To give us all a breather from the sometimes obnoxious reality, I hasten to enlighten the community with the all-important news that the new Dune Movie trailer was released a couple days ago. Somebody also made a shot-by-shot comparison to the 1984 David Lynch's adaptation.
I seem to be ambivalent, prefer the books, anyway.
So, do you like it, hate it, socially distance it? Don't give a wooden nickel?
Or what?
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(Score: 5, Funny) by c0lo on Sunday September 13 2020, @02:39AM (1 child)
So many special effects with a whiff of Pink Floyd's Dark side of the Moon. Hmmm...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by edIII on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:23AM
Dude, that's awesome :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Sunday September 13 2020, @03:11AM (14 children)
The 1984 Dune went for the monstrousness. Really overdone scene of Baron Harkonnen looking gross, getting around in a floating suit, apparently because he was too obese or enfeebled to walk even if he wasn't showing off his wealth and power by disdaining walking. and pulling his slaves' heart plugs for fun. Have felt no slightest urge to ever see that movie again. As usual, the books are much better.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Michael on Sunday September 13 2020, @03:23AM (12 children)
The novels went for monstrousness too. Plenty of detailed description's of the baron being grotesque looking and sadistic. Of course the books are better, because books are better than movies, but not because of things which the books do even more than the movies.
(Score: 3, Disagree) by barbara hudson on Sunday September 13 2020, @03:31AM (11 children)
Boring enough that I never read it through. So avoided the movie, and don't feel I missed anything of consequence. If it's any consolation, I also never watched the Kardashians and still don't know what they look like. And I don't feel like I've missed anything of consequence there either. Ditto Lord of the Rings and The snooze fest known as The English Patient. 20 minutes and we all agreed to eject the DVD.
Felt like I was in an episode of Seinfeld on that one.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Sunday September 13 2020, @04:12AM (1 child)
They resemble a bit the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, yes. (grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:10AM
Well, only is the ass region. For Kim, anyway. And Kanye in the Spice addled head department.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:30AM (1 child)
Hudson the Barbarian Contrarian.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday September 13 2020, @02:48PM
Putting Barbara in the same class of heroes as Conan.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday September 13 2020, @12:11PM (4 children)
Well, what do you like? Shakespeare? Asimov? Clancy? Monty Python?
Whenever I hear the name "Kardashians", I always think of the Cardassians from Star Trek, before I remember there is some TV personality family of that name. Seinfeld has a few classics, such as the Soup Nazi.
I didn't much care for the LOTR movies. Cheapened and infantilized the story. Making Gimli the Dwarf the butt of mean jokes against short people was distracting and offensive. That part in which Gimli is hopping up and down repeatedly, to catch glimpses over a wall, is a huge groaner. But it sounds like you don't care for the books either. I can think of several reasons why, but which ones are yours?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:09PM (3 children)
Storytelling has evolved. You can't engage people by telling the equivalent of a series of really long shaggy dog stories. It would need serious cuts.
Same with a childhood favourite - 2001, A Space Odyssey. I'd cut half an hour from it - audiences are much quicker on the uptake now and don't need to have every single detail telegraphed to them like they're morons. After a while, it's more tedious than anything else.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday September 14 2020, @12:50AM (1 child)
Storytelling has evolved? It's possible that we are smarter than our ancestors. And that therefore, some old stories have lost their relevance. Or are now seen as boring, obvious, and tedious. Not much point to a moral story about something everyone now knows better than to do. We are certainly better educated and much more knowledgeable. Yet many extremely old stories have aged fairly well. The Iliad and the Odyssey, Aesop's Fables, as well as much newer but still centuries old works such as Shakespeare's, are still, well, resonant, you might say. Mythology is also still occasionally entertaining and insightful.
Many religious texts, however, have an agenda decidedly at odds with enlightenment and freedom, and moreover come across as hamfisted. An example of an attempt to fix some of those problems is the Thomas Jefferson edition of the Bible. Jefferson ripped those ancient authors for inserting obvious bullcrap (pretty much all the supernatural stuff) into the Bible, interwoven with the pearls of wisdom it has. These monotheistic religions are very much designed, by people, to appeal to people. The more we learn about ourselves, the clearer that becomes. Why this notion of an afterlife? Why a supreme being in charge of everything? Because many wish it was that way. That kind of stuff is, I think, not aging so well. Religious fanatics have been their religions' own worst enemies, driving lots of people away with their arrant hypocrisies. Been doing that for centuries. Their current high in America, with their blind devotion to Trump, who some among them say was chosen by God, has been an unmitigated disaster. They've outed themselves more than ever as fake, cruel, vicious, bigoted, and downright stupid, suckers for motivated reasoning in the form of conspiracy theories no matter how crazy. What is the percentage of nones now? Was 10% in the 1970s, now it's around 25%. I really think in another few centuries, or possibly far sooner, Christianity and Islam will have faded away, to be taken no more seriously than any other ancient mythology.
I did find the movie Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind a real drag. Star Trek I also had a lot of slow sections. Especially slow is the part where they take a shuttle on a loving cruise around the exterior of the Enterprise. I found the pacing felt about right at fast forward speeds.
So I can understand you feeling that LOTR is a bad travelogue. The characters are really much more in harmony, in their thinking and their decisions, than is perhaps realistic, and it makes them all seem more alike. I always put that down to the severe necessity imposed upon them to work together tightly, if they were to have a chance of defeating the UBG. Yet I think that's a general problem with a lot of stories, caused by the now longstanding tradition of there being only one author. (The Bible is decidedly not the work of one or even a few authors, it's a collection of a whole lot of authors many of whom weren't even contemporaries with one another.) Sometimes authors do collaborate, but the only one I have come across that seems markedly better than solo efforts is David Edding's Belgariad fantasy. It isn't what I'd call great stuff, no, but I was impressed by how well that male author understood women, and how realistic the female characters were. Turned out, his wife was co-author, but was not credited at the time the books were published.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday September 14 2020, @02:38AM
Every few years I'll dig out the paperback anthology it's in and read all the stories, but Houston, Houston, Do You Read and a John Varley story about a dead neighbours computer terrorizing the neighbours, those are short sci-fi you don't see much of any more.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 14 2020, @05:16PM
You talking about LOTR? Yeah, the Lord of the Rings books were not written for a juvenile audience. While The Hobbit was and is a much funner read. The Hobbit was an easy read, The Lord of the Rings books were so bad that I never made it pas the first 1/3 of the first book. It was just dull and I have better things to do than read a book that pays homage to Moby Dick in taking details to the extreme. At least I was reading Moby Dick for a reason, required reading for a class.
Unfortunately this doesn't count as a book report:
"I read the book and it was so slow and stupid the guy couldn't advance the story beyond one room in a single chapter."
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Michael on Sunday September 13 2020, @01:20PM (1 child)
Yeah, I know what you mean. Though personally I don't think of Herbert or Tolkien books as being being badly written, just as being badly edited. Really you have to finish off the job of editing as you go along. Some books you read slowly and carefully, and still wish it hadn't finished so soon like Ursula Le Guin or Greg Egan, but the sloppily edited doorstops like Tolkien, Herbert or Stephen King are definitely more skim-and-skip type material. Often good stories from a plot point of view, just got carried away with too many words and didn't have a strident enough editor to rein them in.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 14 2020, @05:23PM
The Wheel of Time Series was a great series as well, but it suffered a bit in the "too much detail" not enough action department. Until the Author died and a long time fan finished the last couple of books. I mean, it sucks he died and all, but the last couple of books were written much better, in my opinion. At least from a simple entertainment perspective. Which is why I read fiction books.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 14 2020, @12:10PM
It was directed by David Lynch, who also directed Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, and Mulholland Drive. Of course his production of Dune was going to be monstrous. But I thought he did a decent job making our skin crawl at moments like when Baron Harkonnen explains how Thufir Hawat was to milk the cat daily to get his antidote. He also sort of captured the spirit of the Fremen jihad that Muad'Dib began.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @04:13AM (3 children)
The first three books tell a story that's feels pretty together - must have been conceived/plotted at the same/continuous time period.
The fourth is bit like commentary on the story, where herbert's indulging in his personal philosophy/human history, etc.
The fifth and sixth are just ad-hoc, bolt-on extensions to milk the cow, where in most pages nothing happens but rindonculous rambling on thoughts of this or that characters.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:15AM (2 children)
The Dune I'd like to watch is this one,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodorowsky%27s_Dune [wikipedia.org]
There are various trailers and reviews of this movie that was never made. At one point I found a video that had the director working through his story book for the movie (a huge book), full of wonderful pencil sketches of the different scenes. Couldn't find that tonight...
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Sunday September 13 2020, @11:03AM (1 child)
Why? For the out-of-style 60s designs and zero respect for the source material? Dune has a carefully constructed universe that ties planet ecology, industry, geopolitical structures and aesthetics together. The later novels even have chapters full of political discourse (well, monologue really) reflecting just how carefully Herbert laid it all out. Letting other artists that didn't even read the books "do their own thing" and "be themselves" would have done everyone involved and the audience a huge disservice.
Jodorowsky and friends went on to do his own works taking inspiration from the venture so it wasn't a waste of effort. But actually producing it would have been a net loss for everyone.
https://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowskys-dune-uncovered [duneinfo.com]
compiling...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @06:18PM
Those are just lazy repetitive self-indulgent windbaggery. You should show what a character thinks by what s/he does and says, not literally write out the inner-thought in a long-winded monologues. Just plain lazy lousy writing to inflate the page count.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Sunday September 13 2020, @04:22AM (12 children)
The book had a *lot* of backstory -- 10000 years worth. Unless you can somehow convey what and why people no longer need from today's world, it just seems ... unrelatable. It seems to confuse the issue when the movies open with visually familiar human forms, but with a complete disconnection both historically and culturally from the here and now.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday September 13 2020, @04:52AM (9 children)
I agree with you on this**
I think the book series could benefit from setting them into TV series, one season per book.
---
** which may be further proof I'm a nobody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:31AM (6 children)
TV seems the be the only option for me. Movie theaters are dead now. I don't see Coronavirus leaving the US for at least another 12 months now. Nobody will cooperate and put on their fucking masks, and now with a rushed vaccine, it's highly unlikely we can vaccinate enough of the public. That's IF the vaccine works.
Movie theaters are collection of super spreader events.
Unless they all evolve to have less seats, or more distance between small groupings of seats, and amp up the negative air flow by 1000x, I'm not stepping one foot in them. Seriously, I need to be able to smoke a cigar while watching and see that none of the smoke goes anywhere except straight up. Individual registers built around the seats releasing enough air, that no flatulence, no matter how powerful its kung fu, can reach more than 1ft laterally.
It seems like Coronavirus is with us permanently now, so some things will just have to go away, and new things evolve.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Sunday September 13 2020, @05:45AM (5 children)
Bring back the Drive-In !!
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by canopic jug on Sunday September 13 2020, @06:30AM (3 children)
Can't. Current cars are damn uncomfortable even when you are distracted by being engaged in the act of driving them. There is exceptionally limited range of movement for any limb and visibility is limited to the low front. The old cars back in the heyday of drive in theaters and drive in restaurants had wide, comfortable seats and high ceilings compared to the small cages on wheels now called cars. You might get a brief, small resurgence of interest in drive-ins while people are desperate for novelty but the land requirements eliminate them from anywhere near an urban center and the discomfort while in the car means there is no chance of a longer term return. Television has been dead for decades but since most people are very severely addicted to hunching over and poking at their smartphones, streaming has a good chance. The drawback there is that as an artistic medium the current contrast and color capacity of the screens are piss poor. Because streaming is now part of the release plan of most movies and series, producers are not going to invest in rich scenic or detailed background like you had in the pre-minimall era. However, counter to that might be the 75+ inch >4k net-enabled televisions people are starting to buy. That's not a drive-in experience but might be the 2020s' analog to it.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Sunday September 13 2020, @02:56PM (1 child)
Also with all the controls and consoles between the front seats there's no chance to put your arm around your honey while watching a romance.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Sunday September 13 2020, @06:57PM
Though I omitted that, it was probably one of the major draws to the drive-in theaters. With the big horizontal, sofa-like seat and three-on-the-tree it was possible and convenient to just slide over together. The large, bed-like back seat was also a cultural force of its own and always in close proximity right up to curfew.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PiMuNu on Sunday September 13 2020, @07:24PM
> the drawback there is that as an artistic medium the current contrast and color capacity of the screens are piss poor.
Everyone I know streams to at least a TV, if not an HD TV. So no the punk kids throwing popcorn three rows back. I can't imagine anyone streaming a two hour+ movie to a smartphone, unless they have no other option.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @12:42PM
We still have a few Drive-In theaters left, they are doing good business this covid summer.
https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/movies/drive-ins-become-an-improbable-star-of-2020/article_8f30b91e-e7da-11ea-9ea9-9fd08472c727.html [buffalonews.com]
Google
site:buffalonews.com Drive-In
gives several more recent hits.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Sunday September 13 2020, @08:37AM (1 child)
I think the Sci-Fi channel did a fairly good miniseries based on the first three books. I'd watch them again if I had the chance.
The '84 movie? No fucking way would I waste that much of my life again
This remake? I'll pass,
I also have to agree with OP that the Dune books had an incredible amount of backstory and lore. It was one of the things I liked about the original three books,
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @09:28AM
You need to watch the directors cut of the 1984 Dune. The studio hacked it to pieces, stuffed in deleted crap and generally made it complete shit. If it says "directed by Alan Smithee" it is shit.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday September 13 2020, @10:33PM (1 child)
There's so much depth to the world and the story taking place within it that I doubt very much a movie can really capture enough of it to make much sense.
Kubrick tried and failed. (Given that he erased his name from it, you could say he tried and died).
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday September 13 2020, @10:36PM
Brain fart: *Lynch*
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @10:19AM
Protagonist casting is kinda eh… Pls replace.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @02:32PM (2 children)
The remake of Blade Runner was dreaded because the original was near perfection. In this case it will be difficult to make something worse than the 1984 movie. however there are a lot of great books that have never been made into movies, why not make something fresh?
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday September 13 2020, @02:58PM
Perhaps because Verhoeven is a Dune fan?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 14 2020, @12:18PM
It wasn't a remake of Bladerunner, it was a sequel. It was good, too; the complexity and subtlety of the soundscape alone made it worth watching.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 13 2020, @06:47PM
Of course, the Jews put Zendaya as the leading lady. We can't be allowed to watch a single movie, tv show or commercial without the Jews anti-white agenda being pushed.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Sunday September 13 2020, @09:12PM (4 children)
Liked both. Do not like enough to go see in theatre. Big screen might be nice but I can wait for the DVD.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday September 14 2020, @04:29PM (3 children)
I'll wait for VHS thank you.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 14 2020, @05:27PM (1 child)
Wait long enough and you'll get the authentic experience. VCR eating the tape, unjamming of said VCR, and the classic "be kind, please rewind".
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday September 14 2020, @05:50PM
Macrovision Quality Protection.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday September 16 2020, @03:51PM
Celluloid. Because who doesn't like burning your home theatre (and home) down when it jams.... The Authentic Original cinema experience? Plus, add that REAL 3d experience while watching Inglourious Basterds!
This sig for rent.