Dune 2000 II

Good morning, Stroock's Books early risers. It's 0500 hours and we are awake and using military time for some reason. 

Today is Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Memorial Day. The Israelis estimate 30,140 soldiers, men, women and children have been killed in various wars and terror attacks. Yom Hazikaron is a gut-wrenching day this year. We suspect next year will be worse. It's gonna be a long war. 

The IDF is operating in Rafah, central and northern Gaza today. We see some criticism that the IDF has let Hamas slip back into areas once conquered. Fair point but we'll make two others. First, if Hamas is back, it's out of the tunnels and in the open where it can be engaged. Second, this would mean that Hamas is filtering out of Rafah, relieving pressure there. 

It's day two Frank Herbert's Dune or Dune 2000 II. Did anyone else see what we did with the Dune title yesterday, Dune 2000 I...2000 and 1, ha ha? 

Anyway, let's get to the performances in Frank Herbert's Dune. 

A lot of reviewers criticize Alec Newman's portrayal of Paul Atreides.  True, Newman's too old to be young Paul, but his age works well as Paul matures and becomes a troubled visionary, burdened by the future he's unleashing and can't control. Is Newman great? No, but he's good and commands in the final throne room scene. 

Paul finds comfort and solace with Chani, the Fremin warrior woman and daughter of Dr. Liet Kynes. The lovely Barbora Kodetova shows real vulnerability as Chani loses her father and later her son to the Harkonen, and fears losing Paul. We admit to falling for Kodetova's Chani right away in 2000 and again in 2024. Newman and Kodetova show real chemistry throughout. When Paul chooses Chani over the Princess Irulan, and the two walk into the desert hand in hand, we admit to getting a bit emotional. Dune is many things, a love story is one of them.

We've always enjoyed Ian McNeice's Baron Harkonen. In FHD, the Baron is fat and jovial and quips in rhymes. He's cunning and ruthless and charming. One almost finds oneself rooting for the Baron as portrayed by McNeice. Here's his best scene, confronting Feyd after the boy tries to assassinate him.  Matt Kesslar plays Feyd as an American. It's an odd choice but oddly relatable to an American audience and Kesslar stands out in a sea of British and European actors. One doesn't have to be a mustache twirling or sadistic villain to be evil. 

William Hurt is unremarkable but fine as Duke Leto. Saskia Reeves excels as the Lady Jessica, and though they have limited time on screen, the two pair well together. Later Reeves excels once more as the reverend mother, serving her tribe and fighting for her son, sometimes coming into conflict with Chani in the process. 

Julie Cox, another lovely young actress if we may say so, plays Princess Irulan as an English girl adrift in a sea of imperial intrigue. Already cynical at a young age, she seeks to please her father who wishes she were a male heir. In the other versions of Dune, Irulan doesn't have much to do. But in FHD she's appalled by her father's complicity in the Atreides massacre and spends the series trying to find out what happened.  

The above-mentioned Kynes is one of the many interesting supporting characters, here played by Czech actor Karol Bobry as an enigmatic but knowing expert on the desert, worms, and spice. Uwe Ochsenkneckt is Stilgar, the pragmatic Fremin leader who awaits Paul's challenge for leadership of the tribe. We enjoyed Miroslav Taborsky as Count Hasimir Fenring, the Emperor's scheming and observant advisor. The emperor is played as reluctant, cynical, and tired by Italian Giancarlo Giannini. Overall the European actors with their funny accents and habits of hitting the syllables in English words in a weird way give FHD an exotic feel. We love these performances. 

We mentioned yesterday that there are some casting duds in FHD. Most reviewers point to PH Moriarity's Gurney, and rightfully so. He's way too working class English and just wrong for the role of Gurney. He's also lame in the combat sequences. Duncan Idaho is a blank (Scottish) slate and has zero chemistry with Leto and Paul. John Vlassic is a dull Thufir Hawat, mentat to Duke Leto. The same goes for Dr. Yueh in FHD. 

On to the week. We're back to War Night's Lexington story, which may well be the showcase War Night story. It's already pushing 10,000 words, and we're sure there's lots for the mayor of Lexington to see and do. Maybe a thousand words about the missile strike on Lexington? Flash...Bang...Fire!

In the next few days we'll finish the read through of World War 1990: Norway. 

Monday (not) Metal: We have no thoughts on the Eurovision thing, but Eden Golan's 5th place finish, second in overall vote total, speaks well for the average European, and annoys all the right people. Did Israel ever need that! Compare Eden Golan to this shrieking, wailing, Irish-whatever that thing was. Well done, Ms. Golan: