Dune

Over the last few days I finally watched the Dune TV mini-series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel last fall. It clocks in at six hours long, about twice as long as the 1980s David Lynch film, although it doesn't tell a whole lot more story. Mainly it spends more time lovingly rendering individual scenes, provides a little more of the background of certain events, and does away with the superfluous "weirding modules" which were grafted onto the Lynch adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel.

The casting was rather peculiar. Alec Newman as Paul Atreides seemed strangely stiff and a little too Americanized for my tastes, lacking the slightly otherworldly quality of Kyle MacLachlan in the Lynch film. But the especially strange casting was William Hurt as Duke Leto Atreides. Leto is supposedly a charismatic, much-loved leader of men, and it's hard offhand to think of a less charismatic actor than Hurt (the only "big name" actor in the production), whose best quality has always been his odd expression and delivery. Heck, a big part of what makes the story is that Leto is a heroic figure and Paul is not, but Paul is the protagonist.

Even more peculiar are the performances which seem identical in both films. Although Gurney Halleck gets more screen time here, P.H. Moriarty's portrayal seems identical to Patrick Stewart's (which could be taken as a compliment of Moriarty, actually). Ian MacNiece brings a little more sanity to Baron Harkonnen, but otherwise seems very much like Kenneth MacMillan. And the young actresses playing Alia seem very similar as well.

To its credit, on what must have been a comparatively small budget, the series does a fine job rendering the visuals of Arrakis, and an even better job at visualizing the people, their habitats, and their styles of dress. Although the outdoor scenes at times have that unfortunate "soundstage with a bluescreen" feeling, overall it's quite rewarding and worth seeing on a larger screen if possible.

Oh, what's it about? Well, the desert planet Arrakis is the source of Spice, the substance which allows the Spacing Guild to warp ships through space, and which gives the order of the Bene Gesserit their mental powers. Arrakis has been under the rule of the oppressive House Harkonnen for decades, but the Emperor grants its custody to House Atreides, as Duke Leto has been becoming too popular and the Emperor schemes with the Atreides' ancient enemies the Harkonnens to do away with him. However, Leto's son, Paul, the product of his Bene Gesserit mother and their breeding program, may be both the messiah that the Bene Gesserit have been trying to produce, and the savior that Arrakis' native people the Fremen have been awaiting. The book and films are the story of the products of these schemes, and of Paul's maturation. A far-future mix of science and mysticism.

It's one of the most popular books in SF history. Although truth to tell, I'd rather have seen Sci-Fi turn their attention to doing a similar production of Isaac Asimov's Foundation and its (first) two sequels.

I've lately started going to Wednesday gaming at Subrata's again. Last night we played a fun little card game called Chez Geek, in which the players are roommates trying to collect the most slack, using their resources of free time and income. The cards are quite silly, as you'd expect from SJG, and the playability seems high. Comic strip cartoonist John Kovalic provides the very silly artwork.

We've had a stable group of people at Subrata's the last few weeks, folks I don't see much anywhere else. It's been enjoyable. A good geek crowd.

It seems that there isn't a lot else of note going on. Dune torpedoed my reading time this week. My friend John did stop by to lend me some Sports Night episodes I'd missed, and said that if I'd been moping around last Sunday, I should have called him up. So we have possibly-maybe plans to do something this weekend.

I still haven't acted on my taxes this year. I've been so busy at work that I haven't had the time or energy to psyche myself up to call one of the tax accountants recommended to me. But I'd best do it soon, as time has nearly run out...

Life is just so busy!