dazed
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Post by dazed on Feb 26, 2024 5:15:01 GMT
caught this at an early screening
i’ll comment a bit more since it’s pretty late, but yeah, this movie fucking rocks. probably one of the best theatre experiences i’ve had.
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dazed
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Post by dazed on Feb 26, 2024 15:56:39 GMT
as you’ve probably seen in the reviews, if you dug the first movie you’ll also really dig this. the first half of the movie or so actually feels quite similar to the first dune in pacing. it’s when feyd is introduced you really start to understand chalamets description of this movie cracking the baseball with a bat vs throwing the baseball in the air with dune part one.
denis villeneueves passion for this project just oozes out of the screen. he really turned it up to 11 here and you begin to realize it just from the opening scene in arrakis. he directed tf out of this movie and i think it’s his career best work (although i’ll still rank BR2049 and incendies above this). greig fraser also turns in career best work. the lighting of the eclipse on arrakis (opening scene) and the harkonnen arena scenes esp are beautiful.
all of the performances are good to great with butler and ferguson being the standouts (butler is likely the MVP for me). ferguson is menacing while butler just totally commits to this role and captures the sinister and cruel qualities of the character so well. i wouldn’t say they steal the show though because chalamet and zendaya are also great. chalamet turns it up a notch too for the last hour or so (trying not to put in any spoilers). pugh and walken are good in their roles but have next to nothing to do, especially the latter.
the political (anti colonialism) and religious themes are on full display here and it seems to faintly go into the dangers of empowering religious fanatics, likely setting up dune messiah and having that message be one of the main themes (i haven’t read any of the dune books, but it feels like that’s what it was hinting towards)
so yeah i loved this. 10/10. this thing is just a fucking behemoth. i’ll put it ahead of dune part one. my ranking for denis looks like this:
BR2049 incendies dune part two arrival dune part one polytechnique sicario prisoners enemy
denis now has four masterpieces imo
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Pasquale
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Post by Pasquale on Feb 28, 2024 19:16:38 GMT
How's Zimmer?
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dazed
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Post by dazed on Feb 28, 2024 20:55:06 GMT
really good. the score here is definitely an improvement over part one, which i thought was pretty good but also thought was mid tier zimmer. there’s a couple of standout tracks i’ve been listening to over the last couple of days which i never did with part one. his score definitely adds to the ‘epicness’ of the movie that makes it feel like the behemoth it is. arrival and harkonnen arena are the two tracks. the scenes give you goosebumps in the theatre, due to both denis and zimmers talents.
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Pasquale
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Post by Pasquale on Feb 28, 2024 21:20:11 GMT
Thanks, I appreciate it.
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Nikan
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Post by Nikan on Feb 29, 2024 23:25:42 GMT
Ehem: - This ties the story together and that automatically makes it a more satisfying experience. - The lighting and the visuals are improved and so is the music believe it or not Hans Zimmer is not a human. Just cannot be... How many great works is that for one body of work again? the man's an alien. - The best acting here is to be found in parts of Ferguson, Butler (hilarious) and Bardem's performances. First movie fine, but I didn't believe TimCham for a second here as a somebody who could bend these many people left and right to their knee, but Paul himself isn't that interesting of a character imo. I just never questioned Mark Hamill and Daniel Radclift and Elija Wood when I was watching their signature roles you know... he and Zendaya make for one boring couple and they are front and center here so imagine how I was feeling 70% of this. - I guess we should all be glad that Frank Herbert's novel has a presentable and complete adaptation now (though I still think it had contributed everything it could to Cinema before in the 70s. It was called Star Wars) but however attractive some elements here are; they do not justify it's length. Pass hour two I was begging for it to finish. 6/10-ish... wouldn't have minded a re-watch (it's that good of an IMAX experience) if it was 2 hrs. And this had no chance at being an Empire Strikes Back cause the first one wasn't A New Hope.
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dazed
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Post by dazed on Mar 1, 2024 4:15:04 GMT
Ehem: - This ties the story together and that automatically makes it a more satisfying experience. - The lighting and the visuals are improved and so is the music believe it or not Hans Zimmer is not a human. Just cannot be... How many great works is that for one body of work again? the man's an alien. - The best acting here is to be found in parts of Ferguson, Butler (hilarious) and Bardem's performances. First movie fine, but I didn't believe TimCham for a second here as a somebody who could bend these many people left and right to their knee, but Paul himself isn't that interesting of a character imo. I just never questioned Mark Hamill and Daniel Radclift and Elija Wood when I was watching their signature roles you know... he and Zendaya make for one boring couple and they are front and center here so imagine how I was feeling 70% of this. - I guess we should all be glad that Frank Herbert's novel has a presentable and complete adaptation now (though I still think it had contributed everything it could to Cinema before in the 70s. It was called Star Wars) but however attractive some elements here are; they do not justify it's length. Pass hour two I was begging for it to finish. 6/10-ish... wouldn't have minded a re-watch (it's that good of an IMAX experience) if it was 2 hrs. And this had no chance at being an Empire Strikes Back cause the first one wasn't A New Hope. damn part one didn’t hold up for you on rewatch? i thought it was pretty good when i seen it in the theatre, then i rewatched it for the first time again the night before part 2 on a 40 inch tv and found it to be great lmao. i think it helped having a bit of background knowledge on the whole ‘dune universe’ this time around.
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Post by Pavan on Mar 1, 2024 12:11:44 GMT
Its not the usual outwardly flamboyant blockbuster even though its stunning to look at. Its workings are more inward and that's where it shines most, the characters and the thematic richness of it all. There's a lot of stuff packed in here, i guess credit goes to the novel itself but it was not completely reproduced to the screen. Villeneuve is more interested in imagery than the workings of the story. He also wanted it to be an action film and that shows. I was in awe of the images on the screen for majority of its time but the big moments didn't do much for me. Like the one where Paul climbs up the hill and gets his followers riled up or the worms stomping the battle. These are great shots, entrances even, but they do not have a proper lead up nor they lead to an equally great finish. All great action sequences are like mini movies. You see their progression and you go along with them and you leave with a satisfactory payoff. Dune lacks that progression and payoffs and that's my biggest problem with Villeneuve's style. He is not this action director most people wants him to be. His greatest strengths are in the much calmer moments and that's where some supporting characters shined like Zendaya's Chani and Bardem's Stilgar. They give the film's much needed emotional quotient which the first film was short of. The last 30 min was solid, where everything worked up well.
I did like it even though my review sounded more critical but its not the Empire Stikes Back or The Dark Knight or Two Towers we wanted it to be, at least not for me. A mild 7.5
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Post by JangoB on Mar 1, 2024 12:28:00 GMT
damn part one didn’t hold up for you on rewatch? i thought it was pretty good when i seen it in the theatre, then i rewatched it ... on a ... tv and found it to be great lmao. Same
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Nikan
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Post by Nikan on Mar 1, 2024 15:28:17 GMT
Villeneuve is more interested in imagery than the workings of the story. He also wanted it to be an action film and that shows. I was in awe of the images on the screen for majority of its time but the big moments didn't do much for me. Like the one where Paul climbs up the hill and gets his followers riled up or the worms stomping the battle. These are great shots, entrances even, but they do not have a proper lead up nor they lead to an equally great finish. All great action sequences are like mini movies. You see their progression and you go along with them and you leave with a satisfactory payoff. Dune lacks that progression and payoffs and that's my biggest problem with Villeneuve's style. He is not this action director most people wants him to be. His greatest strengths are in the much calmer moments and that's where some supporting characters shined like Zendaya's Chani and Bardem's Stilgar. What I will take away from Dunes (the book and the movies) is a new understanding of the "hype machine". No matter our criticism of projects like these and Barbie (as entertainment or adaptations if we wanna be more pro about them); the moment we (meaning lesser a people of sci-fi/certain fandoms) have entered the theater, the movie ha$ won... now more powers to someone like DV who tries on the (again, impressive) visual front like no other*, but ultimately this is a movie that "ends" right when it's finished (yes, unlike your Empires and TDKs)... *I'll actually expand on that a bit, later. ( here)
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BlackCaesar21
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Post by BlackCaesar21 on Mar 1, 2024 17:57:50 GMT
I got serious Life of Brian vibes from Javier Bardem
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Post by countjohn on Mar 2, 2024 7:28:48 GMT
Still didn't love it but it's a significant improvement over the first which felt like 2 and a half hours of exposition and set up.
It still feels like that a lot of the time here, maybe for the first hour and then it doesn't really become good until the last hour or so. It gets better as it goes along though. Butler is 100% the MVP and it's at its best whenever he's on screen. All the raves are true. Will def be in my supporting actor lineup at the end of the year and I could see him being my win depending on how tough the competition is. I'm sold on him now, the way he uses his body and his physicality is tremendous and reminds me a little of young De Niro. Look at both this and Elvis, completely different in the more obvious ways of course but also in that one where he's playing a real person with tons of film on him and here he's playing a fictional character in a completely made up setting. Both times his character work is excellent and the way he moves, his gestures exc are completely unique to the character. I'm sold on him now and I can't wait to see what he does, he clearly works as hard as everyone says on his character building before he shoots. If it had just been once on Elvis it might have been a flash in the pan but to do it twice in a row tells you something.
Obviously has a huge cast with tons of pros, Bardem, Walken, Rampling, Brolin, Seydoux, Ferguson, Skarsgard, Pugh. They're all solid but a lot of them are relegated to being exposition depositories unfortunately. I did really enjoy Butler and Seydoux's one scene together. Probably the best of the movie. I'd watch a romantic drama with them together, terrific chemistry in just that little bit, even with Butler acting like a maniac. Better chemistry than Chalamet and Zendaya in fact.
Speaking of which, the biggest problem here is the two leads. Chalamet is just not a good dramatic actor. I never buy him for a second as anyone other than an actor saying lines on a movie set. I know Paul's one of those standard Skywalker/Potter protagonists as Nikon alluded to but you can at least be personable enough to feel somewhat like a real person. I think Zendaya was just miscast, never bought her as someone who had been living outdoors and sleeping in tents her whole life. Then there was just no spark between them. As I said you get more from that one little scene with Butler and Seydoux than you ever do from them when they get chance after chance. When their puppy love scenes would come on I'd just want it to cut back to Butler or to the Pugh/Walken/Rampling court intrigue stuff.
If there's another issue I'd actually say it's the direction. Villeneuve at this point feels like he's more interested in just stringing as many cool shots as he can together rather than creating cohesive scenes and in the nuts and bolts of direction. I guess I wouldn't call it lazy given how much work he puts into everything else, but I think shallow is a good word for it. Starting with BR2049 it's like he's become the Michael Bay for grownups. Kind of feel the same way about the techs, the CG is detailed and technically good and it took a huge physical effort to build those huge sets but I'm not getting anything from the world. It feels like any old space opera to me. I swear the guy must be color blind at this point. He even had a monochrome planet in the movie this time which feels like the culmination of everything he's been working towards. None of the action is that great either.
Anyway, a 7/10 seems fair to me. Spent a lot of time on the criticisms but I really enjoyed Butler and the story comes together really well in the last act so it was alright. Might rewatch it on streaming one day.
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Post by stephen on Mar 3, 2024 0:38:05 GMT
So I rewatched Dune: Part One right before I saw this in the theaters, and I found this to be the optimal way to view them as they really do feel like two halves of the same story, and now that I've seen the conclusion of this particular arc (Dune: Messiah notwithstanding), I feel I can speak on my thoughts and feelings on them a bit more readily. In short, I feel like everyone stepped up their game from the first film in all arenas (Greig Fraser's cinematography and Joe Walker's editing in particular when it comes to the crafts). Butler and Pugh were excellent additions to the Dune-iverse. I wish that there had been a bit more of Walken's machinations on-screen, because aside from his soliloquy at the end, he's not really given enough to work with. Ultimately, I feel like we should've had the groundwork set for the Emperor's schemes in the first film, introducing us to the powers-that-be to give us a real idea of the scope of it all, but also to make them feel much more like looming threats beyond even that of the Harkonnens, who basically amount to rabid attack dogs than the brain-trust behind it all.
I do think Villeneuve took some fascinating creative leaps here -- in particular the Giedi Prime stuff, which felt very arthouse and popped in a very striking way. I loved the ink-blot fireworks in particular. I wish we'd gotten a bit more of that in the first one.
I'm still cogitating on this, but ultimately I think these two complement each other nicely and make for a very strong outing. Not quite on Blade Runner 2049 or even Arrival's immaculate levels as far as Denis's sci-fi films go, but very respectable all the same.
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Post by mikediastavrone96 on Mar 3, 2024 0:52:24 GMT
If you would've told me 5 years ago that three of my favorite blockbusters coming out were going to be Top Gun 2, Avatar 2, and fucking 2une, I would've laughed in your face.
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Post by pupdurcs on Mar 3, 2024 1:02:53 GMT
Butler is 100% the MVP and it's at its best whenever he's on screen. All the raves are true. Will def be in my supporting actor lineup at the end of the year and I could see him being my win depending on how tough the competition is. I'm sold on him now, the way he uses his body and his physicality is tremendous and reminds me a little of young De Niro. Look at both this and Elvis, completely different in the more obvious ways of course but also in that one where he's playing a real person with tons of film on him and here he's playing a fictional character in a completely made up setting. Both times his character work is excellent and the way he moves, his gestures exc are completely unique to the character. I'm sold on him now and I can't wait to see what he does, he clearly works as hard as everyone says on his character building before he shoots. If it had just been once on Elvis it might have been a flash in the pan but to do it twice in a row tells you something. Great to hear about Butler. To put in a performance people are talking about in these terms right after Elvis does tell us something. First, that Denzel is an excellent judge of talent. And also, that Butler may be what Val Kilmer could/should have been career-wise if he didn't piss of so many people over the course of his career (they share in similarity in looks and ability). Or maybe, if Heath Ledger had lived. These guys are all mercurial talents, but Butler seems by far the most adjusted and stable of all of them. It'll be fascinating to see how his career plays out over the next 20 years.
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Post by TylerDeneuve on Mar 3, 2024 1:47:09 GMT
The Bene Gesserit maneuverings will always be the most interesting part of the series for me - Léa Seydoux is very cool and sexy in her small role and of course Rampling is absolutely delicious as the Reverend Mother.
I can't wait for Dune: Prophecy!
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Post by DeepArcher on Mar 3, 2024 4:12:42 GMT
Well, I do wish they had let me into whatever room I needed to be in to pitch my idea of Baby Annette/Devyn McDowell as Alia.
But otherwise, yeah, this is pretty spectacular, absolutely exhilarating theatrical experience. I'll be curious to see how it holds up at home and removed from the hype, but the first one held up surprisingly well for me, so I suspect this one will as well.
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Post by sterlingarcher86 on Mar 3, 2024 18:11:09 GMT
I think Timmy did as good as he could while looking and sounding like Timothée Chalamet (a detriment in roles like this) Though I don’t think his character is supposed to be this Russell Crowe in Gladiator leader of men. He isn’t in this position because of his presence. He has religious fervor on his side. For perspective look at Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven (a film that is one Orlando Bloom casting away from being a masterpiece) to see what it could have been. Not saying he deserves awards but he is fine.
I actually prefer the first one but that is not a knock on this one. I love the first. I’m just a sucker for a world building set up. The techs and scale are as amazing as I expected though.
Butler was very good but wish he had been more of a presence throughout like in the book. I would have welcomed the assassination subplot. I just don’t really get Zendaya yet but I haven’t seen that TV show she’s on. My wife, Rebecca Ferguson is amazing as always. Bardem is really funny. (Both intentionally and maybe a little not) .
As for Oscar chances I think this sneaks into the back half of the BP lineup and gets the obligatory tech noms. Probably wins a few. I don’t think it does much damage above the line because it’s very clearly a part 2 of 3 ala The Two Towers. I don’t think it would have mattered what time of the year it came out. It’s ceiling and floor are pretty set while we wait for the finale.
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Post by Pittsnogle_Goggins on Mar 4, 2024 1:49:42 GMT
I thought this was pretty great. Obviously visually stunning with outstanding techs all around. I also rewatched Dune the night before watching this and feel that benefited my viewing, I’m not a huge Chalamet fan but feel he was better here than part 1. Didn’t think much of Zendaya here and the supporting cast was pretty great all around.
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Post by mikediastavrone96 on Mar 4, 2024 16:16:51 GMT
My cast ranking:
1. Bardem 2. Ferguson 3. Butler 4. Brolin 5. Chalamet 6. Seydoux 7. Skarsgård
8. Zendaya 9. Rampling 10. Walken 11. Bautista
12. Yacoub 13. Olusanmokun 14. Taylor-Joy
15. Pugh
Not a bad performance in the bunch, but Pugh does feel like the one who doesn't find her way through a thankless role.
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Post by stephen on Mar 4, 2024 16:22:35 GMT
My cast ranking: 1. Bardem 2. Ferguson 3. Butler 4. Brolin 5. Chalamet 6. Seydoux 7. Skarsgård 8. Zendaya 9. Rampling 10. Walken 11. Bautista 12. Yacoub 13. Olusanmokun 14. Taylor-Joy 15. Pugh Not a bad performance in the bunch, but Pugh does feel like the one who doesn't find her way through a thankless role. I'd bump Zendaya, Yacoub (low-key excellent and one of my complaints with the film is we didn't get enough of her, or why she stayed behind; I thought she had died trying to kill Bautista when he was fleeing the desert but that wasn't her apparently?) and Pugh up, maybe bring Brolin, Seydoux and Walken down (they were all very fine with what they were given but I was kinda frustrated we didn't get enough of Gurney's personal hatred for Rabban in the first film and it felt shoehorned in here, Margot Fenring felt kinda superfluous overall to the story even though Lea was giving great work here, and the Emperor is probably the character most in need of proper perspective and character motivation). But yeah, that top three would be mine as well. Bardem especially is so good.
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Post by stephen on Mar 4, 2024 16:39:06 GMT
Also it's bullshit that Thufir Hawat was excised from this film. Stephen McKinley Henderson was so good in the first film and they're setting up his devout loyalty to the Atreides, and knowing what becomes of his character in the books, it would've set up some real good personal stakes for Paul if Gurney tells him the Harkonnens have him as a hostage. I'm not saying they needed to have him milk a cat for an antidote (yes, this is a thing in the book), but give him something. Hell, you could've easily had him dispatched by Feyd-Rautha on Giedi Prime to make his antagonism more of a personal thing.
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cherry68
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Post by cherry68 on Mar 5, 2024 0:46:37 GMT
I haven't seen it yet, but from your comments it doesn't seem like Zendaya improved from her turn in Dune 1 where her acting and facial expressions were exactly like MJ 's in Spiderman.
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BlackCaesar21
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Post by BlackCaesar21 on Mar 5, 2024 1:54:19 GMT
This clip of Christopher Walken in the film was my favourite scene.
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Archie
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Post by Archie on Mar 5, 2024 11:25:55 GMT
Flawless and breathtaking first half, but it unfortunately loses a lot of steam after the Butler/Seydoux scene. I'm not sure that Paul's big transformation is earned. Also, I'm sorry but the whole Jessica talking to her unborn baby thing is unintentionally hilarious, and it really takes a lot from Ferguson's performance.
Great bummer of an ending though. Zendaya is the clear MVP for me. I really don't get why you guys hate her so much. She sells everything Chani goes through beautifully. The hilarious Bardem is the runner-up.
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