dune Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When I closed my eyes and pictured the greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, I was surprised how often hair -- and headpieces -- come into play. That makes sense for those of us who are not costume purists because we're thinking of the character as a whole, and in movies we're very often looking at close-ups of villains. We want to get up close and personal, to study the sneer, to examine the evil eyes, to absorb the dismissive scowl, to observe the raised eyebrows.

Isn't it the whole package that sells a character as a villain? The actor makes all the difference in the world, no matter if he's buried under a ton of makeup or becomes nearly unrecognizable, but the costume plays an important role. In honor of all those who will sally forth this weekend in costumes that are good, bad, and ugly, we salute the designers of the top ten (plus a couple of bonus selections) greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, and the actors who wear them.

The Emperor Ming (Flash Gordon)

It takes a truly evil villain to pull off this particular outfit. Arrayed in varying shades of deep red and gold, Ming (the always game Max von Sydow) threatens to steal the show when those eyebrows are raised. Somehow Ming looks both sartorially forward-thinking -- what is that raised cowl doing back there except to frame his bald head -- and ridiculously, gloriously silly.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

Last March, the trades confirmed that Peter Berg was the latest director brave enough (or foolish enough) to tackle a new adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary Dune. News has been scarce since, though just last month Berg was assuring MTV that he was still involved, and that he was trying to crunch Josh Zetumer's 200-page script into something manageable "without offending the purists." Other than some intriguing Robert Pattinson casting rumors, there hasn't been much for fans to really discuss or rant about. But an intriguing story has popped up on Pajiba. Their inside source claims that Berg has dropped out of the Dune remake, and that Paramount is scrambling for a new director.

The search is fraught with difficulty for Paramount, according to Pajiba's source. "The search, however, has run into two issues: 1) they're looking for a director who can put the movie together for under $175 million, which sounds manageable, but they don't want anything resembling the crap effects of the '84 film, and 2) they want a director who already has a preexisting passion for the novel and is enthusiastic about the project." But the search has allegedly landed on two splashy newcomers: Neil Marshall and and Neill Blomkamp. Marshall is said to be the frontrunner, championed by producer Kevin Misher. But the studio lukewarm on Marshall's resume and likes Blomkamp, who they feel has the "vision" for the film.

This is all rumor and speculation at this point, and nowhere is it stated why Berg dropped out of the remake. (A schedule conflict would be likely. Berg has one heck of a full plate.) There's also something a little too dreamy about those mentions of Blomkamp and Marshall. I'm very, very curious to see how this little rumor is played out, and if it could lead to a Dune adaptation that's palatable and faithful to Herbert.

I've begun to notice a curious divide when it comes to the geek franchises – and it may be a flight of fancy or pure ignorance on my part. But sitting on the edge of summer with so little to talk about leaves me no choice but to explore it, and try to convince you to read it. I apologize.

Geekdom is notorious for how eagerly it borrows and pillages from every single genre. Everything from Greek mythology to Unforgiven has been borrowed and reworked – sometimes into iconic brilliance such as Superman or Wonder Woman, or into pulpy fun like Mark Millar's Old Man Logan. Discovering what inspired Star Wars, Blade Runner, or Dune is a favorite topic of discussion for the hardcore geek. Scholars hold conferences on the influences of Joss Whedon. It's what keeps the whole machine of sci-fi, video games, and comic books ticking.

Doesn't it feel like we've stalled out on that? Last week, I wrote very optimistically about a renaissance of sci-fi and while I genuinely believe that can happen, I wonder if inspiration can spring from watching Marvel and DC the way it has from reading them.

There are recent movies that suggest that it can. We finally had original superpower stories with Hancock and Push. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor draw on comic books and video games for their manic filmmaking, using the immortality of Batman and Super Mario Bros as a perfectly good reason to keep Chev Chelios around. The world of Shoot 'Em Up seemed ripped from the pages of Vertigo, but wasn't. I want to believe that it's the first
first creative stirrings of a generation raised on a frenetic diet of comics, video games, and Star Wars. Why wouldn't that pop culture concoction spawn some original superpowered stories?

Now this shall be a hotly debated remake. Variety has just announced that Peter Berg will be directing the latest version of Dune for Paramount (as previously rumored). It will be produced by Kevin Misher, who has spent the last year trying obtain rights from Frank Herbert's estate.

Dune has been made twice already -- most famously by David Lynch, less so by the Sci-Fi Channel. This time, they are looking for writers who can adapt the definitive version for movie audiences. However, just a glance through any "geek" forum shows fans are already worried that the studio's belief that "its theme of finite ecological resources [is] particularly timely" is already missing the point.

The Lynch version is a film that people either love or despise. Most critics despised it upon release, but it has a fairly large fan following. (I know one guy who considers loving it a dating criteria.) Well, except me -- it's been so long since I have seen it that I fall into neither camp, especially since I watched it at 2am through very bleary eyes. I must remedy that so I can discuss this properly. So I'm not entirely convinced a remake is a bad idea -- after Lord of the Rings, no book is considered impossible, and it would please many Herbert fans to see a more loyal adaptation. Then again, there are so many sci-fi books I would love to see tackled that I'm disappointed to see them simply pick up Dune again. Perhaps it is the beginning of a trend.

No, Tom Cruise won't be starring in the new version of Frank Herbert's Dune, but it sure does look like Peter Berg is going to be one busy director over the next few years. According to an informative report over at the MTV Movies Blog, we now know that Berg's next projects are:

1. A spy thriller with Tom Cruise that has a "great" script (aka Edwin A. Salt, which we reported on the other day).

2. A "big, big, big" big-screen rendition of Dune, which was made into a feature film by David Lynch back in 1984, as well as a collection of well-received cable mini-series.

When asked about "remaking" a film made by the illustrious David Lynch, the director was more than diplomatic: "Berg said that while he's "a big fan of Lynch," he believes "that interpretation has left the door wide open for a remake."

So that's good news for Berg, obviously. Tom Cruise and a massive sci-fi epic back-to-back. Not too shabby for the kid who once starred in Wes Craven's goofy Shocker. And while Berg's resumé as a character actor might be a little choppy, there's little denying that he's a solid director: His films include Very Bad Things, The Rundown, Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom. That's what we call 4-for-4. Well, I do.

Many of us get tense over that nasty, 6-letter word -- sequel. Usually, they come many years after the original, trying to put a new spin on things that sometimes works, but often doesn't. And then there's Dune -- the project that seems to pop up every decade. In the seventies, there was almost an immense, star-studded feature teaming epic names like Dali and Giger. David Lynch then took a stab at it in the eighties, which he regrets. Finally, there was the miniseries, which came out just after the '90s.

Now there's been a lot of rumors of yet another attempt. Frank Herbert's grandson had posted about the possibility to a Dune forum -- saying someone at a studio really wants to do that, a director sort of someone. AICN has now gotten word from one of their sources about the potential project, who says that the studio is Paramount, and the guy in question is none other than Peter Berg. Yes, the guy who just brought us The Kingdom.

Personally, I'm both intrigued and a little apprehensive. The actor/writer/director/producer has proven his worth on a number of projects, but there's real life, and then there's Dune. It just makes me want to ask a lot of questions. Can Berg handle sci-fi? Heck, can anyone handle the world of Dune? Do we need a new Dune? Is it time to stop trying? Why do they keep trying? Have people been ingesting too much spice?

Director David Lynch is one of those filmmakers you either love or hate. From the wildly entertaining and disturbing Blue Velvet to his take on Frank Herbert's epic novel Dune through his more recent projects like Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, he's shown his flair for creating unusual, unsettling and deeply complex stories. From his work and the fact that he sometimes shys away from press for his projects, some may assume he's some sort of socially inept hermit who's only source of expression is through his films.

Fortunately, the director has given us a few glimpses into his life, especially through his own website where he's rumored to appear in the forums from time to time, ready to discuss the good and bad about any of his films or the merits of a good cup of coffee. And now, according to Twitch Film, we'll be getting even more insight into the man known as David Lynch. How, you may ask? By watching an upcoming documentary about the director -- a teaser for which is already up at the Twitch Film site. According to the sight, the documentary has been shooting for over two years during the time Lynch was making his latest project, Inland Empire.

The documentary filmmakers have amassed over 700 hours of footage and when the documentary is completed it "will give the most current perspective on one of cinema's greatest directors and will bring to life his creative process and joy for living life to its fullest potential." As I'm a huge fan of the man and his films, I'll be very interested to see this documentary once its released. Lynch is a very talented and sometimes misunderstood genius who deserves to have his story told. Besides, any man who eats at Bob's Big Boy every day for eight years is alright in my book.

The term "turkey" was long ago coined to describe either bad movies or huge financial flops, and there is a long list of them. (Although Kevin Costner movies like Waterworld or The Postman could better be described as "ham.") I combed through the trash to find seven treasures that I would actually recommend; these are the Butterballs.

1. Ishtar (1987, Elaine May)
Today, it's actually fairly difficult to see Ishtar, that "musical comedy" starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, even if you wanted to. It hasn't yet been released on DVD (except in the UK), and I bet most of those old VHS tapes have been carefully disposed of. But Elaine May's famous flop deserves reconsideration, if only because recent years have shown that May's first three films, A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Mikey and Nicky (1977), were masterworks way ahead of their time.

Confession time: I adore Dune. The bad effects, the horrible techno music, the giant worms - it's all magic to me. I even have a Feyd action figure. No lie. Plus, since I read the book before I saw the movie I could actually follow it, which probably made the whole thing a lot more palatable than it would have been otherwise. (I have a friend who saw a preview screening way back in the day - the audience was given an explanatory booklet to read before the movie, which is never a good sign.) Needless to say, I was thrilled when the big fancy anniversary DVD was released and preordered it at the earliest possible moment. As a result, I fell right into Universal's trap - little did I know that, just a few months later, they would be releasing a THREE HOUR EXTENDED VERSION of the movie! Sigh. Here, Universal: just take my paycheck.

Due out January 31, the DVD has a lot of those vague extras that rarely live up to your expectations - things like "Designing Dune," "Production Notes," and "Special Effects" - but the whole extended version thing (Alternate ending! A fight scene we haven't seen before!) can excuse a lot of filler, if in fact that's what those features turn out to be. There are, however, a few extras that sound more interesting, like a new documentary and some behind-the-scenes stuff from personal collections. A commentary or two (in addition to not being a single-disc flipper - what the hell?!) is what this movie is really crying out for, but I guess we shouldn't be too picky if we're finally getting to see the movie in a form closer to what David Lynch originally intended.

Edit:  There are more details about the extras, as well as some information about which version of the film Lynch prefers here. Thanks, Elrond.