Robert Rodriguez: Genius or a Hack?

Blaine said:
Well, that's what everyone is trying to do...get others to pay for your movie. My point was that it's a little disingenuous to point to El Mariachi and say, "Wow, look at what he did on $7000."
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Point well taken...
 
GageFX said:
Why?

-GFX
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Because what you see, isn't. As I pointed out in an earlier post it was more like $227,000...still nothing in Hollywood terms, but significantly more than $7000.
 
I've seen enough of his stuff to say that he's no genius. I haven't cared enough about any of his stuff to watch long enough to tell if he's a complete hack or not. I don't really give a crap (an he doesn't give a damn about my opinion).
 
HorseFilms said:
I've seen enough of his stuff to say that he's no genius. I haven't cared enough about any of his stuff to watch long enough to tell if he's a complete hack or not. I don't really give a crap (an he doesn't give a damn about my opinion).
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The hell you say, you mean you don't have him up there with Argento? :evil:
 
Robert Rodriguez is most definitely an inspiration and a creative genius. He worked his ass off, sacrificed, and succeeded. And he did it his own way. He proved movies could be made NOT the Hollywood way--without a lot of money or a big crew, or expensive equipment or film school. He KNEW he could do it despite the lousy advice and criticism he was bombarded with, that making it in Hollywod was "the impossible dream." He questioned EVERYTHING and cut out his own path to Hollywood. A true rebel and a perfect title for the book he wrote. Did he do it completely alone? Not really. His wife supported him, as did his folks, Carlos Gallardo, his city's film commission. These and many others were the "invisible hands" that guided him and opened doors for him. And they would appear to anyone who's truly on the path of his/her life, as Joseph Cambell would say. He's proof of that, as is Kubrick, Ben Franklin, Opra, and many other self-made successful people.

And the best part for me about Robert Rodriguez is that he's Mexican American. FINALLY! A real player who broke all the rules and succeeded. A filmmaker who did it with pride in his culture and didn't lose sight of it. Bien hecho Robert--Well done Robert.
 
And the best part for me about Robert Rodriguez is that he's Mexican American. FINALLY! A real player who broke all the rules and succeeded. A filmmaker who did it with pride in his culture and didn't lose sight of it. Bien hecho Robert--Well done Robert.
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He isn't the first Mexican - American to make it in the biz, is he ?
 
From RR's account in the book it sounds like most of the money that Columbia put into the film was for rather innocuous things: a 35mm blowup (apparently they went through, like, three answer prints) with subtitles, conforming the video edits he made with the film negatives, and advertizing/marketing. I'm not saying that what I'm watching on my DVD is what he made for $7,000, but it's also not fair to call it a $227,000 movie, either, because a lot of that money went for things that didn't really matter to a final print. (Where I will give credit to the money is in the sound editing. I'm sure his original audio track sucked.)

But... with the advances in technology since 1993, we should have some seriously good productions for the same amount of money.
 
Hack. I'm kind of getting tired of him and Tarantino spending their entire career making films that aren't their own. Whether it be from film stock style or concepts...I think they're just film groupies. I heard Tarantino made part of "Grindhouse" because it would be a film he'd wanna watch at home. What kind of crap is that? Dont get me wrong i loved DTD and DESPERADO, but when certain films are SOOO stylized, like Napolean Dynamite, i can't bare it.
 
inspire84 said:
Hack. I'm kind of getting tired of him and Tarantino spending their entire career making films that aren't their own.
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(Must not reply to those who spout babel)

First, Rodriguez isn't even in the same class as Tarantino and two ....

What the hell are you talking about ?
 
I love how so many people pretend that he's the first person to ever make a movie on the cheap and have it lead to a successful film career.
 
HorseFilms said:
I love how so many people pretend that he's the first person to ever make a movie on the cheap and have it lead to a successful film career.
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True. Check out Roger Corman...produced over 300 movies, directed on the order of 50 and worked with what would become some of the biggest names in the movies. There's some success there and his movies were often done on the cheep.
 
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i always want to see his new movies, but do not expect to be impressed. sound funny? i think he is doing something different than others, marching to his own drummer and that is cool. just wish he didn't think he was smarter than the rest of the world for doing so. i think if he could get his ego out of the way, I'd really look forward to his work.

that being said, kudos for his many accomplishments.
 
inspire84 said:
Hack. I'm kind of getting tired of him and Tarantino spending their entire career making films that aren't their own.
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Tarantino should stop literally quoting from Japanese & Hongkong cinema, and at least make it look like he made up the characters and story himself. The more classic Asian films I see, the less I start liking him. Rodriguez seems to enjoy making average films every once in a while. Maybe just to buy a few extra houses. Which is ok to me, but don't get started on artistic integrity :D
 
i've never like RR. he never offered a movie worth watching and I dont concider sin city his since frank miller was there. Anyway his movie always shoot their self in the foot. and Dusk till dawn was great till QT turn the writing over to RR. the first half is all QT he even talked about in a magazine article ill have to find it... the rest was RR.
 
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