Tag Archives: Robert Rodriguez

The Lords of Salem + Machete Kills

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Alice Thirteen

Auteurs just outside the arthouse. Grindhouse contributors Rob Zombie and Robert Rodirugez! Audiences clamoring: It’s not the way I would have done it!! Stop looking for validation and start appreciating surprise. See inside the minds of insane people. The hidden alternate history of The Lords of Salem. Why Rob Zombie is a fascinating human. Films changing as they’re being filmed. The Rodriguez-Box-Office relationship. Using Machete Kills as the control for the experiment Machete conducted. A different approach. One unique idea to recreate the trailer magic. A a cure for cinema predictibility. Continue reading →

Sharkboy and Lavagirl + Mulholland Drive

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Alice Thirteen

On the 300th episode of Double Feature, Sharkboy and Lavagirl finally solve Mulholland Drive. First, a conversation about the Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (In 3D). Aesop’s fables! How to have the best conversation about Mulholland Drive. Right or wrong, do most people have the impression they understand this film? The David Lynch journey up to this point. Ground rules for the conversation. Bringing your prerequisits to the conversation. The alley person / the dumpster person / the bum behind the wall at Winkie’s. The tiny people. What we can learn from the espresso scene – do these guys know what they’re talking about? Shut it all down. The cowboy in a bible analogy. Seperating 50s loving David Lynch from a plot involving things from 1950. Challenging the endless loop / möbius strip conclusion. Rita and the most forgiven introduction of an amnesia device ever made. El silenco and the key. The vanish / switch scene. Revisiting the Sylvia North story. Michael proposes a theory. Using the film’s own rules mathematically for solving unknowns. A return to the dumpster person. Secular uses for biblical imagery in mysery solving. The David Lynch top ten clues. Another look at Club Silencio. Can Adam throw a wrench into an otherwise plausible theory? Adam is blow away by the world’s most talented actress, but other forces tie his hands. The ordered hit. Support for the fantasy. Continue reading →

Spy Kids 2 + Gremlins 2

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Alice Thirteen

Genetic experiments and incredible post-colon titles. Two films of unrestrained imagination. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams. Alice gets his own correction. Reintroductions. Special effects. Returning actors, tupperware Banderas, and Ricardo Montalban. The progressive political system of Spy Kids 2. Humanity’s relationship with technology. Where Machete exists in the Spy Kids universe. The first digitally filmed movies. The main handful of digital camera you need to know. Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Michael’s evening at The Music Box. Why you should get to know directors. The themes of Gremlins 2. Breaking the 4th wall. Joe Dante’s blank check. Pleasing the critics. Continue reading →

The Faculty + Jackie Brown

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Alice Thirteen

Black sheep, back to back: Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez direct two strange selections. The Faculty and the 90s. Teenage wasteland. What makes The Faculty edgy. Film making as a job. Why did Robert Rodriguez do The Faculty? Rebellion. Aliens and effects. Naked tentacle wonderment. The beginning of the CGI. Developing Planet Terror. Super 90s soundtrack, featuring a cast inclusive video from The Class of 99. The hyper 70s blacksploitation introduction of Jackie Brown. Quentin Tarantino, bringing people back. Another look at Tarantino’s dialogue. Chicks with Guns. Atypical casting and acting choices. Pam Grier! Forty year old ass-kicker. Ordell the weasel. Earning the boss. The strange line walked by a bail bondsman. Continue reading →

Spy Kids + Honey I Shrunk the Kids

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Alice Thirteen

Film makers who you would think have no business making children’s films. The insane amount of star power in the original Spy Kids. Robert Rodriguez writing children’s movies for children. How to create an abundance of new sub-genres in a single stroke. Computer animation! Why a children’s film? A new Danny Elfman / Oingo Boingo song! The message of spy kids. Evil in disagreement: a fresh antagonist dynamic. Uncle Machete? How do you convince your friends to watch Spy Kids? Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! What ever happened to mad science? What the change in sci-fi and fantasy films tells us about science literacy. The terror in the backyard. Suspension of disbelief and the audience member that can’t play along. Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski. Honey I Blew Up the Kid. Honey We Shrunk Ourselves. The Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Premarital sex! Continue reading →

Cry-Baby + Roadracers

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Alice Thirteen

50’s throw-back films! Greasers. John Waters after Devine. A bit on Iggy Pop. Who is Traci Lords? A confused opinion on hatchet-face. Johnny Depp?! Entire budget of Cry-Baby: $12 Million. Depp’s average Pirates salary: $88 Million per film. Faux jazz lounge scene! Coupling and single characters. Drapes and squares. Bases and religious tattoos. The alphabet bomber movie. Is Cry-Baby a musical? Adaptations of adaptations. Courtroom scenes. Use the manhole! Roadracers: The Making of a Degenerate Hot Rod Flick. Showtime’s Rebel Highway series. An Invasion of the Body Snatchers metaphor. John Hawkes’ character. Building around icons. The long-awaited Roadracers DVD release! Continue reading →

Four Rooms + From Dusk Till Dawn

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Alice Thirteen

Tarantino and Rodriguez, back to back! And then Rodriguez and Tarantino! Found film. Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell…Marisa Tomei? Combustible Edison and Vertigogo. Time Roth, resident weirdo. The Missing Ingredient. The Wrong Man. The Misbehavers. The Man from Hollywood. Swell parties. Michael’s Titanic sequel. The bathroom shot. The in-between inside outside wall shot. Camera pull away super far out Tim Roth’s character is here pointing shot. Jennifer Beals. Antonio Banderas. The Robert Rodriguez boss shot, as seen in both films. Long takes. POV. The Man from the South. Spot the Hodder?! Robert Kurtzman. Are you ready for vampires? Rodriguez’s early style. Fred Williiam’s spot at the bar. Who the fuck is Tom Savani? Filmmakers and friends. Continue reading →

Pulp Fiction + Sin City

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Alice Thirteen

Tarantino and Rodriguez, back to back! Pulp Fiction and Tarantino’s chapters. The popular appeal of Pulp Fiction. What nonlinear storytelling accomplishes. Separating character development from overall narrative. Simultaneous stories. Building up Marsellus Wallace. Quentin Tarantino and race relations! Soundtrack. The life and work of Julia Sweeney. Atheism! Learning through conversation. Noir characters in the modern world. The MacGuffin, The Maltese Falcon, and Plot Coupons. Robert Rodriguez and Sin City. Quest director Quentin Tarantino! Getting Frank Miller to sign off. The characters in Basin City. Do it cheap, do it smart, and fuck film school. Continue reading →

The Expendables + Machete

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Alice Thirteen

Let’s go out to the movies! Action films with obscenely huge stars. Why talk about a movie like The Expendables? Misleading, exploitative promotion for The Expendables. David Zayas. Alice Roberts. Sylvester Stallone establishing tone through early moments of gore. Steve Austin and an intellectual defense of professional wrestling. What is Sylvester Stallone’s message behind The Expendables? ShowPlace ICON: Saving the cinema-going experience. Waiting years for a film. How Machete was made. Expanding on a fake trailer. MEXPLOITATION! Insane bigots with backwards ideas about immigration. The lesser known actors in Machete. The legend of Danny Trejo. A defense of Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan naked. Jessica Alba naked. THE BARBARELLA METHOD. Violence, nudity and tacos. Continue reading →

Reservoir Dogs + Desperado

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Alice Thirteen

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez go back to back, once again! Two incredible films by incredible film makers. Why you always put Quentin Tarantino first. Tarantino’s signature. Quentin’s first scene. Well known strengths. Who is the rat? Non-linear story telling. Spectator cinematography. The trunk shot. The Vega brothers. Desperado, the Mexico trilogy, and the best opening scene of all time. Action set to an imaginary beat. Cheap filmmaking tactics. Accomplishing the impossible. Film school. Robert Rodriguez teaches you film making techniques for FREE. Quentin Tarantino…acts. Some stuff on Predators. What’s next for the carnival? Continue reading →

Shorts + Inglourious Basterds

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Alice Thirteen

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, back to back! An Inglourious Basterds conversations during Shorts. Who Robert Rodriguez is and why a fan of movies like Inglourious Basterds should care about his kids films. Actors under Rodriguez. Major actors playing B-roles to children. From Dusk Till Dawn was six years before Spy Kids 2. Gimmicks as an enhancement rather than a crutch. Suspension of disbelief in children’s films. Pool films. Sell out oscar films. What audiences expect from Tarantino. The midnight movie experience. The complexities of the one known as The Bear Jew. Making an audience feel the violence. Spaghetti westerns. Shosanna as a femme fatale. Revenge stories. Women kicking ass. Why Inglourious Basterds is misspelled. Revisiting the Schindler’s List question – Nazis as human beings or creatures of pure evil. Continue reading →