Dune

**Holy shit! Denis Villeneuve has unsurprisingly once again made the year’s finest film and I’m so happy to have seen it in Imax. *Dune boasts an all-star cast and they all bring their a-game, not exactly a surprise seeing as how with his dramatic roles Oscar Isaac has been killing it all year, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Javier Bardem performance I didn’t love, and even though I love Ladybird *this is definitely a much better showcase of Timothee Chalamet’s talents. The cinematography is wonderful even if Greg Fraser is no Roger Deakins he’s very clearly a great cinematographer in his own right. Proven by the immaculately framed close-up shots of the actor's faces which I appreciate as it reminds the audience of the more human and (for a lack of better words) “down to earth” elements of the massively scaled epic. This brings me to the next point about cinematography which is the wide shots that show just how massive the universe is and perfectly set the atmosphere for a story like this. I also love how it explores its themes of family and destiny. As much as I love a huge action set piece Dune is definitely at its best when the main cast gets to just interact and be people because the first real conversation between Paul and Leto in the cemetery and the tent scene with Paul and Jessica are perfect examples of how to write family drama especially given the Sci-fi setting. I love its sense of levity and how it doesn’t distract from the seriousness that the tone sets. I love the sleek and gorgeous set design. I also just love the feeling this movie gives off that Denis had a vision and was given the budget and freedom to realize it. This feeling makes almost any blockbuster better especially in our day in age of “cut and paste” blockbusters as Denis would say. Dune is the perfect antidote to all the garbage factory made blockbusters that I’ve had the displeasure pf watching over the last year.