Over the past two weekends I've watched the three movie Robert Rodriguez series of El Mariachi, Desperado, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It's a very good series in my opinion, despite the change in actors between the first two. If you're looking for something that's actually believable look elsewhere, but if you just want entertaining action movies they're awesome. The closest comparison to other modern movies is probably Kill Bill. The last one has tons of subtle funny details, which I think the first ones lack only because of budget concerns. They all are good movies even independently, but I recommend them as a series.
Copyright ©2000-2008 Jeremy Mooney (jeremy-at-qux-dot-net)
I'm a fan of Rodriguez.I really appreciate the fact that Rodriguez does most all of his own soundtracking himself, with a few instruments and his computer. Also the fact that he was one of the first directors on the all digital train is cool too.
I also like that he put up his own coin to shoot a 10 minutes scene for Sin City, all on his own dime, and flew Frank Miller to his house to show it to him, and the process used, in order to get Miller on board for the movie.
He also quit the directors guild when they wouldn't let him share directing credits with Miller. This probably won't be permanent because the article states he quit a decade ago to direct one of the four shorts in Tarantino's film four rooms.