Director Watch Podcast Ep. 13 - 'Dune' (Villeneuve, 2021)

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision-making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 13 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the final film in their Denis Villeneuve series, Dune (2019).

As the guys talked about last week, Blade Runner 2049 wasn’t the biggest success in the world, though it won a couple of Oscars and was considered a perfect test for Villeneuve to explore existing IP and give his unique vision to it. In successfully making that film, he was then given the massive opportunity to adapt one of the greatest pieces of sci-fi canon with Frank Herbert’s classic novel, Dune. Obsessed with the novel as a kid, Villeneuve decided to split the book into two parts, only shooting the first film, and trusting audiences would like his take on the book enough for there to be a demand for more. It was a big gamble and it paid off with Dune being a good commercial hit that also bleed into multiple Oscar nominations and wins, and a part two that we will see soon. In their discussion, Ryan and Jay talked about the marketing of the film, if it works as a solo film or not, where they stand on Timothée Chalamet as a Hollywood leading man, the technical achievement behind the work, if Villeneuve was snubbed for a Best Director nomination, and give out their rankings to wrap of the series. Make sure you listen to the whole episode to hear the next two series the guys are going to cover to wrap up the 2023 calendar year.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 2h02m. Dune is currently available to stream on Max and Netflix as well as for rent on Prime Video. The guys will be back next week for the beginning of an all-new series covering the films of Lynne Ramsey, and her first feature, Ratcatcher. You can stream Ratcatcher on Max, as well as rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro)