Next Sunday is the Oscars! Expect a midweek Oscars preview and [finally] my review of why I disagree with everyone about Poor Things.
The Dune sequel is finally here!! After a delay because of the writer’s strike, Dune: Part 2 made impact this weekend at movie theaters around the country. I sat there eating my Junior Mints and drinking my can of white wine [not a good pairing!], drooling openly over every scene of the film: The people, the sets, the sandworms — all a feast for the eyes! J’adore!!
But also, halfway through the movie, I remembered that it’s part two of three. If you, like me, momentarily thought you would be rewarded with a nice conclusion in this film, think again! I appreciate that they’re taking time with this story, but I also really love immediate gratification. [The only explanation for pairing Junior Mints and white wine.] It’s been three years since Part 1, and Part 3 could take 3-5 more!? Very ugh.
I watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse not realizing it was a trilogy and nearly had a meltdown when it ended on a cliffhanger. I was with my 4, 6, and 9-year-old niece and nephews and turned to them, thinking, “They cried earlier today about a jigsaw puzzle; they must be devastated!” Instead, they all seemed unbothered by the unresolved ending and, in fact, bounced out of the theater, leaving me behind to gather the trash and my composure.
Maybe these kids are just built different? They were born in the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; every piece of culture they consume is a single sugar tablet on the franchise candy necklace. But I am of the one-and-done Disney Princess generation. Like, sure, there’s an Aladdin sequel, but does it count??
I’m curious: What’s your reaction to a “To be continued…”? Do you feel a thrill, or does it take the wind out of your sails? I realize this is a really black-and-white question, and all of us surely can say “both.” But I’m still curious to hear your gut reactions to the sequel-ization of media.1
[I feel it’s connected to how long every movie is, too? Nobody appreciates editors anymore!]
Three things on my “to watch” list:
Shogun on Hulu/FX is allegedly the new Game of Thrones. Anyone watching?
One Day on Netflix. I started it, and it’s rom-com-charming. Leo Woodall [the Hot Nephew from White Lotus S2] is so pretty, and Ambika Mod is so magnetic. But I know how it ends because of the [not! good!] 2011 Anne Hathaway movie, so I don’t know if I can stomach the rest.
Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix. The 2005 animated series is one of my favorite shows, and reviews are saying they got the remake right! [Unlike the nigh-unmentionable 2010 Shyamalan version.]
Sydney Sweeney was on SNL this week. I haven’t had time to watch it besides her monologue, which I thought was great! [The unhealthy part of me that subscribes to impossible beauty standards follows her on Instagram.]
In the News: The Internet is spiraling about Kate Middleton.
Perhaps you are one of the thousands last week who googled “Where is Kate Middleton?” Or maybe you’re wondering, wait, why are people asking about Kate’s whereabouts? The real response — and I hate to quote a Taylor Swift song, but here we are — is: We need to calm down.
The facts: On January 17, the royal Instagram account announced that Kate was going in for a “planned abdominal surgery,” that her public appearances were canceled, and we would not see her until Easter. On January 29, the account updated that she was safely recovering at home.
The freak-out: And yet, in the past week, for some reason — probably that Prince William canceled on his godfather’s memorial service last-minute due to “a personal matter” [Like, hm, maybe helping his recovering wife out and parenting their three kids?? I’m no Prince William defender, but like: Occam’s razor, if nothing else.] — Twitter and TikTok went completely insane with conspiracy theories on where Kate could be, why we hadn’t seen her since December, and what they weren’t telling us. The theories ranged from the normal “she probably had abdominal surgery like she said” to the completely deranged “William probably killed her.”
The final thought: There’s a lot to be said here about how we treat royals, how we feel entitled to celebrities’ private lives, how the palace is protecting Kate vs. how they defenestrated Meghan, and what it says about our culture that a woman’s health is considered public domain. But maybe the theory I hate the most is the one coming from people pretending to really care. It goes something like: “Kate is the next Diana. She must be recovering from a suicide attempt because of how she’s treated.” Which, like, how do these people not realize THEY ARE THE PROBLEM!?!
To be clear, I’m never above discussing these things among friends and group chats. It’s the public discussion, often just for clout, that really grosses me out. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite!
Anyways. I hope she’s recovering well, and I don’t expect to see her until Easter.
Dune: Part 2
In sum:
Maybe it’s too early to call, but I’m doing it: The movie event of the year!!
The second installment of Dune continues brilliantly what the first did: Taking a groundbreaking, world-building novel and making the story and characters even better. I was transported.
The longer review:
THIS IS SPACE OPERA!!!! I LOVED IT!!!! This movie looks so good your corneas will swoon. This movie might even make you feel the way you felt when you first saw the dinosaurs on Jurrassic Park; like “I’ve never seen something quite like this.” This movie is so big it must be seen in IMAX. This movie is so big it has no time for transitions! This movie is a manifesto for Your Next Generation of Capital-M Movie Stars! This movie was made by an absolute murder crew of Hollywood’s best and brightest.
This movie rocks.
You know when you’re young, and you read a book that sweeps you into another world? A place so specific and so detailed and so vivid that you feel you are INHABITING it? [If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you probably peaked in high school.] In the best of these fantastical worlds, the rules still have to make sense, the magic has to be undergirded by logic, the invented physics must be consistent.
That’s what made Dune — the 1965 book — so groundbreaking. It’s by no means a perfect book; to be honest, I hated all the characters and thought it was kind of homophobic and sexist and a bit of a trippy slog.2 BUT it’s one of the most fully realized imaginary worlds I’ve read; Dune is said to have inspired many of our most recognizable and popular franchises, like Star Wars, Mad Max, Blade Runner, even Game of Thrones.
And the new Dune movies accomplish this, too — the delicious, enveloping, sweeping, immersive, viscerally real planetary drama. Director Denis Villeneuve takes all that brilliant world-building and improves upon the characters and storytelling. If you’ve seen any of his movies — like Arrival and Sicario — you know how he can fit an epic drama into the shape of characters you really care about. For example, in the book, the main character Paul is just tripped out on spice and his own messiah complex. Timothée Chalamet’s Paul is much more a hero we can root for, at least up to a certain extent, a nuanced, conflicted “chosen one.”
Thematically, this is the “Empire Strikes Back” of the Dune trilogy — not just by virtue of being in the middle but also by the dark ambiguity that enters the story to complicate and raise the stakes for the final act. As such, it has everything: political intrigue, backstabbing dynasties, white savior complexes, religious corruption, ecological disaster, spiritual mysteries, revenge, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...! Now I’m just quoting The Princess Bride, but you get it.
It’s set in a another world and another time and yet the themes feel familiar and weighty. It’s not just a fun ride; it’s also a smart, philosophical text that will lend itself to interpretations and reinterpretations. In that way, Dune shows us what’s great about sci-fi — that it can Trojan-Horse complex ideas about our own lives and institutions within a story that takes place somewhere on another planet in a distant imaginary future.
A caveat: I know I’m making it sound like a perfect movie and of course it isn’t. Like I said earlier, there are basically no transitions, and it gets muddled at times. [I think they opted for a lot of cuts to keep it under three hours, and for that, I do salute them!] Ultimately, depending on how the story goes in the third movie, they may have missed the mark on making certain really important character arcs and decisions believable, and they could have gone deeper on themes.
But I’ma be honest: I was having such a good time, it didn’t matter!!
A few Superlatives [with light spoilers]:
Who won the movie? It’s a joint award to Timothée and Villeneuve, but I’ll give a less-expected answer: Javier Bardem as Stilgar. The script relied on him to bring most of the humor, while also carrying the complexity of the fundamentalist faith, while also being something of an Obi-Wan/Teacher character. He nailed it! Rebecca Ferguson as creepy, morally ambiguous reverend mother was a close runner-up.
Best scene: Timothée riding his first sandworm [not a euphemism]!! Put that in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, because THAT is movie history!!
Most excited for in the next film: Zendaya’s character arc. Before the movie, one of the previews was for Furiosa, the backstory of the badass soldier/avenging angel from Mad Max. After watching Dune, I would like to submit for public vote: Zendaya, the Real Furiosa. Chani for life!!
Most bang for your buck: Austin Butler née Elvis was only in like 10% of the movie as one of the Harkonnen bad boys, but he was shooting nonstop logo 3’s whenever he was onscreen. And the scenes on the Harkonnen planet were a visual chill down the spine.
Coolest “we’re not in Kansas anymore” sci-fi moment: Every single second of this movie wins this category, but if I had to choose, it might be a tie between the moment the Harkonnen troops first float up the rock with their jetpacks, or the scene where the Fremen woman extracts the Water of Life from the baby sandworm.
Most “Star Wars” plot point: A literal “There is another” moment that we have to wait until Part 3 to fully pan out.
And now that I have nearly exceeded 2,000 words of your time, I shall sign off! I’d love to hear your thoughts on Dune! And everything! 💜
[I also recognize sequels and serialization have been around forever, but I do feel like it’s reached a fever pitch lately with TV having a heyday and franchises taking over movies.]
[Should we do a new series called “Hannah blithely trashes the world’s great literature”?]
“… shooting nonstop logo 3’s”
I love this phrase 😂
2
[Should we do a new series called “Hannah blithely trashes the world’s great literature”?] YES PLEASE!
I have never felt more seen than when you described what it was like to be truly pulled into a the world of a book. I've been blessed with that opportunity multiple times in my life and am so grateful every time it happens for me.
I now have tell my husband he's on his own one night this week because I need to go see Dune at the theater and not wait for streaming. As a reader of the book, I don't know why I would have thought I would do that in the first place.