Dune

 

Dune (2021)

Directed by Denis Villneuve

Screenplay by Denis Villneuve and Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth

Based on the novel by Frank Herbert

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgård. Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem,  Babs Olusanmokun, and Zendaya Coleman 

Full disclosure: I have not read any of the Dune books nor the 1984 movie. Going into this movie completely was not the best course of action. I had no idea what was happening. Is this more lore that I need to know? Who is the emperor? Are these people fighting over spices? Who are these blue eyed people? Why is the baron so big, but can float?

Being unfamiliar with Villneuve's work, I can see that he loves big sci-fi epics as of late. Good for him. 

The portion of the movie that stuck out to me with the relationship between Jessica (Ferguson) and Paul (Chalamet). The visuals of the film are top notch. I walk away with the feeling this story is another white savior story. A vanilla man comes into a culture, be one with it and becomes the new leader. This trope has been done to death. This hinders my enjoyment of the movie.

Rating: 7/10

Che: The Argentine

Che: Part One (2008)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Screenplay by Peter Buchman

Based on the memoir, "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War" by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Rodrigo Santoro, Julia Ormond, Oscar Isaac, Ramon Fernandez, Yul Vazquez, Jsu Garcia, Victor Rasuk and Édgar Ramírez

I had a tough time deciding whether I was going to review Steven Soderbergh's epic biopic, Che with one or two reviews. When I got through watching Part One, I thought it would be better to make it two. Even thought I don't know that much about Che Guevara, this movie is not The Motorcycles Diaries.

This half of the movie deals with the time that Ernesto (Del Toro) joins the rebel army with Fidel Castro (Bichir) to overthrow the current regime. Fidel and Ernesto embarks on a journeys the forests of the Cuban countryside to kill the opposition. Being a doctor, Ernesto has not gotten in on any of the action like Fidel and his comrades have. It chronicles the precise moment that Ernesto became Che.

Che Guevara is a polarizing figure for people. Some think that he is a revolutionary, others think that he is a murderer. I cannot make a determination on either side of the issue. I am here to talk about the movie. The movie is a mixed bag. I know that the movie is about Che. It felt like the movie focused more on Fidel. Che barely said anything in the movie. This is only the first two hours of the whole. I felt that the middle of this movie was really taxing on me. I became restless and wanted to turn the movie off, but the end picked up and held my attention again.

My Rating

Drive

Drive (2011)

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Written by Hossein Amini

Based on the book by James Sallis

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, James Biberi, Kaden Leos, Oscar Isaac and Christina Hendricks

To rinse the taste of Spider-Man out of my mouth, I wanted to see an actual good movie. Here is a prime example of a good movie that had some bad marketing and came out between the summer blockbuster season and the award show season. It was lost in the mix. It's a shame. I heard great things about this movie. It was on a lot of top ten lists. I have to say that it is a good movie that didn't get a chance.

This is not just a revenge movie. This is a movie about Driver (Gosling), a part time movie stunt driver who also moonlights as a getaway driver for the highest bidder. He only gives five minutes of his time. A second over that the client is on their own. Awesome. Things get complicated when Driver integrated with the lives of his next door neighbor, Irene (Mulligan) and her son, Benicio (Leos). A wrench gets thrown in when Irene's husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) comes back early from jail. Standard has dealings with bad people that Driver has to get in the mix.

Gosling's Driver character reminded me of classic Eastwood character, The Man with No Name with Driver chews on a toothpick having that fucking kick ass satin scorpion jacket. Driver barely utters a page worth of dialogue in the movie and he could convey lots with his eyes, his mannerisms. I think the biggest stars of the movie is the sound and the score by Cliff Martinez. The ticking of the wrist watch getting louder, the haunting music sucks you in. This movie demonstrated the right amount of tension, suspense with beautiful visuals that hearkens back movies of the late 70s, early 80s.The movie can go from being romantic and sweet with the scenes with Irene and Benicio to horribly violent with a hitman's face caving in or an interesting use of a curtain rod. I'm glad a movie like this exists.

Albert Brooks was getting a lot of Oscar buzz for his role as mobster Bernie Rose in this film. I thought he was very good in the film. The way that he delivered the lines oozed seediness and hate. Brooks won an Omie Award for not being included in the nominees. The rest of the cast was solid with Ron Perlman as Bernie's partner, Nino and Bryan Cranston as the Driver's boss.

My Rating