JohnnyBreeco Reviews

Dune (2021)

Lived Up To My Expectiations

[9/10 · 23 October 2021]

This lived up to the expectations I had for this film, from my favorite currently active director Denis Villeneuve. I have never read Dune or watched the Lynch version, but I like Denis because I feel he merges the quality and taste of high brow art film and the entertainment value of blockbuster movies. And this definitely excelled in that regard.

POSITIVES -The atmosphere and world building in this movie is absolutely amazing and captivating (cultures, costumes, technology, lore etc).

-Its Denis... it's extremely solid and quality in almost all regards. He didn't drop the ball.

NEGATIVES -The movie fits these tributes to the book (or things you would only understand if you know dune), such as the "fear is the mind killer" monologue. But these dialogue bits are thrown in there at random times and the characters are like muttering the words incoherently. I felt these bits of dialogue could not have been included at all at no downside... or not be put in in dramatic scenes where there is loud action and you can barely hear or understand the monologues.

-Some things in the movie feel fairly cringey to me personally like "the voice power"... But in this case I chalk it up to things like this coming across differently in books and hard to translate to anything outside your imagination.

-I feel they could have cut the amount of dream sequences in half at no cost. (they entire theatrical trailer ends up being most made up of all dream sequences)

-I REALLY, REALLY wish there were more scenes on the home world of the Harkonen and the Sarduakar army... For me, these scenes were extremely dark, gritty, and absolutely captivating, True sci fi/occult world building excellence. This was my absolute favorite element of the movie.. Unfortunately they are very short scenes and there are very few in the movie. I wish I got more to enjoy.

It Comes at Night (2017)

Not a horror at all... but a VERY REALISTIC and EXTREMELY WELL CRAFTED post apocalyptic film

[9/10 · 14 June 2017]

The first thing worth mentioning about this film is that it is not a horror film at all. The film was completely mismarketed as another run of the mill horror film on purpose. This did two things. It secured the film a nation wide theater release which it surely wouldn't have gotten otherwise, and it baited in a larger, more casual audience that was expecting the exact opposite of what it was.

Basically, going to see this movie is like ordering a greasy double decker burger with fries and a soft drink... but instead you get an exquisite entree of fresh garden vegetables prepared by a three star Michelin chef. Very few of these people will have the palate or taste for it, in fact most of them will be upset.

This film is probably the most realistic post apocalyptic story I have ever come across. Anyone who knows the frequency and probabilities of solar flairs and what they would do to our civilization has probably played out scenarios in their head that are almost identical to the plot of this movie.

It is this highest degree of realism in the unfolding of the plot and what happens between the characters that makes this film so engaging and captivating. As a work of craft, the film is a remarkable. It is so beautifully shot and the acting never drops below A+ quality for a single moment. This is in the top class of all the movies I have seen, and is one of the best post apocalyptic ever made in my personal opinion.