17 June - "The bartender never gets killed"

Desperado (1995)

dir. Robert Rodriguez (The Faculty, 1998)

starring

Antonio Banderas (Shrek 2 (voice), 2004)

Salma Hayak (From Dusk Till Dawn, 1996)

Cheech Marin (From Dusk Till Dawn, 1996)

Steve Buscemi (Big Fish, 2003)

Quentin Tarantino (From Dusk Till Dawn, 1996)

Danny Trejo (Heat, 1995)

I said to somebody the other day, "I don't usually like Quentin Tarantino movies, but Desperado is pretty cool." and he says that Desperado wasn't directed by Quentin Tarantino, but by his buddy, Robert Rodriguez, and so it is! I'm not crazy about Rodriguex either, but Desperado doesn't get chintzy until the very end, when two guys inexplicably start shooting through machine guns shaped like guitar cases and the realism gets lost.

I thought I was the kind of person who liked camp, though. I like Buffy the Vampire Slayer... I'm not sure what the toxic element here is. I suppose it's disappointing when the awesome revenge killings turn into something stupid that only appeals to the perverse reaction to thrilling violence.

Truth be told, there's a lot of superfluous details in this movie, and I've said before that I'm conservative when it comes to plotlines (except when Wes Anderson is involved). So, Danny Trejo's character, he's confusing, where does he come from? What's the deal with those throwing knives? There's also that chick who hangs around Bucho, you get the sense that she's a little more competent than the other roughs, why doesn't she have any lines? What's her deal? These directors (Rodriguez and Tarantino), I get the sense that they are like children throwing in details - What if this was like this? What if?? - but not sticking with them until the end. Development, you guys? Depth?

So maybe I don't like Desperado as much as I thought I did. Maybe I just like Antonio Banderas.