Basic Instructions by Scott Meyer for January 15, 2014

What about the subsequent Dune remake mini-series a few years later? lots of sand. . ..

The movie was awful, but the mini-series was not too bad.

I don’t think the last panel is quite accurate. I can think of a few films in the last few years with a great director, fantastic cast and talented crew and huge budget which would match Dune. But I won’t name them because they might be someone’s favorite (I know I have my bad films that I love which other people hate).

I didn’t think the first couple of books in the series were too bad, it’s the later ones that I found unreadable.

Ishtar was made after Dune . . . Just sayin’

The movie was hilarious—loved their gloss of what the Kwisats Haderach (sp?) actually was…Not to mention the amazing inner monologues used later to such great effect by master thespians like Mike Myers.

The original Dune or the remake?

In Junior High School, I had a teacher who assigned Dune to our honors English class. I couldn’t stand reading it but plodded along. Apparently, my dislike for the book was shared by others, because the average test scores quickly plummeted. He complained about it often and even implemented daily pop quizzes, but he just couldn’t get the class to keep up with the readings, and I eventually stopped reading the book, too. Then one day he walked into the class and told us that he was collecting the books because it was clear no one was reading it. “I thought you guys would really like it,” he added with a hitch in his voice. He offered to allow any student who wanted to continue reading to hold onto it and a few did, but I felt that they only did it out of pity or to curry a better grade. I felt sorry for him, but I still find it a little strange that he was so attached to such an awful, boring book as to get that hurt by our disinterest.

47 Samurai should be available on DVD by Easter.

I saw Dune when it first came out. They handed you a specially printed glossary sheet as you went in because there was so much that was not understandable..At my friend’s recommendation, I read the book afterwards in order to understand the movie. I LOVED the book and Hebert became one of my favorite authors. I read all 6 of the Dune series and many more of his..Dune still sits in a special place on my shelf. I’m having a hard time convincing my 13 year old son to read it, though..So, it may have been a bad to so-so movie, but I like it because it introduced me to Frank Herbert!

In the last panel he could also be describing “Ishtar”.

Too bad this discussion was not with Jenkins.

Unfortunately, not everyone learned from “Dune.” I cite “Battlefield Earth” and “Avatar: the Last Airbender” as examples.