Is This Something?

Dune 2 is getting almost all raves. It's at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Critical Drinker raved about it.

Midnight's Edge says it's generally a "great movie" but points out the film makes a couple of bows to The Gods of Woke Diversity.

Film Threat says someone has finally done Dune right. Chris Gore says you don't have to see Dune Part One first, but "it would be nice."

Personally, I thought Dune Part One was just okay. A big part of that is just that it's the first half of a complete story, so there's no actual ending to it. But I also felt the movie was a little Low-Energy Jeb, too.

But it's pretty good. So it won't be an ordeal to check it out before seeing the conclusion.

Here's a movie I think the Male Morons might appreciate: Kevin Costner has made another western, this one called Horizon, which is about the settlement of the west.

He gets the western genre; I really liked Open Range, and I will continue insisting, until people finally believe me, that Wyatt Earp is an epic and nearly a masterpiece. I know, I know: "But Tombstone's the best!" So what? Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best Indy film, but that doesn't mean that Crusade isn't also good and worth watching.

Update: TJM reminds me that Costner did not direct Wyatt Earp, Lawrence Kasdan did. Well, I'm sure Costner was a producer, too.

The format of Horizon is really interesting. It's in two parts, but the parts are being released just about forty days apart. Part one comes out June 28, and then part two comes out August 16.

That's so neat I'll see Part One just because it's almost a Sunday serial. Whether I see Part Two will depend on Part One, of course.

I think this is an important test. Many novels are not appropriate to make into films. They're too long. People might think that of course a film is the cinematic version of a novel, but that's not true. A film is the cinematic equivalent of a novella -- a short novel, with almost no subplots.

When Hollywood tries to adapt novels -- more substantial novels, not very short thrillers of 180-220 pages -- they have seriously chop up the book to get something that will run in two hours and ten minutes.

But what if this Costner format of a two-part movie, with the two parts just a month apart, is successful? Then all of a sudden genuine translations of novels to film become possible.

A new M. Night Shayamalan movie. It looks okay, but I've been burned before.

Eli Roth has directed a video game movie, Borderlands.

Update: Another whoops -- TJM tells me that Eli Roth got fired after two rounds of reshoots and replaced by (Deadpool director) Tim Miller.

Angel Studios' Cabrini is ramping up its marketing for a March 8 release date.

A couple of movies that are just starting production: Will This Be Something Later?

This is real... for now.

Lt. Frank Drebin is back on the case.

Paramount Pictures is moving ahead with a long-gestating remake of "Naked Gun," the studio announced Wednesday. Liam Neeson will star as the bumbling police detective Debin in the role made famous by Leslie Nielsen.

Akiva Schaffer ("Hot Rod," "Pop Star: Never Stop Stopping") will direct the film, set for release in July 2025. The script is by Dan Gregor, Doug Man and Schaffer, who collaborated on 2022's "Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers."

I guess Akiva Shaffer is one of the Lonely Island guys?

I mean... I have so many questions. Liam Neeson is a great actor but I swear he is utterly unfunny. He's anti-funny. I've never seen him be funny, ever. But then again, the whole point of the ZAZ casting was to cast unfunny actors and have them play absurd situations absolutely straight.

But I dunno. I just don't know.

Update: drocity and Lance point out that he was funny in The LEGO Movie. I forget that movie. I'm a LEGO Batman man, personally.

And what about this one -- Will Smith as Popeye?

Just kidding on that one, that's one of those stupid fake trailers people put together.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:22 PM

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