He’s a funny guy, mainly. He’s actually much more charming and comical in person compared to most of his films.
He was excellent in Freaky, where he swapped bodies with a teenage girl and he had to portray a teen girl. That was a fun performance.
I haven’t seen him in anything for a while, but I remember him being a lot more expressive - and funny - in Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers.
Dune part 2
My reaction to this is bit like the first film; it was enjoyable enough and clearly a spectacle, but I was left underwhelmed because of the rave reviews. It is just a little…. dull. Maybe that’s on me and I just don’t ‘get’ it. Not a bad film but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I was hoping I would.
For some unknown reason, last night I watched Date Night on Max, a 2010 movie starring Steve Carell and Tina Fey. It was not very good.
You are correct. I told my wife yesterday, “I still think the Sci-Fi channel version of the first book is best.”
It really is. It tells the story very clearly and much closer to the book. The main thing I could not believe they changed in the movie was:
Wait, Alia isn’t even born yet at the end of the film? This has ramifications because:
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Paul and Mom were only in desert less than 9 months? Oh…the book makes it clear he is out there years…Alia is 3 or 4 years old in the book. He was out there 3-5 years more or less. That makes a ton of sense.
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She kills Harkonnen. It makes sense and is a pleasant surprise. She is 3-4 years old, but also contains all knowledge and personality of her entire previous ancestors. This also is important…because Harkonnen himself comes back to life in her mind.
There are many issues, but they really screwed up some ending stuff.
Just finished The Mouse That Roared and really enjoyed it. The last time I watched it was probably in the 70s when it was on TV. It still holds up well. I’m surprised they haven’t attempted to remake this one.
Your second spoilered point is one of the best turns of the book(s), but it might be weird to film/show.
Children of Dune on Sci-fi showed it, but mainly focused on adult Alia. Great adaptation as well.
It has actual ramifications for the films aside from being different from the book. Dune 3 is supposed to be a 12 year or so time jump from Dune 2. So is Anya Taylor-Joy playing a 12 year old? Is it really a late 20-something time jump?
I think they’ll just jump 25 years and she’ll be that age. Why hasn’t Paul and Chani aged that much?
Science Fiction!
Actually, spice would explain that perfectly in universe.
Probably explains why Pauls parents only like about 12 to 17 years older than him.
That, and a 5,000-year breeding program.
Watched the latest - and hopefully last - Mission Impossible movie. Or perhaps it should be called Mission Preposterous. A pretty muddled mess, IMO. Cruise is still fit in his 60s, but looking fairly jowly.
Into the Wild, 2007. The story of Christopher McCandless, based on the book by Jon Krakauer. Christopher renamed himself Alexander Supertramp and went into the Alaskan wilderness alone, where he died. Are we supposed to regard this as a tragedy? Early in the film, he sets fire to a handful of cash. After that, I was firmly on the side of “fuck this guy”, although there’s reason to think he had mental issues, and came from an abusive family. He’s also presented as inexperienced, although I was impressed by his competence. Og knows I’d have died a lot faster if I’d attempted the things he did. Anyway, a very privileged young man spent his life just as he wished to, and although it wasn’t a great movie, we watched the whole thing and had a lot to talk about afterward.
I went to see The Drama yesterday. I decided I didn’t care enough about any of the characters to want to know what happened to them.
oops wrong thread
Frost/Nixon - quite an excellent turn from Michael Sheen and Frank Langella as David Frost and Richard Nixon respectively in the run up to and through Frost’s interviews with a post-resignation Nixon. Would recommend.
Zootopia 2/Zootropolis 2 - not quite as complex or interesting as the first one, as here we know who the bad guys are and why they’re doing it fairly early on. Instead we get the “good guys trying to clear their names while on the run” story. Some quite funny moments, but some forced jokes too. A decent sequel (and set up for a third film) but would only recommend if you enjoyed the first film.
Fackham Hall. Le sigh. If you want to do a film based on an unending cascade of quickfire stupid jokes (like Airplane!), then you have to commit to the thing. You can’t do some and then pause the jokes for sentimental moments, you can’t drag the jokes out or repeat them (there’s a Beatles joke that they use three times), and you have to move swiftly on to the next one. Many of the jokes in this film are funny but not nearly enough to make it work, leaving the rest slowly dying before the audience’s eyes. Would not recommend unless you’re particularly bored.