“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Just the usual Bloodsuckers, it's set in the Zone after all.
Ah, so literal bloodsuckers instead of monetary ones.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Didn't 2 movies were just released? Now a TV mini-series?
Drops this Sunday
WIKI:
Quote
Set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, the series focuses on the origins of the Bene Gesserit, a powerful social, religious, and political force whose members possess superhuman powers and abilities by undergoing years of intense physical and mental conditioning. Dune: Prophecy is positioned as a prequel series to the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film Dune, which adapts the first half the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, and takes place some 10,000 years before the events of the film. The series, which draws on, but is set after, the Great Schools of Dune novel trilogy (2012–2016) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson,
I'd rather seem them try to tackle Dune Messiah instead.
Denis Villeneuve said he will come back to make a Dune Messiah film but not anytime soon. He said he wants to make a couple of other films first.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Finished the short one season series "Night Sky" last night. An interesting and unique premise. Could have moved a little quicker, the 8 episodes could have been done as well in 6. It was canceled so no second season but most everything was wrapped up well enough in the first season that it still works as a completed story. JK Simmons is great as always, he was the main reason I picked up on this show in the first place.
US federal spending per person per year, in constant 2025 dollars: 1925 - $153.00 2025 - $20,497.00
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz (RIP)
"It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." Thomas Sowell
Finished the short one season series "Night Sky" last night. An interesting and unique premise. Could have moved a little quicker, the 8 episodes could have been done as well in 6. It was canceled so no second season but most everything was wrapped up well enough in the first season that it still works as a completed story. JK Simmons is great as always, he was the main reason I picked up on this show in the first place.
I looked it up and the premise does seem interesting so I may check it out. I noticed Sissy Spacek is on the cast. It's been a very long time since I've seen her in anything.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Finished the short one season series "Night Sky" last night. An interesting and unique premise. Could have moved a little quicker, the 8 episodes could have been done as well in 6. It was canceled so no second season but most everything was wrapped up well enough in the first season that it still works as a completed story. JK Simmons is great as always, he was the main reason I picked up on this show in the first place.
I looked it up and the premise does seem interesting so I may check it out. I noticed Sissy Spacek is on the cast. It's been a very long time since I've seen her in anything.
She and Simmons are the main cast and are excellent together.
US federal spending per person per year, in constant 2025 dollars: 1925 - $153.00 2025 - $20,497.00
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz (RIP)
"It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." Thomas Sowell
Star Trek, Original Series - "The City on the Edge of Forever." Really excellent episode, that I haven't watched in full in ages.
No pun intended, but that episode really is timeless.
US federal spending per person per year, in constant 2025 dollars: 1925 - $153.00 2025 - $20,497.00
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz (RIP)
"It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." Thomas Sowell
That episode is the crown jewel from DC Fontana IMHO.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Been quite some time since I last saw it and I was feeling a bit nostalgic so I watched Sixteen Candles on Netflix. It was a movie of its time and several scenes don't hold up anymore.
Been quite some time since I last saw it and I was feeling a bit nostalgic so I watched Sixteen Candles on Netflix. It was a movie of its time and several scenes don't hold up anymore.
Wheels
A lot of those 80's teenage films like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club were absolute products of their time.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
I have seen a few movies the last few weeks, and one or two that aren't so obscure...
1) "Val" -- Quirky horror movie about a convict on the run who picks the wrong prostitute's house to invade and hide out in. There are a few truly bizarre scenes reminiscent of something Tim Burton might try and pull off. Overall entertaining enough. ** 3/4 out of **** stars.
2) "Nighthawks" -- Stallone and Hauer from the early 1980s. Maybe not a big mainstream film, but a fun enough cop chases a criminal film. Hauer was great as usual, and Billy Dee Williams is always a bonus. *** out of **** stars.
3) "Civil War" -- I did not expect much, and my instincts were right. I've seen worse, but this was definitely not great. There were an insane amount of glaring flaws, as if the director never bothered visiting a warzone, or studying footage from wars, idiotic stuff such as: power on in cities in a warzone, fresh cut grass along roads in a warzone, people milling about like everything is fine, Apache helicopters with 3000 RPM A-10 chainguns (coming out of the standard issue M230), and on, and on and on... These broke immersion immensely. As if the film were to be immersive. Overall wasn't horrible, wasn't great. ** out of **** stars. Meh.
4) "Alone" -- Great low budget psychological horror thriller. I'll have my daughter watch this just so she learns how to spot psychos stalking pretty girls, and what to do and not to do. Fun. *** 1/4 out of **** stars.
5) "Attack the Block" -- Alien chimps with glowing teeth versus British wannabe street punk hoodlums? You bet! The kids were rude, and the girl that hastened the demise of Doctor Who plays a starring role. She was fine enough for the part, and I'm sure she's great in "Who"(blame the writers), but this film was adequate. I did space out once or twice, as I normally do with newer action scenes, but overall, great. Oh, did I forget to mention that John Boyega was a badass in this? He sure was. But he's great in every film he takes part in. ** 3/4 out of **** stars.
6) "Dune: Part 2" -- Everyone has probably seen this, as well as the David Lynch 1984 original adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal novel, "Dune." I have seen Lynch's version dozens of times in half a dozen different formats: theatrical, mini-series, four hour cut, two or three fan cuts, so I know the story well. This version of Herbert's source material started out fairly true to the book in part 1, and in part 2, tried for a while. The first half of "2" is pretty strong. Good world building, pacing, audience involvement. But then... things started to fall apart. I'm not quite sure what Villeneuve was thinking when he committed the sin of changing Chani's character, entirely. Gone is her undying support for Paul Atreides, aka Muad'Dib. Instead, she was transformed into some religion-hating, stick up her butt, bitter at the world asswipe which completely shattered the vibe. What a joke, and completely against the source material. Also absent was Paul's unborn Sister's voice from inside the womb. I preferred Lynch's approach to having her born early. I also preferred hearing what the characters thought in their minds--the stream of consciousness we read in the Book and heard in Lynch's film. Gone was this. The worms were cool, but the end battle was... very meh. Lynch's final battle was far more epic, and so were the worms--and the music. You wanted to be a badass after watching Lynch's film, and if you did not--there is something wrong with you. In this one, the conclusion was adequate, and the fight between Paul and Feyd was pretty cool--as was his character, but in some ways Sting handled the role better. Baron Harkonnen we saw more of, yet sadly, he was better in the 1984 film.
"Part 2" wasn't bad. In many was, was pretty great, and well packaged and didn't drag, at all, which is hard to pull off for a movie that clocks in at 2.75 hours. This is commendable. But the plot deviations and changes of character were ridiculous. I have a feeling where he's going with the third film--I'm glad there will be one--one that takes place after this one, which we never got from Lynch. I did chuckle at some water references to the 1984 original, almost as if Villeneuve was teasing about flooding the planet, like Lynch did out of spite(he did and that was great), So perhaps, that is why he was so audacious with his changes to Chani--to make his mark like Lynch did, except unlike Lynch, Villeneuve wasn't being clever. In 1984, thumbing one's nose at the hypocrisy of civilization chasing a "master resource" used to empower themselves was akin to smiting the oil and gas industry and exposing them for the "Feudal enslavers" they paralleled--or so the perception sometimes was at the time(and still is for one segment of society), particularly after the oil crisis of the 1970s. Lynch's flooding of Arrakis was his exposing of this symbiotic hypocrisy of the need for something great, how dependent societies were on this resource, and how the only way to progress beyond nonsensical killing and enslavement of the populace was to tear that wall of greed and gluttony down, completely. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what was going on in the back of Lynch's mind when he changed the ending, as he was lashing out directly at a Hollywood that dared try and squelch his artistic vision. So Villenvue seems here to try and make a similar effort, but instead with a now tired cliche of a woman lashing out at men because "she knows better." I don't know. I did not like her changes.
But I would watch the new films again, as I really enjoyed the changes to Duncan Idaho. Overall, I think this is a wash. Is this new duo of films better than Lynch's? No. Are they worse? No. Because Lynch's films were so disjointed, but mainly due to budget/screentime limitations--that Hollywood refused to treat him as Kubrick, DePalma, Coppola or Leone. And fair enough, he wasn't established at the time like they were, but decades later, his mad genius evolved and delighted many. Villeneuve makes some good films, but he's also made a few turds--"Arrival" *cough*, so he's not even equivalent to those former four greats. These two films, particularly the second, don't do any favors in getting him to that rung.
How do I rate this? *** out of **** stars.
But Blastman, how can this be?! Because I can. Good, but could have been better. The changes to Chani ruined everything. Stupid politics. Men and Women are absolutely different, and this is okay, and not every woman has to be a man, like these haughty nouveau "directors" would have one think they must.
2) "Nighthawks" -- Stallone and Hauer from the early 1980s. Maybe not a big mainstream film, but a fun enough cop chases a criminal film. Hauer was great as usual, and Billy Dee Williams is always a bonus. *** out of **** stars.
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What saddens me a bit about Hauer's Hollywood career is how he got relegated to doing so many low budget B movies irrespective of his incredible acting ability. I recall from my childhood that "Nighthawks" was very much a "fly by night" film. By that I mean "here today, gone tomorrow and quickly forgotten about".
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
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