Great Scot! It's a Band. From Scotland. and "Desperado" film
Last week, my sister brought me to see her, arguably, favorite bands (at the moment, because this is an accolade that seems to change every few months or so) at a small club in Boston. This band is from Scotland, and they play indie rock with a hint of shoegazing via Mazzy Star and My Bloody Valentine and pieces of Sonic Youth as well. All seem like the recipe for favoritism in regards to my sister. She's been raving about them for months now and promised or told me I would be going with her the next time they came to Boston. And she delivered. They were everything she has claimed them to be...and louder! It was a great show, with an equally great opening act, which I never caught the name of.
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"Desperado"
starring: Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayek, Joaquim De Almeida, Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi
written, directed, and produced by: Robert Rodriguez
"Desperado" ends up being the middle piece of storytelling, the follow-up to Robert Rodriguez's first film "El Mariachi" (which was supposedly made for only $7,000) and the bookend film, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (years later). It's a film that establishes itself as a must-watch film right from the beginning, perhaps because Robert became very good friends with fellow filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, who is an expert at quality dialogue and storytelling (hell, Rodriguez even gave him a small part in the film). Each scene plays out as if it was strategically and beautifully choreographed beforehand (even more so than most films). The talents of this filmmaker fall under the realm of being kinetically composed, vibrantly economic in editing, and stylistic. The fact that this film was made with a much much larger budget (including higher paid actors in Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek) would most likely distracted from the film, but not here.
Happily, the comforts afforded by Desperado's larger budget have not endangered Rodriguez's stylistic economy; instead, the additional funds mean that now Rodriguez can blow things up real good. By the time Desperado's opening action sequence concludes prior to the opening credits, the viewer has already lost count of all the fatalities and the film has adopted a kind of comic-book logic, humor, and vitality. El Mariachi's mythic status has been reaffirmed and it frees him from the bounds of mere human physical constraints. Furthermore, having Antonio Banderas portray El Mariachi in this chapter of the film saga (Desperado cannot exactly be characterized as a sequel to El Mariachi, nor is it a remake; with its new cast and embellished story line, it seems more like a continuing adventure or further episode) certainly adds to the character's mystique. This maxed-out shoot-'em-up also intertwines a passionate love story within its plot. Popular Mexican TV star Salma Hayek plays a woman who can be every bit as lethal as El Mariachi. When first we see her, she is causing multiple car crashes by merely walking across the street. Visually, Banderas and Hayek make a stunning pair with their long dark hair framing them in a voluptuous cascade, and their sly humor and natural cunning finding in each other a natural fit. Moreover, one of the most unusual aspects of this Hollywood-financed production is its absence of American actors and settings. In Desperado, Mexican figures are portrayed as both the heroes and the bad guys. The soundtrack also features music by Los Lobos. Desperado is a bust-a-gut film experience that reveals Rodriguez as both a stylist versed in the mechanics of popular storytelling and a maverick whose ingenuity guides him along a singular path.
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"Bounty Killer"
starring: Matthew Marsden, Kristanna Loken, Christian Pitre, Barak Hardley, Abraham Benrubi, Gary Busey, Beverly D'Angelo, Eve (as in the rapper from the late '90s)
directed by: Henry Saine
written by: Jason Dodson
Another in a long line of "Mad Max" dystopian action films that breed a bleak future for us all if we continue down the path we are currently going on, except this one seems to its cheerful goriness, derivative and silliness in tow and slowly begins its own self-mocking throughout the film. Hopefully the filmmakers knew what they were getting themselves into (and myself never really being a fan of the original "Mad Max" I'm sorry to say) and decide to provide and go full-steam-ahead with providing every opportunity for film genre cliches to find themselves deeply embedded in a weak as shit script. No cliche is left unturned (and Kristanna Loken continues to prove what a terrible actress, but attractive face and great body, especially in tight fitting and short-hemmed clothes, she truly is). The climatic one-two punch of the over-the-top shootout and faux flashback montage delivers its own epic cheesiness, but it is still not worth any of your time.
............................................................................................................................
"Desperado"
starring: Antonio Banderas, Selma Hayek, Joaquim De Almeida, Cheech Marin, Steve Buscemi
written, directed, and produced by: Robert Rodriguez
"Desperado" ends up being the middle piece of storytelling, the follow-up to Robert Rodriguez's first film "El Mariachi" (which was supposedly made for only $7,000) and the bookend film, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (years later). It's a film that establishes itself as a must-watch film right from the beginning, perhaps because Robert became very good friends with fellow filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, who is an expert at quality dialogue and storytelling (hell, Rodriguez even gave him a small part in the film). Each scene plays out as if it was strategically and beautifully choreographed beforehand (even more so than most films). The talents of this filmmaker fall under the realm of being kinetically composed, vibrantly economic in editing, and stylistic. The fact that this film was made with a much much larger budget (including higher paid actors in Antonio Banderas and Selma Hayek) would most likely distracted from the film, but not here.
Happily, the comforts afforded by Desperado's larger budget have not endangered Rodriguez's stylistic economy; instead, the additional funds mean that now Rodriguez can blow things up real good. By the time Desperado's opening action sequence concludes prior to the opening credits, the viewer has already lost count of all the fatalities and the film has adopted a kind of comic-book logic, humor, and vitality. El Mariachi's mythic status has been reaffirmed and it frees him from the bounds of mere human physical constraints. Furthermore, having Antonio Banderas portray El Mariachi in this chapter of the film saga (Desperado cannot exactly be characterized as a sequel to El Mariachi, nor is it a remake; with its new cast and embellished story line, it seems more like a continuing adventure or further episode) certainly adds to the character's mystique. This maxed-out shoot-'em-up also intertwines a passionate love story within its plot. Popular Mexican TV star Salma Hayek plays a woman who can be every bit as lethal as El Mariachi. When first we see her, she is causing multiple car crashes by merely walking across the street. Visually, Banderas and Hayek make a stunning pair with their long dark hair framing them in a voluptuous cascade, and their sly humor and natural cunning finding in each other a natural fit. Moreover, one of the most unusual aspects of this Hollywood-financed production is its absence of American actors and settings. In Desperado, Mexican figures are portrayed as both the heroes and the bad guys. The soundtrack also features music by Los Lobos. Desperado is a bust-a-gut film experience that reveals Rodriguez as both a stylist versed in the mechanics of popular storytelling and a maverick whose ingenuity guides him along a singular path.
................................................................................
"Bounty Killer"
starring: Matthew Marsden, Kristanna Loken, Christian Pitre, Barak Hardley, Abraham Benrubi, Gary Busey, Beverly D'Angelo, Eve (as in the rapper from the late '90s)
directed by: Henry Saine
written by: Jason Dodson
Another in a long line of "Mad Max" dystopian action films that breed a bleak future for us all if we continue down the path we are currently going on, except this one seems to its cheerful goriness, derivative and silliness in tow and slowly begins its own self-mocking throughout the film. Hopefully the filmmakers knew what they were getting themselves into (and myself never really being a fan of the original "Mad Max" I'm sorry to say) and decide to provide and go full-steam-ahead with providing every opportunity for film genre cliches to find themselves deeply embedded in a weak as shit script. No cliche is left unturned (and Kristanna Loken continues to prove what a terrible actress, but attractive face and great body, especially in tight fitting and short-hemmed clothes, she truly is). The climatic one-two punch of the over-the-top shootout and faux flashback montage delivers its own epic cheesiness, but it is still not worth any of your time.
Once Drifter (Matthew Marsden, from the “Rambo” remake) was the big cheese among bounty hunters in a world where they are celebrated for dispensing justice to the fugitive CEOs and other white-collar miscreants whose global Corporate War ultimately decimated civilization. But glam ex-protegee and lover Mary Death (Christian Pitre) has since surpassed him in popularity. Worse, someone has managed to pin a “wanted” bounty on Drifter himself, so now he’s on the lam with comedy sidekick Jack (Barak Hardley) from Mary and everyone else. Their misadventures include capture by a “gypsy” camp (which is like a slightly harder-core Burning Man) and travel through the dread Badlands. Their goal is to plead Drifter’s innocence with the ruling body known as the Council, but upon arrival, the protagonists discover one more stop is required.
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