MACHETE (Robert Rodriguez, 2010)

[Johann]

They call him Machete.


I went to see this film last night at the Yonge & Dundas AMC and it was just the kind of film I needed. KICK ASS to the MAX JACK!
I tried to post about it yesterday but I was too hammered to write. LOL whiskey & coke was in mah belly for Machete.

This movie restored my faith that great movies are still being made. Robert Rodriguez is a Hero of mine. Rebel without a crew. That guy has really done it all and continues to do it all. Every film he's made I've liked. A LOT. He's a Man's Man Director. A bravura that is so cool it hurts.
Just like QT.

Danny Trejo is Machete, a fearsome lookin' dude by any standard. He looks like he's done some hard time, maybe even killed many men. LOL
MACHETE is Grindhouse Glory. It's the expansion of that unbelievably awesome fake trailer that was made for the double release of Rodriguez' Planet Terror and Tarantino's Death Proof- 2 films that I hold in very high regard. I wrote when it came out in '07 (emphatically) that Machete should be made into a feature. And here it is. Complete with worn-looking celluloid, bitchin' scratches and staccato/bizarro edits/cuts.
Wall to Wall Awesomeness is what Machete delivers. I don't want to spoil it for anybody by detailing what carnage and fuckin' sweet dialog this movie has. Just go see it and be entertained in totem.

I had a huge smile on my face and let out several yelps at the murders that happen on screen. Visceral, unflinching, and sometimes hilarious.
Naked women walk in and out of scenes. I was thinking that this movie could be a lost series of reels from 1971, made by the type of men who made SS Girls and 'Nam Angels and Coffy. Beautiful fuckin' MOVIE!

Robert Rodriguez may be the coolest filmmaker out there. Cooler than Tarantino. (Gasp!) Cooler than Jarmusch (the Horror!)
No joke. Even Jarmusch doesn't do movies like this. But he could if he wanted, I gather...:)

What can I say? I'm seeing Machete again ASAP. Maybe even three times. I'll watch that ten times over Toy Story 3....

Watch it and be amazed at the skills and talent of Robert Rodriguez. He just forges ahead. Giving us instant classics and resurrecting/keeping the flame of GRINDHOUSE flicks. Bless him for it.

[Johann]

Charlie don't surf and Machete don't text. (that's cool- neither do I)

I saw this incredible movie again, thought I'd post some more about it.


Machete is on the side of the law, and so is Jessica Alba. Some nasty peeps want a Senator dead (a great role for Robert DeNiro) and all kinds of surreal action happens.
Robert Rodriguez' Machete is pure cinema and pure fun. Cheech Marin plays a priest who doesn't mind helping in a killing spree, Lindsay Lohan ends up in a nun's outfit, wielding a pistol like Clint Eastwood, aiming and firing directly into DeNiro's chest. (No I haven't spolied anything- go see it now! while it's still in theatres! don't wait for the DVD on this one!)

Don Johnson is awesome as a Sheriff who means business.
Robert Rodriguez edited this movie himself, and also wrote the theme song and the music on the soundtrack. What else did he do?
The man is a Wizard!

The credits are fantastic. You can watch the opening credits over and over, they're that good. (And the end credits were pretty fantastic too, for that matter).
TWO sequels are on the way!?!?!?
YAH-fuckin'-HOO!!
Machete Kills
and
Machete Kills Again
(!)
Absolutely awesome. Better than Sonny Chiba's Street Fighter trilogy? That's open to debate...

Machete's machete is a character in the movie. Watch the scenes with the machete in 'em closely. It's amazing how it's shot.
Just amazing. the cinematography is eye-grabbing. Great style, great colors. I love the scenes in Cheech's church and the Christian cross motif outside "SHE"'s wagon. Visually arresting movie from start to finish. God, Robert must be proud of this one...

Just sit back and watch Machete. That's all you can do with a movie like this. Just enjoy the ride. Have some liquid courage beforehand and just laugh and shriek at the visceral carnage. It's crazy moviemaking and it's something to behold. I've seen it twice in theatres now and I'll see it again. I'd pay $40 to see a movie as great as Machete. It's worth dinner AND a movie.

[Howard Schumann]

This is a joke, right?, a spoof on all the reviews of artistic movies here? You can't be serious, can you? You are really turned on by what sounds like (as you describe it) mindless, deuhmanizing, sadistic violence? Sounds like a case for Dr. Jubis.

[Chris Knipp]

This is still showing in NYC (where I am for the NYFF) within walking distance, but it was not a priority for me to see so I've focused on newer releases having missed its opening date. Its Metacritic rating is 60, mixed or average reviews. Ty Burr of the Boston Globe, a respectable critic, wrote:
The movie's an unexpected end-of-summer tonic: a trash guilty pleasure with a healthy (if really violent) sense of outrage. It's also Rodriguez's freest movie yet, and possibly his best. . On the other hand J.R. Jones of Chicago Reader (also respectable) says
Rodriguez retreats into gruesome violence and flaccid comedy, grasping feebly for topical relevance by referencing the current immigration fracas. I don't think Johan is putting us on. He's just doing his best Fan Boy thing.

[Johann]

No joke. No put-on.
I'm turned on by the special power of Grindhouse cinema, true guilty pleasure of mine. (and I'll be posting today about GRINDBOX, an event I attended for Nuit Blanche- an incredible experience.
Chris has me pegged.
Machete is pure Fanboy fodder.
Nothing high-brow about it.
That quote about "topical relevence" is hilarious. I don't think Rodriguez was reaching for topical relevence on the immigration issue.
He just gave some juice for his characters, some FIRE in their hearts and mouths:
We didn't cross the border!!!! The border crossed US!!!

I don't mind mindless violence when it's done by someone who knows how to direct a film.

[Howard Schumann]

Makes sense. Sorry if I overreacted.