So, as you might remember, my view is that 95% of films are shit. However, every now and then, you get a real gem.

Last year I saw Dune (2021) and I thought it was brilliant. I can't wait for Dune 2 to come out this year!

I liked it as well and I've been purposely avoiding any trailer or video discussing it.

Same here. Originally Niall wanted to see part 1 in the cinema; I forget why we didn't. Stupid prices probably. So there's a chance we'll go see part 2. Cinema or at home, I'm looking forward to it either way

If it helps, tell her I rarely have the attention span for more than 1 hour these days but I happily got hooked into it

Tell here there is a hunky/cute protagonist + Javier Bardiem and she will be sold

I've been a Dune fan since I watched the original movie. I've since read the books and watched the TV miniseries. The latest movie really did Dune right. I'm not huge on Timothée Chalamet as Paul, and I'll probably feel the same about Feyd when it's not Sting playing him. But that's more based on my prior biases than anything about the actors. I'm really glad the story was split into 2 movies. Trying to do it all in a single movie would've made it feel rushed.

BTW, I know I've said this before, but the cinematography is absolutely top notch. The use of color and light is extremely good. That's a strong reason to watch it in a theater.

I watched Dune based on those glowing reviews and I was not disappointed. Yeah, it's really, really good. Like Satis said, the cinematography is outstanding - that shot where the Harkonnen fleet fires all those missiles at the outpost in the distance is just



But the whole movie was tight and well acted. I knew the main story beats from the Lynch version (didn't read the books) and it actually does pretty much the same things, just...better? Maybe not even better, because the Lynch movie is special in its own way. But tighter, perhaps? This felt more like it was trying to tell the story without unnecessary frills, while Lynch gonna Lynch. I also watched a Half in the Bag episode comparing the two and they talked about how Lynch kinda hated working on Dune, in the sense that he was constantly being pressured by the studio to make it into a more accessible movie, and that it sort of explains why it goes off the rails in the second half.

In any case, really looking forward to part 2 now! And unlike you lot, I won't even have to wait long. I didn't even recognize Bardem until you told me about him Derf. But he's great, like everyone else in the movie. As for Chamalet...I get it. He's a bit too pretty and thin to be a great Paul. But he's a good actor at least, and maybe he'll bulk up a little for part 2?

Watched these two movies recently as well:

Rebel Moon: pretty good sci fi, better than expected. It's no Dune, but it was good. Very curious about the sequel

Matrix Resurrections: Oh god, this was so, SO bad. I mostly kept watching to see if it was going to continue being terrible and it was...just beginning to end. It's been a long time since I've seen a blockbuster movie this bad. There was almost nothing positive about it. The story is just self-indulgent nonsense, the acting is weak (even Reeves'), the action scenes felt less inspired than the original trilogy somehow...just wow. Shocking. No wonder half of the cast didn't want to return and they replaced them with different actors. And while that obviously makes sense in a way - there's no reason a program like Smith needs to look the same - it just fell flat.

Just booked my ticket for Dune: part 2 in Imax I missed out on seeing the first part in the cinema, so not making that mistake again. If anything I'm overcompensating by going straight for Imax hahaha

I watched All Quiet On The Western Front yesterday, what a haunting, bleak, terrifying masterpiece. There's one scene that just made me go And it kept dragging on forever. Absolutely brutal. But if you love WWI movies you can't miss this one.

We're waiting for the crowds for drop off before we see Dune part 2, but we definitely plan on catching it in the theater.

So have you seen it yet?

I saw it a while ago now and it was so fucking good. It felt a bit like a movie out of time, with such a big budget, visual spectacle, and most of all patience...it told the story exactly how the director wanted to tell it, and at the right pace. And it pays off. I will admit that while I was in the theatre I thought that it took a while for the movie to get to its apotheosis, but after I left I realised that it needed to take that time for anything in the second part of the movie to work. It had to make sense for the Fremen to go from distrusting this outsider noble boy to worshipping him like a prophet and blindly following him into battle, so we needed to see all that gradual progress and development of his character and his stature among the Fremen.

I'm still not 1000% convinced by Chamalet as Paul, but I can't fault his performances. He did a tremendous job. Same for Zendaya. But Bardem was the one who really stole the show of course, together with the actor who played Feyd (forgot his name). Who knows, maybe he'll even convince Satis that he was better than Sting.

Also, that whole part of the movie set on the Harkonnen planet under the Black Sun...so cool.

I recently watched TIM on Netflix; a decent horror about AI. Nothing particularly new in it and there are a lot of points where something is said or done and you think "that's coming back at the end" but still worth a watch.

I also watched Scream (2022) and enjoyed that. I have only seen the first Scream (and maybe the second but I forget; I confuse actual Scream with Scary Movie a lot!) but really enjoyed this one. You don't need to have seen all the in between ones and it still feels so much like the first one, still taking the piss out of itself and other horror franchises.

Lol... Scary Movie > Scream.

I did watch Dune Part 2 in the theater and it was good. There were a few bits here and there that I disliked (Gurney going Rambo in the final fight for instance), but the rest more than made up for it. I also like how they slipped in bits and pieces from future novels that didn't technically happen yet. So long as it makes sense, I don't mind movies changing the story up some. So anyway, yea, I really enjoyed the 2 new Dune movies. With Dune: Messiah being pretty much a given now, I'm pretty excited. We'll see if that eventually results in a movie of God Emperor.

Regarding Feyd... I liked the new Feyd, but I still like the old Feyd. They're very different characters, in my opinion, but both very engaging. Something about Sting's unbalanced insanity vs Austin Butler's controlled contempt. I don't even know how to put words to what Feyd 2023 was. It's a testament to both the actor and the director that character that could've been a one-dimensional nut job ended up being both psychotic and relatable.