I am not a huge fan of the Dune franchise. My husband, however, is. So that means we sat in the movie theater for over three hours (including the time for commercials and trailers before the movie itself) to see Dune: Part Two. Was it worth it?

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), have been living with the Fremen after the massacre of their entire House. Half of the Fremen are suspicious of the pair while the other half believes Paul is a prophesied savior. As Paul works on becoming a Freman, earning the love of Chani (Zendaya) in the process, Jessica is forced the drink the Water of Life to become the new Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother for the tribe. Unknown to everyone except Jessica and Paul, she is pregnant, resulting in the premature awakening of her unborn daughter’s mind, giving Jessica the ability to converse with her. As the Reverend Mother, Jessica begins convincing the unfaithful portion of the Fremen that Paul is, indeed, fulfilling the prophesy, eventually travelling south to expand her reach. Shortly thereafter, House Harkonnen attacks the Fremen cave system, forcing the rest of the Fremen to also head south. Paul is unwilling due to having visions of a holy war if he did. He eventually gives in and travels south with the rest of the Fremen. Will this cause the death of millions as he foresaw?

Yes, this is a very long movie. No, it does not finish the story…there will be at least one more part coming. However, I will say that the movie didn’t feel like it was almost three hours long. There weren’t any parts that I felt dragged, though there were some parts that felt like they did some sort of time skip or that I missed something. Now, I never read any of the Dune books. So I’m not sure if this is something that happens in the book or if this was a creative decision. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to effect the actual storyline very much. It only made me feel a little disjointed a few times.

Is this worth watching? Meh. If you like the Dune franchise. This didn’t feel like a “must watch” movie. You will be perfectly fine if you skip it. Or maybe wait until all of the parts are released and watch it at home. I don’t think you will lose anything and you will have the luxury of a pause button.

Rating: B+

Last night, my daughter and I went to the Zendaya concert at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. I was actually quite surprised to see that Zendaya was touring. I didn't even realize she had put out a solo album. Since my daughter likes her music, we bought the album and headed off to the concert. The Keswick is a rather small venue for a concert. It only has about 1300 seats. I believe this makes it the smallest concert my daughter has attended. Thanks to this, we were able to get seats rather close to the stage. We were about six rows from the stage on the left side. The funniest part of the show was the mere fact that there was an MC. Miss Kim came out to introduce the opening act, then she came out when he was finished to plug all of his stuff (website, Facebook, album, blah, blah, blah). After the intermission, she came back out to introduce Zendaya and again at the end to plug her stuff. I've never seen an MC at a concert so it was kinda weird but cute.

Liam Lis was the opening act. He played three or four songs. I liked one. No, I don't even remember the name of it. Liam is a 12-year old boy that looks like he really wants to be Justin Bieber. He came out wearing an oversized parka vest and a stupidly huge truckers hat that read MERCY across the front. He had two male backup dancers and a rap...sidekick, I guess? The whole thing was terribly confusing and looked really out of place for a 12-year old. I wish him well but maybe he should wait a few more years.

Zendaya, meanwhile, was awesome. My daughter and I have seen quite a few "tween" concerts, including Selena Gomez, Victoria Justice, and Miranda Cosgrove. We officially ranked Zendaya second best, just behind Selena Gomez. Zendaya danced all over the stage, interacted with the crowd, and was just a joy to watch. She had four backup dancers (including two poor guys who had to wear the same shirt-dress-things the girls wore except the guys had pants on underneath) and even they were awesome. Everyone looked like they were having the time of their lives. I know it sounds lame but that really does make a concert better.

Not only were they all having fun, but Zendaya can sing. Sure, the other Disney/Nick stars can sing but not nearly as well as Zendaya. Pop is fairly easy. Zendaya has a bit more of an R&B vibe to her voice that just fills a room. I hope that, like Selena Gomez, she can turn this into a real music career so I can see her on stage again. Go Zendaya!