WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Dune (1984), Part 2 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:08.800 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.120 Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.200 This is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. And 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.160 today we are back with our first ever part two 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.160 of a Weird House Cinema episode. We do not think 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.680 we're going to make this a regular occurrence. But there 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:30.760 is a reason we had to split last Friday's episode 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:33.879 in two, and it's that we were talking about the 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:38.360 nineteen eighty four David Lynch adaptation of the novel Dune, 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.200 a movie that I don't think it would be possible 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.840 for us to talk about for less than three hours. 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:48.040 In fact, if we got maximally self indulgent Robert, I 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.920 think we could talk about David Lynch's doing for six hours, 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.840 maybe seven. How many movie runtime lengths could we go? 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:57.800 I mean it depends on which which version, which cut 0:00:57.800 --> 0:01:00.760 you're going, right, But yeah, we just we had to 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.680 split this one in two because there's just too much weirdness, 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.520 because it is a David Lynch film, and it is 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.800 based on the already weird book Dune by Frank Herbert, 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.720 published in nineteen sixty five. And then we just have 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.119 such a rich cast that we have to at least 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.520 acknowledge these various performers who really give it their all. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.320 And then, on top of all of this, Dune Part 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.560 two just came out in cinemas. It is already a 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:30.399 huge hit. Everyone's loving this film. Dune is in the 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:32.720 air again. The spice is in the air again. And 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.479 so we figured, well, if we're gonna cut a weird 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:38.280 house cinema episode into two like this, this is the 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:40.000 movie and this is the time to do it. 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:44.240 So I actually have rather big news with respect to 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:49.160 Denieville news Dune Part two. We managed to see it 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.440 in theaters. This is actually the first movie that Rachel 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.680 and I have managed to go out to the movie 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.800 theater to see since our daughter was born. And oh man, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.400 it was worth it. We had such a great time. 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.200 We were just like pumping our fists during the worm 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:11.760 riding scenes. It was great. And I think I guess 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:13.680 we should say at the beginning of this episode here 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.600 there will be significant spoilers in this episode for the 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.959 plot of Doune both. I guess I'll three the novel, 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.800 the Lynch adaptation and the new adaptation. And I thought 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.320 some of the differences in the choices where it diverged 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.040 from the book and from the eighty four movie were 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.359 quite interesting, and I think, in some ways really smart 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.520 and in other ways really taking on a challenge of 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:44.840 portraying some of the darker and less heroic aspects that 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:48.520 emerge toward the end of the novel that you are 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.919 definitely part of Herbert's idea of what the story meant, 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.440 but I think are sort of left out of David 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:59.280 Lynch's version, which embraces a more full spirit of adventure. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:04.120 Yeah yeah, and ultimately lands on a very heroic note. 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:07.360 We see Paul as a savior at the end of 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.840 this film, and we'll get into all this, but Venus 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:15.000 film is a different beast. While being very true to 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.760 the book, I believe that the spirit of his betrayal 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.919 of Paul is very much in keeping with the book 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.280 and certainly in keeping with the trajectory to come. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.280 Yeah, yeah, I think that's absolutely right. I guess we'll 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:30.040 probably talk some more about this as we go on, 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.880 But obviously, if you have not heard part one of 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.640 this Weird House series, you should go back listen to 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.640 part one of our talk on Dune from last Friday. 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:44.400 First brief recap let's see, we talked about the novel 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.480 Dune and Frank Herbert. We talked about David Lynch and 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.760 his sort of film career and some of the common 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.800 themes and characteristics of his filmmaking, some of the story 0:03:54.880 --> 0:04:00.600 behind the making of nineteen eighty four's Dune where David Lynch. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.520 This movie is largely regarded as sort of an outlier 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.400 in David Lynch's filmography, and he has to some extent 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:12.360 disowned it. He was very dissatisfied with the final product 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.120 that was released, and he'd even said that working on 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.839 this version of Doune, produced by Dino de Laurentis, sort 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.200 of taught him that he would rather not make a 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.440 movie at all than make a movie that he didn't 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:28.039 have full creative control over. And he would go on 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:30.360 to make many more movies in the wake of this 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.880 where he did have creative control and are celebrated by 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:40.280 many as a very strange, interesting, excellent artistic achievements. Dune 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.760 was not beloved by critics at the time it came out. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.200 I think in the years since critical opinion has softened somewhat. 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:50.560 It kind of has people look back on it now 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.320 and remember it fondly. But a lot of people did 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:55.400 not like this movie at all when it came out, 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.240 and I think that you can make an argument that 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:03.080 it is in many ways a failure to adapt the 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.960 novel appropriately. I think you can argue in ways also 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.279 that it is highly artistically compromised. You know, it's not 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.359 what the director wanted it to be. But at the 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.080 same time, I think David Lynch is done is great. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.760 I love this movie and I have a great time 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:20.400 watching it. 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.640 Yeah, I think, especially as time has gone by, I 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.160 think more and more people, I think people who have 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.920 attempted to adapt it can recognize this and know more 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:31.880 about the history of adaptation regarding this novel. But I 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:33.920 think the more the time, the more time has passed, 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.200 the more a lot of people have realized that this 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:40.839 was still a commendable effort. It's still it's still a 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.680 pretty great telling of a Dune story, even if there 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:50.120 are some very important thematic notes and ultimately happenings that 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.240 the we'll discuss that are that I don't love, But 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:55.960 still a lot of it. Is there a lot of 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.240 the look of Doune. Is there a lot of the 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.400 feel of Dune? Is there lots of great performances, so, 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.440 you know, and even throwing on the fact that he 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:06.680 had to cut it down so much given all of 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:09.919 these limitations, the finished product is a lot of fun. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.279 It has a lot of greatness in it. You know. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:17.360 I noticed something when watching the new movie Dune Part 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:21.760 two that made me think differently on some stuff I 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.279 said in part one of the series. So last time, 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.760 we talked about how difficult doing is to adapt for 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.720 multiple reasons. On one hand, it's difficult because so much 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.039 of the story is contextual at stuff about the setting 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.840 rather than action that happens directly within the story. So 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.560 it's a lot of world building that's very interesting and 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.599 sort of gives the direct plot meaning. But the other 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.360 half being that a lot of the drama is internal. 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.000 It's like characters internal thoughts and stuff. And we were 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:52.279 joking about how in David Lynch's adaptation, there is often 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.880 like a close up on somebody's face and they're making 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.400 a thinking face while you hear their internal monologue, you know, 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:02.520 say saying, oh, Dune racket, you know, thinking through something, uh, 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.640 And it's often funny in David Lynch's adaptation. But I 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.000 realized the new movie does the same thing, and for 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.440 some reason, it just it just doesn't look as funny. 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.960 I don't know if the actors were instructed to make 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.920 different kinds of faces, but there is zooming on people's 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.000 faces and hearing their internal thoughts. Yeah. 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.480 So yeah, So we're going to continue to talk about 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:25.080 these these differences, some of these choices as we roll 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.640 on through here. Let's see, we got into the plot 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.160 a bit in the last episode, and one key thing 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:34.600 in case you've forgotten, or if you have, you're you're 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:36.360 gonna ignore us and you're just gonna roll into part 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.440 two without listening to part one, is that the one 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.640 thing we're doing different with this differently with this weird 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.280 House Cinema episode is instead of rolling through the entire 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:47.080 cast or notable members of the cast before going into 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.560 the plot, we are touching in on cast members as 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.920 we go. And this was in order to try and 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.960 make the split between the two episodes a little less 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:57.160 jarny mm hmm. 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.800 So the farthest we got into the plot in part 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:04.800 one was we talked a lot about the opening narration 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.000 from Virginia Madsen, where she talks for a long time 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.560 about the Spacing Guild and all that, And then we 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.560 talked about the scene where the Spacing Guild arrives on 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:18.800 the Imperial home planet and a Guild navigator in his 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.080 sort of in his fish tank locomotive comes into the 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:26.080 Emperor's throne room to consult with the Padisha Emperor Shaddam 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.160 the Fourth played by Jose Ferrer, and they have a 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:33.280 talk about essentially the entire plot that's going to unfold 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.440 in the first half of the movie, the plot against 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.680 how Streides and how the Emperor is planning to use 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:44.040 House Harkonen to destroy Duke Letto and his line. 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:46.280 Yeah, and then then we had to cut for time, 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.679 so we're jumping back in here with more build up 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.160 to the key plot. We're on a different planet. We're 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.600 on a wet planet, so let let's jump right in. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.760 Okay, So here we are at the planet Caladan. This 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:03.160 is the home of House Atriades. It is a gray 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:07.160 planet of rain and oceans, totally contrasted with the dryness 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:11.520 of dune, though often comparisons are made between the waves 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.040 of the sea and the dunes of the desert, and 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.200 this comes up in several adaptations of the story as well. 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.360 But here we get more narration. Now, last time we 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.000 were joking about the amount of voiceover narration. There is 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.640 to explain what's going on in this movie, and there's 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:31.160 even more to come. So Princess Erilan continues on the soundtrack. 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:35.240 She says, the powerful Bennie jesser At Sisterhood for ninety 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:40.240 generations has been manipulating bloodlines to produce the Quisat's Hatarak, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:45.120 a super being on Caladan. Jessica, a member of the 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:49.240 Sisterhood and the bound concubine of Duke Letto Atredees, had 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.080 been ordered to bear only daughters because of her love 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.440 for the Duke. She disobeyed and gave birth to a son, Paul. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:03.360 Paul atreades. Even all that exposition raises some questions, but like, 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:05.160 I think it was part of the story that the 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.560 Benny jestertz they have many powers that they train for. 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.520 They have powers of mind, the mind that can sort 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.040 of command matter in various ways, and one of them 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.080 is that say, they can like control the sex of 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.360 their offspring with their minds psychically and things like that. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:26.120 But so yeah, she disobeys the rules of this powerful 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.200 sisterhood and gives birth to Paul, who is yet you know, 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:34.160 he's going to be some kind of terrible messiah. 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.640 So Paula Trds in this film is played by Kyle 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.439 McLachlin born nineteen fifty nine. Kyle would have been in 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:44.400 his early to mid twenties here, I believe, and it's 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.560 awkward and it's difficult casting, but he, you know, awkwardly 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.000 feels a bit too old in the first half of 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:50.760 this movie. 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.280 I yeah, So this is not a knock on Kyle 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.960 McLaughlin at all. I love Kyle McLachlin. I love his 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.040 working relationship with David Lynch. He you know, they're perfect 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.440 for each other in Twin Peaks and all that. And 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.120 I am always happy when I see Kyle McLaughlin in 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.720 a movie. He's an actor I love. But for some reason, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.120 I think I just have to admit he does not 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:19.520 feel right in this role. Something about his approach does 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:25.000 not fit either the great or the terrible purpose of Paul. 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:30.760 He doesn't seem to embrace the spirit of Epicanus really. Instead, 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.200 he comes off as Kyle McLaughlin like, he's kind of 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:39.480 nerdy and funny, and he like giggles a lot. And 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:44.200 there have been various criticisms of Kyle's coy Maclaughlin's performance 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:45.680 in this movie, and I have to just sort of 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.160 agree with them. I want to love Kyle here, but 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.920 something about him is kind of uncomfortable in the role. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:57.360 He has this overwhelmingly wholesome innocence and doesn't really capture 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.560 that boy with dangerous potential feeling. He's more of a 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:02.520 cosmic Martin Prince in here. 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.200 Yeah, he never feels like a boy. He always feels 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.400 like a young man or you know, a guy in 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.079 his twenties anyway, And I guess the moments where I 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.760 think he is best are the sort of cold moments. 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.120 Sometimes it's even a moment with the internal voice going on. 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.800 And in these moments it's it's almost like Paul is 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.360 more of a cipher, you know, Paul kind of seen 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:30.560 through the lens of say, the protagonist in David Clintenberg's Scanners. 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:35.560 You know, someone whose mental reality, whose relationship with his 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:38.320 own thoughts and the world around him is so different 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.360 from ours that he feels a little alien, you. 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.640 Know, personality. 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:47.240 Yeah, so there are moments like that that that worked 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.720 for me. And yeah, for the most part, I don't 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.240 think it's a bad performance, you know, We've seen plenty 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.680 of movies where the central handsome lead is not a 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.720 good actor and is not good in any of his scenes. 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.640 So it's nothing like that. It's a totally different beast. 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.600 And it is very difficult and ultimately not fair to 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:10.600 compare him in his performance to Timothy Challomy in the 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.200 New Dune movies, because in my opinion, Challo May is 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.000 just absolutely perfect because for one, on one hand, he 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.679 is able to capture the youthfulness of Paul in part one, 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.559 he really does look like a kid that is maybe fifteen, 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.240 which I believe is his age in the book. And 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.400 yet he is still label and I wasn't. I was 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.079 doubtful until I went into part two. He's still able 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:37.199 to deliver that more serious awaken Paul, that dangerous Paul 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:42.360 that we get in the second half of dv's version 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:42.720 of Doom. 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.800 I totally agree. I think Chalomey is great in his 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.640 role in the new movies, and he gets both sides 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.520 of it, just like you say, he's you know, he 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.760 has that youthful spirit of adventure you're so on his 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:58.320 side in the first movie, and then that awakening to 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.280 the terrible purpose, the sort of art toward tyranny and 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.040 the and the coldness and abuse of power. You see 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:09.319 that come on, uh with with such convincing intensity in 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.520 the second film. And he I think he does a 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.560 really really commendable job. And I just want to say again, 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.440 I'm I'm not generally knocking Cole McLaughlin. I love Kyle. 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.560 I think he's great. I just think it's like he 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:25.920 maybe didn't get something about this character. 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.040 Yeah, you know, despite the fact that you know, I remember, 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:31.920 I think I've read in places that he was like 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:33.640 a real student of the book, you know, and like 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.920 came in and and was was you know, done his homework, 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.800 and and certainly, you know, like you said, he'd go 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:44.400 on to have a very accomplished career. He is a 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.040 two time Ammy Award winner for his work on Lynch's 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.800 Twin Peaks. This was his film debut, which he followed 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:54.760 up with with Lynch's Doom follow up, The neo noir 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.480 Blue Velvet. And this is not a surprise for anyone, 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.640 but because he's probably seen him in some he's a 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:04.000 terrific comedic actor as well. Yeah, he has great comedic timing. 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:08.120 I really enjoyed on Portlandia, for example, yes, then he 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:08.880 played the mayor. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:10.280 I think, yeah he did. 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.240 All right, Well, what's what's Paul doing. What's Paul up 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:14.760 to this early in the film. 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:16.880 Well, we meet him in a room that looks kind 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.840 of like the officer's cabin in a British man O war. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:23.680 It's this big, like stately wooden room with ornate molding 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:28.360 and flourishes, and basically what we're going to get in 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:32.360 this scene is yet another sizable exposition dump, serving to 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.840 fill in more information about the setting, characters, and politics. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.480 So at the beginning of the scene, Paul is messing 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.680 around with something that looks suspiciously like a computer. I 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.880 don't think they have computers in this world. They should 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.760 have the what are the little like magnified scrolls or something. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.760 Yeah, yeah, they better not have computers. Yes, because that's 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:53.400 of course the whole big deal in the universe that 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:58.840 we have the Butlerian Jahad that eradicated thinking machines, and 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:02.240 we have this strong date, you know, religious and cultural 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.280 that thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:05.280 of a human mind. 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.760 Right, which is why in this world they have the mentats. 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.920 These are humans who are essentially trained to be computers 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.640 while remaining human. Yeah, but whatever this object is he's 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:19.520 messing with. It's displaying encyclopedic information on screen about different planets. 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:25.120 We see information on Caladan, Benny, Tlilax, and Aracus. We 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.960 learn about the mentats, the human computers with their red 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.440 stained lips. We learn about how the spice milange is 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.400 mined from the surface of Dune. We learn about the 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:39.320 worms of Iracus, which attack all rhythmic vibrations, and we 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:43.160 learn that the Harconins are the sworn enemy of Houseitreides 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.800 and their home world gide Prime is close is close 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:47.520 to Aracus. 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.080 It is interesting that this film decides to go ahead 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.760 and lay out stuff, you know, information concerning the Toley Laksu, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.160 who are not going to be important in this film 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.800 at all, Like they were clearly thinking ahead to subsequent 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.800 film elms. I mean, they're part of it, like their 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.800 their work is present here, but you don't actually need 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.159 to bring them up. Likewise, later we're gonna get a 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.840 mention and you know, previously we had a mention of IX, 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:13.639 and X is not evenally important to this film either. 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:15.960 So it seems like if you wanted to like cut 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.239 down on the amount of information you're hitting the viewer with. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.520 These would have would have been things you could have 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:21.760 left on the cutting room floor. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.840 Yeah, yeah, interesting choice. We have just folded space from IX. Yes. 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:29.439 Uh. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.600 Anyway, so Paul is approached in his state room here 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:38.000 by three characters who are servants of House the Treades. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.720 There is Thufar hawat the mentat, and his eyebrows would 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:47.719 function as arrowfoils. Essentially, he's got like gigantic wing like eyebrows, 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:49.880 and he seems to be he's wearing like a fur 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:54.000 fringed coat at the strange choice, but I like it. Yeah. 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.920 We also meet in the scene Gerny Halleck, the Master, 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.639 the war master who trains Paul in the Marshall Virtues. 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:04.639 And we meet doctor Wellington Ua, the physician of House 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.480 A Treades. The he's a called a Suk doctor. And 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.960 the Souk school of medicine is I think like the 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.800 it's like the main sort of way medicine is done 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:14.880 in the world of Doune. 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.240 All right, let's go ahead and lay out these three 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:20.600 actors then, because they come in like next to each other, 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:22.520 it's almost kind of comedic the way they come out, 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:25.720 But you know, and and so, first of all, we 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.760 have we have Howitt played by Freddie Jones, who lived 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.440 nineteen twenty seven through twenty nineteen, British character actor who 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:34.760 we talked about in our episode on eighty three s Kroll. 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:38.720 He had previously been in Lynch's The Elephant Man, and 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:41.080 he has a slew of other credits, including nineteen sixty 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:45.000 nine's Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, though that is generally I 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.439 think one that a lot of people choose to skip 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:52.120 in the Hammer of Frankenstein legacy. But in anyway, he's 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.280 perfectly fine in this, if a bit doddering for my taste. 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.480 I always picture Howitt as being a little more I 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.320 don't know, he's more loof here, which is in fitting 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:05.040 with the mintat but I tend to imagine him always 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:06.720 as being a bit more assertive. I mean, he's the 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.640 master of Spies for House of Tredes, like. 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.680 Yeah, simultaneously serene but sharp, and I think Stephen McKinley 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:19.720 Henderson gets that in Dune Part one absolutely yeah. 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:21.639 And I do love the eyebrows like this is a 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:24.920 film that does commit to helping the viewer out by 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:30.159 having a lot of visual cues regarding factions, houses and 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.720 different types of psychically enhanced people. And so the Mintats 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:39.479 all have just out of control eyebrows and I'll allow it. 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.320 It's gonna need okay. And he's got the red stained 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.879 lips from the juice that the Mintat straight. 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.200 Yes, yes, more than that in a minute. 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.439 But okay. So that's through fear how the Mentat. But 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:53.400 we also have Gurnie Halleck and doctor Ua. 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.000 Yeah, Hallick is of course. Gurney here is played by 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.800 Patrick Stewart born in nineteen forty. You know who Patrick 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.280 Stewart is. We're talking about Captain John luc Picard. We're 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:07.600 talking about Charles Xavier. His pre track films also include 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.720 nineteen eighty five It's Life Force. He was born in 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.920 nineteen forty. We talked about him briefly in our episode 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.840 on Nyazaki's Nausica because he did one of the voices, 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:18.719 so one of the key voices for that and did 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:22.520 an excellent job. But yeah, he is our troubadour warrior 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:23.840 in Lynch's Doom. 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:26.600 There's something about the way this character is realized in 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.240 the movie that makes him less exciting than he could 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.560 have been. Patrick Stewart in the role of Gurney Halleck. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.600 Sign me up. That sounds amazing. A lot of his 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.400 scenes are kind of underwhelming, and it feels like it's 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.920 not necessarily Patrick Stewart's fault. It something about the way 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:45.120 it's that they're written and edited together. Like he's very 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:49.400 abrupt when he starts that we're about to get into 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:53.000 this like sparring fight training scene. It's just like very abrupt, 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.480 and he has not given a lot of room to 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:57.439 express the character, it seems to me. 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:02.520 Yeah, yeah, Well, Meanwhile, in the recent Dune films, Josh 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:06.200 Brolin has really had had more of an opportunity, I think, 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.920 to inhabit this role and ultimately is just tremendous in it. 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:15.440 So Josh Brolin easily my favorite journey that we've seen 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:16.199 on film. 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.800 However, Patrick Stewart does serve as the human vehicle for 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:23.120 my favorite character in this whole movie, which is Pug Atraodes. 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:24.560 We'll get to that a little bit. 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.840 Yeah, anytime he's on camera bravely defending the atrides strategic 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.359 stockpile of pugs, he's a joy, all right. And then 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.080 we have yeah, we have doctor Wellington Ua played by 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:39.120 Dean Stockwell. Who've lived nineteen thirty six through twenty twenty one, 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.919 a wonderful American actor that we discussed in depth for 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.560 our episode on the Dunwich Horror in which he starred 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:50.480 as the warlock Wilburt Wetley. Definitely go back and listen 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:52.080 to that episode if you want to hear us talk 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:54.520 more about Dean Stockwell. But I think he does a 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.520 fine job here and makes for a very sympathetic Ua. 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:00.480 Chan Chin is also great in the two thou twenty 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:01.200 one adaptation. 0:22:01.840 --> 0:22:04.560 I agree. I feel like doctor Yue is one of 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.159 those characters that is hard to realize on screen because 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.840