Dune, The Last Duel, & Which Movies Made You Say "Cinema is for Me"

What I'm Watching, Listening To, & Reading This Week

[I come to you a day late because yesterday I was devoting my life to Dune! My life priorities in preferential order are: 1) Loved Ones 2) BTS 3) Salty Foods 4) Timothée Hal Chalamet 5) This Blog.]

This week I rediscovered one of my favorite hobbies — going to the movies by myself. Nothing says “I love my own company” [healthy] “and I don’t need anyone!” [unhealthy] like going to the movies alone!

My chosen solo movie was The Last Duel. I sat there with my can of white wine and a blanket on my lap because I’m 90 years old, and thoroughly enjoyed myself even though I had to watch Matt Damon punch a guy in the face repeatedly with a fistful of chain mail.

Then, Friday, we all went to see Dune together and W-O-W! [Or, in the words of Laura Hutton, “I feel like I’m tripping balls!” Which is pretty on the nose for Dune honestly.] It was one of those film experiences where you feel like you’re truly transported—a flawless translation of a magnificent imaginative vision on screen. After the movie was over, my cousin Jessie asked what other movies have blown our minds in the same way. And I love that question!

So I want to know: Do you have movies that do that for you? Transport you and make you feel like you had a truly *new* experience? In other words: What are the movies that made you say, “Cinema is for me”?

It’s okay if it’s The Lord of the freakin’ Rings.

On to this week’s topics!

In the News

• A new trailer for the Robert Pattinson Batman came out in which the highlight for me was Zoe Kravitz as “Literally How Has Anyone ELSE Ever Played Catwoman.” But the even better highlight was this hilarious edit of Ted Lasso as the Batman Trailer.

• The Dog with No Bones from TikTok went on Good Morning America. We love you, Noodle!

• The 4th season of Selling Sunset drops on November 24th! The new season will feature the same cast plus two new women! People describes the first as “a model and frozen foods entrepreneur” and the other as simply “Vanessa.” Wow! The investigative journalism going on over at People!

• ***Spoiler for End Credits Scene in the Upcoming Marvel’s Eternals movie*** Harry Styles is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I honestly don’t know what to feel!!!! Harry, you’re supposed to do more ~*~arte filmes~*~ before you succumb to Marvel! He will be playing the younger brother of…Thanos!??!? Thanos is that big ugly purple guy! Last time we checked, Harry is not big, ugly, OR purple!! If they make him big, ugly, or purple, I will be boycotting!!!
  [Upon further reading, I also discovered his character is “Eros, god of love and sex,” so, okay, that feels more on brand.]

Saturday Night Live Highlights!

This week, Rami Malek hosted, Young Thug musical guested making me a new fan, and Daniel Craig made a few pointless but fun cameos.

• Highlights: (1) Aidy Bryant was perfect-no-notes in “Mattress Store,” (2) the Squid Game music video took over the Internet, (3) Bowen Yang is hilarious as Zaddy Long-Legs in “Bug Assembly” and the Gay Oompa Loompa on Weekend Update, (4) making fun of the NFL in the Cold Open, and (5) Mikey Day and Keenan Thompson on Weekend Update.

• Lowlights: “Celeb School Game Show” felt like it was going to be better? But a few of the celebrity impressions were so good it got me through, especially Chloe Fineman as Jennifer Coolidge and James Austin Jones as Adam Driver. The Prince sketch was not funny until Daniel Craig showed up in a literal medieval prince outfit.

Watching - The Last Duel & Dune

An unexpected result of our pandemic year is that I now consider “going to the movies” as one of the highest cultural pleasures in life. Is this how kids felt in the 1930s when they first invented “moving pictures”!??

[I have no idea what decade that actually was. Somehow it’s both the 1930s and also whatever decade Quentin Tarantino was born in because he talks as if cinema was invented directly for him and Netflix is out to destroy his life personally.]

As previously discussed, I went to see The Last Duel on Wednesday and Dune on Friday and I have ZERO REGRETS!! I live at the Cinépolis now and am forwarding all mail there. Here are my very abbreviated reviews of both movies:

The Last Duel

• The Basics: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck teamed up for their first script since Good Will Hunting, basing it on a book about a Medeival duel fought to decide whether a woman’s account of being raped is true. (They also brought in a female screenwriter to help.) The film is in three chapters, each chapter showing a different person’s experience of the events: Matt Damon as the husband and a chapter I could’ve gone without, Adam Driver as the alleged rapist, and Jodie Comer as the woman.

• My Review: This is a brutal movie and I’m not just talking about the hairstyles. For a film purportedly about the strength of a woman’s voice, Ridley Scott indulged too much in interminable, testosterone-y battle scenes and a brutal sexual assault scene we have to watch twice. But a strong concept and cast, especially Jodie Comer playing the same character three different ways, put this into the category of “not perfect, but unforgettable” for me. If you watched it, I need to talk about it!! I’ve been thinking about her performance constantly and there are whispers of Oscar noms.

  *Important note: Massive content/trigger warning for this film. I had to walk out at one point because of the rape scene. It was extremely upsetting.*

Dune

My only critique is that I wish it had gone on five hours longer!!!!

I read the book a few years ago and have the unpopular opinion that it was a bit of a slog and kind of homophobic and sexist. BUT (stay with me lol), I realized over time that I had rarely read anything that built a world more imaginatively and concretely. The book was groundbreaking at its time, despite some problematic themes. Without Dune, we don’t have Star Wars.

And the movie, in my opinion, took all the good — the world-building, the incredible creativity, complexity, characters, visuals, excitement — and got rid of most of the bad.

Final Note: There’s a hot person for every taste in this movie and we support that. What a cast.

Listening - Armchair Expert

Yeah, I know everyone and their mom already listens to this. But it just feels wrong not to talk about my favorite podcast of all time! I’ve loved Dax Shepard ever since I saw him screaming “My girl does NOT rock!” at Amy Poehler in Baby Mama. But the real star of the podcast is the relationship between co-hosts Dax and Monica.

If you’re one of the people who has heard a ton about the show but don’t know where to start, here are a few of my favorite episodes:

• Episode 1 - Kristin Bell. In the first episode, they interview presumably the only person they could book, Kristin Bell, who is married to Dax. Monica is barely in it and it’s a little uncomfortable because they kind of bicker the whole time. But something about that is . . . great??

• Episode 27 - David Sedaris. Truthfully I don’t remember much from this episode except that Dax tells a detailed story about shitting his pants in a Home Depot and I laughed so hard I cried. Both David Sedaris episodes are hilarious.

• Episode 101 - Esther Perel. Esther Perel is a world-class couple’s therapist who shoots fiery truths about sex, relationships, and infidelity and it’s probably the episode I’ve thought about the most.

• Armchaired & Dangerous. This is a spinoff where Dax and Monica talk with documentarian David Farrier about famous conspiracy theories. I love the Lizard People one and the Simulation Theory one.

• Day 7. This is the episode where Dax comes clean about having a relapse. It’s so, so vulnerable and so, so powerful. I recommend listening after you’ve heard a few others.

Reading - Jezebel’s Annual “Scary Stories” Contest

Whatever your feelings on Jezebel, you should definitely check out their “Scary Stories” Contest Winners for 2021: 10 Terrifyingly True Tales of Absolute Terror.

All the stories are true, submitted by readers, and they’re all so fun and just a little bit scary. (Although I’m not sure how the editor could actually verify they’re true. Did she call up the people in Ohio who were clearly running a suburban vampire-witch coven? Doubtful.)

And trust me — it’s not really “absolute terror.” They give the perfect amount of scary/spooky for me, a verified scaredy-cat who reads the plots descriptions of horror movies on Wikipedia instead of watching them.

I love the different voices of the people who wrote in, and how the editors really let them shine. This year’s ten stories are a fantastic range of spooky sightings, inexplicable weirdos, and a little pet love.

That’s it for this week! Don’t forget to drop a comment!