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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 11, 2019 10:59:36 GMT -5
I saw Vice and it has a cameo from Galactus. For real. I loved Vice. My favorite movie of the year, only narrowly beating Teen Titans Go to the Movies, which was hilarious. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 11, 2019 17:17:55 GMT -5
I'm cautiously optimistic about the new Dune adaptation, primarily because of Villeneuve. I thought the Lynch film was terrible (but haven't seen it again since it first came out, so maybe I'd feel differently today?) but very much enjoyed the 2000 mini-series with William Hurt. I disliked Lynch’s film initially... a lot. It was not much like what I had imagined, it was too short to convey the scope of the take, Paul was too old, and there was entirely too much water in it. Upon repeated viewings, however, it really grew on me. The visuals are extraordinary and very much their own thing, not at all like other SF films. Lynch’s vision might not be Herbert’s, but it was definitely unique! The music and the trippy scenes were also very good. The TV Dune had some great casting (perfect Jessica, Stilgar and Chani, as far as I’m concerned) and at last some desert worth mentioning. The treatment was however much more straightforward (straight adventure) and some unfortunate costumes made the miniseries look very odd at times, and not in a good way (those Bene Gesserit... ugh...) I enjoyed Children of Dune too, despite regrettable changes in the cast and the SFX budget apparently running out toward the end. Villeneuve can do no wrong in my book, but not all his projects are commercial in nature... and I fervently pray that he will be able to give us his own vision, without being instructed to spice things up (pun unintended) or to make it “like Black Panther, only in the desert”. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 12, 2019 2:06:09 GMT -5
I appreciated that the tv series tried to be faithful but it was so unimaginative and sort of drab visually and dramatically, it was really a bit of a let-down. I don't remember it well enough to picture the cast, to be honest, though I remember finding William Hurt's Leto far too ordinary and bland. I don't think the aristocratic characters of Dune can be played convincingly with American accents, for the most part. I also remember thinking they got the Sardaukar all wrong. In general, it felt like they read the book without ever catching its spirit.
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 13, 2019 17:18:36 GMT -5
Not many details yet. As far as the casting goes, Rebecca Ferguson, Skarsgard, and even Bautista sound all right but I'm pretty sceptical about Timothée Chalamet - as unfair as that might be, since I haven't seen him in anything. Don't like the looks of him much, though, for the character he'll be playing. I don’t know, I think he’ll be a better fit than Kyle Maclachlan (at least physically). Paul is described as being small for his age, and he should definitely look young, and Chalamet does look like a kid. He was fine in the only film I saw him in ( Hostiles), although it was a small role. I guess we’ll have to see if he can project the charisma of Muad’dib, which is a tall order. I have the utmost fate in Villeneuve, though. One thing that has me worried (perhaps unduly, but still) is that Dune is essentially a story about hard core islamists waging a holy war against a capitalist system that looks a lot like our current western world (one military superpower, a few large corporations and the equivalent of the senate all pulling the blanket in their own direction). Presented like that, it sounds a lot more like “Al Qaeda against the US” than “Rebels against the empire”. Is the market ready for that? (And if there’s one aspect of Lynch’s Dune that I didn’t like, it’s that the Fremen’s islamic roots were completely evacuated. I hope Villeneuve doesn’t go that way for marketing reasons). Excellent points. And this article makes what I consider a generally good case for casting Arabic/Middle Eastern actors in the film (which obviously isn't happening): www.syfy.com/syfywire/why-arab-and-islamic-representation-matters-in-the-new-duneI don't agree with the author's reductive "whitewashing" argument. Regarding Joseph Fiennes playing Michael Jackson: given how MJ's own obviously fraught relationship with his racial identity was so public, the casting of a white actor to play him is simply a self-reflexive commentary on the function of race re: Jackson's public persona. It's the opposite of whitewashing, in which the figure's actual racial identity is meant to be hidden. As for Dune, I agree that they should have cast Arabic or Middle Eastern actors. The strong, quite deliberate associations with Islamic culture made by Herbert are a tremendously significant political aspect of the work and casting Arabic/Middle Eastern actors would actualize that primary element of the novel directly. To sidestep it is to miss an important opportunity to engage the work on a deeper level that the visual medium of film can do in a way that a novel can't. But, yes, would the market be ready for that? Probably not, which is all the more reason why it should happen and why it won't. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 13, 2019 18:33:47 GMT -5
yInteresting article, Mister Spaceman, although I deeply dislike the whole concept of ”cultural appropriation” and that it’s a bit early for accusing the movie of whitewashing. Considering that Villeneuve’s work includes the Lebanon-centric movie Incendies, I would be very surprised if we didn’t get a few actors from the Middle East or North Africa (Alexander Siddig, perhaps? He was darn good in Syriana and is something of a fan favourite among SF fans). Regarding the Islamic roots of the Fremen and their religion, all may not be lost... Aladdin is also a movie set in Arabia, so the public is ready to accept Arab heroes (echoes of Rudolph Valentino and The Sheik!) It would be a big disappointment were the story to lose that important aspect of its genesis. edit* Furthermore, Javie Bardem is Spanish... to an Italian, he would count as an Arab!!!  |
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 13, 2019 18:39:07 GMT -5
Interesting article, Mister Spaceman, although I deeply dislike the whole concept of ”cultural appropriation” and that it’s a bit early for accusing the movie of whitewashing. Considering that Villeneuve’s work includes the Lebanon-centric movie Incendies, I would be very surprised if we didn’t get a few actors from the Middle East or. orth Africa (Alexander Siddig, perhaps? He was darn good in Syriana and is something of a fan favourite among SF fans). Regarding the Islamic roots of the Fremen and their religion, all may not be lost... Aladdin is also a movie set in Arabia, so the public is ready to accept Arab heroes (echoes of Rudolph Valentino and The Sheik!) It would be a big disappointment were the story to lose that important aspect of its genesis. <iframe width="34.180000000000064" height="4.939999999999998" style="position: absolute; width: 34.180000000000064px; height: 4.939999999999998px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none;left: 15px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_19286552" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.180000000000064" height="4.939999999999998" style="position: absolute; width: 34.18px; height: 4.94px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1638px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_32969614" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.180000000000064" height="4.939999999999998" style="position: absolute; width: 34.18px; height: 4.94px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 15px; top: 186px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_92814594" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.180000000000064" height="4.939999999999998" style="position: absolute; width: 34.18px; height: 4.94px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1638px; top: 186px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_9863145" scrolling="no"></iframe> Agree re: "cultural appropriation." It's a reductive, reactionary concept that forecloses an understanding of how culture works. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 0:32:22 GMT -5
Latest Dune casting-Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, and filming is set to start next month (March). Here's the cast that we know so far... -M |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2019 4:23:28 GMT -5
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 16, 2019 10:06:49 GMT -5
Latest Dune casting-Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, and filming is set to start next month (March). Here's the cast that we know so far... -M I've not seen Chalamet in anything so can't say much about that casting, but otherwise there are a lot of terrific actors in this. My hope grows that this could be really, really good. |
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 16, 2019 10:09:53 GMT -5
I appreciated that the tv series tried to be faithful but it was so unimaginative and sort of drab visually and dramatically, it was really a bit of a let-down. I don't remember it well enough to picture the cast, to be honest, though I remember finding William Hurt's Leto far too ordinary and bland. I don't think the aristocratic characters of Dune can be played convincingly with American accents, for the most part. I also remember thinking they got the Sardaukar all wrong. In general, it felt like they read the book without ever catching its spirit. I might have to rewatch it. Maybe I was so happy that it was better than the Lynch film (low bar, I know), that I pumped it up too much in my head. As for the accents of aristocratic characters, I get what you are saying. And I've always found it interesting that aristocratic types are usually given British accents in Hollywood films, no matter the context. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 16, 2019 13:17:20 GMT -5
Jason Momoa is listed as Duncan Idaho on imdb.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2019 14:06:48 GMT -5
Jason Momoa is listed as Duncan Idaho on imdb. Momoa, Oscar Isaacs and Zendaya are rumored to be in negotiations at the moment, but haven't been confirmed according to the article I linked announcing the release date. IMDB is good as listing speculation as well as confirmed facts. -M |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 16, 2019 17:02:42 GMT -5
I didn’t picture Duncan as quite so massive, but I think Momoa could easily carry his cheerful, devil-may-care nature.
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Post by berkley on Feb 16, 2019 19:15:36 GMT -5
Another piece of serious mis-casting, to my mind.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 18, 2019 18:11:02 GMT -5
 Bohemian Rhapsody. Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee. Directed by Bryan Singer* Went and saw this with my wife at the second run theater a couple weekends ago. I went in with pretty low expectations. Well aware of the issues with Bryan Singer and onset drama. I'd heard about the meddling from the other members of Queen. So...again...low expectations. It also probably helped that I'm not a huge Queen fan. I like them alright. I grew up in the 70s and 80s and they were certainly always present in the musical soundtrack of my youth. But I never actually bought one of their albums. They were just there on the radio and videos and dances, etc. And I found it to be a generally pretty enjoyable movie. Nothing spectacular. But fine as biopics go. It very much centered on Freddie Mercury. Didn't delve at all into Queen post-Mercury. And I'm used to biopics playing fast and loose with timelines. My number one complaint was the prosthetic that Rami Malek wore. It was incredibly distracting. And I went back to videos of Queen because I remembered Mercury's mouth being oddly shaped...but not that oddly. And...it wasn't. That prosthetic was awful. The other nice thing is that it made me seek out the actual footage of Queen's performance at Live Aid. And HOLY HELL! That is a master-class in rock & roll showmanship. Truly one of the great live performances ever. At $2 a ticket I didn't feel bad about watching it. |
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