So I've been on hold for like ten minutes now. What the hell is going on down at the CBO? What hot new show has just been announced that would cause such a log jam of calls? Or maybe someone is taking an extended lunch break. I wish they would just be honest: We can't be bothered to answer the phone, please call back in like half an hour and maybe we'll talk to you then.
There. I've actually talked to a human being and got my tickets for Hawksley Workman for Oct. 8. I knew I'd get helped as soon as I started bitching/blogging.
So we saw Once Upon A Time In Mexico a few days ago. I haven't seen the last two movies recently, so this opinion may change, but I think OUATIM ranks third out of three. But, then again, it does have Johnny Depp.
Robert Rodriguez is an interesting film maker. And the "El" trilogy is a perfect example of why. The first, El Mariachi was made for like 12 bucks and some food stamps. It looked cheap, mainly because of the film stock, but it was full of energy and invention. Desperado was next, with a budget roughly a trillion times larger. It looked beautiful (due in no small part to Selma Hayek), but the action seemed familliar. Still good fun and enjoyable, but it was as if the extra time and money afforded Robert robbed him of some of his spark. Also, he kind of rejiggered his El mythos. In the first film, the main character, a mariachi, was mistaken for El. Desperado is about the real El, but he has memories of events from the first film. I think. It's been a while and it wasn't that clear to begin with. Which leads us to Once. Basically, it's like a marriage of the first two films. A decent sized budget, but shot on video. Rodriguez is now something of a video zealot. He loves the ease of use. You don't have to worry about lighting and blocking a shot. You just shoot. If you have something you want to try, you try it. Quick and dirty film making. But this is both good and bad. If you have nothing but cool ideas, with no thought of how to tie tham all together, you end up with chaos. Once is one step above chaos. Actually, with Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Robert Rodriguez reminds me of another Once helmer: Once Upon A Time In China's Tsui Hark. They both have tonnes of neat ideas, and neither of them care too much if they make much sense within the context of the movie. Once... Mexico has double and triple crosses, maniacs wrapped in bandages and stylish shoot outs out the wazoo. It works only because it works. I can't explain it. But the shoot outs are not the elegantly choreographed ones of Desperado, they're even more frenetic than the ones in El Mariachi. But they're not exactly easy to follow. They would have been much improved, I imagine, if Robert had taken the time to plan them out ahead of time. He could still also shoot whatever caught his fancy, but then he would be forced to think about how to fit it in with the rest of the fight and still have it flow. As is it plays out like: "Wouldn't it be cool if Antonio... and then... and then... and then a truck will run over these guys... and then... and then... so Cooooooooool... and then... kneecaps!!!
And I still don't think stuff shot on video and then converted looks as good as good ole film. Sure Episode 2 looked real good, but must of that wasn't shot so much as coded. There ain't much digital trickery in El Mariachi. And of the few instances where CGI Is used, it looks fake. Mainly bullets hitting flesh, which looks about as realistic as shooting that liquid metal T1000 only less so. But the kneecap thing was cool. So I mentioned Rodriguez mentioned lack of lighting set up as a plus? In this film it is more like a minus. This film is too damn dark. A whole lot of back lighting = a whole lot of obscured faces. This is a dark film, it made me sleepy. The one really bright scene looked like it was shot on video, so maybe that's why. And every once in a while, some quick shots had the unmistakable look of video. But I was looking. My movie going companions didn't mention anything so I guess it's not that noticeable.
Wow. That was a lot of words. I'm done for now.
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