Dune, Part Two at Sperry's Moviehouse
Two movies in six days? What is this, 2018?
The movie was great. The effects were awesome, I was particularly pleased the sandworm riding did not look cheesy. I am left to wonder how they managed to get groups of people on there with cargo (notably the Revered Mother’s Palanquin). Also how did they dismount? It’s probably for the best they didn’t try to show that.
The sound was dialed up higher than it needed to be and made some of the dialog muddy. I was dismayed to realize early on that unlike at home, I am not in control and can’t just turn on subtitles.[1]
I enjoyed the score. More so, I think than for part one. I’d been listening to it for a day or two, and kept thinking “man, this really reminds me of The Last Temptation of Christ.” That would really be a cool reference, white savior in the desert who doesn't really want to be the savior. But I went back and listened to The Last Temptation of Christ’s score, and they sound nothing alike. Now I’m just confused. Am I thinking of a different movie score that just got labeled LToC in my head? Or is there some underlying quality to the music that does connect them but I can’t consciously find it?
My one (I think) gripe is the truncated timeline. In the book, this all takes place over years, which is reasonable. It should take a while for Paul to gain the trust and support of the Freman. This all could be hand-wavy and “maybe it took longer than it looked because they compressed stuff” except Lady Jessica is pregnant the entire film. So this all takes place in less than nine months.
Ventilation #
CO2 levels were not good for this, being both a smaller theater and a larger crowd than, God & Country.
The sparkline is only for the time I was in the theater, but the low end was pretty close to the readings in the lobby before the show. It was one of the last shows of the night, and afterwards (when most everyone had cleared out, the lobby readings were down in around 625ppm. So the ventilation does seem to be OK once there aren't tons of people breathing in the building. I wish it was better in the theaters during the shows though.
Getting movie subtitles beamed straight into your glasses — below the screen so they don't block anything — would be awesome; assuming we can ever make augmented reality something feasible without a giant headset ↩︎