ZackM

To be clear, Paul is not omniscient. He can not see everything. The book explicitly states that just as our eyes can not see beyond a mountain when you stand in a valley, prescient sight is also not absolute. He also can't see other prescient beings, like guild navigators. Paul is a product of his environment. He believes he has a legitimate claim to the throne and he's willing to use the power of the Fremen to make that claim and destroy those that have betrayed him. In his mind, the Jihad is an unfortunate byproduct that he reluctantly accepts because any path that prevents the Jihad also prevents him from claiming the throne. This is why he's an anti-hero and not a villain. In a vacuum, his actions against those who betrayed him are justified, and those people are more traditional villains that deserve to be destroyed. But, he has prescience and knows the results will be catastrophic, thus he is not a hero.

Dune battles are nothing like LotR battles. Not sure why anyone would have been comparing them.

Another one.

Which turned out to be wrong.

You alright?

20,000+ years in the future. 10,000 years after the Butlerian Jihad/Spacing Guild.

Sure. I'm using shorthand to summarize the situation.

The Kwisatz Haderach and the Lisan al Gaib are not the same thing. The Bene Gesserit plant prophesies all over the universe so that they can be exploited in times of need. Many Bene Gesserit could successfully fulfill the prophecies (and many have). The events of Dune are special because it's a perfect storm of Paul being the Kwisatz Haderach, Paul and his mother needing to exploit the Fremen because the rest of their family has been murdered, and the Fremen being the greatest fighting force the universe has ever seen.

They slide down the tail.

The Fear the Moment scene has been occupying 90% of my brain space for a week now.

I'm actually not sure what point you're trying to make. All I'm saying is that a story without Paul and Chani together is fundamentally not Dune: Messiah. It would be like making a Harry Potter movie where Harry isn't a wizard. That's not a valid adaptation.

That wouldn't be "kinda different." It would be fundamentally different. It would torch all of the good will he's built. It would be a really bad idea.

We only get that in Part 1 when Paul's visions aren't dialed in. In Part 2, after drinking the Water of Life, Paul says she will come to understand, he has seen it. So from the strict standpoint of what we've been shown on screen, Chani will be with him. But more importantly, without going into spoilers, their love and dedication to each other is the fundamental core of Messiah. If they are not together it's simply a new story, not an adaptation of Messiah.

If Denis wants to take all of the good will he’s built with these two movies and set it on fire, this is what he’ll do. If he’s not an insane person, he’ll adapt Messiah in a more straight forward way.

It's not in the book. They're ride or die in the book.

It's not from the book. Pretty sure she was just peacing out because she wasn't down with Paul going all power hungry.

That's the point where he changes his own path though. He has consciously avoided going South and drinking the Water of Life until that moment. He already knows what that means, even before he gains total prescience.

The attack on Sietch Tabr is where he changes. He decides he needs to be proactive.

Definitely an incredible theatrical experience. More changes from the book than I anticipated. Some of them were kind of obvious and made sense, like the abbreviated timeline and absence of Alia as an articulate toddler, but some of them were less ideal. Chani not riding with Paul at the end was the most egregious for me, as it makes the plot of Messiah a little awkward. The great houses rejecting Paul's ascendancy and that being the catalyst of the Jihad is weird because it makes them seem like political fanatics instead of religious fanatics. Ultimately, only mildly annoying when compared to how great the rest of the movie is. A+. Would recommend.

I have seen Dune 2. It rules. Bardem is the star.

Succession is a top 5 TV drama.

Barbie.

When they did the Godfather bit I felt personally targeted.

A nearly flawless movie. Get rid of Will Ferrell and you've really got something.

I thought it was very good. My #2 film of the year at this point. It is by no means an all time great or an instant classic, though. Somehow the least impressive technical moment was the bomb itself. I did not care for the way it was presented. The acting, cinematography, score, and sound design were all superb. Some of the anecdotes in the first 30 minutes or so seemed superfluous, but otherwise the pacing was good. I do kind of wish the parallel stories met at the end though. The movie loses some steam after the bomb had been dropped.