Come anticipate "Nacho Libre" with me

yeah, when I finally saw it I was ready to be totally offended & for the first ten minutes I was, but after that all I could think of was this old girlfriend I used to have in La Puente & how she would have reacted, and I bet she would have thought it was the second funniest thing ever, right after that clip of Juan Gabriel falling off stage

(BTW, I thought the cousins driving up just to shake their heads was one of the funnier moments in the movie)

or a fucking tenacious d movie. or, you know, something fucking funny for once in his fucking career.

This film looks suspect obv.

xpost THANK YOU!!

it never came across (to me anyway) as a meanspirited portrayal of mexican americans.

me neither. people are way too jumpy about racism.

Wouldnt go that far. I just generally think people misinterpret ND as being condescending to its characters but I don't find that to be the case.

Really I have 0 interest in seeing that film again at this point though.

If only Vincent Schiavelli was alive though :(

i can't think of anything else i like him in but i find him pretty likeable.

heat vision & jack was kinda funny but i can't really imagine wanting to see any more of that.

i'm not looking forward to this though.

Mostly I just hate all manifestations of the "white guy adopts black slang poorly" storyline in any movie, and Kip Dynamite's version really bothered me. Perhaps even more than Robin Williams's and arguably moreso than David Cross's ("Rickey Henderson bit"), both of which are like nails on a chalkboard to me. But beyond that, I felt like the movie exploited Lafawnduh's otherness (i.e. not a white Mormon/Christian) as a sight gag, especially as far as how the Kip/Lafawnduh scenes were paced and shot, and that bothered me as well.

Wait.

OK will somebody let me know if that guy in the Red Stripe commercials is for real or not? I'll be in the eternal conundrum.

OTOH, "HOORAY BEER" is fucking awesome. I've started drinking red stripe because of those ads.

i know there are 60s songs because i recognized them.

-- grady (goforgrad...), June 19th, 2006 2:42 PM. (grady) (later) (link)

I TOTALLY missed this. Am I racially insensitive? ;_;

do you recall specific artists? because i really liked everything i heard.

OMG 10001110^01100011=11101101!

FIGHTING SPIRIT
The unexpected virtues of Jack Black

By Armond White

Nacho Libre

Directed by Jared Hess

First, notice the color scheme of Nacho Libre. Its hues are vibrant and intense like luminous bible illustrations. In outdoor scenes, characters stand out against the slightly surreal backgrounds as if figures in religious chromos or Catholic prayer cards. Director Jared Hess instantly communicates his beatific view of ordinary things. Whether focusing on homely or misfit people—the demoralized monks who work at a Mexican orphanage, the pudgy yet hungry foundlings, the impoverished townfolk or the hapless, rotund title character played by Jack Black—Hess’ imagery remains unexpectedly radiant.

In Nacho Libre, Hess confirms the strange humanism of his debut film Napoleon Dynamite. This time he extends benevolence to the parable-like story of Nacho, a Mexican friar confined to scullery work in an orphanage, whose yearning and dissatisfaction make him struggle with his vocation and social esteem. Nacho’s crisis is similar to Napoleon Dynamite’s but the Mexican, Jesuitical setting (the first shot is a close-up of a Bible) adds an uncannily plangent quality to Hess’ quirkiness.

Because Hess bathes these characters in light, he suggests that to see them in all their idiosyncrasy is to believe in their humanity. This spiritual generosity is astounding—especially in a movie that stars the rascally Jack Black from a story idea by screenwriter Mike White, who was responsible for the creepy character studies Chuck and Buck and The Good Girl. It’s Hess’ sensibility (he co-wrote the script with his wife Jerusha) and his benevolent eye that make Nacho Libre so appealing.

Although Black’s specialty of aggressive physical comedy dovetails with Hess’ slapstick humanism, a delicate, humorous approach to strangeness needs to prevail. That’s what audiences responded to in Napoleon Dynamite. It was one of the few genuinely popular (unhyped) films of recent years. Still, it lost the New York Film Critics Circle’s Best First Film prize to the fatuous Maria Full of Grace because critics favored secular cynicism over religious optimism. Maria was full of racist condescension while Napoleon embraced cultural difference. All those VOTE FOR PEDRO T-shirts you see teenagers wearing promote Hess’ democractic spirit—winning the ultimate prize.

Nacho Libre applies that same true liberalism to the world of Lucha Libre, Mexico’s highly theatrical wrestling subculture. Nacho disguises himself as a luchadore, in a handmade satiny costume and mask, to win money for the orphanage which has subsisted on a diet of gruel and corn chips donated by a local restaurant. Hess turns this adventure into the sweetest homily: Despite the corn chips gratuity, Nacho must free himself of limitations imposed by others.

When Nacho teams with a homeless man, Esqueleto (Héctor Jiménez), to win the Lucha Libre competition, he becomes infatuated with a novice nun, Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera), who stirs his ego and tests his faith. This trio flips and reworks Don Quixote, yet the film’s rousing theme song “Hombre Religioso” (“I am, I am/A real religious man”) sets a devotional comic tone. The pastoral landscapes where Nacho and Esqueleto practice their wrestling moves recall Rossellini (The Flowers of St. Francis) and DeSica (Miracle in Milan) while the hostile, sardonic Lucha Libre confrontations evoke Buñuel (Nazarín). Hess’ counterpoint of saintly and worldly experience is not new; it’s just rare in American pop culture. When Sister Encarnación warns that luchadores fight for vanity and power, that they are “false idols,” it comments on Hollywood’s routine hero-worship. Hess and Black find something deeper.

In the hateful School of Rock, Black played a childish egotist but Nacho’s sense of devotion makes a rich, funny characterization, based in genuine complexity: “My mother was a Lutheran missionary from Scandanavia, my father was a deacon from Mexico. They tried to convert each other. They got married instead, and then they died.” No recent movie figure has a richer character précis. Thus, Nacho—an orphan who claims his legacy—acts from principle and obligation, uncommon virtues. In his luchadore’s mask, Black suggests Brando’s full-lipped self-questioning; his eyes beam from determination and inner stress. Hess recognizes these basic traits and provides a benedictory close-up that shows Nacho’s saintly ache for love. This pellucid image affirms: Hess is not just one of the American Eccentrics. He’s one of our best.

Armond White is a fucking moron.

Jeezus.

And to think, over in that ILG thread, we were wondering how long it would take them to come up with gamecrit, or a New Games Language, if you will. I wonder if it will be similarly entertaining.

too late:

http://www.itvmovieclub.com/itv/images/products/9/42659-large.jpg

*in this case, the Spirit of Vengeance incarnated as a flaming black leather totenkopf on a flaming motorcycle. No one know if Cage was ever successful at his quest.

I've reevaluated this. Ok this is the best movie ever made. Seriously. Even better than Zoolander. GET THAT CORN OUT OF MY FACE.

Okay chaki you can never criticize my taste again.

SUMMON YOUR EAGLE POWERS, ABBOT.

GET THAT CORN OUT OF MY FACE!!!!!

still loving this movie SO MUCH.

DVD is at home waiting to be watched.

It really does get better upon repeated viewings. Its kind of amazing!

I hate all the orphans in all of the world.

Why is there a bus in Chicago still covered with giant Nacho Libre ads?

That's some kind of ghost bus. Don't get on it unless you are prepared for some Jacob's Ladder stuff.

Unless it's advertising the DVD.

the dvd came out like 20 years ago

They're advertising the 20th Anniversary Sgt. Pepper's Deluxe Edition?

Naw, ghost bus is a more likely scenario.

the girl in the movie is hawt

I like Choncho.

All those VOTE FOR PEDRO T-shirts you see teenagers wearing promote Hess’ democractic spirit—winning the ultimate prize.

not sure about NL, but the way ND treats non-white ppl bothers me in the same way that i get bothered when some suburban church lady tries to talk in "ebonics". it seems painfully obvious that the writers learned about minorities from TV.

still... ND makes me laugh. i may rent this at some point.

the Hess’ obviously grew up around Mexicans.

hug hug, kiss kiss, hug hug, big kiss, little hug, kiss kiss, little kiss.

LOOLOLOL

the girl in the movie is hawt

― carne asada, Friday, January 11, 2008 5:33 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

cosign. Totally beautiful. And they didn't have to throw in the gratuitous scene with her in slutty clothes to show it.

I just saw this for the first time. It's beautifully shot and the sense of humor has a nice range to it. It feels like there is a nice balance. It's a total genre film that takes on a whole bunch of cliches without being boring. The music is wonderful, the cast is great. All the posts above worrying about whether it is racially insensitive or not must be from people who have not seen this movie. It's a well made, very sweet, big-hearted movie with some Jack Black slapstick comedy and nice messages thrown in for good measure. Would be awesome for little kids and their parents as well.

"When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun."

I liked this movie OK but you have to admit it's at least a little boring.

Yes it is a little boring. I was luckily kind of distracted at the time tho. Still, it's not as bad as all the reviews make it out to be.