Movie News & Miscellany

Now I might finally get to watch Hamilton.

You know, this makes me ponder what the best movie adaptation of a Broadway musical is. Chicago maybe?
 
I meant stage musical when I said Broadway musical, so Jesus Christ Superstar would definitely count.

There are also a bunch of movie versions of stage musicals that are, objectively speaking, not very good movies, but I love them nonetheless. Mamma Mia, Rent, Phantom of the Opera, etc.
 
I know they film live shows to sell DVDs and whatnot, but has there ever been one of those that got a theatrical (non-fathom) release?
 


Looks like they're skipping the best book of the series entirely (book 2) and going straight into book 3 while at the same time, excising the really weird and interesting stuff out of book 3 and also, the hotel is still a character?

Book 2 spoilers (which don't seem to matter)

They'd probably lame up the entire insane nanomachine threat and the immense super sized alien spaceship craziness anyway. They're probably afraid to alienate audiences with 3 meter tall mummified pterodactyls fighting a virtual war for eternity.
 
With tax and shipping, it'll probably be pushing a $100 bucks. Money well spent IMHO!

 
I've been re-reading the Dune series, and thus have been paying attention to the new Dune movie planned for December.
I'm absolutely glad most of the Fremen are now black - it makes no sense whatsoever to imagine them as white people as they were in the 1984 movie. In my mind I imagine them more Berber/Bedouin type colored, because that's what their culture is based on, but as a people living in a desert climate, black definitely works too. There's only a few characters whose color is specified, and those mostly the Imperial folk (and those are mostly described as olive, tan, dun, etc - not milky white or anything). Moreover, skin color doesn't really play into anything, storywise, except with the Tleilaxu, who don't really appear in the story of the first book anyway (and they're mottled grey).
For a "far more faithful" adaptation, though, there are a bunch of things that seriously annoy me. The way stillsuits are being shown in promotional material is even worse. It's a complete bodysuit covering your mouth and forehead, only leaving the eyes. Not a short-sleeve wetsuit with a thin tube to the nose.
One thing I seriously have some reservations about is the casting for Liet-Kynes, though. This character is a bridge between two worlds: the Imperial post-feudal absolute monarchy with a very patriarchal slant, where women cannot be heir, where women cannot hold a title, and concubines are not only allowed but expected for great men - all reasons why the Bene Gesserit, a female-only organisation, use their soft power to influence and mold politics and power balance to their ends; and the semi-tribal Fremen culture where men and women are in many ways equal, but the leader of the tribe is a man, and women hold the position of power as Sayyadinna - holy priestess, wise woman, medicine woman, etc, based on a combination of Arab culture, Bedouin culture, and Zen Buddism. "Why couldn't this character be a woman?" the director asked, and thus changed her to a woman. I like Sharon Duncan-Brewster, I do, but...While the character itself isn't defined by its gender, the cultural role she's supposed to play very much is. There are several other characters who are male and who could have been changed to female without fairly little or no change (Tufir Hawat, Gurney Haleck, Doctor Yueh just off the top of my head). This one, though...I dunno. I don't think I'm being sexist - but the cultures this character is supposed to bridge, both are. It's an actual part of the story (especially in further books). I'm not saying it can't work with enough care to change some parts of the world, but it'll really require some serious work which I strongly doubt they've done.
 
Now that Bubble's done going indepth, here's my take:

I hope this is the first onscreen (non-video game) Dune project that isn't shit, boring or shitty and boring.
 
I've been re-reading the Dune series, and thus have been paying attention to the new Dune movie planned for December.
I'm absolutely glad most of the Fremen are now black - it makes no sense whatsoever to imagine them as white people as they were in the 1984 movie. In my mind I imagine them more Berber/Bedouin type colored, because that's what their culture is based on, but as a people living in a desert climate, black definitely works too.
They're descendants of Zen Sufi Sunni Wanderers, as i recall, so they should be a mix of arabic/semitic and indian/asian.
 
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Now that Bubble's done going indepth, here's my take:

I hope this is the first onscreen (non-video game) Dune project that isn't shit, boring or shitty and boring.
While I didn't think the 1984 movie was shitty...Well, I do have to agree with you.
 
I've been re-reading the Dune series, and thus have been paying attention to the new Dune movie planned for December.
I'm absolutely glad most of the Fremen are now black - it makes no sense whatsoever to imagine them as white people as they were in the 1984 movie. In my mind I imagine them more Berber/Bedouin type colored, because that's what their culture is based on, but as a people living in a desert climate, black definitely works too. There's only a few characters whose color is specified, and those mostly the Imperial folk (and those are mostly described as olive, tan, dun, etc - not milky white or anything). Moreover, skin color doesn't really play into anything, storywise, except with the Tleilaxu, who don't really appear in the story of the first book anyway (and they're mottled grey).
For a "far more faithful" adaptation, though, there are a bunch of things that seriously annoy me. The way stillsuits are being shown in promotional material is even worse. It's a complete bodysuit covering your mouth and forehead, only leaving the eyes. Not a short-sleeve wetsuit with a thin tube to the nose.
One thing I seriously have some reservations about is the casting for Liet-Kynes, though. This character is a bridge between two worlds: the Imperial post-feudal absolute monarchy with a very patriarchal slant, where women cannot be heir, where women cannot hold a title, and concubines are not only allowed but expected for great men - all reasons why the Bene Gesserit, a female-only organisation, use their soft power to influence and mold politics and power balance to their ends; and the semi-tribal Fremen culture where men and women are in many ways equal, but the leader of the tribe is a man, and women hold the position of power as Sayyadinna - holy priestess, wise woman, medicine woman, etc, based on a combination of Arab culture, Bedouin culture, and Zen Buddism. "Why couldn't this character be a woman?" the director asked, and thus changed her to a woman. I like Sharon Duncan-Brewster, I do, but...While the character itself isn't defined by its gender, the cultural role she's supposed to play very much is. There are several other characters who are male and who could have been changed to female without fairly little or no change (Tufir Hawat, Gurney Haleck, Doctor Yueh just off the top of my head). This one, though...I dunno. I don't think I'm being sexist - but the cultures this character is supposed to bridge, both are. It's an actual part of the story (especially in further books). I'm not saying it can't work with enough care to change some parts of the world, but it'll really require some serious work which I strongly doubt they've done.
While I agree about the Fremen, isn't this going to make Paul into a "white savior trope"? I mean, that's probably the only thing you could say they avoided originally. I haven't seen any of the casting for the new Dune, but I'm guessing he's still white.

I hope this is the first onscreen (non-video game) Dune project that isn't shit, boring or shitty and boring.
I found Herbert's writing to be dry as Arrakis, so if they're staying true to the books, I don't have much hope.
 
While I agree about the Fremen, isn't this going to make Paul into a "white savior trope"? I mean, that's probably the only thing you could say they avoided originally. I haven't seen any of the casting for the new Dune, but I'm guessing he's still white.
As snow.
 
While I agree about the Fremen, isn't this going to make Paul into a "white savior trope"? I mean, that's probably the only thing you could say they avoided originally. I haven't seen any of the casting for the new Dune, but I'm guessing he's still white.
Well, he's a Lawrence of Arabia expy, with some superpowers thrown in, so....
 
While I agree about the Fremen, isn't this going to make Paul into a "white savior trope"? I mean, that's probably the only thing you could say they avoided originally. I haven't seen any of the casting for the new Dune, but I'm guessing he's still white.



I found Herbert's writing to be dry as Arrakis, so if they're staying true to the books, I don't have much hope.
 
Which is silly, beause Paul himself is described in the books as olive-skinned.

The director has also said they come from Caladan, a "Scandinavian style" planet. It's a green, wet, lush planet with jungles and rice plantations. How that's suddenly "Scandinavian", I don't know.
 
Now that Bubble's done going indepth, here's my take:

I hope this is the first onscreen (non-video game) Dune project that isn't shit, boring or shitty and boring.
I seem to recall the TV mini-series from...I think the early 2000s?....was pretty solid.
 
I haven't watched it since then, so I can't remember much about it. I do recall liking it at the time.
I remember it was a lot more in-depth and faithful to the books, but it was produced for SyFy/SciFi, iirc, so budget and effects were a tad dated, even for the early 2000's. It was on tv again a few years ago, and it couldn't hold my attention. It really wasn't something that made you want multiple viewings.

The only thing I will say for the original film is that it still remains visually stunning. The script is incomprehensible, the acting choices are questionable, and the voice-overs border on parody, but still love looking at the still shots from it.
 
I actually have the SyFy Dune on DVD. Never saw it on tv, picked it up out of curiosity. I thought it was all right; I remember thinking the director's commentary is pretty good.
 
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