Dune: Part Two

So there’s fanatical space Arabs out there. Well, that’s just great. Hopefully any excesses will be confined to moviedom. It is the overriding impression one gets watching this movie, just how much the tale is filled with Middle Eastern vibes. That’s not something you usually get in your sci-fi epics, but it does lead one to contemplate how tableaux about empires and power and war are really about death, destruction and misery. And in this outing, you don’t even get to the end of the conflict—all this is just a prelude to the third entry, which presumably will present us with one hell of a climax. As it is, there’s plenty of action and intrigue to go around in this installment, more than enough dazzle to keep you entertained—visually, at least, if not in terms of the story—throughout the movie’s rather long (two and a half hour) running time. Oh, and don’t worry so much about how long it’s been since you saw the first one; even if you never laid eyes on the first flick, you can follow along with what’s going on easily enough. In sum, it’s great to look at, tells a good story—at least the middle part of it—and features a slew of familiar faces doing good work all around. Not much more you can ask from a better than average space opera.

Dune (2021)

An interesting viewing experience. You can’t help but look at this movie as something fake, not because it’s science fiction--and thus wholly unreal--but because it bears a resemblance to so many other epic type productions that it feels like it’s a ripoff of something else. However, there is enough here that’s unique enough to credit this work in and of itself. (And Frank Herbert's source novel is old enough that, perhaps, it’s the other works that rip off this one). The film also has going for it a singular vision of how it looks, and its component elements--particularly the space and aircraft designs-- also feel fresh, even in the face of that derivative vibe. That same effect is assisted by a raft of familiar faces looking unfamiliar in their roles, though still doing good work, as well as the not-quite familiar Timothée Chalamet holding his own in the movie's linchpin role (something I wouldn’t have necessarily bet on going in). All in all, the proceedings hold the interest throughout the movie's long running time, with a story that promises to move in interesting directions in its upcoming continuation.

Mother!

Crazy people--You can't live with them...and that's our show. Thanks for coming! It's generally common courtesy to keep ones nightmares to oneself; in this case, it might have been nice if Aronofsky had done so. No doubt those playing along at home could spend hours trying to assign one referent or another to this film's mega-metaphor, but I feel little compulsion to do so myself. What I do note is the fact that the viewer is really given precious little reason to care about these people, from the get go. Thus, all that happens seems, no matter how consequential from a plot standpoint, distant and unmoving. Of course, given that these characters are less characters and more archetypes, that's to be expected. But from a filmmaking viewpoint--and particularly a film viewing viewpoint--archetypes represent stuff on an intellectual level; they don't particularly engage people at the emotional level required for a full cinematic experience. So we wind up with something closer to an experiment in discourse rather than an actual story. And, alas, people tend to watch movies for the story. That makes this flick, ultimately, a success only within remarkably narrow confines, and otherwise a failure. A noble failure, perhaps, but a misfire nonetheless.

No Country For Old Men

Not bad, but nothing even close to what its hype and awards made it out to be. In fact, there's a lot here not to like: little reason to care about the "good" characters, the villain is absurdly indestructible, some directorial shenanigans that are designed to draw the viewer to errant conclusions. And that narrative structure: if a second year film student, instead of the Coens, tried to pull that off, he'd hear a lot about losing his point of narration. Instead, if you are the Coens, you're called geniuses and lauded for convention breaking. These emperors may not be naked, but they're down to their underwear, at least. Posted 4/16/09.