Interesting Links for 21-04-2020

[andrewducker]

Noted Philosophers Reconsider Their Key Insights After a Month of Social Distancing

(tags:philosophy funny pandemic )

Denmark: No aid for companies which pay out dividends or are registered in tax havens

(tags:Denmark tax pandemic )

Why oil prices just went negative (and why they mostly didn't really)

(tags:oil economics viaDanielDWilliam )

Netflix's Sandman Series Was Casting and Building Sets When Netflix Shut It Down

(tags:sandman TV Netflix pandemic )

Five Reasons You Should Watch David Lynch's Dune

(tags:video movies scifi )

Why naively converting pictures to black and white looks wrong

(tags:colour perception sight viaDrPlokta )

A Video Trip Through Paris, France in late 1890s

(tags:video history Paris France )

Comments

Paris 1890s

[ironyoxide]

Apparently, the 'why are you taking my picture?' face goes all the way back.

Re: Paris 1890s

[agoodwinsmith]

I was thinking how interesting that it "sounds the same" as modern sounds, and then, duh, well of course, there isn't an old sound track.

Lynch's Dune ...

[agoodwinsmith]

... is made for people who have read the book. If you haven't read the book, you will be so lost. I always thought of it as a picture album: casting and sets and costumes is/are perfect.

Somewhere on VCR tape I have the Alan Smithee cut, which didn't make any better a discoverable narrative, but it did show that a lot (oodles, bunches) more footage was shot than was shown (in either). I too would like to see the Lynch cut - I suspect the length would qualify for binge watching.

Re: Lynch's Dune ...

[soon_lee]

That was a great pitch by Mitch Benn. But...

...if you haven't read the book, you'd be lost trying to work out what was going on in the movie, though if you had read the book, you'd be disappointed by the liberties taken with the source material. (My suspension of disbelief broke during the opening credits when the Fremen were shown walking in lockstep across sandy dunes. As if giant sandworms were mythical...)

Having said that, it was visually spectacular & the casting was for most part inspired. Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck was my favourite, and Kenneth McMillan really chewed up the scenery as The Baron Harkonnen.

Re: Lynch's Dune ...

[andrewducker]

I hadn't read the book when I saw the film and I enjoyed it.

But I don't need to entirely understand things to enjoy them.

[anna_wing]

Seconded on wanting the Lynch cut. And I agree you needed to have read the book to make any sense of it at all. I saw it the first time round too, and yes, it's an incredible film, well worth watching, and aesthetically top-notch. Steam-punk before the concept existed. That extended to the casting, which was extraordinarily apposite. Francesca Annis as Jessica, Jurgen Prochnow as Duke Leto, Linda Hunt as the Shadout Mapes, Silvana Mangano as a Reverend Mother. There was also an extraordinarily creepy young Alia.

I'd forgotten how beautiful Sting was when he was young. "Brimstone and Treacle" was a sure success whenever any college needed to raise money.

The later TV miniseries was basically worthy, faithful and dull, and also, fatally for its aesthetic credibility, cast William Hurt as Duke Leto.