Dune - Movie Review

Starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, and David Dastmalchian.

Written by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve & Eric Roth.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve.

★★★½ 

What most people know now is that this is Dune: Part One. This covers about half of Frank Herbert's classic 1965 sci-fi novel, and thanks to its successful opening weekend, we know we'll get Part Two in 2023. I am relieved. This did feel like the first 2 1/2 hours of a 5-hour story.

One of the most impressive aspects of Denis Villenueve's vision is his scope. See this on the big screen. I saw it in IMAX and he uses every inch of the frame. The spaceships, the sandworms, the armies, everything in this film conveys how HUGE these things are. It seeks to put "epic" back in "space epic"  and succeeds.

Approximately 8000 years in the future, the galaxy is ruled by an emperor (keep in mind this was written before Star Wars) who rewards contracts to ruling Houses from various planets. The planet Arrakis has a substance known as melange, or "spice", that is a vital ingredient in ftl space navigation. The Emperor Shaddam IV (unseen in this film) has decided to switch the Arrakis mining contract from House Harkonnen to House Atriedes. Naturally Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) isn't going to take this sudden loss of income to Duke Leto Atriedes (Oscar Isaac) lying down. No House wants to openly defy the emperor, but we learn early that the Harkonnens can be ruthless.

The story centers on the Duke's son Paul Atriedes (Timothee Chalamet), who's learning the political machinations he must know as the heir, but also the religious/mystical ways of his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), who hopes her son will fulfill a prophecy known to her order for centuries. Chalamet has a nice balance here, as a privileged son trying to keep himself grounded (with help from his warrior-mentors played by Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa) while also apprehensive of his dual destinies, as a Duke, and as a possibly supernatural leader. 

I read Frank Herbert's Dune (and National Lampoon's Doon) shortly after David Lynch's Dune came out, so I remember a lot of the basics of the story. (I also tried rewatching Lynch's version last year and made it about 30 minutes in before I stopped. It's bad.) I did have fun mentally comparing casts in my mind. Kyle MacLachlan is now Chalamet, Sean Young is now Zendaya, Patrick Stewart is now Josh Brolin, etc.

Villenueve's movie wants to show not tell, and this movie strikes me as one that will reward with repeat viewings. There is a complicated mythos behind the story; this is obviously a world and society well thought-out. I'm glad the director took his time and had faith enough in his vision that he didn't rush through plot points to get it all in one movie. Not to mention years pass by between where this movie ends and the second half of the novel. And hey, Herbert wrote six Dune novels so this could go as long as producers are willing to finance it. Maybe the next great sci-fi franchise has arrived.

Halloween Kills - Movie Review

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Anthony Michael Hall, Thomas Mann and Dylan Arnold.

Written by Scott Teems, Danny McBride & David Gordon Green.

Directed by David Gordon Green.

★½ 

I really liked Halloween (2018), the reboot/sequel that ignored all the other movies except the original Halloween. Halloween Kills picks up mere minutes after the first one ended, and it felt like a hammock movie in all the worst ways.

When the last movie ended, we saw Michael Meyers surrounded by fire and presumably burning to death in the basement of Laurie's house. The movie picks up with firefighters getting to the basement in time, and Michael shows his appreciation by killing all of the firemen and rising to kill some more. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is sidelined for a significant chunk of the movie in the hospital recovering from her wounds. Meanwhile the movie introduces Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), the protagonist from Halloween 4 (played then by Paul Rudd; glad he didn't return with this script). So the movie does try to use elements from sequels that allegedly don't exist in this timeline but okay, whatever.

The movie jumps around in choppy fashion from 1978 to 2018, and it started to remind me of the ill-conceived The Fourth Kind, as though the editors lost the story. But there's not much story. There's plenty of gore, but this film falls into the traps the previous film avoided. The movie relies on characters doing really dumb things, and Michael survives attacks that don't even phase him where a normal human would have died. He gets shot, stabbed, beaten repeatedly with a baseball bat, gets a full pitchfork in the back, and still manages to stand up and keep going without so much as a limp. Will we learn in the next film that he's a Mutant?

Very disappointed.

No Time to Die - Movie Review

Starring Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Arnas, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, and Rory Kinnear.

Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Cary Joji Fukunaga & Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

DIrected by Cary Joji Fukunaga.

The 25th Eon production of Ian Fleming's 007 is a worthy final chapter in the Daniel Craig era. It's been six years since we last saw Bond, tying the longest gap since six-year break between Timothy Dalton's last Bond and Pierce Brosnan's first. Were it not for Covid, we would have seen this 18 months ago, but at least it's finally here!

Of all 25 films, it's in the upper half. I'd put it in the middle of the Craig movies. Better than Spectre and Quantum of Solace, but not quite on the level of Casino Royale and Skyfall.

We pick up five years after the events of Spectre. James is living the retired life with Madeleine (Lea Seydoux), and an MI6 agent named Nomi (Lashana Lynch) now has the 007 moniker. Ah, but old friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) shows up with a big favor to ask, and Bond is pulled back into the world of international espionage. A nanobot program that can design poison to affect people with certain DNA but not others has fallen into the wrong hands. Those hands belong to Safin (Rami Malek), a man linked to Madeleine's past.

I loved the links to the past/bridges to the future here. Christoph Waltz is great in his Hannibal Lecter-esque cameo as Blofeld. Lashana Lynch is an interesting rival/reluctant teammate as the new 007. Craig's Knives Out co-star Ana de Arnas has a too-brief role as fellow spy Paloma, and this is in the longest Bond movie ever. (Her scenes were where I could hear Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge's contributions to the script the clearest, or at least I like to think so.)

The nice thing about Craig's Bond is we've seen him age 15 years. His Bond was a recently-promoted scrapper in Casino Royale, and here he goes out as the world-weary middle-aged man he naturally would be. Looking forward to see how they treat the new one, circa 2024. I also hope they keep the MI6 staff intact (Fiennes' M, Whishaw's Q, Harris' Moneypenny, Lynch's Nomi). 

The Many Saints of Newark - Movie Review

Starring Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Michael Gandolfini, Corey Stoll, Michela De Rossi, Billy Magnussen and John Magaro.

Written by David Chase & Lawrence Konner.

Directed by Alan Taylor.

The Sopranos is one of TV's all -time great shows, and it feels like a gift that we get a movie prequel that sends us back into that world, albeit into 30 years before the show began. It's an unusual viewing experience, one where I really don't know how this would play for those who've somewhere between zero and a handful of episodes. It has the meandering sensibilities of most of the Sopranos middle seasons, yet also has a central story that it periodically remembers to rejoin after a few side scenes.

The main character here is Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), and by making this decision, the film can feel like what the Disney+ series like WandaVision and Loki mean to the MCU as a whole. The Sopranos universe has been expanded, and this movie could be seen as a two-hour pilot for a 1970's Sopranos series. Dickie is the father of Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), who acts as narrator from beyond the grave. We know Dickie died when Christopher was young, so there's a decent chance Dickie doesn't make it to the end credits, which provides suspense as the movie progresses.

Dickie is dealing with his flamboyant crime-boss father Hollywood Dick (the instantly credible Ray Liotta) and his closeness with the Brothers Soprano, Junior (Corey Stoll) and Johnny Boy (Jon Bernthal). He takes a shine to Johnny's son Tony (Michael Imperioli, James' real-life son), who aspires to play college football but can't help get involved with illegal activities. Meanwhile one of his runners, Harold (Hamilton's Leslie Odom Jr.), decides he'd rather go into business for himself, and their friendship turns into a rivalry.

We also get younger versions of Tony's mother Liv (Vera Farmiga, channeling Nancy Marchand AND Edie Falco), Silvio Dante, Paulie Walnuts, Big Pussy, Artie Bucco, and so on. Names like "Jackie Aprile" and "Hesh" are dropped. There's also one scene that is a direct recreation of a flashback from the series, when Tony saw his father and uncle get arrested.

Plot-wise, there are so many gear-shifts, I couldn't tell where it was going. Which is a very David Chase thing. Young Tony really was just another supporting character; this is an ensemble film built around Dickie, and Nivola makes the most of it. So overall I enjoyed it, I was entertained by it. If you're a Sopranos fan, you'll want to see it. And if you weren't, well, I'd recommend watching a good chunk of the series before settling into this movie.

Side-Note: It didn't make enough to justify a sequel in theaters, but if HBO and Chase want to make more Soprano prequel movies for the network, I'll see those too.

Ridley Scott's Upcoming Projects

Ridley Scott, 83, is still one of the busiest men in Hollywood. The director of Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, The Martian, and All the Money in the World has plenty of stories left to tell.

==DIRECTING==

THE LAST DUEL (Oct 15, 2021) - Medieval movie starring Matt Damon and Adam Driver as the two men who participated in the last legally sanctioned duel by King Charles VI of France. Ben Affleck and Jodie Comer (Free Guy) co-star.

HOUSE OF GUCCI (Nov 24, 2021) - A decades-spanning story about the Gucci family and their billion-dollar fashion empire. It stars Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, and Salma Hayek.

KITBAG (2023) - A biopic about the relationship between Napoleon and Josephine, to be played by Joaquin Phoenix and Jodie Comer.

QUEEN & COUNTRY (In development) - Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049) to play a Special Ops agent on the run after she assassinates a powerful figure in Eastern Europe.

ALIEN PREQUEL (In development) - He'd originally planned to make another film that happens between Alien: Covenant and the original Alien on the timeline, but I've also heard this could take place before Prometheus, when Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) is a younger man.

GLADIATOR 2 (In development) - This sequel would take place 25 years after the original, with Lucius, son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), as the lead character. Lucius was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the original.

==PRODUCING==

DEATH ON THE NILE (February 11, 2022) - The next Hercule Poirot mystery directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. This one co-stars Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, Armie Hammer, Letitia Wright, and Rose Leslie.

EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON (In development) - A biopic of Quanah, the last formally recognized chief of the Comanche tribe. It'll be written and directed by Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines).

WAR PARTY (In development) - A Navy SEALs adventure starring Tom Hardy, written and directed by Andrew Dominik (Killing Them Softly).

EMMA'S WAR (In development) - Based on the true story of a British aid worker who married a warlord in Sudan bent on controlling part of the country.

DAVID (In development) - A retelling of David & Goliath.