[Weekly Update] So... Is that it for Dune 2?

Tomorrow is the eclipse day, and I'm lucky to live in an area with a clear sky. It's astonishing, because just 2 days ago Montreal was having a snow storm, and 2 days after it'll be raining again.

Anyway, my condolences to our friends in Texas. Don't despair, as the sun light fades, less water evaporates, and the clouds tend to clear up slightly during totality. Either way, enjoy the experience!

CHANNEL UPDATE

Not much has changed since our last update. I'm still working on the Part 2 of our dynasty series, and also our video on Maggie Cheung. Whichever finish first will go live first.

In the meantime, I'll take a few days off to film the eclipse, and take things slow to avoid burnout. Last year's work schedule was much too intense to be sustainable. As a result, I find our video less interesting to make or watch. Hopefully, with a better work life balance, I can get the channel on a more interesting trajectory.

MEDIA TALK

As I'm writing this, I'm watching Dune on the second monitor.

I don't have much to say about the first movie. I remember my biggest gripe with it, outside of its last line literally being "This is just a beginning", is that its brutalist aesthetic fails to capture the fancifulness of Frank Herbert's drug-induced book.

It is honestly the same feeling I have with Blade Runner 2049, where the clean and straight architecture lacks the analogue grime of the original. It's Villeneuve's preferred aesthetic, it seems. You can even see hints of it in Arrival, from inside the spaceship, to Amy Adam's apartment.

At the time, I chalked it up to a matter of taste. Maybe I just don't enjoy the brutalist aesthetic and industrial machinery. But as I sit here, watching Dune 2, realizing that very few people are talking about it, just as very few people talked about Blade Runner 2049, I realized something.

This rugged exterior, cold and event driven plot, harsh and serious tone... Even the love between Paul and Chani was written, performed, and directed with as little emotional expression as possible.

This is literally just the "masculine idea" in film form, isn't it?

I heard words of people calling Dune "Twilight for men", and it makes more sense the more I think about it. It utterly refuse to have an ounce of emotion. When Paul rides on a sand worm, the spectacle on display does not move Paul one bit. The film aims to impress the audience with its grand scale, but must do so while maintaining a facade of coolness. Otherwise, such display of emotion is perceived as a weakness, and Dune would be a soy boy movie.

To be clear, this is most likely not an intentional goal. Villeneuve is perfectly capable of directing an emotionally driven story. Arrival is once such example. Although I will say, the original story by Ted Chiang is so much more emotional than the film. What I mean is, Dune is emotionally as dry as the desert, because that's just how dry the book is.

Nevertheless, I think the two part epic had became this strange social event for men to watch a "men's movie", just to reenforce their masculinity a little. It's a ritual for the big men to perform, just so they can join in on the conversation other men's are having. Beyond that, the substance of the film is not important, and thus is left undiscussed on social media.

Obviously, not everyone who went to see Dune 2 are dude bros. Dune 2 is a beautifully made film, and had the filmmaker community very excited. If you enjoy the film, that is entirely fair. I'm just saying, turns out my problem isn't a difference in taste for aesthetics, but a difference in taste in emotional display.

Or, you know, maybe this series is successful because Star Wars is doing so pissed poor. Where else are you going to get your space opera? Heck, is that why the Three Bodies Problem is getting so many adaptations? Because Star Wars sucks ass and everyone else is trying to fill the vacuum?

Anyway, I'll see you in our next update. I should have some eclipse stuff to share next week.