Robert Rodriguez
speaker
1,180 appearances
3 recordings
3 series
first heard Apr 2025
last heard 16 Nov
Robert Rodriguez’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Nov 2025 with 1.
Appearances
later so what's cool is their performances are so focused on each other because there's no other stimulus around that you got these great performances we only built the bar hey frank we'll build the bar so that you have we have a place to hang out with and uh you know do our story meetings but everything else will just be on the same you're going to come see the screen screen when you come visit my studio the whole movie was shot in an area let smaller than this room by the time you bring your lights in where the actors actually had the playground it's unbelievable wow
Yeah, 300 actually.
That called and said, how did you do that movie? I said, I just put on a DVD. I put all the secrets on there. And they went and they shot the same way. It was such a good movie.
No, I was there during it. I remember the studios were just like... we don't understand why this movie's big head. We don't have anything like this coming out except your movie, Desperado, maybe, because Quentin was in it. And I was like, yeah, yeah, we got our pulse on what people want. He was like, we don't know. So I got to tell you really two things.
First of all, George Lucas told me that, and he's like, I showed him the Sin City thing, because we'd both been early adopters of digital, and DP's, directors of photography, didn't want to even look at digital. They were like, They already spent all their time learning film. By sticking your head in the sand and not seeing where the times are going to the detriment.
Now the cameras are designed and they don't look as good as they could look. But they weren't a part of the conversation. Rob was shooting my own movies. I wasn't going to let some DP who didn't want to get in digital keep me from making Sin City, so I just shot it myself. I figured it out myself. So I showed it to Lucas. He was like, this movie will show people what digital is capable of.
Finally, more than the Star Wars movies I'm doing because it's just so avant-garde and so crazy looking. But I only made it for me. I really wanted to see it made. I didn't, I literally didn't think it would be successful on its theatrical run. In fact, we didn't even test screen it. They're like, can we do a test screen? I'm like, no. What for? Everybody's going to say it's black and white.
Why is it black and white? Why are there three stories? That's all wrong. It's voiceover. It's all voiceover. That's all wrong. We know it's that way. Why would we go here? People tell us that that's not the way a movie's supposed to be. Let's just put it out. I figure it won't do well theatrically because you'll just see the first trailer and go, okay, black and white. It's not for me.
It's very counterintuitive, which is most of the things I do, just like always go a different way, but they'll find it on video later. And that's, that's good enough for me. But then it was a big hit. Let me tell you about Pulp Fiction because groundbreaking doesn't look groundbreaking to you or anyone around you necessarily when you're doing it. I've forgotten about this, but I journal.
I ran across an old journal, and I brought it up to Quentin when I interviewed him for my Director's Chair episode. I have a show called The Director's Chair. I interview writer-directors. His was so big, we did two episodes. We talked about all his movies. And I said, do you remember this time I found in my diary? Right down to the hour. We went out to dinner. I mean, he was so into Pulp Fiction.
Ever since I met him, my next movie's going to be Pulp Fiction. I visited the set. He was into it. He was into it. He finished the movie, and I said, hey, because I live here in Austin. I get to hang out with him except when I go to L.A. How did your movie come out? He goes, it's not the one. It still feels like a movie Quentin would make. I'd be like, what do you mean?
It just doesn't feel like a real movie. It feels like another movie Quentin would make. And I was trying to be the supportive friend because I knew how much he would put in. It should be different. He's like, man, I just wouldn't have it. It's like two in the morning. I was dropping him off at home after we'd been out.
And so I went back to Austin and he had had a screening for all his director friends that I couldn't be at because I lived in Austin. So I called one of them. So how was the screening? He was a little bummed. Nah, this isn't the one for him. I was like, really? Yeah, it's just too... Yeah, it's just not it. And I asked him this and he goes, you're right. You know, he'd forgotten about that moment.
He goes, in fact... Yeah, people didn't get it. And in fact, and he didn't get it either. He wasn't sure if it was it. In fact, one filmmaker even said, I want to sit you down and tell you all the things that are wrong with this movie. But I'll wait till you get back from Cannes. He goes to Cannes. He wins Cannes. And the friend left him a message. What the hell do I know?
I've only made one movie. Everyone's mind was changed. So he was surprised by it too. So I just want people to hear that because you're making something groundbreaking. It's not like you're going, I'm making something groundbreaking. You don't know that it's going to do that. Sometimes things overperform.
That's why if you just commit to a body of work, you're not going to know which one's going to be your Pulp Fiction, which one's going to be your Four Rooms. And if you just do that, because I saw a lot of people get hurt. Like John Carpenter made The Thing. He thought he made a great movie. He thought he made an amazing movie.
Bombs critics called it pornography at the time if you remember like this the Makeup effects over the audiences didn't go it came out the same weekend Unfortunately as ET right why do we call it pornography just because it was just so self-indulgent and gross and nasty I mean they they really like reamed him to the point. So the special effects.
If you don't remember the time, it was really like that. There was repulsion towards this movie. Wow. I know you don't think that now because 10 years later, and it took 10 years. No, it was not. Wow. 10 years later, it was suddenly considered a classic. Now, if he had committed to a body of work, he would have just let that roll off his shoulders and just don't blink.
But it really fucks you up if you think, my instincts must be off.
It's a great fucking movie. It's a great fucking movie, but if no one else is saying that, So I asked Quentin, who... George Lucas had the same thing. He showed famously Star Wars to all his director friends. And they were like, poor George. He's wasted all his time on this movie. And Spielberg was the only one who was like, it's naive. It'll do good.
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