Reviews

Courtesy of Warner Brothers Entertainment By JAVIER DOSAMONTES “Dune”Directed by: Denis VilleneuveRating: PG - 13Run time: 2 hours, 35 minutes In all honesty, I'm not a big fan of sci-fi movie franchises, but because of the people involved in this project, I was looking forward to the first installment of "Dune." Director Denis Villeneuve ("Sicario," "Arrival") is at the top of his game and his trajectory is beginning to feel a little Nolan-ish in the "Batman Begins"-slash-"The Prestige" era. Everything he has done in terms of style and vision starts to come together in this movie, making it the perfect set up before he drops down the hammer in the second installment of the series  à la "The Dark Knight." Nolan invented the blueprint on how to successfully attack th...

By JAVIER DOSAMANTESPima Post “No Time to Die”Directed by: Cary Joji FukunagaRating: PG-13Run time: 2 hours, 43 minutes "No Time to Die '' is a great installment in the James Bond franchise and an awesome action movie — worth watching in theaters — but will make a great viewing when it hits a streaming service. It didn't redefine the franchise like "Casino Royale," and it's not as ambitious or stylish as "Skyfall." But it is wildly entertaining and is elevated to a more elegant popcorn movie because of the amazing directing, acting and score. Cary Joji Fukunaga, best known for directing the first season of "True Detective" — the dark HBO miniseries — gave this lighter screenplay a twist. His timing on when to inject comedic and cheesy moments gives the movie a blockbust...

Story and image by JAVIER DOSAMANTES “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”Directed by: Michael ShowalterRating: PG-13Run time: 2 hours, 6 minutesShowing at The Loft Cinema Making a good biopic is one of the hardest things to pull off in filmmaking because you're trying to fit a person's whole life into a two-hour format. And at the same time, you want to approach the subject with a creative angle instead of just making a glamoured-up reenactment. Without getting too technical, biopics are structured in two different ways: in chronological order (following life's events from beginning to end) or concentrating on a landmark event or time of a person's life, then using flashbacks to add context and backstory. "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" opens with a scene in 1994, then jumps back to Faye's c...

Story and image by JAVIER DOSAMANTESPima Post “The Card Counter”Directed by: Paul SchraderRating: RRun time: 1 hour, 51 minutesShowing at The Loft Cinema Redemption and fate have a unique relationship, although the latter is not always reciprocal to anyone or anything.  Paul Schrader continues to explore this in his new film "The Card Counter," a movie about a mysterious and disciplined lonely gambler who thinks he can outlast his fate by walking in circles. Leonardo da Vinci is best known for the Mona Lisa, the Detroit Lions for being proverbial losers and Schrader for writing about morally flawed and darkly complex antiheroes. William Tell (Oscar Isaac) is the latest Schrader protagonist. He continues a famed lineage of characters that includes Travis Bickle from...