Celan

6 minutes ago, BigBossBalrog said:

It'd probably turn her into the emo kid writing creepy poetry by herself on the playground, but I do intend to introduce some gothic stuff once she's a little older  

I resemble that.  

1 hour ago, The Good Doctor said:

I know. I’ve been procrastinating on the Lonesome Dove trilogy for years. Not enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. 

I hear that. Being captive in my car for 7-8 hours a week has helped me get some listening done.

1 hour ago, BigBossBalrog said:

I got my little sister a Goosebumps collection tin for her birthday last year and she's now obessed with them  She loved Stay out of the Basement. Will probally buy her another one. 

Get her some classic horror like Edgar Allan Poe.  The first books I can remember owning were a collection of Poe and the Complete Sherlock Holmes.

9 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

For a fantasy that is quite alien and weird in a Kirkbridey sort of way, I’d recommend looking into the Birthgrave Trilogy by Tanith Lee. It’s been a few years since I read the first book, but I enjoyed it. 

I refuse to read any more fantasy.  Although I've actually been listening to A Game of Thrones on audio book. I watched an Alt Shift X video on "the real Jon Snow" and fuck it all, it reminded me why I loved the books once. 

You really should read some Larry McMurtry. I listened to one of his recently and they're so good, very character focused. No one would write books like these any more.

8 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

I feel like this is a common problem with sci-fi. Writers are so focused on their high concepts that they create characters as vehicles to explore them rather than to be interesting or enjoyable in their own right.

I’d even say Denis is guilty of this. Nobody remembers The Arrival or Bladerunner 2049 for their compelling casts of characters, and in Dune he benefitted from them being pre-made.

I know GRRM used to write a lot of sci-fi. But he’s a very character-focused author so I’d be interested to one day read a few and see how he does with it.

I haven't liked anything GRRM wrote except for ASoIaF. 

Fantasy is like this too, indulgent in its world-building and not as much everything else. GRRM started out economical but got bloated later on.

3 hours ago, BigBossBalrog said:

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/timothee-chalamet-warner-bros-deal-wonka-dune-1235952310/

Propelled by him being an space-Islamic terrorist messiah and fucking twink Willie Wonka  Good for him though, he was great in Part Two. 

I'm surprised he signed a deal with one studio. I assume he could have had his pick of a lot of roles.

I finished listening to Rendezvous with Rama audio book and well, it had some interesting points but...

This weekend has been a lesson in the kind of sci fi I don't prefer, which is high-concept low-characterization. The characters in RwR are barely sketched, which is similar to Three Body Problem. I would be happy to see what Denis Villeneuve does with it, but doubt it would be a favorite film, either. There's nothing in either of these stories like Amos Burton or Chrisjen Avasarala.

Just now, The Good Doctor said:

Not when they care, I suppose. Because they definitely butchered or tossed out a lot of GRRM’s existing material in the latter half of GoT. Even long before reaching the point where they’d run out.

True, I think they got clever starting at least by season 3 and trying to "improve" things. Actors as well as GRRM himself pointed this out to them.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd recommend watching it, but if you're bored it's alright.

16 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

Surprised it was even okay considering who made it.  

They're not bad at adapting existing material. I hear that Chinese people don't like that they westernized it, such as the cast, but that's to be expected.

On 3/22/2024 at 10:32 PM, Celan said:

I watched a couple episodes of Three Body Problem. It's bonkers but entertaining.

I finished the series. It was okay. I didn't actively hate it, but it's not on the level of The Expanse, not even close.

I watched a couple episodes of Three Body Problem. It's bonkers but entertaining.

HOTD season 2 trailers

I hope he doesn't do any funky shit like he did with Prometheus.

I've decided that Denis Villeneuve and I are long-lost cousins. He kind of looks like my Quebecois great grandfather.

I booted up Cyberpunk 2077 a bit this weekend, tried out the new metro system. It's pretty cool. Not completely immersive, you get a cut when you enter and leave for whatever reason, but really nicely implemented for a free add-on. If you turn the camera towards your back, you see V's arm as if she's really turning around to look. Little bit of interactivity with Johnny, too.

This might be my favorite thing to do, just ride to a random station, get out and wander around doing scanner hustles and gigs wherever I end up, taking whatever car the gangoons have to offer.

My V is not picky about short-distance transport to the next job. I like to think this is how she gets her start with El Capitan's car theft spree.

You guys have probably seen it but if not, definitely watch one of my other favorite films that DV directed, Sicario.

Don't bother with the sequel, though.

Dune 2 surpassed the entire domestic box office of the first film within 10 days

https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/dune-2-box-office-milestone-400-million-1235944137/

Partly because of the baffling decision to release the first film direct to HBO Max in addition to showing it in theaters. Still, I'm happy that it's doing so well. It renews my faith in humanity that people will reward a good film with butts in seats.

The Feds want to police gaming communities

20 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

Bad news for ya. Denis Velulala has already said he doesn’t like doing director’s cuts. He said if a scene doesn’t make it into theaters, then that scene is "dead" and will never see the light of day. He wants the theatrical release to be the definitive version of his films. 

The one I really want to see is Duncan Idaho doing a free jump from space down to the surface of Arrakis.

Just now, The Good Doctor said:

I don’t even really have a problem with him in the role, but I do wish he’d been given more material to work with. 

Although I have a feeling if I were to go back and read a description of Shadam, it wouldn’t look anything similar. I had a much more imposing "Tywin-Esq" image of him in my mind while reading the final chapter of the book.

They aren't really talking about the fact that spice prolongs life. He looks too old and frail for the role. But maybe it conveys that he is worried about his legacy since he has no son. But, the Harkonnens, really dude?  

44 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

@Celan What did you think of Emperor Walken?  

He's not right for the role, but I understand they wanted his presence as a legendary actor.

19 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

 

  Hide contents

 

Great point about the Harkonnens debugging the gladiators. Didn’t consider that being why he’d score a blow on Gurney, but it makes so much sense I feel halfway stupid for not realizing it.  

The deep desert Fremen would be fucked without worms right now, but their dream is for the distant future where Arrakis has been terraformed into a lush and bountiful paradise. I doubt they would still need spice to survive as the planet would provide for them in other ways like Earth does for us. And more pragmatically, once Paul has cemented his place as the Emperor of the known universe, he could easily arrange for basically infinite resources to be funneled to Arrakis from off-world.

On the Paul x Feyd duel thing, I don’t get that criticism. Why shouldn’t a well-trained, selectively-bred prodigy who fights in gladiator matches for fun be a tough match for Paul? Seeing possible futures shows Paul how to win, but it doesn’t give him the skills to guarantee he’ll pull it off. And good catch on him winning with the same move he landed on Gurney, taking the knife (twice!) to get the win. Cool detail.

I agree. Even the stuff I don’t like (Baron Harkonnen feeling dumber, the various plots and schemes being reduced, fewer factions at play) is not the kind of stuff that seems to have been done with bad intentions.

Chani, Alia, and the ending are the only changes I can think of that seem to be a very deliberate attempts to go against what’s in the book, but even those don’t feel spiteful towards it. Especially the ending, which really just seems an attempt to make the movies feel like a coherent trilogy instead of wrapping things up with a neat bow only to unpack it again later like the books did.

4 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

@ColonelKillaBee @TheCzarsHussar Y’all should watch the new Dune before it leaves theaters. It’s definitely a film that benefits a lot from the big screen.

Ghostbusters is probably going to take over some IMAX screens in a couple weeks. It is definitely worth seeing it on a Dolby or IMAX.

Then again, both times I went, the theater was absolutely packed. So it's likely to stick around for a while in regular theaters.

7 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

  Hide contents

Her being pregnant would explain a lot, since Paul foresaw that she would return to his side despite seemingly being completely against what he’s doing. With the way she’s been characterized in the film, that feels like one of the few ways she could actually change so dramatically.

We’ve seen that some of Paul’s dream visions can confuse details and mix up individuals and contexts, like how he saw Chani get burned by the nukes, or Jamis as his friend. So it could be that he saw Chani killing him under one context, but she will end up doing it under another. If I recall correctly, the vision showed her bring him in for a kiss and then stab him in the heart.

To be fair, the spice economy is mostly exploited by offworlders to their detriment. I don’t think that this is a change that the Fremen would be opposed to, given their dreams of paradise. Everything will change for them, but that’s long been the dream.

Speaking of, Paul’s final line in the movie was chilling. When he learned of the Houses’ defiance and just calmly ordered Stilgar to "Send them to Paradise." Did a pretty good job of conveying what direction he intends to take things in now. Like he’s fully consigned himself to the jihad.

Gurney finding Paul was indeed a great moment. I would also throw in the look they share when Paul puts on his father’s signet ring in front of all the Fremen chiefs.

I’m okay with Rabban being a fool, but I do think I’d have preferred him to have been a better warrior to make up for his lack of cunning. He seemed pretty confident in facing Gurney, which is weird considering how inept he turned out to be, and supposedly he landed a blow on him in the fighting pits which I now find somewhat hard to believe. You’d also think he’d have had access to the same caliber of mentors as Feyd.

I agree that it would’ve been better to learn about Gurney’s sister for that personal touch to their rivalry. I felt it was implied that Rabban did something horrible to him considering his rage (kind of excessive if all he did was give him a scar), but yeah, the movie didn’t really go into much detail on the matter.

Me too. They’re a big part of the climax in the book. I think the ending confrontation was good, but it suffered a little from DV’s dislike of dialogue, since that part in the book was a lot more of Paul going back-and-forth with the Emperor and his partners to make them understand just how trapped they really were.

But I really liked how the Bene Gesserit were handled in this one, so I’m not complaining about them being brought to the forefront.

I read that it took Stellan Skarsgard 7 HOURS to get into his makeup.

Walton Goggins did an interview about the Fallout series and said that on the first day of shooting, he put on his costume pants and there was a brown recluse in there that bit him 5 times before he could get them off. 

There ought to be an Oscar for worst costuming stories.

More about the Harkonnens...

3 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I was so focused on the characters that I forgot to mention the Geidi Prime section. But yeah, that was one of my favorite parts of the movie, and just a really damn cool bunch of worldbuilding. Super artistic, but also full of good story beats and fun scenes to watch, in no small part thanks to Feyd chewing up every scene. It might sound weird that the movie halfway through switches to a lengthy uninterrupted episode of "Day in the Life of House Harkonnen" but it actually worked really well and honestly had me wanting more.

I missed that detail, but that is very cool and suits them well. The Fremen are like the opposite of the Harkonnens in so many ways, which kinda makes the ending sad where Paul fully embraces his Harkonnen side and takes them with him.

I think what bothered me most was that she was the only one who saw through everything. Did I miss a scene of Paul explaining to her that their religion had been hijacked by the Bene Gesserit? Because if not, I don’t see why she’d be this ultra skeptic when literally everyone else in her culture comes to believe. Hell, even Liet Kynes got swayed and (s)he wasn’t even born into their ways and works for the Emperor. I guess it works if Paul told her, but that begs the question of why he didn’t tell anyone else. 

I thought it wouldn’t kill the planet, but rather killed the sandworms and ended the creation of spice, which would mean the death of the Empire but also have major religious implications for the Fremen.

Doubt it. She’s going in a completely different direction at the end of this movie. She seems wholly against Paul at this point, and I could even see her never giving him children and instead being one of the "heroes" to Paul's "villain" in the next movie. Since Denis only wants to do three films rather than adapt the whole series, I wouldn’t even be that surprised if he goes an entirely new direction and she ends up killing Paul or something. That is one of his visions in the first movie. Chani stabbing him with the knife she gave him.

The most surprising thing for me was the Great Houses showing up and rejecting Paul’s ascension. Things are a lot more urgent for him than they seemed in the book, as he’s gonna have to jump straight back into a defensive war before he can properly take the throne. 

Granted, their defiance does make his jihad feel somewhat more justified than in the books. Now they are the aggressors and he is being pushed to action, which can easily be seen escalating to full-blown exterminations. I kinda like that better than the Fremen just getting so frenzied by their victory that they decide to launch a genocide on everyone who they ever felt wronged by (so basically everyone).

17 minutes ago, The Good Doctor said:

I finally saw it tonight and hot damn it was good! Going off early impressions at least, I think I liked it better than part 1. 

 

  Hide contents

 

While this one lacked Leto and Vladimir was barely in it (and less impressive during the time he was), it was made up for by Paul bringing it home. I’ve gotta give it to Timothy, he crushed the role this time around, and proved me wrong for doubting his ability to play Paul in the later stages of his journey. He brought way more gravitas to the role than I ever imagined from such a twinky-looking dude. Shows the power of acting, and credit where it’s due, the guy is a good actor.

And on that note, Feyd-Rautha Harkonen stole the show in almost every scene he was in. I never thought too much of his character in the book; he was just like the Harkonnens’ "Evil Paul" who barely did anything and existed mainly to be the final boss fight. It’s not too different in the movie, but the role was really elevated by the actor’s performance. He was so sinister and dominant that the tension would rise every time he showed up.

Stilgar was another favorite. Actor killed it, but he also brought some much needed levity to an otherwise very serious movie. His transition from Paul’s friend and mentor into a full-blown jihadist zealot was really well done and probably the best character work apart from Paul’s. And he was probably the most likable person in the whole movie.

Far as complaints go, my biggest is that the other Harkonnens felt nerfed. The Baron didn’t display much cunning and the Beast Rabban was a pathetic idiot. They kinda just get walked over for most of the movie until they die. I wish that the Baron’s plot to make everyone hate Rabban so Feyd could come in and be the hero had been kept from the books; it would’ve helped retain the feeling of him being a ruthless chess master, which the first movie did a better job of capturing.

Channi is probably the weakest link of the cast. I don’t much like her actress, and it didn’t help that she’s also by far the most changed character from the book. How I ultimately feel about that will depend on how part 3 utilizes her.

Similar for Alia. Thought it was a weird choice to not include her, but I guess it’s because Denis didn’t want to do the time skip. Seems a bit of a shame that she won’t get to become known as "St. Alia of the Knife" after killing Vladimir, but there was some nice poetry in Paul getting to be the one who avenges his father. Though I did find it kinda humorous and creative that they included her as a character by just having her telepathically talk to Jessica from the womb.

Can’t say enough good about the cinematography. Like part 1, this is one of the best looking sci-fis ever made, but this time we got way more of the epic battles and huge machines, armies, sandworms and whatnot. Loads of parts that had me just thinking "damn, that’s cool".  

I thought I liked part one better, but I'm insomniac and ended up thinking about part two and plotting out where to see it on an even bigger IMAX screen.  

I saw Dune 2 again today and am happy to report that I liked it even better the 2nd time. That happened with the first movie too. I think once I'm reconciled to changes, I can relax and enjoy the movie for what it is. There are at least no changes that I'm baffled about. Still ones I'm uncertain about, but it will depend on what happens in the next one, and so far DV hasn't let me down.

2 hours ago, The Good Doctor said:

@Celan Thought you might find this interesting. Studio founded mostly by former CDPR devs who worked on Witcher and Cyberpunk. I’ll be interested in seeing what they end up doing.

https://rebel-wolves.com

"Dark fantasy RPG" sounds promising.