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diff --git a/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/_index.md b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/_index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..062ae35 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/_index.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ ++++ +title = "Dune" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-04-14T18:10:00+02:00 +categories = ["brainrot"] +draft = false +weight = 3005 +primary_menu = "brain-rot" +abstract = "The Dune series" +[menu] + [menu.brain-rot-ascifi] + weight = 3005 + identifier = "dune" + post = "series" ++++ + +{{< img-r "dune-1st-ed.jpg" >}} +Dune cover +{{< /img-r >}} + +{{< menu "brain-rot-dune" >}} +Dune +{{< /menu >}} + +{{< menu-info >}} +Dune +{{< /menu-info >}} diff --git a/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-one-2021.md b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-one-2021.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ebc727 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-one-2021.md @@ -0,0 +1,144 @@ ++++ +title = "Dune: Part One (2021)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-04-13T21:33:00+02:00 +categories = ["brainrot"] +draft = false +weight = 3001 +primary_menu = "brain-rot-dune" +abstract = "My review of an adaptation of the first part of an amazing book" +aliases = ["/brain-rot/dune/part-one-2021"] +[menu] + [menu.brain-rot-dune] + weight = 3001 + identifier = "dune-part-one-2021" + parent = "denis-movies" ++++ + +I'd like to call myself a Dune fan, but I am not. +I have finished my Dune adventure on _Heretics_ and only now am I planning to finish the saga[^fn:1] +Though, I think this still puts me well above most people calling themselves fans now. +I loved eveything I've read, but I have never reached the end. + +_Dune: Part 1_ is the second movie based on the 1956 Frank Herbert's classic SciFi epic. +Well, it is not. +It is the third attempt to show the first half of the book. +There was the David Lynch verion (which I adore) and there was a TV Series. +There were also games, but only two of those have any resemblance to the plot of the book. +So yeah, Dune was considered impossible to transfer to any other medium. +Sadly, I still have to agree. + +I think everybody (and their dogs) know what _Dune_ is about but: +_Dune_ is a story of distant future, where all powerful houses rule the known universe. +The technological progress was halted thousands of years ago, after a thinking machines raged a war against humanity. +After their defeat it was forbidden to create such machines. +Arrakis (aka Dune) is a sand planet, the only known source of _Spice_ - a narcotic allowing humans to traverse time, and therefore spaceflight. +Spaceships are operated by mutated humans, who after exposure to Spice can see into the future and steer the ships. +Now, the Emperor orders the control of the planet to be shifted to th House of Atreides. +The previous stewards, House of Harkonen will not make it any easier. + +Ignoring the mutants, this sounds like a run-of-the-mill SF series. +But _Dune_ It is also story of social engineering spanning millennia, of false prophets, and a million other crazy things. +The first book keeps it _almost_ sane, but there is a significant dictionary attached, and the first time reader will need to use it extensively. +Later the saga goes completely off the rails. +We'll get back to this. + +Note, that _Frank Herbert_ wrote only the first few books. +After his death, his son - _Brian Herbet_ took over and wrote dozens of other ones. +The quality differs significantly, as I've been told. +I've read the _Houses_ trilogy, and it was quite nice. + +Now that we've got the introduction out of the way, let's go to the movie. +Let me start with saying that I adore it. +It's not what I'd want (as the young vloggers say "hear me out face value it's as close to perfect SF movie as they go. + +_Dune: Part 1_ is directed by Denis Vileneuve, who previously directed some of the greatest SF movies of this century - _Arrival_ and _Blade Runner 2049_. +His other movies are also amazing (I can't recommend _Enemy_ enough), so I was pretty stoked when it was announced that he will direct _Dune_. +I am no longer a movie buff[^fn:2], but he may very well be my favorite living director. + +Technically, I can not find any fault with the movie. +The story makes sense (I'll return to Lynch in a second), which by itself is an achievement. +The acting is superb, and works as a reminder that TV series are still not on the level of the greatest movies. +The special effects are astounding[^fn:3]. +The music is, for the most part, at least great. +I hated the main theme with screaming lady. +Music is supposed to work with the movie, not to hide it with loud noises! +But that's the only thing I disliked. + +{{< img-c "dune-part1-001.webp" "https://movie-screencaps.com/dune-2021/" >}} +Jessicas portrayal is amazing. +{{< /img-c >}} + +{{< img-c "dune-part1-002.webp" "https://movie-screencaps.com/dune-2021/" >}} +ALL costumes are amazing +{{< /img-c >}} + +{{< img-c "dune-part1-003.webp" "https://movie-screencaps.com/dune-2021/" >}} +CGI is amazing. +The movie looks amazing. +{{< /img-c >}} + +{{< img-c "dune-part1-004.webp" "https://movie-screencaps.com/dune-2021/" >}} +Have mentioned how amazing this movie looks? +{{< /img-c >}} + +I loved the tempo of this movie, as I never enjoyed action-packed shoot fests of the _other franchise dominating cinema for decades_. +Everything is slow - the actors speak slowly, the scene have time to breath, the camera is moving on a low gear. +Even things fall down slowly! +This adds an amazing dream-like feeling to most scenes. +Sometimes I felt like I'm watching a _Tarkovsky_ movie and not a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. + +And this the greatest and worst thing here. +It's meditative. +You feel like yoy are in a trance. +You fully buy accept you see here. + +But the world of Dune is weird. +It is full of things that make you go "huh?". +It has mutants who traverse time, but it also got mutants who are computers. +There are reanimated corpses, living furniture, hollow planets, vision quests. +Denis omitted everything that was not essential to the plot, and what he left, he grounded in reality by omitting the _wtf_. +There are not even the crazy names! +Some strange things he left, but they are shown without explanation. +It's just there, without any context. +But, to be fair - context would only add confusion. + +But this is where _Lynchs_ version shines. +It makes little sense, it is rushed - sure. +But it conveys how twisted the world is. +It's not a trace, it's a full on narcotic trip straight out of some hippie story. + +And this is why I don't think that this movie is a _great_ adaptation of Dune. +It is a _great_ movie on its own. +It perfectly adapts the adaptable and pretends that there is nothing else. +It makes _Dune: Part 1_ the hit that it is, and it allowed us to get _Part 2_. +But since making this move appeal to mass audience is not my problem, I'd like to see the full picture. + +It'd also like to see the world less cold. +The architecture is devoid of heart, it's brutalistic. +It looks amazing (I think I mentioned that), but the crazy colors and abstract layouts we see in Lynch version is something else. +It's a Vileneuve style. +It looks exactly like his previous movies - it's controlled, clean, _cold_. +As much as I loved it in his other works, I'm not sure if it fits the degenerate houses we meet. + +But that's just me. +As it stands, this is a groundbreaking movie which makes me want more. +Not only more of _Dune_ but more of serious, intelligent SciFi movies. +We had those and may get more! + +It's better in any conceivable way compared to all previous attempts at adapting the source material, and I think all my nitpicks are kina moot. +It fits 2024 esthetic and it's crazy intelligent. + +Highest recommendation from me. +4.75/4 + +And, hey! +Sardukars no longer look like welders! + +[^fn:1]: Right after finishing the Witcher saga. +[^fn:2]: not to brag, but I was a semiprofessional film critic during college years. + I had a press pass and all! +[^fn:3]: Ornititopthers look just like in the _Dune_ game! + This strangely works with how believable everything is. + All flying ships have this strange physics, which I have hard time explaining. + They are not like you X-Wings, but they fit the world. diff --git a/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-two-2024.md b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-two-2024.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee63039 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-two-2024.md @@ -0,0 +1,130 @@ ++++ +title = "Dune: Part Two (2024)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-04-16T16:44:00+02:00 +categories = ["brainrot"] +draft = false +weight = 3002 +primary_menu = "brain-rot-dune" +abstract = "My review of an adaptation of the second part of an amazing book" +aliases = ["/brain-rot/dune/part-two-2024"] +[menu] + [menu.brain-rot-dune] + weight = 3002 + identifier = "dune-part-two-2024" + parent = "denis-movies" ++++ + +It's here, it's finally here. +_Dune_ joins the very small club of SciFi books with amazing adaptations. +When _Part One_ hit the screens, people were amazed that it was so good. +Now, with _Part Two_, we hear that it's even better than the first one! + +But I was very skeptical. +The trailers seemed to indicate a train wreck. +They were full of explosions, angry screaming guys and the taglines about war. +Dune was never _about_ war. +War was in there, but it was never the point. +But cinema, SciFi especially, loves special effects, and big-booms are amongst the most used. +I dislike a lot of SciFi movies from the USA, as the (so called) spectacle is all there is[^fn:1]. + +But what the hell, I chose an IMAX experience nevertheless. +The first _Dune_ was breathtaking, so why not? + +And then the movie started, and my worries were replaced with anger. +What the hell is this? +Soldier banter? +Puppy-eyes? +Joking? +It's a SciFi war movie. +There are preparing for the _specle_ +_Dirty Fremen Dozen_! +_Independence Day of Arrakis_! + +{{< img-c "dune-part2-001.jpg" >}} +Arrakis 90210 +{{< /img-c >}} + +But, just as the action moved to Giedi Prime, the movie completely transformed. +What was mediocre, became absolutely marvelous! + +Now, after seeing and rethinking the movie, it makes sense. +It's a not _sequel_ to _Dune_, but _part two_. +It doesn't start in act 1, as that was in the last movie. +The first chunk of this movie is a cool-down after the ending in of _Part One_. +Both _Dune_ movies should be treated as one long movie. +Much more than Kill Bill, as we have no clear _ending_ between the two. +_Part One_ ends with finishing of the Harkonen attack plot, which only ignites events of this movie. +And looking at it as one one big movie, I have to say: wow! + +They made some changes to Herbert's text, but I like them. +Fremen are no longer a singular force that Paul uses. +The movie version of them is divided, having different cultures. +Maybe it's too black and white, but it's a nice change. + +Similarly, Chani become a multidimensional character. +And while yes, Jessicas portrayal makes Chanis character shine much less, it's still a great change. +But the way Rebecca Ferguson plays Jessica is nothing short of wonder. +She starts scared, but loyal to both, Paul and Bene Gesserit. +After becoming the reverent mother however she becomes menacing. +With this comes another change - Alia is not born here. +She is talking with her mother telepathically, but at the end of the movie she is still to be born[^fn:2]. +That's a dangerous change, but it works perfectly because the tone Jessica uses when talking with her - calm, silent, almost a whisper, yet still menacing. +I can not stress it enough - Rebecca is perfect here. + +But the biggest change is the introduction of scenes from _Dune Messiah_. +You see, _Dune_ was often seen as a savior story. +Paul was to be the good guy, who comes and saves the day. +This is as far from what Frank Herbert envisioned as possible, so he wrote a short sequel book. +This movie vision introduces plot points and scenes taken directly from that book, so the meaning behing the story is much more obvious. +I think it's a good change, as we already see folks arguing against _Dune_ due to this misconception. +This way it defends itself. + +{{< img-c "dune-part2-002.jpg" >}} +Jessica in all of her glory +{{< /img-c >}} + +Luckily, this movie is much weirder than _Part One_. +While last time Dennis omitted a lot, here he shows more _things_[^fn:3], but still there is no context. +We see the finger of the Baron, but we never learn what actually is there. +It comes as an Easter Egg for old time fans, which is nice as it takes nothing from the story. +But then there is Geidi Prime which is monochromatic, empty and cold - in the scariest way. +I'd love to see more of this side the world, but we got it spot on. +And Fayd? +Where Lynch gave us half-naked Sting, Austin Butler is a psychopath. +This is the Beast we all deserve! +This is the stuff nightmares are made of. + +I am happy to report that this is not a war movie. +It's _Dune_ full of plots within plots, mysticism and (lastly) war. + +Unfortunately, once again I am not happy with the music. +While most of the tracks are good (or great), the main theme is even worse than last time. +It's now layered over a lot more noise, making it this much more annoying. +It decreased my enjoyment of many of the greatest scenes. +Luckily, there is also new theme so this screaming woman may not follow us into the third movie. + +So, _Dune Part II_ is an excellent movie, but _Dune_ the complete story is a marvel. +It's the greatest thing I've seen in American SciFi in a very long time. +It's what it should be. +While not flawless, it's as close to what I'd imagine as a _perfect_ _Dune_ as it comes. +The movie gets a 4.75 from me (same as the first one), but looking at both _Dunes_ as a single movie? +Then it goes to a 5. +I don't think we will get anywhere close to this level of quality anytime soon. +What _Baldurs Gate III_ made for cRPG, _Dune_ makes to _SciFi cinema_. + +And, I love that Christofer Walken is once again in the Dune universe. +He warned us about the Worm years ago. + +{{< img-c "dune-part2-003.webp" >}} +Fayd in all of his glory +{{< /img-c >}} + +\*\* + +[^fn:1]: I still remember how bored I was when I watched _Iron Man 3_. + The last decade of the movie runtime was filled with a non-stop battle. + The movie stopped and all was left was CGI. +[^fn:2]: Kinda fitting. + _Arrival_ had a very similar take on what a human is. +[^fn:3]: No chairdogs though |