Dune (1984)

Phenomenal. North Carolina is about to get frozen solid and I am incredibly stoned, watching this on a 32” CRT after eating a nice patty melt I made myself. Dune is a perfect movie for that vibe, a gross, sweaty, overstuffed epic where every frame is filled with something insane. In 2009 there were news stories about people who wanted to live on the planet the blue cats from Avatar are from, but nothing in Avatar is as breathtaking as the computer readouts in this movie, the polygonal 3D, the vastness space and the dunes of Arakis.

I didn’t like Dune either time I read it and didn’t like the new version but this smokes. It’s a dream within a dream within a dream. Watching it, even intently, is kind of like turning to the Classic Doctor Who channel on Tubi and watching a particularly chatty arc from the middle, which is, incidentally, something I love to do. I am glad that this bombed because success probably would have changed Lynch’s career trajectory at least a little, but holy shit what a stab at the blockbuster space epic. I am sickened by how many of my buttons this mashed. YOU YOUNG PUP!