Movie Reviews
Movie Review – Dune: Part Two
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I have read all of Frank Herbert’s DUNE books many times, and a few that were written by his son Brian. I can unequivocally say that the DUNE is my favorite science fiction series. The depth of the universe that Herbert creates is rivaled only by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. This is why it is so hard to recreate DUNE for the screen. If I had a choice, I would have preferred that DUNE were created as a streaming mini-series that could have taken as much time as needed to tell the story. The visuals and music may not have been as spectacular as what Denis Villeneuve was able to pull off, but the story could have explored the depths of the characters and plot much more deeply.
What I love about the movie
What I love most about Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE is the visuals. The mood Villeneuve creates with his cinematic eye provides hints into the depth of the story that cannot be told through dialog or acting. Arrakis, the planet DUNE, is a character in the book, and Villeneuve treats it as such. I think I might agree with someone who said that Arrakis is the best-developed character in the movie.
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Every actor performs magnificently. Of course, the actors deserve credit for their talent, but I believe that the only way to get great acting from an entire cast is through great script and great direction.
What I dislike about the movie
I’m not one who thinks that any movie based on a book should try to be completely faithful to the source material. Each medium should stand on its own. That being said, there are things that are changed in the movie that I don’t think transfer. The most glaring is that Gurney Halleck was convinced that Lady Jessica was the traitor and not Dr. Yueh. That was instrumental to the motivation for Paul to take the water of life. Speaking of which, in the book, Lady Jessica did not want her son to take the water of life. For that matter, neither did Paul. It was only done after much trepidation. This plot line is completely removed from the movie. The Harkonnens launch an attack on Sietch Tabr and destroy it; Paul says, “Well, I didn’t see that coming. I guess I should take the water of life so that I can see the future more clearly.” That’s about how glibbly the movie treats it whereas in the book it’s a crucial decision that has enormous repercussions.
Also, Alia is born in the book and she’s the one who kills the Baron. The events in the movie are massively compressed as compared to the book. The events in the book span about four years. The events in the movie are compressed into less than nine months since Jessica is pregnant when she arrives on Arrakis and Alia is yet to be born by the end.
I’m also not sure what to think of the changes made to Chani and the relationship between Paul and Chani. On the one hand I like that Chani has more agency in the book. That works well for the story, but now I’m unsure how they will make amends without diminishing Chani’s agency. Villeneuve has said that he is already working on the script for Children of Dune and so Paul and Chani will have to have a reconciliation before they can actually have children. I’m going to guess that the third movie will pick up a number of years into the future, just as the book does. But to have Paul and Chani fix things off-screen now would be weak sauce.
I wish more details were given to the motivations of the characters. As I mentioned earlier, Frank Herbert created a detailed universe filled with conflict and did a masterful job of putting his characters in situations where they were forced to make sacrifices. Paul did not want to be the Kwisatz Haderach. He only chose that path as a last resort. The movie expressed his fear of taking the water of life, but the motivation for taking that risk wasn’t sufficiently expressed in the movie.
Conclusion
I’m glad that Villeneuve took on the daunting task of making DUNE. It’s hard to be critical given the constraints of cramming twenty hours of material into the five hours of DUNE 1&2. The visuals and music are masterpieces. With any hope this will inspire someone else to tackle the source material someday and give it the proper attention to detail it requires.
Grade: B
About The Peetimes: I think the first two Peetimes are the best, but none of them are bad. The only issue is with the forth Peetime, there is an important scene that begins as the Peetime ends that you don’t want to miss.
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Dune: Part Two.
| Rated: | (PG-13) Sequences of Strong Violence | Brief Strong Language | Some Suggestive Material |
| Genres: | Action, Adventure, Drama |
| Starring: | Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson |
| Director: | Denis Villeneuve |
| Writer(s): | Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United States, Canada |
Plot
Duke Paul Atreides joins the Fremen and begins a spiritual and martial journey to become Muad’dib, while trying to prevent the horrible but inevitable future he’s witnessed: a Holy War in his name, spreading throughout the known universe.
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Creator and developer of the RunPee app. When something doesn’t work right in the app it’s pretty much his fault. 🙂
Aspiring author. Would like to finish his “Zombie Revelations” trilogy if he could break away for working on RunPee and the cottage he’s building for RunPee Mom.
By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer
Posted: May 8th, 2026 / 08:34 PM
AFFECTION movie poster | ©2026 Brainstorm Media
Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Jessica Rothe, Joseph Cross, Julianna Layne
Writer: BT Meza
Director: BT Meza
Distributor: Brainstorm Media
Release Date: May 8, 2026
AFFECTION is an odd title for this tale. While it is about a number of topics and emotions, fondness isn’t one of them. Obsession, definitely. Love, possibly. The kind of general warm fellow feelings associated with “affection”? No.
There have been a lot of movies lately in which characters – mostly women – are grappling with false identities and/or false memories imposed upon them, mostly by men.
Let us stipulate that the protagonist (Jessica Rothe) in AFFECTION is not an android or in an artificial reality. However, we can tell something is way off from the opening sequence. A car is stalled on a tree-bordered highway. Rothe’s character is lying face down on the asphalt beside it, possibly dead.
But then the young woman rises, dragging a broken ankle. She experiences a full-body seizure. Fighting to recover, she sees oncoming headlights and tries to run, only to be hit by a car.
The woman wakes up in a bed she doesn’t recognize, next to a man (Joseph Cross) she likewise is sure she’s never seen before. One big confrontation later, the man says his name is Bruce – and that the woman is his wife, Ellie.
Ellie insists that her name is Sarah Thompson, and she is married to someone else, with a son. When she sees her reflection in a mirror, she doesn’t relate to the face looking back at her.
Bruce counters that Ellie has a rare neurological condition that causes her to block out her waking life and believe her dreams are real. This is why they agreed, together, to move to this isolated house, without the kinds of interruptions that can hinder Ellie’s recovery.
The set-up is presented in a way where we share Ellie’s skepticism. But Ellie and Bruce’s little daughter Alice (Julianna Layne) immediately identifies Ellie as “Mommy!” Alice appears to be too young to be in on any kind of deception, so what is going on here?
AFFECTION eventually explains this via a helpful videotape, though it’s so convoluted that viewers watching on streaming may want to replay the sequence to make sure they understand the exposition.
Writer/director BT Meza musters a sense of menace and lurking weirdness, as well as making great use of his location.
We still have a lot of questions, many of which are still unanswered by the film’s end. It may not matter to the points AFFECTION is trying to make, but a better sense of exactly how all this started might help our investment.
As it is, despite a heroically versatile performance by Rothe, a credible and anguished turn by Cross and appealing work from Layne, we’re so busy trying to piece together what’s important and what’s not and how we’re supposed to feel about all of it that it can be hard to keep track of the action as it unfolds.
Agree or not, Meza’s arguments are lucid and illustrated clearly by AFFECTION’s events. However, the movie is structured in a way that becomes more frustrating as it goes. We comprehend it intellectually but can’t engage viscerally.
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — In this episode of 8News Reel Talk, digital producer Julia Broberg is joined by anchor Deanna Allbrittin and reporter Allison Williams to talk about “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”
The hosts gave their reviews and assigned the following star ratings:
Deanna: ★★★★.5
Allison: ★★★.25
Julia: ★★
To watch more livestreams and digital video content, head to the WRIC+ Originals page. You can also watch full on-demand videos on your smart TV using the WRIC+ app.
Billie Eilish fans prepare yourself, the much talked about secret project has finally arrived on the big screens!
Billie Eilish has always been about intimacy over artifice, but her latest concert film takes that to a visceral new level. Co-directed by Eilish and James Cameron, Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) manages to bridge the gap between a massive stadium show and the quiet grit of life backstage.
The film starts 18 minutes out from the show and builds the tension until audiences are literally folded into a box with her. Being taken under the stage, passing fans who have no idea she’s inches away, sets a tone of total immersion. What makes this film different is the balance between the spectacle and the behind-the-scenes reality. We see the creative shorthand between Billie and James Cameron as they chase what she calls the “best kind of sensory overload”.
The film is very much fan focussed, with the sound mix being so specific that you can hear individual fans singing along in sync with the visuals.
There are so many standout moments, the handheld camera work during “Bad Guy” that gives a dizzying POV of the band, and the chilling minute of silence Billie requests from the crowd to record a vocal loop.
The film captures her unique stage presence. Influenced by rap culture, Billie refuses to have anyone else on stage, unlike many female artists that use back up dancers. Billie can hold the entire stadium in awe by herself which is incredible to witness, until Finneas joins her for a beautiful, emotional piano set.
Between the high-tech visuals and the “Puppy Room” (where she keeps rescue dogs for staff to decompress), the film feels incredibly personal. While the film doesn’t give us any new insights into Billie, Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D) is an enjoyable experience that elevates the tradition concert film.
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