So full disclosure: I saw Dune 1984 when I was eleven, read the books when I was twelve, understood them much later.

Excluding Children of Dune miniseries from this comparison.

Dune 1984 is my standard and yes it's--yeah insert quite a bit here--but it's gorgeous and it looks and feels like epic scifi in the very epic future. Whatever the fuck was going on with the script (cocaine probably?) David Lynch created a visual spectacle that pretty much makes you not care wtf was going on. Gurney, Stilgar, the Emperor, and Beast Rabban were incredibly good casting and Baron Harkonnen is fucking legendary and memorable.

The miniseries, though way more accurate, suffered from both some very weird choices of color (I always remember it as orange even though it wasn't actually all orange), some very weird acting choices, and some very questionable choices of actors: Chani was maybe the only flawless choice and outdid Dune 1984 by a mile.

That said: I cannot deny that Kyle McLachlan as Paul Atreides worked very well--about ten times better than the miniseries--but also has the same problem: both actors were old to play Paul and I don't mean chronological age; both visually and how they're performed, they acted like full adults and Paul--well, wasn't.

( some thoughts on paul, casting, and dune )
( liet-kynes owns me now )

I saw one and two in the theatre, but not three, and now I have them all. The anticipation is unreal.

...yet I haven't watched them. A three-part binge was planned, but it has not happened.

I ripped them for the server already, the X-Box is revved up, the discs are waiting. But I just--can't deal with Assassin!World ending yet.

I feel this should be a fannish fusion genre--send your characters to Assassin!World! and not necessarily all as assassins either; I mean, I assume at least a few people are civilians--I mean, how would a assassin-plumber even work? Assassin-surgeon?--and I wonder what it's like to live in a world where you are walking to the library and randomly have to pause for two assassins to do some vendetta-related parkour and be all 'fuck my life, let them confine their destruction to the upper Dewey Decimals this time.'

I can't really work out why I like it, either; I mean, yes, Keanu Reeves exists in it so of course, and yes, him with weapons is--okay, yeah, I know why I like it, but not the world itself.

...maybe there will be a 4???????

Finished Mockingjay Part 1

( this is some impressive shortsightedness )

Mockingjay Part 2 arrives tomorrow--er, today--and I can't wait to see it.

So. I deliberately and of my own free went onto Amazon to sort through their 4K movies under $10 because generally, there's almost never anything I want to buy but I tell myself I will totally splurge if there's something because there never is. This is what I call 'good financial management' because it works. Until today.

The Hunger Games was $9.96.

Okay, here is where I admit; I (at the time)(two days ago) had neither read the books nor watched the movies because while I love dystopia, I only read it now when written by fanfic writers. I got it mostly because I thought Child might like it (and I had a promotional credit to burn) and if it got on my nerves, I'd just write a DW post while watching about how much I hate it, which was the plan this afternoon because the next best thing to falling in love with a form of media and writing all about it is hating it and writing all about it.

I'm on my third watch now.

To be clear here: I had not read the books nor watched the movies but I osmosised (apparently accurately) the entire plot of the first book.

(The only genuine surprises was how fucking young Prim and especially Rue were. And Rue was tiny. Which is why I am not ashamed to admit I cried through Rue's death and the flowers and the reaction of her district. Uh, twice.)

What I"m trying to work out now--other than which days this week work is light so I can time my reading, since obviously, when the two come into conflict, reader's gonna read--is if I would have liked the books back in 2008. More specifically, I remember when hearing about it, it sounded like a cool idea but parts seemed way over the top, like the entire population of the Capital and the popularity Circus Maximus et Technologicus (...I wonder if I need that 'et').

( uh, this is just rambling, in case you need the warning )

I was totally born in the wrong universe. For the record: that was goddamn adorilarious.

Very shallow barely spoiler under the cut:

( seriously, shallow )

Finally saw Lifetime's Flowers in the Attic.

Of course, it's not as good as the book, which is really saying something considering the material here. To me, it shouldn't be that hard to pull off. It's got the best shit ever: serial killer mother, poison, evil grandmother, crazy grandpa, so much pseudo-religion and incest tension watching with a family member becomes deeply uncomfortable ten minutes in. Oedipal and Jocasta complexes abound; Freud checked in and went "whoa, too much for me": seriously, what the hell.

( okay, so weird )

In other news, the following have occurred: I have new headphones (v-moda M-80s, which make me want to cry from the purity of hte sound), a new cord for my old ones, and we have a cat.

For various reasons, I'm not up to explaining how we acquired a black cat (name: Jo-Jo) that is emotionally needy and affectionate (what the hell), because I'm not clear on the events that occurred between Child saying "I want a cat" and appearing before me with a cat, a lot of cat-related literature, and adoption papers while I squinted at him blankly, not sure if I was living the right life (apparently, I am?).

We have a cat. It's name is Jo-Jo. It's very, very affectionate, hates my cell phone, and kneads my chin for attention. My assumption right now is that I was taken by aliens and lost some time somewhere because we have a cat and I don't remember any comment on Child's part other than the random ass "I want a cat" and me saying "Whatever" (Should have said no? Hindsight). I read the paperwork my mother of her own free will signed and later, I sat with her and we stared at each other while she said, helpless, "I have no idea how this happened, either."

"Child," I said with a nod, staring at my completely non-alcoholic coffee mournfully. "Did he even tell you what you were signing before they handed you the cat in the carrier?"

"Yes." She stared at me worriedly. "I think."

This happens a lot more than you'd think with Child. I'm philosophical about it, because honestly? Could have been a snake.

My fifteen year old self just broke glass with her squee:

Flowers In The Attic' On Lifetime: Heather Graham And Ellen Burstyn To Star In V.C. Andrews Adaptation

Okay, universe, so now--send me a pony. Obviously this is a time of miracles.

*waits for its arrival complacently*

300: Rise of an Empire

Okay, if this is just at the purely oiled twelve-pack abs level of goodness that 300 was, I'll be ecstatic. I say this not from plot or believability or wtf was going on with Xerxes army--I say this because I don't actually have many clear memories of anything that wasn't hot men in loincloths running and leaping (and running. And leaping. Christ, the leaping. With a spear). And Gorgo spearing Theron like the squealing pig he is.

However, second character listed? Artemisia. Satrap of Caria in her own right and the only female general in Xerxes army. Right after Queen Gorgo.

Fine, I'm in for the oiled musculature and to see two very powerful women make war. I'm very okay with myself right now.

( okay, i love history )

The Avengers is leaving me confused on my OTPness. I find this upsetting.

Then again, my initial reaction to the movie was surprisingly eh--this is why I waited a week to talk about it, as I don't want to be attacked by my titular friends or anything. Four or five more viewings, oddly enough, did the trick.

( not really all that much )

( for people who may or may not have problems with 3D, i need validation )

Today was a not so great day, so it involved pizza hut for lunch. I'm pretty sure their garlic dipping sauce involves addictive substances; I am literally holding myself back from just licking the tiny container clean.