Nacho Libre

MacGuffin · June 09, 2006, 12:01:31 AM

New Trailer

MacGuffin · June 13, 2006, 03:14:01 PM

AICN is quoting from a forum commentary written by longtime Danny Elfman orchestrator Steve Bartek on his own website that Elfman has removed his name from the credits of Nacho Libre:

Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:22 am
Post subject: Nacho Libre disclaimer
a warning to all - Danny has taken his name off of Nacho Libre -
apparently a couple of the main cues we spent lots of time on we
taken out and replaced with music Danny didn't want to be associated with (and I believe he was upset about the way the studio treated him
in doing the replacement - not very above board- so most of the score
is still Danny - but his name will not be there
Steve

modage · June 13, 2006, 09:31:19 PM

thats so crazy. i hadn't even heard beck had quit/been fired until like 3 days ago and was replaced by elfman who then takes his name off it. but judging from his recent scores, it is probably a good thing. i would've been really interested to hear the beck one though.

Ghostboy · June 13, 2006, 09:48:13 PM

I just saw this tonight. I wasn't a big fan of Napoleon Dynamite, and although I think I like this better in some ways (the Mexican setting is just wonderful), objectively I'd say this is about its equal - better in some ways, worse in others. I was hoping there'd be some great Mike White magic, but I'd never have guessed he helped write it if his name hadn't been in the credits.

Oh, and regardless of who wrote it, the theme music/song is awesome.

MacGuffin · June 16, 2006, 12:43:03 AM

Jared Hess' Big-Screen Oddballs
The director of "Nacho Libre" and "Napoleon Dynamite" on unleashing the misfits in his closet.
Source: Los Angeles Times

This morning we spoke with Jared Hess, the at times hard-to-hear director of "Napoleon Dynamite" and the upcoming "Nacho Libre." (Bad phone connection or is he just soft spoken? Maybe both?) Hess' newest film, "Nacho Libre," is about a Mexican monk who becomes a wrestler, and with it, Hess firmly establishes himself as the champion of the "unusual character."

Over the course of our brief conversation we learned that the director has "great love" for all his characters and that he does not like the word "weirdo" — which was too bad, because we found ourselves using it over and over. Whoops.

Q: Are you like the weirdo guy?
A: Whatever label you give the characters that I write, for me, I just like interesting personalities and people. Napoleon Dynamite was a composite of myself and my younger brothers, and Nacho is definitely an underdog — a guy with big dreams who doesn't have other resources or know how to get there. I always admire anybody who struggles.

Q: How do you direct weirdos?
A: I don't think they are weirdos. I have a great love and admiration for all my characters. They are people I can really relate to. I'm also very interested in characters and personalities that you don't typically see onscreen. And I'm always very excited about finding new people who don't have a lot of acting experience. They bring a level of authenticity.

Q: How do you keep a character's personality tic from being a shtick?
A: I think the most important thing is being true to the story and doing what feels appropriate. You experiment a lot during production, trying different things with each take and then deciding what is best.

Q: Why do you think so many people responded to "Napoleon Dynamite?"
A: I think for people that were looking back on adolescent experiences, they can relate to the awkward experiences they had in high school. Everybody at some point felt like a lonely awkward outsider. But it depends on anyone's background. How people responded to the film depended on their own life experiences and what their comic sensibilities are.

Q: Do you ever get sick of hearing people quote "Napoleon Dynamite"?
A: "Napoleon Dynamite's" success was a complete surprise. It's just a lot of fun that people are enjoying it on that level.

Gold Trumpet · June 16, 2006, 05:37:12 PM

Nacho Libre is really bad. This movie had no interest in the comic detail that made Napolean Dynamite a lot of fun. The movie proves once again Jack Black is not funny without any help. The help could have come in a better story or editing that didn't short cut every scene or a focus that wasn't just a montage of Black's antics. Napolean Dynamite had excellent control of comic characterization. Nacho Libre is just the sell out.

I wanted to like this movie. Today was a perfect day to hand over my critical eyesight and just enjoy a movie. I laughed once and chuckled once. The rest of the time I was getting gloomier as the movie went on.

edison · June 16, 2006, 08:09:11 PM

Highly disappointed, but I knew I was in trouble when all the previews were kids flicks, How to Eat Fried Worms!?!, Barnyard!?!, Flushed Away!??!?!?!?!....what the hell. It was just so childish (dung and fatr jokes?), yeah there were some (3 at the most, depending on the person watching it) funny moments and lines, but there is no way this will have the following that Dynamite has. It seemed to try to hard to be funny. I will say that what I really liked were the set dressings (is that set design? I'm totally clueless about technical movie lingo), I just loved all the little knick-knacks throughout. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people will be very letdown.

MacGuffin · June 16, 2006, 10:13:03 PM

Quote from: edison on June 16, 2006, 08:09:11 PM
Highly disappointed, but I knew I was in trouble when all the previews were kids flicks, How to Eat Fried Worms!?!, Barnyard!?!, Flushed Away!??!?!?!?!....what the hell.

Nacho Libre is rated PG.

edison · June 16, 2006, 11:03:20 PM

Quote from: MacGuffin on June 16, 2006, 10:13:03 PM
Quote from: edison on June 16, 2006, 08:09:11 PM
Highly disappointed, but I knew I was in trouble when all the previews were kids flicks, How to Eat Fried Worms!?!, Barnyard!?!, Flushed Away!??!?!?!?!....what the hell.

Nacho Libre is rated PG.

Good info had I known that before I went in, found out when the credits finished.

Ravi · June 17, 2006, 12:48:33 PM

What difference does it make if its rated PG?

edison · June 17, 2006, 02:48:02 PM

Quote from: Ravi on June 17, 2006, 12:48:33 PM
What difference does it make if its rated PG?

I would have then expected that sort of humor and understood its childishness, and the trailers would have made more sense. But to answer your question there is absolutely nothing wrong with a PG rating

ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ · June 19, 2006, 04:07:06 PM

I know this is a kid's movie and everything, blah blah... but this was a piece of crap. Jack Black's antics are always showcased as a selling point, but without them, this movie would have next to nothing. The only one thing I like about Jared Hess (though he has little to base it on so far, but it seems like a personal style) is his use of ugly and normal looking people. Not just characters that look like their role completely, or not who you'd automatically imagine to play the character. This movie is mostly boring, and its only redeeming value was the spoiler I'll tell in this next sentence.

SPOILER
When the guy threw the corn into the guy's eye, that was awesome.

tpfkabi · June 19, 2006, 10:29:46 PM

has Hess said he admired Wes Anderson in any interviews?

an above thread said Elfman's name was off, but his name is on the poster.
apparently Beck's music still made it because there was one Beck song i haven't heard before and some other bits.
i need to look up the soundtrack.

p.s. Walrus, did it seem odd to you that the spoiler scene you mentioned had no payoff? Seems like after something like that happened that character would show up again. This was brought up by my friend after the movie. I wonder if the possible payoff scenes hit the cutting room floor.

Reinhold · June 27, 2006, 04:18:46 PM

Quote from: bigideas on June 19, 2006, 10:29:46 PM
has Hess said he admired Wes Anderson in any interviews?

an above thread said Elfman's name was off, but his name is on the poster.
apparently Beck's music still made it because there was one Beck song i haven't heard before and some other bits.
i need to look up the soundtrack.

p.s. Walrus, did it seem odd to you that the spoiler scene you mentioned had no payoff? Seems like after something like that happened that character would show up again. This was brought up by my friend after the movie. I wonder if the possible payoff scenes hit the cutting room floor.

i think the scene was its own payoff. the fact that it had nothing to do with the rest of the movie is fine. the rest of the movie sucked.

grand theft sparrow · June 28, 2006, 01:54:02 PM

One of the things I've noticed in both of Jared Hess' films is that his characters have a distinct lack of sexual desire. I suppose it's because he's a Mormon that that's the case. But the fact that Pepe Le Pew has a more realistic, or at least relatable, attraction to the opposite sex than Hess' characters makes me feel a little uncomfortable when watching this and Napoleon Dynamite.

I bring this up because, while I did laugh at Nacho Libre, I think that the greatest sin that was committed in the film is that the characters have enough to be but not enough to do. There could have been some actual romantic tension between Nacho and Incarnacion. All we got was his side of it, we never saw if she was ever wrestling with any demons. I think it would have been funny, not to mention satisfying, if they had come within inches of kissing but remembered their vows and didn't act on it. Give me something! Anything! It really did rely on Jack Black Jack Blacking it up on screen but there was an amusing short stretched out to feature length without adding any plot points.

And Hess really needs to lay off the Wes Anderson. I mean, we here know every frame of Rushmore but damn, he's just shameless about it now. He's sort of becoming the DePalma of quirky comedies.