A Growing indifference to Cinema Going

[Judderman]

Well last time it was one somewhat confusing film. Two should work.

 

[Dave]

Dune really requires a 7 season (13-episode per season) TV Series to be done any justice.

 

[Vince W]

If only...

 

[Anushka Mokosh]

I go to cinema mostly socially, with friends. That means I usually just go to see big blockbusters. Last few movies I went to see were Deadpool 2, The Avengers: The Infinity War, Ready Player One, and Thor: Ragnarok. I was supposed to go watch Black Panther, but we skipped out on that one since most of my friends were sick at the time. I used to go alone from time to time, but I no longer do that. I just have no drive because I enjoy it better when I watch it in the quiet of my room and the cinema tickets have gotten a bit too pricey to encourage regular visits to the cinema.

 

[BAYLOR]

If only...

Dune would make a great tv series. Maybe on HBO?

 

[Vince W]

Dune would make a great tv series. Maybe on HBO?

HBO could work, or a network that has an excellent record of quality adaptations. BBC or ITV could do it provided they put enough money into it.

 

[Dave]

BBC or ITV could do it provided they put enough money into it.

Just to give you an insight into the amount of money involved, it was reported than Netflix spent more money on The Crown than the BBC spent on ALL of its Drama output last year. Dune would be silly money. People already rail against license fee increases, so the BBC can't afford it. Traditional TV advertising, which ITV relies upon, has suffered from more channels, internet and social media.

Cinema is a formula that still works. It works better than it used to now, because it keeps giving - box office, DVD and Blu ray, then pay-per-view, then individual broadcasters. However, pirating eats away at that somewhat.

 

[Overread]

Some of the insane BBC spending though is because they are using long term big name actors which often come with a BIG pay cheque. Just going for new and good but not well known talent can dramatically lower the costs.

That said BBC is better at period; they've got the sets and gear for it; whilst to do Dune they'd have to build a lot of totally brand new stuff so that would put the starting costs up quite considerably; or you're using a lot of greenscreens and high end high priced CGI.

HBO I think would be a better home as done right, Dune should be for mature audiences. The puss oozing boil covered floating bloated body of the Barron can't be captured in a PG or U rating Not least his love of heart-plugs. For all his "not actually being that far" the original Dune film I think did capture quite the gross essence of the Barron.

 

[Vince W]

Lynch's Dune did capture the feel, tone, and look of Dune wonderfully I thought. It's a shame they couldn't have had a script that followed the plot of the book more closely.

 

[Lucien21]

Didn't the make a Dune TV show in the 00's with William Hurt.

 

[Vince W]

SciFi (before they were SyFy'd) did two mini-series. Dune and Children of Dune. Both were okay, but not without their problems.

 

[Cathbad]

Lynch's Dune did capture the feel, tone, and look of Dune wonderfully I thought. It's a shame they couldn't have had a script that followed the plot of the book more closely.

They had a plot??

I found this movie hard to watch. They tried to cram far too much into too little time.

 

[Vince W]

They had a plot??

I found this movie hard to watch. They tried to cram far too much into too little time.

Perhaps plot is too strong a word. Notion?

 

[Judderman]

Just to give you an insight into the amount of money involved, it was reported than Netflix spent more money on The Crown than the BBC spent on ALL of its Drama output last year. Dune would be silly money. People already rail against license fee increases, so the BBC can't afford it.

I wonder why that is. What makes The Crown an expensive production?

 

[Dave]

I haven't seen it, but I expect that lavish costumes, location filming payments, hiring classic cars, they probably cost much more than computer generated images. Also, it needs to be perfectly correct or people will complain that it isn't accurate. Anyhow, I can't remember where I heard that - I think it was during a discussion on Radio 2 about Netflix's lack of new subscribers.

 

[Vertigo]

A little bit of an aside, but a rather worrying one; I heard a report on the radio mention a quote from the Netflix CEO in which he said something along the lines of "Netlfix's real competition isn't our competitors, it's sleep."

 

[AlexH]

A little bit of an aside, but a rather worrying one; I heard a report on the radio mention a quote from the Netflix CEO in which he said something along the lines of "Netlfix's real competition isn't our competitors, it's sleep."

That's true. They spend a lot of money researching how to make subscribers addicted to their programmes, so they binge-watch. The recommendations are highly tailored and designed to keep you watching, and watching, and watching...

 

[Dave]

That doesn't appear to be working with me. Most of their "Top Picks" are for series I've already watched, and I must have seen Star Trek The Original Series four or five time already, so why would I want to "Watch it Again."* I'm also very good at limiting myself to only a few episodes of something per night.

The "New to Netflix" things are (with some excellent exceptions) very poor. It is still worth the subscription, but it isn't a substitute for watching a new release at the cinema. I think I quoted Will Smith already here, who said they are two completely different things.

* Actually, when the mirror universe was introduced into Star Trek: Discovery I did go back and watch all the old, relevant TOS and DS9 episodes.

 

[Vince W]

That's true. They spend a lot of money researching how to make subscribers addicted to their programmes, so they binge-watch. The recommendations are highly tailored and designed to keep you watching, and watching, and watching...

Really. I find most Netflix recommendations waaay off the mark for me. There are very few things on Netflix that have made me want to keep watching the same thing over and over.

 

[Overread]

Lynch's Dune did capture the feel, tone, and look of Dune wonderfully I thought. It's a shame they couldn't have had a script that followed the plot of the book more closely.

I think that whole era of cinema had a very different feel and direction for sci-fi that has been lost in this era of easy CGI. In the past there was a very distinct magical/mysterious element attached to a lot of sci-fi. The scene where the Guild Navigator is moving the strange cylinder that is the ship through space etc... We've lost that in a huge way - I think honestly Star Wars might have been the start of the gradual shift, though Star Trek also pushed it along (the early films captured the mystery magic better as a more serious and bigger budget evolution from the original series - however TNG started ot shift away from it steadily)

They had a plot??

I found this movie hard to watch. They tried to cram far too much into too little time.

I agree, the plot was rushed and hurried and if you'd not read the book it would feel rather forced. They certainly tried to push too much into too little space; but I feel they captured the important moments well. Many of the key plot elements from the book were present and where it deviates its more that you get the feeling that it was because they just couldn't fit it in; as opposed to a desire to change things. Again it was made in a different era of cinema when following the source material wasn't the abnormal behaviour that it is today (where its almost as if following the source material is heavily discouraged)