THE MACHETE AKA "Charles Bronson"

  

Machete is an action/crime thriller film. It is mostly known for the Mexican theme that draws the attention to the viewers. It is packed full of ridiculous outrageous action and is entirely unrealistic, but very amusing to the viewers. The story line is not necessarily just based off of Danny Trejo's character (Machete) but the struggles that illegal immigrants go through to get into America as well as the corrupt American Government. I feel that Machete is like a Mexican "Charles Bronson" because he is in revenge mode, nothing will stop him, angry as hell. He is an ex-Federale who gets betrayed for killing a Texas Senator and seeks revenge towards his previous boss.

The other characters in this film assumed he is a myth, Machete felt that being a myth was better than being a real person, this is showcased throughout the film as Machete seems almost "immortal" and seems to be a symbol of the Mexican rebellion. While Machete even though his past is violent and full of anger and vengeance, seemed as if he would have been just happy eating tacos and being a normal daily labor worker, but you can never really escape your past,can you?

The film is a bit ridiculous over-all in the use of violence, such as swinging through a window by another man's intestines, yes, is cheesy, but this film to me was never made to be serious, it is a throw-back to classic b action movies and then they turn it up from dial 5, to flat out max 10, which I mean, as if five minutes into the film him cutting off 3 heads in a single 360 slice wasn't enough, and magically only his passenger gets shot, we eventually get to this.

Yes. Mini-gun\Gatling gun whatever you want to call it, it is on Machete's motorcycle. Because Machete always goes to the extreme. I personally feel as if the mini-gun is a tribute\throw back to the ridiculous weapon in Predator, 'ol Painless' which was the weapon of choice of Blain (played by Jesse Ventura.) Machete also pays homage to Terminator 2, with the hospital "gun covered by a boutique of flowers" scene. There is so much going on with this film but it does hint at quite a few famous and very classic action films.

This film however, has no boundaries what so ever. Machete brings back classic B-action with a vengeance, not caring about how realistic or silly it is, and at the same time having one heck of a cast, which at the time makes you wonder "why are they in this silly film?" Well, I'd say because I'd bet it was a lot of fun to make, I have no doubt they all had a lot of fun being involved in such a crazy film and....

Machete is a ridiculous film but in a good way, the gore tops Kill-Bill style, the random parts of 80's "porno" show-casing Machete being someone women are drawn to and adore because of his flat out pure masculinity, coupled with having no problem with killing bad people and "saving the girl," this movie is a total throw-back to the silly days when action movies were just FUN, and I personally believe this film should be enjoyed not as a thought provoker, but as a turn off your brain, let the blood and guts fly while you sit with a grin on your watching film.


Robert Rodriguez is an amazing director and is well known for his Hispanic themes and settings.

Also Roberts stylizations are well established with the music, reloading of weapons and action packed scenes. For example Machete the main weapon is brought up a lot in the scenes, Machete for sure prefers close and personal versus a gun, and is shown when he refers to his machete as "The Boss". The women are exploited a little to much which makes the story line a little jumbled. But I do think Rodriguez was on the right track to use Jessica Alba(Sartana) and Michelle Rodriguez(Luz) for  casting these strong female characters in this film. Both have unique qualities in different occupations but are cognate to their Hispanic heritage. Over all this is an excellent film but not everyone is going to enjoy it, but for what it is, I love it. Sometimes over the top is perfect, as long as you don't try to be serious, and Machete, is not a serious film at all. Just a bloody good time.

Persepolis Screening Report

                                                                      Persepolis

Summary 

The meaning behind this animated film is finding your true self and not being ashamed on where you come from. Persepolis is about an Islamic girl trying to find herself during the Islamic Revolution.  Marjane is always outspoken in this film, she made it very clear to everyone on her personal opinions. I think she wanted to fit in with Islamic traditions but needed to get out and find herself if that meant experiences other cultures other than her own. Marjane was being decultured in her own country, she needed to get out and explore better opportunities.

Genre?

            Persepolis is an animated biographical film based on a novel. It is rare to see an animated full film based on real life stories or major historical events. Marjane throughout the film is having to deal with two worlds, and she has no clue how to really go home and be happy, as she can no longer relate.

Do you think this film is both third and accented cinema?

          This defiantly falls under accented cinema because of how Marjane was an outcast. She went through so many changes in this film due to diaspora. At the beginning of the film Marjane felt so positive and knew she wanted to be a leader. When she came back into her country Iran she didn’t have any motivation to do anything or cared about her future. Iran had also become war-torn and this film was because of that I believe third cinema. 

What makes this film exceptional?

            This film was very interesting because of the entertainment culture such as the music and movies references. The setting was more based in the seventies with an upcoming in punk rock music. It was a symbolization of sex, drugs and rock n roll. The emotions in this film was also very clear and straight forward as well. The drawings were very artistic and detailed to express the emotions these characters had. The colors (or lack there  also I think make you focus more on the depth of the film's dialect unlike say Avatar which