ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Film round-up: February 29, 2024
Rebel messiahs, radicalised daughters, talking spiders, and troublesome mothers: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Dune: Part Two (★★★★), Four Daughters (★★★), Spaceman (★★★), and Driving Mum (★★★)
FAMILY EPIC: Dune: Part Two; Driving Mum
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
Dune: Part Two (12A)
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
★★★★
FOUR months later than expected, due to the actors’ strike, Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of this epic saga is on an even grander scale than before, with breathtaking visuals, hair raising action scenes, a bigger and star-studded international cast, and chock-full of political intrigue and machinations.
Based on the second half of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, this film picks up exactly where the first one ended. It follows Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen led by Stilgar (a sublime Javier Bardem) while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. It shows his transformation from earnest young man into rebel Messiah, in which he forsakes the love of his life for political triumph and mythic destiny.
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