New Films, New Options, New Rumours....

[Anthoney]

Lynch had a better eye.

Yeah but he thought it was a good idea to give the Fremen sonic weapons.

 

[Al Jackson]

Yeah but he thought it was a good idea to give the Fremen sonic weapons.

I thought it was Lynch who put that in.

 

[Anthoney]

Yes it was. You said he had a better eye and I pointed out he also had some dumb ideas.

 

[Overread]

It's probably because of its unrealised potential; ergo something we never got. Plus in a world where we are used to most directors rending a story down to just 2 hours, its refreshing to see one start at 14 or so hours and considering the story from that aspect.

OF course 14 hours is nearly impractical in film terms. Even some of the biggest trilogies and films of the past and present day don't get near that value (in fact Starwars is possibly the only film franchise to get near that value and its taken a LOT of movies over generations to get there).

I do agree, Lynch had a great eye for the visuals of Dune. Even now when one thinks of Dune, his creations and artistic direction leap to the foreground (as opposed to the odd hat and fashion show that was the other adaptation many years later). Lynch also suffered in script, though honestly if he'd had 2 films I think he could have covered it better; provided they were direct link films like Lord of the Rings were as opposed to two fully stand alone films where you can lose a huge chunk of time retelling the first story at the start of the second.

 

[Al Jackson]

Yes it was. You said he had a better eye and I pointed out he also had some dumb ideas.

Yeah Lynch got too imaginative with those sonic weapons , he seemed to miss the point that the Fremen in Dune were by themselves the secret weapon against the Sardaukar not even counting the worms.
I also did not like the 'cartooning-up' of the Harkonnen , that was silly unneeded. I thought neither the Lynch film or the SyFy series caught the subtlety of Herbert's narrative in things like that. Villeneuve has shone an eye for sophistication , I want to see is he can capture that from the novel.

 

[Scookey]

I'm still hoping they release a new Dune PC game. Was addicted to the three, now very dated and 32-bit only ones. Think films and games are best when originate in books. Rarely works well when the process is reversed - Assain's Creed being a moot point.

 

[Al Jackson]

I do agree, Lynch had a great eye for the visuals of Dune. Even now when one thinks of Dune, his creations and artistic direction leap to the foreground (as opposed to the odd hat and fashion show that was the other adaptation many years later). Lynch also suffered in script, though honestly if he'd had 2 films I think he could have covered it better; provided they were direct link films like Lord of the Rings were as opposed to two fully stand alone films where you can lose a huge chunk of time retelling the first story at the start of the second.

There is one thing that is frustrating about the adaptation of science fiction prose by movie makers, few directors and screenwriters are familiar with the prose form. This has changed in recent years. Thought out the 40s and 50s (and onward) science fiction writers , the good ones, build worlds that felt lived with good story telling , using the facts of the known universe. Look at how much great SF prose still lays fallow. Visual narrative is just now getting around to Foundation, almost all of Heinlein's work from the 1950's (the best stuff he ever wrote) has been ignored, a great SF novel like Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama can't see to get gotten made, Poul Anderson's space opera with is way beyond Star Trek and Star Wars seems unknown, Alfred Bester's great baroque space opera The Stars My Destination is confoundedly never gotten to the screen ... an lot and lots more. just sits there... passes beyond my understanding.

 

[Al Jackson]

Saw this news item:

'Avatar' Sequels Not Certain After Disney-Fox Merger

At first I thought they were talking about Avatar 2 and 3 but apparently it is Avatar 4 and 5!
If I remember correctly principal photography on Avatar 2 and 3 a couple years ago and I have never understood why there is to be like 3 or is it 4 years of post production?
You know I thought Avatar was a 3d fest for the eyes but a somewhat lackluster even 2nd class story.
Sort of a Bury My Heart at Alpha Centauri ….

 

[AlexH]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair was apparently panned after attempts to make it a "girl power" film resulted in creative differences.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair - IMDb

Netflix are now developing live action TV series and films, apparently hoping to make Narnia into a universe to rival Marvel and Game of Thrones.

'The Chronicles of Narnia' on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far

Netflix is adapting The Chronicles of Narnia books into both TV series and movies over the next several years. Here’s an ongoing preview of everything we know about The Chronicles of Narnia on Netflix including...

www.whats-on-netflix.com

 

[Vince W]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair was apparently panned after attempts to make it a "girl power" film resulted in creative differences.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair - IMDb

Netflix are now developing live action TV series and films, apparently hoping to make Narnia into a universe to rival Marvel and Game of Thrones.

'The Chronicles of Narnia' on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far

Netflix is adapting The Chronicles of Narnia books into both TV series and movies over the next several years. Here’s an ongoing preview of everything we know about The Chronicles of Narnia on Netflix including...

www.whats-on-netflix.com

This will go wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

 

[BAYLOR]

This will go wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

This one 50/50 . It Could be a compete disaster or it could turn out great.

 

[Vince W]

After what they did to Watership Down, I have no faith in their ability to adapt books.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair was apparently panned after attempts to make it a "girl power" film resulted in creative differences.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair - IMDb

Netflix are now developing live action TV series and films, apparently hoping to make Narnia into a universe to rival Marvel and Game of Thrones.

'The Chronicles of Narnia' on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far

Netflix is adapting The Chronicles of Narnia books into both TV series and movies over the next several years. Here’s an ongoing preview of everything we know about The Chronicles of Narnia on Netflix including...

www.whats-on-netflix.com

It couldn't have been "panned" since it was never made.

 

[AlexH]

After what they did to Watership Down, I have no faith in their ability to adapt books.

I can't imagine it being the same team. Mindhunter and House of Cards are highly rated Netflix productions adapted from books. I haven't seen either or Watership Down.

 

[Vince W]

In fairness Watership Down was a BBC/Netflix co-production and it was abysmal. So they both share the blame for that one.

 

[Pyan]

It couldn't have been "panned" since it was never made.

Did they mean "canned"?

 

[Pyan]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair was apparently panned after attempts to make it a "girl power" film resulted in creative differences.

To be fair, there's nothing actual wrong with promoting The Silver Chair as a 'girl-power' story, given that Jill Pole and The Lady of the Green Kirtle are probably far and away the strongest characters in the book.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

Did they mean "canned"?

Ah! That would make sense.

 

[AlexH]

To be fair, there's nothing actual wrong with promoting The Silver Chair as a 'girl-power' story, given that Jill Pole and The Lady of the Green Kirtle are probably far and away the strongest characters in the book.

Of course there isn't. I wasn't involved in the 'creative differences.'

 

[Pyan]

I've seen some odd pitches for films, but really?

Rubik’s Cube Movie and Game Show in Development