Denis Villeneuve is rapidly becoming one of my favorite directors. Arrival(2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), his two preceding films, are full of moody goodness. His choice of music, the framing of shots, the set design, the intelligent dialog and plots are great on first viewing and even tastier when revisited. They are like those favorite novels that when you hit that final word you actually start reading it again to see how the story was set up and foreshadowed. In a world full of stupid superhero movies like the junk food isle in a Walmart his movies are a lovely stroll through a farmers' market.

I've read Dune many times over the years, as well as the sequels. Now I didn't care for the later books as much as I enjoyed the premier novel, which is, in my opinion, one of the best of the Science Fiction / Fantasy genre. It's a must read. And a huge challenge to bring to the screen.

When the first David Lynch version of Dune (1984) came out, I had just graduated college and had read the book. I was really excited about it. Now many people hated it, I found it enjoyable and have watched it many times since. Many of the critiques are valid but I can still lose myself in watching it. But Dune is simply too big a book to squeeze into 2 hours and 17 minutes.

The new production is wise to stick to the first half despite the chance we'll never get to see part two. And there is a part two, with the same set of cast and crew, it could be even more amazing than part one.