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Dune: Part Two (2024)
overrated hack job
I believe that I ended Dune Part One with certain expectations of character design and plot development. Only to go into Dune Part Two wondering "what the hell" is happening.
I won't go into every niggly detail that annoyed me, but only focus on on the 3 primary annoyances.
1) The lack of a time jump. This is everything. Having Jessica marching around talking to her baby bump does not have remotely the same affect that Alia as a 4-year-old child would have had. Giving Alia's purpose away to Paul is an absolute waste.
2) Waste of space on teen drama. This also ties into the time jump. Paul in the book is fully aware of what he's doing. He doesn't really have hesitations or jitters all that much. He's intentional. I was as annoyed by the teen angst in Dune Part Two as I was the only time I attempted to read Twilight. Perhaps if actual elements of the book had been the focus then maybe we could have forgone the bits that will only impress Gen Z and Alpha viewers.
3) Chani. There's a popular saying rolling around that equality doesn't mean less for everyone else because it's not a pie. In this case, yes, it does mean less. It means that giving Chani more purpose than she should have, changing her personality to a girl who spent the majority of her time huffing and marching off in a snit, taking part of her role away and giving it to Jessica in terms of the water of life, is demeaning to the original character and the author. I like Chani for the character she was being presented as in Dune Part One. Someone with softer edges and gentility and support of Paul. She was none of those things in Dune Part Two. I like Chani in the book. I cannot stand her in this movie franchise now because she is not who she should be. If I were Paul I would be horribly disappointed by the bait and switch my dreams had played on me where Chani was concerned.
That's it, that's all. Too much was changed and I didn't even go into all of the things that bother me. All I know is that we're left with The Two Towers and the Hobbit movies yet again. Only this time people are singing its praises when maybe they shouldn't be.
Frozen II (2019)
what?
I'm still not sure what I watched, or why I even watched it. Yes, the animation is pretty, but there is no cohesive plot, and no lessons learned. You have to do better than pretty animation, folks. This one is just excessively dull, like everything Disney and Pixar have dished out in the last couple of years.
Onward (2020)
average at best
This is an unfortunately average film. The only worthwhile and halfway fun character in the whole thing is played by Chris Pratt (no surprise there), otherwise, it's incredibly boring. So much potential wasted.
Nee sensei, shiranai no? (2019)
So cute!
Just like the show, this review will be short and sweet.
Do not expect too much from Nee Sensei, Shiranai No?. It is meant to be cute, fun, romantic, and mildly sensuous. It is fluff, but the kind of fluff with a bit of quality behind it. Eiji Akaso is delicious as Riichi and pairs so well with the cute Fumika Baba. They have a solid romantic zing that I found very convincing. Plus we have some almost real kisses. Not as good as Yamapi in Buzzer Beat (who is?), but still at least a 7 on my personal J-drama kissing scale.
The story is sweet and predictable, but I liked how Riichi pursues Hana with so much confidence and tenderness. It's just cute. If you like cute with some fire, then you should watch it. If not, watch something else more to your taste. It's fine. I do that all the time!
The ABC Murders (2018)
Oh dear, no
Thanks to David Suchet, people have a specific ideal for Hercule Poirot. He must be arrogant and suave. He must be calm and unruffled, like a deaf partridge. And he must be above all of the petty little squabbles around him. Because he is Poirot.
To be fair, this is also the Hercule Poirot that Agatha Christie designed.
But this is not the Hercule Poirot that Sarah Phelps wrote. If she had gotten the character of Poirot right, I could have overlooked the unfortunate hyper-sexuality, but she didn't, she got him wrong. There has never been a more depressed, morose, or tragic incarnation of Poirot than the one in this miniseries. Now, I could blame John Malkovich, but he did not write the screenplay. Therefore, not his fault. It's not his fault that Sarah Phelps decided to rewrite Poirot's history and turn him into a decades old liar. That offended me the most. The very idea of Poirot lying about his history is even more preposterous than the fabricated background she created for him.
So no. Alas, no. If she'd gotten Poirot right, like I said, the other millstones could have been overlooked and I might have rated a 7 or 8. But when the screenplay writer shows no respect for the origins of a literary character and its creator, that's when I get off the boat.
The Case for Christ (2017)
What an Incredible Story
If you get a chance, see The Case for Christ in theaters now. It banishes doubt by using irrefutable fact, and all by the hand of a die-hard atheist named Lee Strobel who, after all his months of research to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ, became a Christian. If you know someone who's searching or if you yourself are searching, get the facts as established by a man who was bipartisan when he did the research into the linchpin of the Christian faith. Great film, excellent acting, and a terrific use of a couple of hours of your day.
And if you're looking for more, maybe even try picking up his book. Only 5 out of the 13 experts Lee interviewed are represented in this film for the sake of space. If you have any doubts, read the book and see if those remaining experts do something to help establish your choice.