'Machete' and the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Casting Twists
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Horror, Casting
The Machete casting news is official. Buried in a longer article, Variety has listed the final cast list for the feature-length adaptation of Danny Trejo's man with the knives. Almost all the rumors are correct, with the exception of Jonah Hill. The roster: Trejo, of course, plus Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, and Jeff Fahey.Strange? Yes. Surprising? Yes. Perfect? I don't know. Now don't get me wrong -- you could fill the film with tween celebs and I'd still head out to see it as long as Danny Trejo was the star. Yet while I usually love big casting twists, this one isn't invoking a reaction either way. It's not due to disinterest, as I've been dying for this to become a reality for a long time -- from rumors of a DVD spin-off, to big-screen potential, to love of Machete as a gun-toter, to silly fangirl hopes from a fake poster.
I can't definitively say why the indifference is descending. It could be the lack of names that "ooh" me (aside from De Niro), it could be the number of wacky casting choices (Lohan to Seagal), or that in some ways the list isn't that surprising. The camp factor is definitely in high gear, but sometimes the best camp comes from the more serious actors. And apart from De Niro, I'm not entirely surprised any of these people would sign on. All in all, I guess it's a myriad of little things that are blocking my excitement, though I dearly hope to have every apprehension dashed when the film hits the screen.
And this leads to a greater question: What makes the perfect cast list, and when and how does one turn bad, ugly, or simply not what you hoped? What sort of combinations of talent are you most attracted to?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-06-2009 @ 10:49AM
Stan Winsome said...
Is the Machete from the Grindhouse trailer supposed to be the same lovable 'Mexican Q' character in the Spy Kids movies? If so, it would be interesting to see his transformation from utter badass to family man.
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8-06-2009 @ 11:46AM
Chupacabra said...
I think the cast list is pretty much amazing. I'm sure Lohan was picked for some type of crazy role that will end up quite hilarious. I think the most exciting thing about this cast list that I didn't see in early rumors is Cheech Marin, I love that guy. Robert Rodriguez movies aren't the same unless Cheech Marin gets killed at some point.
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8-07-2009 @ 10:22AM
Wayne said...
I'd be more excited about this if it weren't a Robert Rodriguez film. I admire him for his achievement with "El Mariachi" and "Planet Terror" was okay, but I can't say much else about him.
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9-29-2009 @ 12:23PM
Looneybone said...
dont know if you know this or not, but the footage used in the trailer for Grindhouse is being used in the actual movie, he filmed using those same parts, just interesting, the man is a genius
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