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Some looks at ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO
Hey folks, Harry here... I saw, months ago, a pretty rough non-color timed print of ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. Since then, Robert has shot some extra footage and scored the film, so now... Well now I'm dying to see the finished film. Currently Rodriguez is up in New York doing press for the film, and soon he'll be in Venice to do the Venice Film Festival with the movie out of competition. I do want to warn people about taking Leone into the theater with you when you see ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. This isn't really that type of film, that tone of film. This is very much a film in the spirit of DESPERADO laid out on a bigger canvas. Personally, for me... the biggest weakness of the film is that Johnny Depp is so fucking cool that I just wanted to see a movie all about his character... which would be like if you saw THE GOOD, THE BAD and THE UGLY and you loved Eli Wallach's character so much that you wish Eastwood would just get off the screen.... even though Eastwood was fine. BEWARE of SPOILERS below... some things you might not want to know are included below... beware...
Hi Harry,
I´ve just been in a press screening of „Once upon a Time in Mexico“ in
Germany, and I thought I let you know what I think of it.
First of all let me say that I am a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez and his
previous Mariachi movies. I`ve even read his book like 3 times. So I had pretty
high expectations walking into this movie. And Rodriguez did almost
everything right!
Well it`s basically a lot like Desperado, it`s just much more epic. That is
good, and that is bad also:
The Good:
Well most of the movie is good. It is beautiful with great widescreen shots,
very similar to Sergio Leone`. It is very stylish. Basically the whole movie
is about style and being cool. And it has some of the coolest dialogue I´ve
heard in a long time.
The Cast of the movie is also superb. (well not all of it, but I´ll get to
that later) Johnny Depp is brilliant. He is almost cooler than Antonia
Banderas. William Dafoe is as great as he always was, Mickey Rourke is pretty good,
too. Cheech is… well he`s Cheech and that`s all we want, aint it? And of
course Danny Trejo is just cool.
The Action of the movie is really enjoyable. I don`t think I´ve seen this
stylish, cool, and fun kind of action since the last good John Woo movie. And
it is as much over the top as it was in Desperado.
The one liners are great. Especially the ones by Johnny Depp. (What are you,
are you MexiCAN or are you MexiCANT?).
And there are a lot of little things that you might already have seen, or
that makes you think about something in the other movies…
The Bad
Well Enrique Iglesias isn`t really as bad as you might think. But for me, I
just don`t understand what he is doing in this movie. For me he looks like a
weak, crying guy singing stuff like “hero” which I absolutely hate. I mean he
doesn`t work as someone shooting 50 other guys. Perhaps it`s just me,
because I don`t like him, but I don`t think he should`ve been in this movie.
Rodriguez is trying to tell virtually the same story as before. But he is
trying to tell it as an epic. Banderas is still trying to take revenge, but
this time he is also trying to save Mexico. This could have been great… but for
me the story isn`t very well told. There is a lot of people and a lot of
conspiracy in it, but most of it really isn`t important. Basically the whole
Johnny Depp character isn`t important, but he is so cool in this movie that it`s
ok. In my opinion he is trying to hard to get to much in it to make it epic.
The result is that you don`t really care too much about the story, but about
the beauty, and the cool side of the movie.
The Ugly
Well there isn`t really anything ugly in this movie. One might say that
Enrique is ugly, but you`d probably get killed by a thousand screaming female
fans…
Overall I have to say that I enjoyed this movie a lot! It could have been
better if he`d taken better care of the story, but it`s still a great movie,
and one that I am looking forward to own on DVD.
LikeMikeHere's a slightly more critical look at ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO...
Hey Harry. I'm new to writing to the site, but I check it out everyday!
I got to see ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO last night at the kips bay theatre in NY.
Let's call this Once upon a movie that could have been better,
I was extremely stoked to see this movie when I 1st read about it, I mean come on, the cast, Rodriguez, etc... it looked awsome. Then came that cool poster, then came the trailer, and it just got me more excited to see the film. When I came out of the film I couldn't believe how disapointed I was. I mean certain scenes of the movie rocked, but all in all I think I went in expecting to be given a virtual blow job or something, because I left less then satisfied.
So anyways, 1st I run into my friend in the mall and he says he has tickets for this thing, it's all to good to be true. Some movie research group or something was doing the screening and the line was all the way down the block.
So I walk into this thing, and after an entirnity for it to start, it comes on and the sound is off, Johnny Depp is talking and nothing is coming out of his mouth.
So they restart the film after a huge amount of boos from the front, and the game is on.
1st of all Entertainment Weekly was right about the buzz that depp steals this movie, he does. Every scene he is in the audience kind of perked up from there seats to see what he was going to say. Rodriguez wrote the part kind of like he was the main character even, he starts the movie with him, and almost ends the movie with him and all the comedic parts are with him, so why the hell wasn't this movie the johnny depp walks around mexico movie? Because that would have been entertaining. I really liked depp in this movie, he has a good time and you could see it, his character is a blast to with his
#SPOILERS....
Whole notion that you have to shoot the cook that cooks the best pork in mexico to keep the country level was fucking hilarious and his "skull fucking" comment to cheech marin was funny to. But the thing that really bothered me was the scene after Mr. Depp gets his eyes gorged out, by his double crossing girlfriend Eva "sugar butt" Mendes, and is walking around the street blood pouring out from under his sunglasses and he is just like "oh, i can't see." People are going to be arguing over this scene and it's believeability. But, that's when i said this is kinda stupid, that would hurt right, and he is just walking around the street like la dee da? But then again to take this seriously would be a crime. I think i wanted this movie to be a serious action flick and what i got was a fantasy movie with unbelieveable scenes to go with unbelieveable characters.
End SPOILERS.#
But moving on from my complaints which are small, but are there...
MORE SPOILERS
The action scenes are GREAT!
With Antonio Banderas looking great as ever as El, shoots a mother fucker, he shoots them! They fly across the screen. The scenes with Antonio and Salma are good to, but those are all flashbacks anyway, which bring me to my next complaint which is Salma is advertised to be in this movie as a main character bull shit!
She's only in flashbacks! For like 15 minutes of the thing she's there and she's beautiful but fuck i wanted more of her.
Antonio's whole story was kind of weak to, it's a basic revenge plot to kill the general that killed his daughter and his wife, but we never see the general that much anyway, but loved when antonio shot both his knee caps and bop, his legs break off, loved that shit.
Rodriguez you're the man, but I felt this was kind of a let down, loved certain parts of it, was bored during others.
Thanks for an ok night out though.
It's still worth seeing, but I had my hopes WAY WAY to high.
Harry if you use this call me THE REVOLUTION.
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Man, Depp is a God among men, the guy can't do wrong, can't praise the fucker enough, anyways with people like Rodriguez, Dafoe, Banderas, Hayek, Trejo etc. this is a dream of a movie even if i haven't seen it yet.....too bad about the MOLE MAN
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umm yeah so anyway ... umm i figured salma would just be flashbacks i still want to see this though
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Heard that was the bomb.
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Desperado was always meant to be a fyn flick with cool imagery and great over the top action. That's what OUATIM will be also. As for Enrique, stop whining about a guy because of his outside of the movie status. Does he work IN the movie or not or not? If you didn't know he was a singer would you complain about that role or part or would you not even have mentioned it? You didn't mention Selma. If it didn't stand out like a sore thumb than Robert done his job well by not giving Enrique a major role in the movie, but significant enough that he may bring some more people into theatres. I myself, can't wait to see this movie, and after the trailer, anyone that goes into this movie expecting Silence Of The Lambs needs their head examined.
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It's always the same with you virgins ...
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Every day since I first saw Desperado - I have been waiting for this movie.
I wouldnt care to much if the story doesnt seems important - the story in Desperado was never that important anyway. -
First, the on-topic post: I liked the first two 'Mariachis', so I'll catch this one. Second, the real reason for the post: I'm starting an AICN league over at Hollywood Stock Exchange. Click on my username and let me know if you want to sign up. Cheers.
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He's milked his only two worthwhile properties for all they're worth. I hope this signals the beginning of RR Mark II.
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I am really stoked to see this. I loved El mariachi and Desperado. And Robert and I share the same birthday, so that is kinda cool. ANd the fact that Depp is pretty much in as Willy Wonka with Burton directing has me even more stoked. Depp is going to help this film be huge and he will also help Wonka be huge also. Depp is now finally the big star. Of course does Depp want that? Or is he just doing what he likes? He's doing what he likes.
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Desperado was the motherfucking shit! I'm in the theater on September 12th! Man, I even have the poster set as my background.
I will be watching Antonio kick some ass while thinking about Selma's tig 'ol biddies!!!!
Smooth- out! -
"Well Enrique Iglesias ... he looks like a weak, crying guy singing stuff like
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Whatever happened to Rodriguez adapting this for the big screen? He was supposed to do it after the first Spy Kids, then the second, and then...nothing.
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I give RR a lot of credit for his method of film production and his ability to crank 'em out on the cheap, but when it comes down to it, this movie NEEDS to rule, otherwise, hmmmmmmm, not good. The Faculty was a joke (can't blame him too much) and Spy Kids were good for, ummmmmm, kids, but where is the balls to the wall Rodriguez film we all dream of? Is this it. Deserado was a retelling of Mariachi and now it sounds like OUATIM is a retelling of Desperado. Getting old. I'll be there with low expectations.......
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Now, I LOVED El Mariachi. Loved it. I was looking forward to a more stylish version of EM in Desperado. What I saw was Rodriguez with alot more money trying to make the film look way too cool for school, without a storyline to support it. I thought the story was superthin, the acting wooden (never mind Quentin, Buscemi looked like truly phoned in that sucker from Park Slope - and what's up with Robert being too lazy to name the character something else besides "Buscemi"? Banderas couldn't even pronounce it!) and the action sequences hackneyed and silly (Antonio "wristflicking" his guns toward the baddies, as if he's fozzy'ing the bullets at them, stupid). Once Upon A Time looks the same, but hey, at least we've got both Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek in the flick. Ay Papi, this latina lovin' chinaboy is there....
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Thank you Boris and President Evil for seeing through RR's undeserved hype. Would this guy have a career if he wasn't QT's buddy? Does the fact that Latinos are now the largest minorty in America influence studios into giving RR projects?El Mariachi was the best thing he's done and was still dissappointing. I love action movies with bloody shoot outs involving slo-mo dives but this wasn't anything Woo hadn't done a thousand times better a thousand times before. Desperado was ridiculous(Boris-glad you thought the Bullet/wrist flicking was stupid as I did. Oh yeah and standing on the top of a bar is excellent cover in close quarter gunfight!)The Faculty was a bore, Spy kids was stupid-even for a kids movie, his segment in Four Rooms was way overrated, and DTD was wildly uneven. I loved the first half. I was really intersted in the characters and wanted them to develope more not wind up in Club Vampire. I have my suspicions that QT directed the first half. The last half should have been awsome-vampires, Savini playing another psychotic biker, Fred Williamson hilariously delusional vet, Cheech in 3 roles(as a bloodsucker no less) but everything fell flat. Although the movie is worth seeing again and again for Hayek's snakedance. Damn she was hot with that extra weight.
Will I see OUATIM? Yes-but I'll wait for cable. -
Aug 25, 2003 2:11:03 PM CDT
The preview I saw during The Medallion looked tight as all Hell.
by monkey_king
The flinched when I saw Antonio get hit by that bus whilst swinging Salma to safety. Ouch! Looks damn impressive. Now if only I could get in touch with Robert about my proposed Monkey King film....hint hint...Donnie Yen...major cash cow...mondo HK style violence....sigh.
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Cartoons for the attention starved adults out there. Sometimes you want a baked alaska, sometimes a cookie will do.
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at least he still gives us some pretty badass shootouts that Woo has all but abandoned now that he is in Hollywood. Rodriguez has strayed from his sick roots for awhile with the shitty Spy Kids franchise, but this looks like it will be a fun return to form. Meanwhile, Woo is still doing action pictures, just really lame ones that completely blow. At the moment, I await this movie more than Woo's upcoming one.
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Oooh shit! I just blew a load.
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Rodriguez' El Mariachi was a really fucking good movie. Dollar for dollar it's one of the best actioners of years past in my book. Desperado, on the other hand, was unnecessary. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it kinda sucked. From Dusk Till Dawn was similarly uninspired after about the first 20 minutes. And now this. Someone airmail this dude a new idea like NOW.
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I agree with WeedyMcSweeny - this will be just a bunch of fun crap that global fan boys will see over and over and over again. Hollywood is very smart. Enjoy the show. Johnny Depp is really cool, but why is he in this film anyway? Just to be cool, I suppose.
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...and that
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I can't wait to see this one!
It's funny that the knive throwing guy and Cheeh is back in this film considering that they were killed off in the first one.
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"Enrique is ugly-Bring it on you thousand screaming bitches"
You think there a thousand women who check this sight out let alone one? (Actually I do know of one, so Two?) -
Sure he is, but you say it like that's a bad thing. The guy is not out to make Doctor Zhivago (sp?). He's here to crank out good old fantasy/romance adventures. You want that high art shit, go to the local indie theatre. However, I will say that there is a sort of sloppiness to the way his movies are edited (does he do his own editing, I hate reading credits), that I thought would corrected with the infusion of cash and studio grade equipment and talent. Of course, we've seen what all that cash and new toys has done for John Woo. Got my fingers crossed for Paycheck though.
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well, the movie unfortunately isn't half as good and funnny and over-the-top as DESPERADO. it seems too artificial and without spirit, it has good scenes, but no flow and no real power that that keeps a good movie going. again, sorry to say that ...
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1. X2
2. Open Range
3. Phone Booth
4. POTC
5. Bruce Almighty -
Well, well, well... I didnt think one comment on me not liking Enrique would be so important to so many people. I think well known people already have a certain feel to them. If they are a good actor, they can overcome this feel, and make believe they are someone completely different. For me, Enrique didn`t do that, for mit it was Enrique. Sure, this could be different for other people, but all I wrote was my opinion.
Oh, and I didn`t write about Salma because... well because she wasn`t really in this movie. You will see what I mean.
Oh, and by the way, I am no teen, and I dont try to bash Enrique, if you like him, that`s fine to me!
LikeMike -
Saw it last night. Great example of an excellent director trying to do way too damn much. Shot, chopped, and scored by? Sorry Rodriguez, you're not the auteur I thought you were. I've never been so disappointed in my entire life.
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