Dune (2021) - Succeeds Where Eternals Fails

MOVIE DISCUSSION:

It's never too late to talk about good movies, and both Daniel and Melvin are finally ready to get philosophical and heady with Dennis Villeneuve's latest feature!

Topics: 

• Introducing Dune.
• Dune is a science-fiction fan's science-fiction.
• Villeneuve captures the awestruck nature of mindfulness, how simply existing and observing the world cultivates a healthy and comfortable smallness.
• Dune doesn't require rewatches, but they do benefit the richness of its characters.
• The movie is possibly as long as it is because Warner Bros. is looking at Dune like they did Lord of the Rings. And, keep in mind, all three Lord of the Rings movies are about or over 3 hours long, and often the extended cuts are what people watch nowadays.
• Discussing various spoilers and diving deeper into the narrative themes of the movie. [23:06]
• Dune feels deeply realized and fully lived-in. 
• The spiritualism around the world, which is arguably quite risky considering how surreal it can get, becomes increasingly earned throughout the film's development.
• Spiritualism requires a necessary sense of mystery, the humbleness to admit one doesn't fully understand.
• Paul Atreides is compelling as a coming-of-age character with a wide variety of potential outcomes, and his messianic pathway gives him an air of excitement and tragedy that leads both Melvin and Daniel to anticipate the rest of his journey.
• Discussing what makes the knife-fight finale so wonderful.
• A majority of the film's latter portions embrace a sense of mindfulness as a means of moving through life. It espouses that fully investing into a moment isn't the equivalent of passively experiencing it, rather that someone doing so becomes truly capable of living in that moment, relinquishing expectation and permitting action.
• Good science fiction often has a contrast between the incredible nature of technology paired alongside the mystery of life, often attributed to spiritual or psychological aspects or traits within the narrative.
• Marketing companies need to stop advertising Dennis Villeneuve movies like action-packed adventure thrillers.
• Melvin and Daniel both agree: Dune and Eternals are strangely similar.
• Interpreting the recurrent motif of the bullhead, and how the dynamics and dangers of power, combined with personal satisfaction, aren't always bad, but do run risks.

Recommendations: 

• Douglas Moo's "2 Peter & Jude: NIV Application Commentary"
• Robert A. Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" (Book)
• Linoleum Knife's "552. Dune (2021), Dune (1984)" (Podcast)

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