Dune, Parts 1 & 2

Here’s how I know the Dune movies are successful: not only was I able to follow the plot, I was actually engaged in the conflict and tension, and ready to follow the Lisan al Gaib to war or water. True confession: until a few months ago, I didn’t know the House of Atreides from the House of Davenport, and the only things I really knew about the Duneverse were that @tmaxwelljones loved the book and, over the years, spent way too much time watching the old David Lynch adaptation. These new Dunes, helmed by Denis Villeneuve, are visually breathtaking and scripturally precise, giving the Dune diehards what they need while allowing a novice like me to be swept along by the allegory of it all - that eternal, desperate human need to find and follow a savior. And amidst some truly spectacular special effects (That Harkonnen planet and that gladiatorial battle! Riding those sandworms! The spacecrafts! The battles!) are some equally impressive performances: Timothee Chalamet as the reluctant prophet, Zendaya as his star-crossed and potentially rebellious lover, and Javier Bardem, going full-out as the always-faithful Stilgar. But the true measure of success for these two films is that this old Pawpaw (that’s me!) was completely and utterly engrossed and can’t wait for Part 3! #MuadDib #Usul #KwisatzHaderach