She was as dangerous as he was beautiful...

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a scattered, noisy, chaotic mess of a movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Do I have bad taste? Well, yes, but that's not the reason, this time. See, the reason why I liked OUATIM (aside from the fact that it has the most gorgeous cast of any movie currently playing, and I'm including PotC in that), the reason why I like even the weakest entries on Robert Rodriguez's resume, is that underneath the constant explosions and the plothole-riddled scripts and the inability to sacrifice even one idea that seizes him, no matter how cluttered the film is already, is a palpable sense of joy. Joy in the medium, joy in the actors and the music and the special effects, joy in having a story to tell and the opportunity to tell it. The bodies pile up (or are blown to bits) and the plot veers off in twenty directions at once, but underlying all the tangled bits of OUATIM is Rodriguez's feeling of, "Wheee! This is so cool! I love making movies!" I find that little buzz of glee irresistible, and all too rare. Sam Raimi has it, though he has much better focus and control than Rodriguez. Tarantino used to have it, at times, though far too often it was buried by his need to be the smartest, most movie-literate guy in the room. Peter Jackson has it, though since Heavenly Creatures he's been expressing it in more transcendent terms than Rodriguez's merry pyrotechnics. Ed Wood had it, and was blissfully unencumbered by any talent or taste to tamp it down. Michael Bay will never have it, no matter how many bazillions he makes underestimating the intelligence of the movie-going public. But as long as Robert Rodriguez is so gleefully, passionately, loopily devoted to his movies, I'm more than willing to watch. Even when they don't make much sense. They're just too damn fun to resist.

Plus, Antonio. Yes indeed. Do you think I could persuade Melanie Griffith to trade? I have a Diego Carrasco CD and a bag of dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses, she has this gorgeous, sexy man who I've had a crush on since... geez, when did Matador come out? Something like fifteen years ago? Longer than she's even known him. Sounds like a fair trade to me, anyway.


And randomly- Want an original, untainted-by-critics opinion of Radiohead? Make fifth graders listen to it. With pictures! So, so funny.