Director Watch Podcast Ep. 35 – ‘Dune: Part Two’ (Denis Villeneuve, 2024)

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 35 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to discuss the latest film from director Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two (2024).

Due to the WGA and SAG strikes from 2023, Warner Bros decided to move the second installment in their new franchise, Dune, thus making moviegoers around the world, as well as Ryan and Jay, have to wait till March 2024 to not only see the film, but to truly conclude their Denis Villeneuve movie series from last year. Well, the time has come to talk about one of the year’s most anticipated films; one that has been called “a masterpiece” by many and worthy of being in the same conversation as movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lawrence of Arabia, and even The Godfather. On this special episode of Director Watch, Ryan, Jay, and Sophia break down their thoughts on the latest sandworm epic by talking looking back on their thoughts on the first film, the relationship with the source material, and what about Dune: Part Two didn’t fully work. In a very tough but fair overview of the film, the trio thoroughly explain the parts of Dune: Part Two that worked for them (the performances from the all-star cast, the production design of each world, the final thirty minutes of the film) and what didn’t work (the screenplay and lack of visual wonder found in the first part), as well as look to the future and briefly talk about the film’s Oscar chances.

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 2h. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, Bug. You can stream the film on Pluto TV. You can 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)