It's Two-mothée Chalamet week as the young star stars in a half-finished but rousing take on Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic and Wes Anderson's latest. Also: 'Halloween Kills' does not slay.
Thanks for sharing. Excited for both Dune and French Dispatch. Your reviews make me even more confident I will enjoy them. I saw Halloween Kills and agree with your review wholeheartedly. The final film in the trilogy should have a little more to chew on thematically, so still looking forward to it despite the relative misfire that is Halloween Kills.
Me was hoping Timotheé Chalomeé had also found his way into Halloween, to complete theme. Anyway, me glad Villenueve was able to do Dune justice (and personally, me will take competent filmmaking over trippiness any day of week. Both can be great, although me think me have seen film that scored high on both since Sorry to Bother You, although in fairness, me not have seen Titane yet). But me more excited to see French Dispatch, even after hearing it described as minor Wes Anderson. There something about story of creative people railing against dying of light by trying to keep doing good work that always resonate with me.
Years ago, me interviewed Tim Foljahn, who was singer for band called Two Dollar Guitar. Drummer in band was Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, and he was effectively wealthy patron for Foljahn's songwriting. Me asked him about difficulties of working around much bigger band's schedule, and he talked about not only that, but working around other responsibilities that seem to pile up as you get older. Then he said something that stayed with me. "It keeps getting harder older you get, but you just find way to keep doing it, because it what you do." It being music in his case, but that "it" can be anything someone passionate about.
For example, it harder to keep eating cookies after doctor warned me am pre-diabetic. But me keep doing it! Because it what me love to do!
Halloween Kills delivers solid, top budget gory slasher shit, but it makes for a really crummy and half baked movie. I don't know what the hell it was trying to do, other than add to the running time with a bunch of speechifying and woefully underdeveloped themes. It's pretty bad.
For most of Villeneuve's career, I've found the self-seriousness of his films pretentious and overbearing, but I'm starting to come around. The amount of coordination required to make a contemporary big-budget blockbuster is stunning to me. Such scope seems beyond the grasp of most (very talented!) directors powering the constant drip of soupy MCU-style movies. A select few (Johnson, Nolan and ???) have harnessed the full suite of modern Hollywood's tools to create something personal. Villeneuve getting Dune financed is alone an achievement, and the film itself is an exhilarating display of competence (the costumes! the production design! the VFX! the script!). I will require a second viewing and a whole other film (fingers crossed) to understand Villeneuve's place in the middle of this maelström. For now, I'm not sure it matters; perhaps his passion and dedication to the story is the point.
Already have my ticket for The French Dispatch this weekend! My local Alamo Drafthouse is sold out of Dune showtimes, so I'll have to keep an eye as they release future weeks.
The New Yorker Radio Hour (their in house podcast) did a couple of episodes on The French Dispatch that are worth checking out if you're a fan of Anderson or the magazine. The first ep was an interview with Anderson and Jeffrey Wright about the making of this film, and the second was actors from this movie reading past New Yorker pieces. Good stuff! Also, of course Wes Anderson is a New Yorker super fan.
I just finished Dune on HBO Max. I had no knowledge of the story. I tried to watch Lynch's version but felt lost within the first five minutes. Villeneuve and his screenwriters do make the tale comprehensible, even if I missed the whispered words because my TV's sound quality is crap. But to quote Lionel Hutz, I think I got the gist of it.
The movie, like Villeneuve's last flick, and masterpiece, Blade Runner 2049, is visually spectacular. Which was good since the story is all too familiar. I did like the not subtle Vietnam War allegory. I compared it to Star Wars, with a Choosen One who has access to a rare power. But here, unlike A New Hope, that power has political, propaganda implications--which is a nice addition to this trope. Hans Zimmer's score was too excessive at times. Chalamet was fine: I think by design Paul is meant not to be charismatic. Out of all the actors, I liked the one who played Dr. Kynes the most. A gender-flipped version with her playing Paul would have been great. The film feels too long.Grade: B.
RE: Halloween Kills - I'm going to carefully shimmy partway onto a limb I'm pretty damn sure will hold my weight while still holding onto the trunk of the tree...but I think these movies will gain more fans -- and both have already done well financially -- as time passes. Like Dune, it will hinge on the completion of the story, but unlike the retrofitted Bond, I do think that the three chapters were conceived together because the plot and theme mechanics running through them seem solidly built. If I'm wrong, I will figure out how to return and delete this post!
Thanks for sharing. Excited for both Dune and French Dispatch. Your reviews make me even more confident I will enjoy them. I saw Halloween Kills and agree with your review wholeheartedly. The final film in the trilogy should have a little more to chew on thematically, so still looking forward to it despite the relative misfire that is Halloween Kills.
Also, if you skipped past the subhed, please go read it for some amazing Scott Tobias wordplay.
Me was hoping Timotheé Chalomeé had also found his way into Halloween, to complete theme. Anyway, me glad Villenueve was able to do Dune justice (and personally, me will take competent filmmaking over trippiness any day of week. Both can be great, although me think me have seen film that scored high on both since Sorry to Bother You, although in fairness, me not have seen Titane yet). But me more excited to see French Dispatch, even after hearing it described as minor Wes Anderson. There something about story of creative people railing against dying of light by trying to keep doing good work that always resonate with me.
Years ago, me interviewed Tim Foljahn, who was singer for band called Two Dollar Guitar. Drummer in band was Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, and he was effectively wealthy patron for Foljahn's songwriting. Me asked him about difficulties of working around much bigger band's schedule, and he talked about not only that, but working around other responsibilities that seem to pile up as you get older. Then he said something that stayed with me. "It keeps getting harder older you get, but you just find way to keep doing it, because it what you do." It being music in his case, but that "it" can be anything someone passionate about.
For example, it harder to keep eating cookies after doctor warned me am pre-diabetic. But me keep doing it! Because it what me love to do!
Halloween Kills delivers solid, top budget gory slasher shit, but it makes for a really crummy and half baked movie. I don't know what the hell it was trying to do, other than add to the running time with a bunch of speechifying and woefully underdeveloped themes. It's pretty bad.
I believe you meant to reference F. Murray Abraham in Grand Budapest towards the end of the French Dispatch review, Ben Kingsley’s not in that.
For most of Villeneuve's career, I've found the self-seriousness of his films pretentious and overbearing, but I'm starting to come around. The amount of coordination required to make a contemporary big-budget blockbuster is stunning to me. Such scope seems beyond the grasp of most (very talented!) directors powering the constant drip of soupy MCU-style movies. A select few (Johnson, Nolan and ???) have harnessed the full suite of modern Hollywood's tools to create something personal. Villeneuve getting Dune financed is alone an achievement, and the film itself is an exhilarating display of competence (the costumes! the production design! the VFX! the script!). I will require a second viewing and a whole other film (fingers crossed) to understand Villeneuve's place in the middle of this maelström. For now, I'm not sure it matters; perhaps his passion and dedication to the story is the point.
Already have my ticket for The French Dispatch this weekend! My local Alamo Drafthouse is sold out of Dune showtimes, so I'll have to keep an eye as they release future weeks.
The New Yorker Radio Hour (their in house podcast) did a couple of episodes on The French Dispatch that are worth checking out if you're a fan of Anderson or the magazine. The first ep was an interview with Anderson and Jeffrey Wright about the making of this film, and the second was actors from this movie reading past New Yorker pieces. Good stuff! Also, of course Wes Anderson is a New Yorker super fan.
Keith, you said you're out of practice writing reviews, but this bit on The French Dispatch was fabulous
I just finished Dune on HBO Max. I had no knowledge of the story. I tried to watch Lynch's version but felt lost within the first five minutes. Villeneuve and his screenwriters do make the tale comprehensible, even if I missed the whispered words because my TV's sound quality is crap. But to quote Lionel Hutz, I think I got the gist of it.
The movie, like Villeneuve's last flick, and masterpiece, Blade Runner 2049, is visually spectacular. Which was good since the story is all too familiar. I did like the not subtle Vietnam War allegory. I compared it to Star Wars, with a Choosen One who has access to a rare power. But here, unlike A New Hope, that power has political, propaganda implications--which is a nice addition to this trope. Hans Zimmer's score was too excessive at times. Chalamet was fine: I think by design Paul is meant not to be charismatic. Out of all the actors, I liked the one who played Dr. Kynes the most. A gender-flipped version with her playing Paul would have been great. The film feels too long.Grade: B.
RE: Halloween Kills - I'm going to carefully shimmy partway onto a limb I'm pretty damn sure will hold my weight while still holding onto the trunk of the tree...but I think these movies will gain more fans -- and both have already done well financially -- as time passes. Like Dune, it will hinge on the completion of the story, but unlike the retrofitted Bond, I do think that the three chapters were conceived together because the plot and theme mechanics running through them seem solidly built. If I'm wrong, I will figure out how to return and delete this post!