The San Antonio-born director, 45, is an acolyte of exploitation-style film (and Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic blood brother), taking B-movies mainstream with a trademark kineticism and bracing lack of shame.
He’s back in theaters this week with “Machete Kills,” the unlikely sequel to 2010’s equally unlikely “Machete,” spawned from a fake trailer filmed for 2007’s “Grindhouse.” When you get down to it, it’s all just an elaborate excuse to have Danny Trejo creatively kill a lot of people, and Rodriguez makes it work.
In that bloody spirit, here are Rodriguez’s five most entertaining films.
“El Mariachi” (1992): Rodriguez was only 23 when, with a mere $7,000 and an amateur cast in a Mexican-border town, he shot this violent action flick about a traveling mariachi mistaken for a notorious criminal. The film was meant for the Mexican home-video market, but some interest from a major studio, some marketing and a little money and shoe polish lead the cult classic to win the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Rodriguez’s first film is an important reminder that any kid with a camera can make the movie if he or she has the willPage 2 of 3
“Desperado” (1995): When Rodriguez revisited his mariachi lugging a guitar case full of weapons, it was with a bigger budget and Antonio Banderas in tow. But more money and brand-name talent (including Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi and BFF Tarantino) didn’t put a damper on Rodriguez’s sense of humor or flair for staging indulgent scenes of balletic violence. Death by ceiling fan? Why not.
“From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996): Tarantino wrote the screenplay for this chaotic and indulgent action-horror film about a pair of criminals on the lam (Tarantino, George Clooney) who take refuge in a bar that, unbeknownst to them, is full of vampires. It’s major fun despite also being a major mess, but that’s what you get when you cast Tarantino, who probably shouldn’t act in anything ever, in a leading role (and I say this with love). Turns out, though, that you can endure a lot of buffoonery for the opportunity to watch a scantily clad Hayek table-dance while wrapped in a python and pouring liquor down her leg.
“Sin City” (2005): Rodriguez co-directed this comic-book adaptation with the comic’s creator, Frank Miller (with a special guest assist from Tarantino, naturally), bringing the neo-noir comics to hyper-stylized life. Made primarily on a digital backlot in high-contrast black and white shot through with shocks of color, it’s a sexy-looking film, even before you factor in Jessica Alba as a stripper and Rosario Dawson as a prostitute. A second film, based largely on Miller’s “A Dame to Kill For,” is scheduled for release in 2014.
“Planet Terror” (2007): Tarantino is the superior director, but Rodriguez gave him what-for with his half of “Grindhouse,” a double-feature throwback to the age of exploitation cinema. Tarantino’s “Death Proof” is a plodding bore of meandering, stoned dialogue until a fantastic final 15 minutes of inspired stuntwork. But Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror,” a sci-fi-horror-action schlockfest where a biochemical agent turns people into zombie-like psychos, is good dumb fun from beginning to end, and is wholly justified by gifting Rose McGowan, a machine gun doubling as a peg leg, to the world.
