by far the superior film, it's been a while but I can't remember being that bothered by its story. Here it's such a shame that Villeneuve takes the best part of the book and then makes a very straightforward adaptation of it (which then partly fails because he had to cut somewhere to tell that story within the allotted time, hence a lot of telling and obvious telegraphing).

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Zorral Council Member

Zorral

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5 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Saw Dune last night. It was alright and I hope it makes a ton of money so Villeneuve gets to do ever more ambitious projects, but I wasn't very impressed by it. Definitely surprised by how much love it gets from critics. The best thing about the film by far are the visuals, while there are definitely problems with the story.

Firstly, there is a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing going on. Secondly, certain problems I had with the original novel are further exacerbated by translating the story to the silver screen.

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e.g. The Fremen being portrayed as ace fighters able to eliminate Sardaukar (which in and of itself is a stretch that either of those forces could be superb given how shitty their life circumstances are) but then their best fighter is easily bested by the Lady Jessica. It's not very consistent with each of these people's prowess. 

I'm not sure whether I'd see a second film in theatre, even though I hope it gets greenlit. 

But-but-but-but -- is it better than the Lynch version?  :lol:

I.e. spoiler box: Perennial fave of morality based historians, since ancient of days. Sf/f etc. will never be convinced otherwise! :cheers:

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Veltigar Council Member

Veltigar

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1 hour ago, Zorral said:

But-but-but-but -- is it better than the Lynch version?  :lol:

If I had to recommend one cinematic Dune property to anyone, I'd opt for Jodorowsky's Dune simply because Jodorowsky is the only film maker I can think of who could potentially out-crazy Werner Herzog. Funnily enough the most interesting tidbit on the IMDB trivia page of the current Dune is a reference to the documentary about Jodorowsky's attempt:

Spoiler

Charlotte Rampling, who will star in Denis Villeneuve's upcoming adaptation of the 1965 novel, originally wanted to play Lady Jessica in Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed Dune project, but declined the offer due to a scene that involved 2,000 extras defecating at once.

As to how it holds up against the Lynch version. It's been years since I last saw that one, but just looking up a few scenes on YouTube earlier today there really is no doubt in my mind that Villeneuve has made the superior Dune adaptation.

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

I.e. spoiler box: Perennial fave of morality based historians, since ancient of days. Sf/f etc. will never be convinced otherwise! :cheers:

That's why we must keep listing Devereaux work in debunking the myth

https://acoup.blog/2020/01/17/collections-the-fremen-mirage-part-i-war-at-the-dawn-of-civilization/

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1 minute ago, BigFatCoward said:

We thought it was dreadful. Apart from anything else it was only about 15% accurate to the books. 

Well I..disagree.  As for only being about 15% accurate I really don't think that's true at all but honestly I don't remember the book that well.

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1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

We thought it was dreadful. Apart from anything else it was only about 15% accurate to the books. 

Blasphemy! Fantastic Mr Fox is a brilliant film, note-perfect from beginning to end. I was never into Dahl's books as a child, and haven't read Fantastic Mr Fox - the ones I've read as an adult make me suspect Anderson improved on the source material. 

You probably don't like Grand Budapest Hotel either. (Says dog-days, crying two geometrically precise tears while slouching in a aubergine tailcoat against a Belle Époque façade.) 

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DireWolfSpirit

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13 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

S1-E8 of The Sopranos:

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The double recall to Goodfellas one right after the other by the actors in both projects. Chef's kiss.

 

You have tons of whimsical moments ahead for you if you continue on your Sopranos watch. The smart humor ( even while being a legit mob entree) of that series was one of its calling cards imo.

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Veltigar Council Member

Veltigar

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Some sad news for all the Derry Girls fans here:

https://www.avclub.com/derry-girls-creator-lisa-mcgee-says-the-show-will-end-w-1847730246?utm_campaign=The A.V. Club&utm_content=1632419400&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1l9EyEtn5ld0sYcSQfBgHDrxoTvczdnVYSjdHNEa044-gt0Gmz8xlLXX4

 

On the bright side, at least we're finally getting a third season. Can't believe how long it has been :) 

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Isis Council Member

Isis

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On 9/22/2021 at 7:35 PM, BigFatCoward said:

We thought it was dreadful. Apart from anything else it was only about 15% accurate to the books. 

HOW DARE YOU

Actually, I was adamant about not even bothering to watch it, I was so cross about its American-isation. But then I happened to watch it one Christmas Eve at my parent's house and I was enchanted by it. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. 

I was having a really stressful time on a flight once, desperate to sleep but couldn't, and then I found out this film was on the movie list. My husband said it had a soporiphic effect on me, like putting a child in front of a cartoon. 

Anyway, you're wrong. :)

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BigFatCoward Council Member

BigFatCoward

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2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Some sad news for all the Derry Girls fans here:

https://www.avclub.com/derry-girls-creator-lisa-mcgee-says-the-show-will-end-w-1847730246?utm_campaign=The A.V. Club&utm_content=1632419400&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1l9EyEtn5ld0sYcSQfBgHDrxoTvczdnVYSjdHNEa044-gt0Gmz8xlLXX4

 

On the bright side, at least we're finally getting a third season. Can't believe how long it has been :) 

Well some of them are going to he pushing 40 practically by the time this comes out. Its almost 90210 levels of ancients playing teens. 

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Veltigar Council Member

Veltigar

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11 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Well some of them are going to he pushing 40 practically by the time this comes out. Its almost 90210 levels of ancients playing teens. 

I mean, they are meant to be (Northern) Irish right, the rough living and stupendous intake of hard alcohol ages them up fast :P Didn't you know that Ian McElhinney plays a 27-year old in the series?

 

Spoiler

Jokes aside, I wouldn't have said any of them were close to 40 :o Twenty-somethings yes, but they must have good skin care regimes.

Plus, it's a comedy so then I can give it a lot more leeway. They could have played teenagers until the end of time as far as I'm concerned if the series would be able to remain such great fun throughout.

 

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