DaveyW

Here's a few words on the "mini-series" for those who haven't seen it. The makers of this TV version claim it's a re-edit of the David Lynch film, with a better prologue and extra scenes. Don't believe a word of it: it's just rubbish.

The prologue consists of crayon drawings. Yes, *crayon* *drawings*. These ghastly and amateurish images are also used throughout the film in place of the superior mattes that were originally used in the cinema version. Also, instead of the beautiful tones of Ginny Madsen, we have to listen to some guy who sounds like he's been smoking since he was 2. And his pronunciation differs from what the characters are saying.

A number of cuts have been made, especially with respect to the brutality of the Harkonnens, which Lynch so lovingly portrayed. Curiously, despite having his name removed as writer and director, David Lynch's cameo still remains!

There are some good additions. Jack Nance gets a few extra seconds of screen time!!! You gotta love the scene with Gurney Halleck jammin' on the electric lute (not). There are more scenes of the Harkonnens gloating over the captured Atreides, and Yueh's death. And finally we get a proper look at Molly Wyrn, with extra scenes of Fremen rites. However, as these scenes were unused in the film, there's no proper sound or FX editing. For example, the Fremen don't have blue eyes.

Finally, and most perplexing, the film has been re-graded to give it a very different look. Gone are the dark and brooding tones, replaced with bright and garish colours. The final effect is to make this Dune look like a bad TV movie, and remove all of the cinematic touches from the Lynch film, be they in photography, sound design, score, or editing.

But all these changes do is make the first half drag, and the second half suffers the same problems as the Lynch version: too rushed, and a diabolical ending.

So, if you're a fan of the book, the Lynch film, or the new Sci-Fi channel version, avoid this! It's infinitely worse.

"When Love Comes" is, like many of the recent NZ films, is a "relationship" drama. The plot is slight, but not weak. Don't expect too much to happen- this is a film driven by characters, not by plot, and unlike "Saving Grace", does a good job of it. Obviously, a film like this will live and die on its cast, and thankfully "When Love Comes" boasts a strong ensemble. Rena Owen is good as washed-out torch singer Katie Keane, but Simon Prast shines as "Stephen". His performance is wonderfully understated (to those of us who remember him hamming it up in "Gloss"), and yet powerful at the same time. The weak links are Dean O'Gorman, who is quite good but isn't able to carry the film, and Simon Westaway, whose character Eddie is woefully underwritten- I'm not sure the poor guy knew quite what to do with the part.

"When Love Comes" puts a slightly different spin on the old "young guy wrestles with his homosexuality" to the degree that straight audiences will enjoy it too. However, I think the heterosexual relationship between Katie and Eddie is the least convincing, (possibly because of the problem with Eddie's character) and certainly lacks the conviction of the Mark/Stephen, Fig/Sally, and Stephen/Katie plotlines.

Otherwise, enjoyable.

One of the most beautiful, moving series ever to grace the small screen.

The casting is fabulous- Lance Hendriksen's weatherbeaten features contrast wonderfully with Megan Gallagher's beautiful, sad face.

The supporting cast are equally talented- Bill Smitrovich (whose exit from the series is possibly the most frightening piece of television ever), Brittany Tiplady, Kristen Cloke, and, of course, Terry O'Quinn. It's a great pity that Gallagher and Cloke didn't enjoy more screen time, but the contributions they did made were excellent.

A talented cast requires great scripts, and in this Millennium also shines. The extraordinarily talented Darin Morgan, the medium's best writer since Dennis Potter, contributes two memorable scripts: "Jose Chung's 'Doomsday Defense'", featuring his X-Files character Jose Chung (guest starring Charles Nelson Reilly, and a hilarious "cameo" from David Duchovny), a brilliantly conceived and thinly veiled parody of the Church of Scientology (and "Millennium" itself); and "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me", a truly funny, beautiful, and moving story about human nature, as observed by those that aren't human..

It's true that "Millennium" is a very dark and frightening programme- it deals with the darker aspects of the human soul- but this paradoxically gives it great power and beauty. There are several episodes that have reduced me to tears, and made me understand human misery, and for this I will always love Millennium.