The Dune Towers 📧
I was able to secure a ticket to go see Dune: Part 2 at an IMAX showing at midnight last night. I'm honestly still gathering my thoughts (and trying to wake up), and it's one of those films where I absolutely must see it again in theaters. But my initial gut reaction (without spoilers, but perhaps some controversy) is that while it lives up to the hype – this film is an absolute spectacle – I still think I personally liked the first film a bit more.
I'm reminded very much of The Two Towers, the middle film (and book, of course) of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The world had been blown away by The Fellowship of the Ring and there's always a risk of a let-down from such heights – especially with a "middle" movie – but Towers came in and upped the action, while expanding the world and bridging the story. To me, Dune 2 is similar even with no promise of Dune 3 (come on, obviously it's happening). It's bigger and more grandiose than Towers, but I just had a similar vibe watching it.
And that's perhaps in part because I also enjoyed Fellowship more. To me, there was something so magical in seeing Fellowship on the screen. I vividly recall being giddy while I flashed back to reading the books in my youth as my eyes feasted on what seemed impossible for years and years: a film version of The Lord of the Rings. I had a similar feeling while watching Dune: Part 1. While there had been the David Lynch version in the 1980s, this was a true Dune unspooling before us. With emotions perhaps further stirred by it being the first big movie I had seen in an IMAX since the start of the pandemic back in 2021. It was magical.
Obviously, this is all just a matter of preference and personal experience. And perhaps I'll feel differently on second-viewing, at a more reasonable hour. I thought Dune: Part 2 was fantastic in every sense of the word, I just sort of prefer the quiet ethereal state of Dune: Part 1. The key point though: it's beyond a worthy sequel and something you absolutely must see in theaters. Preferably on IMAX. At least once.
One more thing: having just watched Dune: Part 1 on Vision Pro leading up to the new movie and now having seen Part 2 on a massive IMAX screen (yes, 70mm), I stand by my assessment that Vision Pro is better in some ways as a viewing experience. I know this sounds sort of nuts. But you literally can have the best seat in the house, always with the device. And you can completely tailor it as you see fit. The 3D element is no longer a gimmick either. You feel like you're inside of Dune in the Vision Pro.
With IMAX, all of your senses are under assault – notably, hearing, which is a huge advantage over Vision Pro, of course. And the communal element adds a unique layer at times. Both experiences are great and serve a purpose. But I'm just shocked at how good Vision Pro is as the ultimate individual viewing experience.
Briefly...
How the Media Industry Keeps Losing the Future – A look back at when Knight Ridder's Roger Fidler tried to get ahead of his industry's disruption first with Viewtron, a sort of more consumer-facing Bloomberg Terminal, and then an early tablet – too early, of course. Though it's also interesting to remember back when the news industry thought the iPad was certain it would change everything – remember The Daily? Even though the iPad was a success, a massive one, in many ways, the song remains the same in media... 📰
How I Became the Honest Broker – Music historian and critic Ted Gioia weaves a mysterious and interesting background narrative on the origins of "the honest broker" phrase. Hints of my favorite, The Inner Ring, by C.S. Lewis here. (Aside: found via Matter's new home tab, which just rolled out with the intent of showcasing great stuff to read that's non-obvious but tailored – and not focused on just "new", hence this post from 2021.) ♟️
This Film Does Not Exist – With the release of Dune 2 and the tease of Tron 3, this article from last year popped back into my head. In it, we're shown stills from Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1976 version of Tron – except, of course, no such movie exists. But unlike his version of Dune, which he did try to make – it would have been wild, this one is solely the work of AI. And AI from a year ago, no less. We could probably do a short video version now (sorry Tyler Perry)! 🤖
My Missives...
M.G. Siegler
I (literally) see a path to success for Apple here...
M.G. Siegler
Thoughts on a couple new potential Apple projects...
Quoteable...
“He was really frightening — when the camera was rolling it was like witnessing a total metamorphosis, like he was really becoming an evil, psychotic, sexy serial killer. It was very mindblowing to see such a sweetheart becoming so ugly and evil in a split second like that.”
-- Denis Villeneuve on Austin Butler's transformation into Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part 2 (yes, the role played by Sting in David Lynch's Dune)
Some Thoughts On...
🍌 How those "FineWoven" Apple cases are aging...
🛳️ The new Los Angeles Clippers branding...
🚗 The end of the Apple Car, at last...
📽️ Denis Villeneuve's take on the state of movies...
🥽 The latest on how the Apple Vision Pro is selling...
🏎️ A few more details on Apple's ill-fated car project...
Quickly...
- Here's a nicely-presented high-level overview of the current state of chip design and manufacturing by the FT.
- The iPod Hi-Fi was launched 18 years ago – it lasted a whole 554 days on the market. Apple's hit rate with external speakers remains suspect, despite the clear focus on quality and design.
- Hey look, a laptop with a transparent screen! Perfect for sci-fi movies, and (cost aside) totally impractical for actual usage. Cue Dr. Ian Malcolm...
- Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are no longer talking about merging, reports Alex Sherman. Round and round we go as things look increasingly perilous for Paramount... (Not much better for WBD!)
- Warren Buffett's tribute to his recently passed Berkshire partner, Charlie Munger from his annual letter – also, can't wait to dig into this!
- Microsoft changed their typeface across the product line and potentially drove millions to think they were crazy
- Casio once sold a calculator, an alarm-clock, and a lighter all-in-one. iPhone, eat your tri-valve heart out. And I swear that's not Steve Jobs selling it...
- Speaking of Matter (above), I highly recommend the chat CEO Ben Springwater had with the Making Media guys about all things content and recommendations
- Speaking of podcasts, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis on Hard Fork is worth a listen for some high level thoughts on the current state of AI
- This report would seem to indicate that Apple Arcade is struggling to make the model work for Apple and, importantly, developers. That's too bad, it's such a good deal (which may be a part of the issue)
- Extremely rectangular phone cases are apparently all the rage with Gen Z. I guess it beats phone cases that look like shit after a few weeks of usage.
- Surge pricing is coming to Wendy's! $30 Frosty's!
- The romantic notion of the lone writer may be more romantic than it may seem, as there's often another person involved in the process (I'm writing this newsletter alone, I swear)
- Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie Brown once again! (I make this joke on Xitter once every few months as Meta does this once every few months. And the media still jumps whenever they say to!)
- Did you know IMAX sales are actually higher than they were pre-pandemic? Yeah, there's some ticket price math you have to take into account there, still that's decidedly not the case with the broader movie theater business, of course. But this makes sense. People will see movies if it's a great experience.
Fine, one last Dune link...
A fun interview with director Denis Villeneuve and star Timothée Chalamet together. One tidbit: it sounds like they're going to aim for six years or so before they do the next installment of Dune (assuming they get the chance to, which again, they will), to try to stick to the timeline in the books:
But you’re waiting until Timothée is older. Six years from now, will you hide his sunscreen so he’ll age faster?
Villeneuve: He will look forever young. We’ll have to use the magic of A.I.
Yes, they also address the popcorn buckets.