I've only seen "No Time to Die" out of these three, and it's the only Bond movie (I've seen them all) that made me cry at the end. I know! It is going to be a bit difficult to go back to another Bond adventure with that ending, but perhaps thinking of the rest as flashbacks might help me, at least. Before watching this, I spent a weekend watching the Connery incarnations, and thinking yes, we can also appreciate those, but I appreciate the recent ones so much more. This was the first time I've watched a Bond movie in a cinema since "Octopussy" and it was a great experience!
I'm not inclined to watch "Dune." The preview didn't impress me much, and I confess to never having read the Dune series so I wouldn't have been able to compare anyway. I've heard raves about the miniseries though.
I found Dune beautiful and atmospheric, but oddly lacking in depth. Twenty minutes left on the clock, and I was still waiting for something to click into place. Perhaps I was waiting to be moved. I watched the David Lynch version when I was very young, and sort of missed the device of the internal monologue—even if my family has joked about it being strange and stilted in execution on screen. I understand that Villeneuve created this for fans of the book like him, those who know the plot and can fill in lost details and story threads from scene to scene. I feel the complexity got lost in the landscape, and the alchemy of the characters' mental and emotional transformation buried in the sand. So to speak.
Was wondering on your take on "No Time To Die" as an example of what has traditionally been regarded as "light-entertainment" now getting a heavier-greek-face-lift, along with other pop culture pieces (MCU) going from sheer, dispensable fun in the 80's / 90's and now being induced with literary narrative to add (pose) gravitas.
In the age of social media, Trump, Kardashians and the like...one would expect a dumbing down of Shakespeare to ensure continued relevance, no?
And not serious-ofying serializations?
Does this reverse raising the bar of mass entertainment validate the always up-there works (2001: A Space Odyssey), or does it inadvertently do some serious damage to the reputation of said heralded works?
What if 50 years from now, a Marvel Film is polled as the Greatest Film of All time by a notable gatekeeper like Sight & Sound.
Isn't some elitism / separation of classes between works of Art, not only good, but necessary for the preservation of Art itself?
It's funny. I think for me, Denis's version is what I wanted out of the David Lynch version. Try and watch the Scyfy version, the miniseries, and I said, "this was like going from steak and lobster to Burger King." What Denis's film is streamline much of the plot that you wouldn't recognize. Like the way the Jihad is emphasized. Josh Brolin saying poetry really made me like his portrayal of Gurney Halleck. I didn't think they would pull it off. Although they didn't mention the Orange Catholic Bible, but I wonder if the David Lynch version ever did. I loved Irulan narrating, as that was such a ode to the books. I thought it was Lawrence of Arabia in space. At one point David Lean wanted to adapt Dune as well. I think Brian Herbert said that in an interview when they started the Butlerian Jihad series (I loved that trilogy too). They even had the mentats, the robots in it. I think Denis's version is the final version of the film that David nor anyone else could achieve in there lifetime. I haven't seen the uncut version of the Lynch film, but I can't find it anywhere. I read the entire series in 2020. Best experience of my life, even as the world went to shit.
I read Anderson's new flick as a fairly biting allegory of the contemporary decline of the Fourth Estate. Broadsheet journos and talking heads implanting themselves amongst civil society on twitter; inserting themselves in a story of their own design? Instigators as well as informers. Leeches on the real creators of content, the real creative radicals. Better than the self-parodying, twee fare that Anderson has been churning out for the past decade anyways.
Maybe it is the changing cinematic language due to the late superhero movies, but the Bond character under the reign of Daniel Craig has become so dull, so hitman-like. It's not anymore like a spy who has all the personality fluidity to survive and reach to its goals, but a Batman with his frozen, unyielding, uncompromising idealistic persona.
Agree on Bond:-)..to answer your question about the Bond women well....Bond is Machismo in its pure essence so..girls, no great expectations from them ;-) I also agree on The French dispatch, I have not seen Dune
I agree with you about Dune. I remember liking the Lynch version. This new one just didn’t do anything for me.
I've only seen "No Time to Die" out of these three, and it's the only Bond movie (I've seen them all) that made me cry at the end. I know! It is going to be a bit difficult to go back to another Bond adventure with that ending, but perhaps thinking of the rest as flashbacks might help me, at least. Before watching this, I spent a weekend watching the Connery incarnations, and thinking yes, we can also appreciate those, but I appreciate the recent ones so much more. This was the first time I've watched a Bond movie in a cinema since "Octopussy" and it was a great experience!
I'm not inclined to watch "Dune." The preview didn't impress me much, and I confess to never having read the Dune series so I wouldn't have been able to compare anyway. I've heard raves about the miniseries though.
I found Dune beautiful and atmospheric, but oddly lacking in depth. Twenty minutes left on the clock, and I was still waiting for something to click into place. Perhaps I was waiting to be moved. I watched the David Lynch version when I was very young, and sort of missed the device of the internal monologue—even if my family has joked about it being strange and stilted in execution on screen. I understand that Villeneuve created this for fans of the book like him, those who know the plot and can fill in lost details and story threads from scene to scene. I feel the complexity got lost in the landscape, and the alchemy of the characters' mental and emotional transformation buried in the sand. So to speak.
Was wondering on your take on "No Time To Die" as an example of what has traditionally been regarded as "light-entertainment" now getting a heavier-greek-face-lift, along with other pop culture pieces (MCU) going from sheer, dispensable fun in the 80's / 90's and now being induced with literary narrative to add (pose) gravitas.
In the age of social media, Trump, Kardashians and the like...one would expect a dumbing down of Shakespeare to ensure continued relevance, no?
And not serious-ofying serializations?
Does this reverse raising the bar of mass entertainment validate the always up-there works (2001: A Space Odyssey), or does it inadvertently do some serious damage to the reputation of said heralded works?
What if 50 years from now, a Marvel Film is polled as the Greatest Film of All time by a notable gatekeeper like Sight & Sound.
Isn't some elitism / separation of classes between works of Art, not only good, but necessary for the preservation of Art itself?
It's funny. I think for me, Denis's version is what I wanted out of the David Lynch version. Try and watch the Scyfy version, the miniseries, and I said, "this was like going from steak and lobster to Burger King." What Denis's film is streamline much of the plot that you wouldn't recognize. Like the way the Jihad is emphasized. Josh Brolin saying poetry really made me like his portrayal of Gurney Halleck. I didn't think they would pull it off. Although they didn't mention the Orange Catholic Bible, but I wonder if the David Lynch version ever did. I loved Irulan narrating, as that was such a ode to the books. I thought it was Lawrence of Arabia in space. At one point David Lean wanted to adapt Dune as well. I think Brian Herbert said that in an interview when they started the Butlerian Jihad series (I loved that trilogy too). They even had the mentats, the robots in it. I think Denis's version is the final version of the film that David nor anyone else could achieve in there lifetime. I haven't seen the uncut version of the Lynch film, but I can't find it anywhere. I read the entire series in 2020. Best experience of my life, even as the world went to shit.
I read Anderson's new flick as a fairly biting allegory of the contemporary decline of the Fourth Estate. Broadsheet journos and talking heads implanting themselves amongst civil society on twitter; inserting themselves in a story of their own design? Instigators as well as informers. Leeches on the real creators of content, the real creative radicals. Better than the self-parodying, twee fare that Anderson has been churning out for the past decade anyways.
Maybe it is the changing cinematic language due to the late superhero movies, but the Bond character under the reign of Daniel Craig has become so dull, so hitman-like. It's not anymore like a spy who has all the personality fluidity to survive and reach to its goals, but a Batman with his frozen, unyielding, uncompromising idealistic persona.
Agree on Bond:-)..to answer your question about the Bond women well....Bond is Machismo in its pure essence so..girls, no great expectations from them ;-) I also agree on The French dispatch, I have not seen Dune
I’m neither a Bond fan nor a Dune fan, but the promise of a joyful experience is hard to resist. Mr Rushdie, well said!