Robert Rodriguez

"I think that logo probably cost more than my entire movie"

—Describing the Columbia Vanity Plate in the commentary to El Mariachi.

Describe Robert Rodriguez here.

Easy. He's that hard-edged filmmaker who directed the Mariachi trilogy, From Dusk till Dawn, Sin City and half of Grindhouse.

No, wait! He's that family-friendly guy who gave us the Spy Kids trilogy, Shark Boy & Lava Girl, and Shorts.

Whoever he is, he does most of the work on his films, directing, screenwriting, editing, composing, production designing and just about everything else aside from being the actual cameraman. No, wait, he does that too. He's also very proud to be Mexican, as most of his movies can attest.

His diaries from the shooting of El Mariachi were published as Rebel Without A Crew, a book which is absolute required reading for all aspiring indie/low budget filmmakers.

He and fellow director Quentin Tarantino have worked together on a couple of each other's projects, their biggest collaboration being Grindhouse.

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Partial Filmography

• El Mariachi
• Desperado
• "Room 309 - The Misbehavers", one segment in Four Rooms
• From Dusk till Dawn
• The Faculty
• The Spy Kids series.
• Once Upon a Time In Mexico
• The Stab segment in Scream 2.
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
• Sin City
• Planet Terror, one half of the Grindhouse collab with Quentin Tarantino
• Shorts
• Predators, as producer (but still enough to envoke And the Fandom Rejoiced)
• Machete, a spinoff from one of the fake trailers featured in Grindhouse and takes place in the Spy Kids universe.

Robert Rodriguez provides examples of:

• Alliterative Name
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents - his children are called Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue. (And Rhiannon.)
  • Aw, but, come on, he basically made the Spy Kids films purely for his kids. Besides, the letter "R" is considered particularly strong in Mexican culture. (Still, though.)
    • So that might be why his movies (before Spy Kids) tended to be R-rated.
• Badass Spaniard: Take any Mexican-themed Rodriguez film and you'll find plenty of really badass macho men.
• Cool Hat: See above, he seems to always be seen wearing that hat (or a similar one).
• Directing Against Type: When Spy Kids first came out, his name on the posters provoked numerous DoubleTakes. By now, his family-friendly films may represent an alternative type.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: With Quentin Tarantino.
• Hey, It's That Guy! - There is a set of actors that Rodriguez is using in nearly every film he made. Most prominent examples are Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin and Tom Savini
• Rule of Cool
• Shout-Out: The names of three of his children are revealed to be part of Juni Cortez's full name in Spy Kids 2.
• So My Kids Can Watch: Why he directed Spy Kids and all that lot.
• South of the Border: Loves having fun with Mexican stereotypes.
• Unfortunate Names - We repeat, his children are called Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue. (And Rhiannon.)
  • Rocket Rodriguez does sound kinda cool.
    • Rebel Rodriguez is awesome.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"? - We repeat the above repetition, his children are called Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue. (And Rhiannon.)
• Your Mileage May Vary: Some of us find the names Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue pretty badass.
  • (And Rhiannon.)
• World of Badass: Again, there is hardly a character in his action movies who isn't badass in some form.