Hey folks, Harry here... and today... today is a very good day. Why? Well, first off we will learn a bit more about MACHETE - straight from Robert Rodriguez, who I decided to ask a few questions on the record - to kind of settle up what's the TRUTH about MACHETE - and what is the insane paranoid drivel of madmen with Talk Shows & Drudge Reports...
However, the REAL NEWS has nothing to do with MACHETE - but something... something TREMENDOUS that Robert just secured the rights to. Something that he's been working on getting the rights to for about the last Six Months - but a project that Robert has had decades of interest in. I'll let you discover what it is below... And I'll comment afterwards...
I KNOW YOU’RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT A SECRET PROJECT,
BUT FIRST, THAT CINCO DE MAYO “ILLEGAL” MACHETE TRAILER SHOWED UP EVERYWHERE, RIGHT?
No joke! I guess I’ve gotten too adept at these fake trailers, some people thought it was real. We both knew Fox would have to remove anything we put up that very same day, yet I saw that even IMDB had it on their front page for several days as the “OFFICIAL MACHETE TRAILER”, as I’m sure other sites did too. I probably should have added a note at the end of it saying “IGNORE MR. TRAILER VOICE, this is NOT A REAL TRAILER to MACHETE.”
SOME PEOPLE WROTE IN THINKING THAT IT WAS FOR A MOVIE ABOUT A RACE WAR.
It isn’t. I would not put out a movie like that. Not only would that be irresponsible, it’d be dull and un-entertaining.
I simply wanted to make a special trailer that was as absurd as what was happening in Arizona. So I took some coincidentally timely lines of dialogue from the old original fake trailer from 3 years ago and from the new movie, reconfigured action beats, and cut it all out of context to make it look like the entire film was about Machete leading a revolt against anti-immigration politicians and border vigilantes. What can I say, it was Cinco de Mayo and I had too much tequila.
Anyway, that’s not what the movie is. In fact the main villain and Machete’s nemesis is a Mexican drug lord from a powerful cartel (played by Steven Seagal) that kills Machete’s family and runs him out of Mexico for being an honest cop, which is why Machete’s forced to work as a day laborer in the US.
Seagal’s character follows him to the US to kill him off when Machete starts messing up the assassination attempt that Seagal’s character funded. Seagal was so awesome we kept expanding his role on the set. The Big Final battle is Machete vs. Seagal and it’s amazing. A side storyline about politicians and extremist vigilante characters that you see in the trailer are not taking a stand for reasons you would think, and the movie clearly shows corruption on both sides of the border. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time on the border, being 4th generation Mexican-American gives you a unique view of both sides.
It’s a very satirical film, much more so than the fake trailers have even shown. It’s just a damn fun movie. I guess about the only thing I can even compare it to as far as tone, big cast, entertainment value and taking license with reality is perhaps Inglourious Basterds.
SO THE FILM’S NOT A RACIST FILM CALLING FOR REVOLUTION & VIOLENCE IN THE STREETS?
Not by a long shot! And anyone who says different isn’t fully aware of how a movie is made and the many steps it goes through. They may have read a script that wasn’t finished and jumped to conclusions about its content and tone. We kept adding characters so often during production as the movie got bigger and the cast grew that actors would get their lines and scenes the night before (or morning of) each day of shooting. The best lines and scenes and character moments are always those that are added on the day of shooting or added in post. Any filmmaker will tell you, there are three movies that you make: the one you write, the one you shoot and the one you edit. And that’s especially the case with Machete, making the story as tight and as entertaining as possible.
The movie is very over the top satirical, and it’s only because of what’s happened in Arizona that some scenes actually feel at all grounded in reality, which is pretty nuts and says more about Arizona than any fictional movie. I will admit that there were a few scenes that became so real in the past month because of what’s going on that they’ll be best left as a fascinating case study for the DVD extras. This will be my best DVD special features to date, that’s for sure.
One thing the fake Arizona trailer does prove is what magic you can do in the edit room. I have ANOTHER fake trailer I cut that makes Machete look like a wholesome family film in 3D! It’s hilarious. I can’t leak that trailer until we at least have our first REAL official Machete trailer up on the Fox website. Three fake trailers in a row would be way too confusing at this point; people would have no idea what the movie is about. But you do need to see the Machete “Family film version” trailer, Harry. It is hysterical.
SO WHAT DO YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN ARIZONA?
ZZZZZZZZ. Okay, last question about this.
I’m not that worried about it anymore, because it’s pretty clear that people won’t stand for it. I don’t really believe in protests, rallies or marches either. The real power is in voting. People have to register and vote because what we need is serious, comprehensive immigration reform. Our immigration system is so screwed up, I didn’t realize how much misinformation and misconceptions are out there until all this happened in Arizona and I started reading people’s thoughts about it. You can feel people’s frustration and yet it’s difficult for them to have a clear opinion on the matter because there’s such a mess of misinformation. This has to be figured out, the federal government has left it on the back burner for too long. Hopefully this will put pressure on them to do something about it. It won’t get solved before this mid-term election but they can at least start making progress.
I’m putting myself to sleep, that’s not what I’m here for, Harry. We have something terribly exciting to talk about. Well, I know it’s especially exciting to you and me.
WHICH IS?
A project we’ve probably talked about since we first met. As you know, I had the honor and privilege to work with FRANK FRAZETTA on a special From Dusk til Dawn poster and you’ve always asked “when are you going to get the rights to Frank Frazetta’s FIRE and ICE?”
AND DID YOU?
Yep! The awesome Ralph Bakshi and I have been working it out for a while, and it’s now a TROUBLEMAKER STUDIOS PICTURE. What’s cool is, unlike past projects that I’d get involved with that would get stalled for various reasons, I control the rights to this one. So it’s actually in my power to set it up and get it made, which wasn’t the case on other projects. And for you filmmakers out there, that’s really the best way to get things done. If you can manage to get the rights yourself to a property by dealing directly with the artists and creators like I did with Frank Miller on SIN CITY, and now with Ralph Bakshi on FIRE and ICE, it makes a world of difference and you can get started sooner rather than never.
YOU VISITED FRAZETTA A FEW TIMES
Yes, and it was actually very sad that this deal closed right after Frank passed, I was so looking forward to calling him and saying “At long last, we’re finally making the movie, Frank!”
Frank was an awesome guy, I went to visit him at his house some years back and he showed me his museum. He walked me through and pointed out so many of his famous paintings, saying “I painted that in three days, I painted that in one day, that one over there in two days.” His wife Ellie was there to confirm that he wasn’t exaggerating. She was the one that had to ship them out with the paint still wet because Frank was pressing up against a deadline. To see what he was able to paint in record time was astounding. I’ve been inspired by his paintings since I was 10 years old back when I first saw those Bantam Books collections of his work at the local bookstore.
I think that’s why I was continually drawn to Machete over the years, I always thought of Machete as my version of Frazetta’s CONAN. In fact, I have a bronze of Machete on my desk which you’ve seen where Machete’s standing in a classic Frazetta’s CONAN pose. I also have Frazetta reproduction paintings hanging all over my house, I don’t think I’ve gone a day without seeing Frank’s work somewhere in my living space. He’s been so influential to artists and filmmakers, and yet we still haven’t seen a Frazetta world truly come to life in a live action film, so that’s what I’d want to do with the FIRE and ICE project.
DOES THIS MEAN WE'LL GET KNB FRAZETTA INSPIRED SUB-HUMANS AND PTERODACTYL RIDING BARBARIC WARRIORS?
Yes! You bet. It's that kind of Awesome.
SO WHO’S GOING TO BE TEEGRA?
Harry that’s the same question you’ve been asking for 12 years. At least now you know you’ll finally get an answer. Stay tuned.
Well folks - Harry here again. That's all I can share with you right now. This is a project that I'm very close to. A dream project that Robert & I have been talking about for nearly 14 years. We even painted DARK WOLF garage kits back 12 years ago. Yes, we're that kind of awesome! In the meanwhile... Here's the original trailer, dream of what it could be as a big live-action film done with the same kind of love that Robert put into SIN CITY. The mind truly boggles.
