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Added by johanlefourbe on 24 Aug 2015 09:07
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A Complete Review of Robert Rodriguez's work

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Cast : Zachary Levi, Gina Rodriguez

What was it about?
The children of the world's greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful game developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, leading them to become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.

My two cents:
To be honest, I wish that the very first ‘Spy Kids’ had turned out to be a huge box-office flop when it was released because Rodriguez would have hopefully dropped the concept right away back then. Seriously, the guy has spent pretty much half of his career making such kids flicks which are just terrible and this new installment was not an exception, I’m afraid. The only interesting idea was the fact that spies have to lie all the time, that’s basically part of the job, but, in this case, how do you raise some children by telling them to be honest and to always tell the truth? I actually liked this paradox but, unfortunately, it was only quickly mentioned by one of the characters at some point but they really did nothing with that after all. The other thing that I enjoyed was that Gina Rodriguez not only did look lovely but she was pretty badass and she also managed to be a convincing mother at the same time. Unfortunately, all the other characters involved were just so underwhelming. I mean, Zachary Levi was not awful but he did really nothing interesting with his character at all. Even more problematic was the that, once again, they picked up some of the worst children actors I have seen. Seriously, they were both rather cringe-inducing to behold and it is in fact very often the case in Rodriguez’s kid flicks. Seriously, I’m rather flabbergasted that some critics actually praised these kids for their work on this movie.

My rating: 04/10

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People who added this item 35 Average listal rating (28 ratings) 5 IMDB Rating 5.5


Cast : Ben Affleck, Alice Braga, Jackie Earle Haley, William Fichtner

What was it about?
A detective investigates a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.

My two cents:
At least, this movie couldn’t possibly be worse than ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’, that was my first thought. Well, even though it was indeed not worse, it wasn’t really much better either, I’m afraid. It’s too bad because it was something Rodriguez had apparently been working on for about 20 years and I have to admit that it did have some potential. Indeed, there were some scenes which did feel sometimes like an episode of ‘The Twilight Zone’ which was neat. However, it was pretty obvious that such a vibe was never what they attempted to do with this movie. Furthermore, in spite of some decent effort from Affleck, pretty much everything else was rather underwhelming with this movie. The first thing that you have to let go while watching this movie is that it didn’t seem to make much sense that a ‘hypnotic’ could take control of someone pretty much instantly, with barely any contact whatsoever. Eventually, it was basically the logic in this movie and, even if it was never really convincing, it didn’t really bother me that much. However, the concept was still rather half-baked and there were also too many twists which were obviously added to make this movie more complex than it was. In fact, I read some comments from some guy on the internet who described this movie as some kind of B feature which tried to emulate Christophe Nolan’s style and I think that this description was indeed pretty accurate.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Billie Eilish

What was it about?
Billie Eilish performs a tribute concert in honour of her hometown at the Hollywood Bowl to promote her 2nd studio album also called ‘Happier Than Ever’.

My two cents:
I have to admit that I knew next to nothing about Billie Eilish before watching this movie but it turned out to be a pretty neat way to get acquainted with this new emerging massive pop star. However, to be honest, even though she definitely can sing and has a nice voice, you have to really dig her way of whispering her songs though and I think it is definitely an acquired taste. I was also intrigued by her rather unflattering outfit (it was really something else than BeyoncĂ© who had a dozen of sexy outfits in ‘Homecoming’) but, apparently, it is on purpose, among other things, to avoid being sexualized which is actually recommendable. Indeed, most of the young female pop singers always focus on giving a sexy image so she should be actually praised for this choice. Concerning the rest of the movie, well, it turned out to be a typical ‘lockdown’ concert with no audience involved but even though the venue (the Hollywood Bowl) was impressive, the presentation was still pretty dry though. Concerning the animated character, she actually looked really neat (I’m not so sure about the fact that she wore a rather skimpy outfit and looked actually thinner than Eilish though) but, except for roaming around in her car to some, I suppose, famous LA landmarks, she didn’t do anything interesting whatsoever so she seemed to be a rather missed opportunity after all. Anyway, it was a still decent watch though.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 33 Average listal rating (21 ratings) 4.1 IMDB Rating 4.7


Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Pedro Pascal, Christian Slater

What was it about?
When alien invaders capture the Earth's superheroes, their kids must learn to work together to save their parents- and the planet.

My two cents:
Even if Robert Rodriguez has been quite productive since his breakthrough at the beginning of the 90’s, his work has not always been impressive but the worst he has done so far is easily all these tedious kids flicks. Well, this one was not much better, I’m afraid. This time, Rodriguez went for a sequel of ’The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl’, arguably his most obscure movie. At least, I have to admit that it was pretty neat that they managed to bring back Taylor Dooley to play Lavagirl and it's too bad they didn’t manage to bring back Taylor Lautner, that would have been so weird. However, except for these returning characters, there was actually no link whatsoever between the 2 movies. Anyway, the damned thing was just so tedious to behold mainly due to a generic and simply terribly boring plot. To make things worse, you had a whole bunch of children and seriously not a single one of them was able to deliver a decent performance. It was rather painful to watch but, at least, I hope they did have some fun shooting this movie. Eventually, the only positive thing about this flick was that Priyanka Chopra was as usual quite gorgeous to look at and she was actually the only one who managed to make her character believable and mildly entertaining.

My rating: 04/10

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People who added this item 5 Average listal rating (1 ratings) 2 IMDB Rating 4.9

Unfortunately, I haven't seen this one yet...

However, it seems that it has never been officially released either in the movie theaters or on any streaming platform. By now, only a handful of people have seen it when it was presented during various film festivals.
People who added this item 432 Average listal rating (297 ratings) 6.8 IMDB Rating 7.3


Cast : Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Jackie Earle Haley

What was it about?
A deactivated female cyborg is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is.

My two cents:
For how long have I been waiting to see this movie? 10 years? 15 years? Indeed, when I was kid, I bought the comic-books with my brother, I really loved them, and when I heard that James Cameron would adapt them, it sounded really awesome. However, somehow, the guy got completely obsessed with 'Avatar' and it seemed that this project would be stuck in production hell forever. Fortunately, Robert Rodriguez came on board and even if he wouldn't have been my first choice as a director, I still wanted to check the damned thing, in spite of the negative hype it received even before it was released. Well, eventually, I have to admit it, it didn't turn out to be a masterpiece, but it was far from being a failure either and I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, even though it felt rather derivative by now, the world created was interesting enough and visually quite impressive but I wouldn't expect less from Cameron. Above all, they completely nailed the main character. Indeed, Alita was just as fascinating as she was in the comic-book. Not only the way she looked worked very well (the controversy about her big eyes turned out to be completely unjustified after all) but, above all, she was just so charismatic, complex, and completely faithfull to the comic-book. Concerning the story itself, it's a shame that they tried to adapt the first 4 comic-books as it turned out to be just too much material for 2 hours of running time. Still, in spite of it flaws, I think it was a rather faithtfull adaptation and it is definitely worth a look.

My rating: 07/10

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People who added this item 1473 Average listal rating (529 ratings) 6.3 IMDB Rating 6.5


Cast : Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Lloyd, Jaime King, Juno Temple, Jamie Chung, Lady Gaga, Alexa PenaVega

What was it about?
Some of Sin City's most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.

My two cents:
Like everyone else, I was eagerly expecting this sequel and, after almost a decade, it was finally coming up so I was genuinely excited. However, when it was released, it turned out to be a flop and received some really poor reviews. Eventually, I have to admit that the critics were right as the whole thing was indeed just terribly disappointing. Eventually, except for ‘A Dame to Kill For’ which is one of the best stories in the comic-book series, all the other stories were just underwhelming. The most bewildering one was maybe the last one called ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’, not only was it barely entertaining but, above all, it gave some major continuity issues with the rest of the stories. To conclude, it is hard to believe that they took almost 10 years to deliver this, it looks like ‘Sin City’, it moves like ‘Sin City’, but it sure ain’t at the same level of this modern classic.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 464 Average listal rating (291 ratings) 5.5 IMDB Rating 5.6
Machete Kills (2013)


Cast : Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Michelle Rodriguez, SofĂ­a Vergara, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Vanessa Hudgens, Alexa PenaVega, Tom Savini, Jessica Alba

What was it about?
The U.S. government recruits Machete to battle his way through Mexico in order to take down an arms dealer who looks to launch a weapon into space.

My two cents:
I really had a hard time to get into this flick. I mean, to start up, even though I thought that the concept of the first installment was interesting, I can't say I was completely sold by the end-product and, with this sequel, it wasn't really better, I'm afraid. Sure, there were some moments that did work but most of it was just rather dull. Basically, it is pretty much like watching a bad movie and pretending that it is actually something better. A part from that, there was again a fun cast apparently having a blast doing all kind of crazy sh*t and trying really hard to convince you that this flick is actually really entertaining.

My rating: 05/10

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People who added this item 29 Average listal rating (19 ratings) 6.9 IMDB Rating 7


Cast : Kobe Bryant, Robert Rodriguez, Bruce Willis, Kanye West, Danny Trejo

What was it about?
In this Nike commercial, director Robert Rodriguez pitches NBA star Kobe Bryant an idea for an action film in which Bryant's alter-ego, The Black Mamba, is being pursued by a crime lord known only as "Boss" who wants to get his hands on Mamba's shoes.

My two cents:
It's in fact pretty tricky to find this commercial nowadays as Nike has removed it from all over the internet but this decision is rather understandable since it involved Kobe Bryant and some exploding helicopter... Concerning the commercial itself, it's not bad and I especially liked the scenes involving Bryant and Rodriguez discussing a possible collaboration to shoot an action flick. However, the action scenes were took dark for my taste and, to be honest, they looked rather cheap-ass. In spite of these flaws, It was still a fun commercial though.

My rating: 06/10
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Cast : Jessica Alba, Jeremy Piven, Alexa PenaVega, Danny Trejo, Ricky Gervais

What was it about?
A retired spy is called back into action, and to bond with her new step-children, she invites them along for the adventure to stop the evil Timekeeper from taking over the world.

My two cents:
I have to admit it, this movie was not really worse than the first trilogy but it was certainly not an improvement. I mean, how many jokes about baby poop can you fill in one single movie? Maybe even worse were those constant word puns involving time. Concerning Jessica Alba, after all these years, she still looks stunning but no matter how sexy her outfit is, I still have my doubts about her acting skills. The only redeeming quality I could think off was to see Alexa PenaVega, all grown up after all these years, and she made a fine transition from spy kid to spy well 'adult'. It's too bad because this concept always had some potential and the fact that all the installments made some money shows that there was an audience for them but, to be honest, they all pretty much sucked.

My rating: 04/10

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People who added this item 1630 Average listal rating (1075 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 6.6
Machete (2010)


Cast : Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Tom Savini

What was it about?
After being set-up and betrayed by the man who hired him to assassinate a Texas Senator, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.

My two cents:
Like most of us, I really enjoyed the 'Machete' trailer displayed in 'Grindhouse', and from all the trailers, it was the only one which really seemed to have some potential as a full length feature. Eventually, I thought this movie was not bad at all. I mean, there were some completely absurd but also totally awesome action scenes and the whole thing was sometimes hilarious. Still, I can't say I was really convinced by this movie though. I mean, it was fun, that's for sure, but there were unfortunately also plenty of dull moments. Furthermore, even though Danny Trejo has an incredible face and totally looked the part, the guy can't act for sh*t... It's all right for a 2 minutes trailer but playing the lead for almost 2 hours, that was just way out of his league. The funny thing is that, afterwards, I discovered that he was 66 years old when shooting this movie and will be almost 70 when the sequel will be released!

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 131 Average listal rating (80 ratings) 4.5 IMDB Rating 4.7
Shorts (2009)


Cast : Kat Dennings, Leslie Mann, William H. Macy, James Spader

What was it about?
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.

My two cents:
Well, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. Basically, when it was released, even though it wasn’t a massive flop, it was still barely noticed and the whole thing sure didn't get much love. In fact, it all started more than 10 years ago, with the surprise success of 'Spy Kids'. Suddenly, Rodriguez really started to believe that he was actually good in the family-friendly genre when, in fact, 'Spy Kids' was never really good to start with and the movies he made afterwards were increasingly disappointing. Eventually, this one might not even be his worse one ('Spy Kids 4' was just too abysmal) but it wasn’t really far behind. Indeed, the story was terribly generic and boring, the kids all delivered some really weak performances and I seriously had a hard time to care about the damned thing.

My rating: 05/10

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People who added this item 2161 Average listal rating (1454 ratings) 7 IMDB Rating 7
Planet Terror (2007)


Cast : Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Fergie, Tom Savini, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Trejo, Zoë Bell

What was it about?
After an experimental bio-weapon is released, turning thousands into zombie-like creatures, it's up to a rag-tag group of survivors to stop the infected and those behind its release.

My two cents:
Since 'Grindhouse' was a flop in North America, they decided to release the movies separately in the rest of the world which was a terrible mistake, in my opinion. Indeed, even though 'Planet Terror' was, by far, the best part in 'Grindhouse', I thought this full version was rather disappointing and completely unnecessary. Basically, it didn't add anything really interesting to the story and, in my opinion, there was barely no difference between the short version displayed in ‘Grindhouse’ and this longer version. On top of that, even though it was quite entertaining the first time around, I’m not sure if it really required a 2nd watch. Still, it remains was a fun ride, no doubt about it.

My rating: 07/10

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People who added this item 1832 Average listal rating (1068 ratings) 7.3 IMDB Rating 7.5
Grindhouse (2007)


Cast : Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Fergie, Tom Savini, Quentin Tarantino, Danny Trejo, Zoë Bell

What was it about?
Two full length feature horror movies written by Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez put together as a two film feature. Including fake movie trailers in between both movies.

My two cents:
I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but it really seemed to be some kind of vanity project for Tarantino and Rodriguez. Seriously, except for them, was there seriously an audience asking for an homage to those 70's exploitation flicks? Anyway, it was a flop and the whole thing was never released theatrically except in North America. Eventually, I thought it was really cool. Indeed, the fake trailers were awesome and 'Planet Terror' was hilariously over-the-top so it seemed to be a winner until I watched 'Death Proof'... Indeed, up to that point I was seriously having fun but the segment directed by Tarantino was just completely disappointing. I mean, if you make a short movie for an anthology, don't split it into 2 stories, for crying out loud!!! Indeed, instead of one fully fledged story like in 'Planet Terror', you ended up with 2 half-baked tales. As usual with Tarantino, I enjoyed the directing, the whole thing was still rather entertaining but even though the dialogues were pretty cool as usual, they often felt really pointless. So, the whole thing was a bold and daring project and without Quentin Tarantino's misfire, it would have been really awesome.

My rating: 07/10 (for 'Grindhouse') / 08/10 (for the 'Planet Terror' segment)

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Cast : Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, David Arquette, Kristin Davis

What was it about?
A young boy is recruited by his imaginary friends Sharkboy and Lavagirl to help save their planet.

My two cents:
I honestly had no idea what this movie was about before watching it but since it was directed by Robert Rodriguez, I was quite eager to check it out. Apparently, according to IMDB, it is so far the worst movie directed by Rodriguez (followed really closely by ‘Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D’) but, like I said before, I wasn’t aware of this fact before watching it and, as a matter of fact, I thought it was actually better than the Spy Kids franchise. Indeed, I thought the sequels were rather abysmal and even though the first installment was not bad, I still slightly preferred this flick. Indeed, I thought the concept was not bad, it was visually pretty cool and I thought it was quite entertaining. It was also rather fun to see that, at the time, Taylor Lautner was still just a small kid but I thought he was actually quite charismatic.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 6318 Average listal rating (4377 ratings) 7.5 IMDB Rating 8
Sin City (2005)


Cast : Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Benicio Del Toro, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Nick Stahl, Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood

What was it about?
A film that explores the dark and miserable town, Basin City, and tells the story of three different people, all caught up in violent corruption.

My two cents:
When this first installment came out, it had quite an impact and it became right away a cult-classic. At the time, I got pretty lucky as I managed to see it in the movie theater when it was released and I was seriously quite blown away by the damned thing. By now, I have seen all the movies directed by Robert Rodriguez and, in my opinion, it is easily his best movie and I would go as far as saying that it is definitely one of the the best comic book adaptations ever made. Visually, even 10 years after, it still looks pretty impressive and it is filled with some very dark characters brought to life by a solid cast, especially by Mickey Rourke who gave here one of his best performances. Since then, I have actually bought the original Sin City comic books, those are great as well and I can tell you that this movie was a very faithful adaptation, probably the most faithful adaptation of a comic-book that you will ever see. Basically, I just love this flick.

My rating: 09/10

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People who added this item 2444 Average listal rating (1510 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 6.4


Cast : Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Enrique Iglesias, Willem Dafoe

What was it about?
Hitman "El Mariachi" becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent and a corrupt Mexican general.

My two cents:
Almost a decade after 'Desperado', Rodriguez decided to make another installment, completing already his second trilogy in 2003 (alongside the Spy Kids franchise). It was once again even more ambitious with many actors added to the cast. Eventually, pretty much like ‘Desperado’, I thought it was a fun movie but not much more than that, I’m afraid. The main issue, this time, is that there were so many characters that, as a result, you barely get to see Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, supposedly the leads here. Still, back in those days, Johnny Depp was not ruling (or ruining) the box-office yet and he definitely stole the show with a really wacky performance.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 864 Average listal rating (569 ratings) 4.2 IMDB Rating 4.2


Cast : Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa PenaVega, Ricardo Montalban, Sylvester Stallone, Salma Hayek, Emily Osment, Danny Trejo, Alan Cumming, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, Bill Paxton, George Clooney, Elijah Wood, Selena Gomez

What was it about?
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker (Stallone). It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.

My two cents:
Honestly, I was always had a hard time with this franchise. Indeed, even though the 1st installment was a surprise success at the box-office, I thought it was rather underwhelming even if the concept actually had some potential. Anyway, at the time, it seemed that Robert Rodriguez found his new cash-cow and kept making Spy Kids flicks until the audience really got fed up. As a result, this movie was a flop and Rodriguez finally decided to drop the whole thing (he did make another one in 2011 though but it turned out be even more pathetic). At least, 6 years before ‘Avatar’, Rodriguez already tried to revive the 3D gimmick but it seems that it was too early and the audience didn’t care for it at the time (the movie did look pretty ugly indeed). Even Sylvester Stallone playing multiple villains couldn’t save this flick.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa PenaVega, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Emily Osment, Ricardo Montalban, Alan Cumming, Taylor Momsen, Bill Paxton, Tony Shalhoub

What was it about?
The Cortez siblings set out for a mysterious island, where they encounter a genetic scientist and a set of rival spy kids.

My two cents:
Since the first installment was such a success, of course, they had to come up with a sequel which was also fairly successful at the box-office. Personally, it gave me the same feeling as the previous installment and I didn’t care much for it but, I have to admit it, my kids really liked it a lot. At least, it was nice to see Steve Buscemi playing a mad scientist, even though his ‘creations’ looked really awful but, on the other hand, we shouldn’t blame Buscemi for the really poor CGI used in this flick (seriously, if you watch this movie nowadays, the whole thing looks even more pathetic if you compare it to the current CGI special effects).

My rating: 05/10

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People who added this item 1919 Average listal rating (1210 ratings) 4.8 IMDB Rating 5.4
Spy Kids (2001)


Cast : Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa PenaVega, Alan Cumming, Tony Shalhoub, Teri Hatcher, Robert Patrick, Danny Trejo, Richard Linklater

What was it about?
The children of secret-agent parents must save them from danger.

My two cents:
To be honest, I never really understood the appeal of this franchise back then when it was released. I mean, sure, the whole concept definitely had some potential but I thought it was actually rather poorly developed. On top of that, it really didn't grow old very well at all. To be honest, my children really liked this movie (and its sequels) a lot so I guess it was a success with its target audience but, in my opinion, I don’t think it is really enjoyable for grown-ups. Still, at least, I think we should give Robert Rodriguez some credit for going from some really R rated features to some family material like this one and still being quite successful in the process which is quite rare.

My rating: 05/10

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People who added this item 1305 Average listal rating (865 ratings) 6 IMDB Rating 6.5
The Faculty (1998)


Cast : Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, Elijah Wood, Danny Masterson

What was it about?
Students suspect that their teachers are aliens after bizarre occurrences.

My two cents:
In fact, I forgot that the screenplay for this movie was actually written by Kevin Williamson, the guy who also wrote 'Scream', one of the most influential movies released in the 90's. Anyway, one thing really enjoyable about Robert Rodriguez is that, in contrary to his best buddy Quentin Tarantino, the guy is definitely not pretentious and it is really obvious in his movies, especially this one. Indeed, sure, it is nothing really amazing but it was never meant to be ground-breaking and I thought it was actually a decent horror-SF feature. Basically, it pretty much follows the rules of the genre but, just like in 'Scream', the characters were actually pretty much aware of those rules which was pretty neat. I also liked the fact that this high-school was rather dull and almost lugubrious and even though all the characters were really stereotypical, they were actually fairly entertaining. There was also a really solid cast involved. Anyway, even though it might not be one of the most famous movies directed by Robert Rodriguez, I actually think it is one of his better directing efforts.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 2783 Average listal rating (1945 ratings) 7 IMDB Rating 7.2


Cast : George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Kelly Preston, John Hawkes

What was it about?
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in an establishment populated by vampires, with chaotic results.

My two cents:
It was the first script that Quentin Tarantino was paid to write, for the mere sum of $1,500 and it was one of the first projects involving him and Rodriguez (‘Desperado’ and ‘Four Rooms’ were both released earlier though). Like everything else written by Quentin Tarantino, it quickly became a cult classic. However, even though it is a fun flick, to be honest, it is still nothing really amazing though. I mean, if you have never heard of this movie before then it is pretty neat because, half way through, you have this huge twist (that’s what happened to my sister actually if I remember it correctly). Unfortunately, before watching this , I knew what was going to happen, so the surprise was rather ruined for me and I just didn’t care much for the second half of this story. In my opinion, it is pretty much a glorified B feature and, back then, Tarantino thought he could be also an actor (fortunately, he dropped the idea since then) but it was pretty obvious that the guy should stick to writing and directing.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 1075 Average listal rating (696 ratings) 6.5 IMDB Rating 6.8
Four Rooms (1995)


Cast : Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek

What was it about?
Four interlocking tales that take place in a fading hotel on New Year's Eve.

My two cents:
I remember it quite well, even though it was a really obscure flick, I was still quite eager to check it out. above all because Tarantino was involved. The short directed by Rodriguez was watchable but, to be honest, none of the segments included here really impressed me and the whole thing rightfully remains some rather obscure addition in the filmography of all the people involved. The best thing here was Tim Roth who was really good as usual and it's really a shame that we don't hear much from him anymore.

My rating: 06/10 (this is my rating for Rodriguez's short but also for the whole movie itself)

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People who added this item 1845 Average listal rating (1248 ratings) 6.9 IMDB Rating 7.2
Desperado (1995)


Cast : Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, Enrique Iglesias

What was it about?
A gunslinger is embroiled in a war with a local drug runner.

My two cents:
Even though Rodriguez definitely got noticed thanks to 'El Mariachi', it is actually really with this flick that he became really noticed by the mainstream audience. Indeed, even though the budget was still rather modest (approximately $7 million), it was still 1000 times the amount of money Rodriguez spent to make his previous directing effort. Anyway, even though it was nothing really original, it was still a very well made and entertaining action flick. On top of that, not only it introduced Robert Rodriguez, but it helped Antonio Banderas and the always lovely Salma Hayek to breakthrough in the USA so this movie was pretty much a very important milestone for all the players involved.

My rating: 06/10

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People who added this item 865 Average listal rating (564 ratings) 6.6 IMDB Rating 6.8


What was it about?
A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.

My two cents:
Before judging this flick, you have to bear in mind the circumstances during which it was directed. Indeed, it was made on one shoe-string budget (allegedly 7000 dollars, although the post-production and promotion did cost 1 million dollars), Rodriguez considered this movie as pure practice and it was actually meant to be a straight-to-video feature. So, of course, it looks cheap, the acting was pretty weak and the plot was rather pedestrian. Still, I did like the damned thing though. Indeed, it is a fun movie and it is just really amazing to see how Rodriguez managed to shoot those action scenes, even though he didn’t have any money at all. Since then, Rodriguez has been pretty productive and even though not all his movies were great, he has been a master at making low cost features always generating a profit so I think he is actually some kind of role-model, especially in the current movie environment which is nowadays dominated by the massive expensive blockbusters.

My rating: 07/10

Check the full review
johanlefourbe's rating:
People who added this item 52 Average listal rating (34 ratings) 6 IMDB Rating 6.6
Bedhead (2019)


What was it about?
Two feuding siblings find their usual mischief augmented when psychic powers are suddenly thrown into the mix.

My two cents:
Basically, it is a small short starring only relatives of Robert Rodriguez and, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch. Eventually, what I liked the most was probably the animation during the beginning credits. Still, the movie was not bad and it was quite fun to see Robert Rodriguez playing around before starting to work on some full length features.

My rating: 06/10
johanlefourbe's rating:

Voters of this movie list - View all
 GeorginiDark Warrior OvermankathyNusch IceviperJROCK1772
Since I have finally managed to watch all the movies directed by Robert Rodriguez, I was really eager to make one of those lists. To be honest, his track-record is not really amazing but he is still an interested director.

Enjoy!


Added to

43 votes
A Complete Review of various directors' s work (68 lists)
list by johanlefourbe
Published 11 years, 7 months ago 8 comments



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