Rounding out Robert Rodriguez's ˜El Mariachi Trilogy' is Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Following the continuing story of El Maricahi (Antonio Banderas), the third instalment brings with it some big Hollywood stars and a far more tongue-in-cheek approach to storytelling. Considered by Rodriguez as the equivalent of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in Sergio Leone's ˜Dollars … [Read more...]
Desperado (1995) review by That Film Guy
Following on from the minor success of his first film El Mariachi comes Robert Rodriguez's Desperado a full-blooded retelling of a very similar story but with millions of dollars thrown into production. Gone is Gallardo's Mariachi, replaced with Antonio Banderas'version, who is everything his predecessor was and more. Playing opposite him is future Rodriguez regular Salma … [Read more...]
El Mariachi (1992) review by That Film Guy
Director Robert Rodriguez's first feature film spawned an entire trilogy, along with Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and set him on the path to Hollywood success. El Mariachi is an ultra low-budget ($7,000) action film that took a healthy $2m at the box office. Rodriguez raised the funds for the film by participating in clinical trials and saved money by using … [Read more...]
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) review by That Film Gal
With a total running time of over four hours, it was decided that Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino's eclectic homage to everything from the golden era of Hong Kong Kung-Fu cinema to Sergio Leone-style spaghetti westerns, was to be cut into two halves. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 focuses more on the martial art genre (the dusty, lazy vibes of the small-town south come to the fore in Part 2), … [Read more...]
Infernal Affairs II (2003, Hong Kong) review by That Art House Guy
Infernal Affairs II arrived just a year after its smash hit predecessor. It was a moderate commercial success, pulling in about half that of the first movie. The diminishing return can be at least partially put down to the absence of the two stars of the first movie “ Andy Lau and Tony Leung (though Lau did return as the producer). … [Read more...]
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) review by That Film Guy
High-concept historical fiction has seen a rise in popularity in recent years and from the same company that brought you Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters comes the equally awesomely-titled Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Directed by Wanted and Nightwatch helmsman Timur Bekmambetov, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter tells the story of how … [Read more...]
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) review by That Film Brat
Of all the video game adaptations in the world, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was one of the better ones. Okay, maybe 'better' is too strong a word. More entertaining, at least. There's no doubting that Tomb Raider was bad, but somehow, it didn't matter. It was fun either way. It went the way of most video game movies and received a critical bashing, yet somehow still made loads of … [Read more...]
Solomon Kane (2009) review by That Film Dude
Because of the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger film, the Robert E. Howard character most familiar to audiences by far is Conan the Barbarian, and the aforementioned film has gone on to be considered one of the classics of the sword-and-sorcery genre. However, the character of Solomon Kane was created by Howard four years earlier than Conan, but it wasn't until 2009 that he got his … [Read more...]
District 9 (2009) review by That Film Dude
Once in a while, something happens which gives you hope for the film industry. District 9 is one such something. It was originally supposed to be an adaptation of the Halo videogame series, but when that idea fortunately fell apart, it was reconstituted as a feature length take on director Neill Blomkamp's short film Alive in Joburg. The result was a relatively low budget, … [Read more...]
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) review by That Film Fatale
After a great deal of anticipation and hype Universal Pictures finally releases its big budget take on the Disney tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; however this time armed with the edgier title Snow White and the Huntsman. 2012 has seen the revival and remakes of many Disney classics, including the less than impressive Mirror Mirror, a PG take on Miss White's troubled … [Read more...]