The San Antonio-born director, 45, is an acolyte of exploitation-style film (and Quentin Tarantino\u2019s cinematic blood brother), taking B-movies mainstream with a trademark kineticism and bracing lack of shame.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s back in theaters this week with \u201cMachete Kills,\u201d the unlikely sequel to 2010\u2019s equally unlikely \u201cMachete,\u201d spawned from a fake trailer filmed for 2007\u2019s \u201cGrindhouse.\u201d When you get down to it, it\u2019s all just an elaborate excuse to have Danny Trejo creatively kill a lot of people, and Rodriguez makes it work.<\/p>\n
In that bloody spirit, here are Rodriguez\u2019s five most entertaining films.<\/p>\n
\u201cEl Mariachi\u201d (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\u2019s 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<\/p>\n
\u201cDesperado\u201d (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\u2019t put a damper on Rodriguez\u2019s sense of humor or flair for staging indulgent scenes of balletic violence. Death by ceiling fan? Why not.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Dusk Till Dawn\u201d (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\u2019s major fun despite also being a major mess, but that\u2019s what you get when you cast Tarantino, who probably shouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSin City\u201d (2005): Rodriguez co-directed this comic-book adaptation with the comic\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s \u201cA Dame to Kill For,\u201d is scheduled for release in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlanet Terror\u201d (2007): Tarantino is the superior director, but Rodriguez gave him what-for with his half of \u201cGrindhouse,\u201d a double-feature throwback to the age of exploitation cinema. Tarantino\u2019s \u201cDeath Proof\u201d is a plodding bore of meandering, stoned dialogue until a fantastic final 15 minutes of inspired stuntwork. But Rodriguez\u2019s \u201cPlanet Terror,\u201d 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.