4 more reviews

1. ›REVIEW : "Nacho Libre" (2006) - Movie by Jared Hess@mandibil2530d

   This is Jared Hess´"follow up" movie to Napoleon Dynamite and it shows. It is, if not a remake, at least a movie that uses the same type of "loser" characters, puts them in a weird and to some extend unrealistic world. The cinematography is not quite as stylized, but it certainly has the same basic expression. The central character is not quite as looser like, but instead more like a parody of a lot of different kinds of "losers".

   It is supposedly loosely based on a real life story, of a similar munk spending 23 years in wrestling to support his institution. But that does not make the story presented here less crazy.

   

   

   It is a ridiculous and black humour inspired tale (notice the reference to Monty Python´s holy grail in the “hand in the frame” scenes) of a munk in a Mexican orphanage, who dreams of becoming a hooded mask luchador wrestler. His daily chores extends to creating something eatable for the unfortunate inhabitants of this orphanage and how he one day recognizes, that this may not be all that could be to his life.

   When a hot new nun arrives, his desires awaken and his ambition to show something apart from upgrading his extremely disgusting dishes to fresh salads, is channelled into actually act on his wrestling ambitions.

   

   

   We follow nacho and his trusty companion in the pursuit of money, glory and acceptance of the nun and the children of the orphanage, who slowly realize that there could be more than meets the eye with this weird munk. Nacho goes through more than a few beatings to finally arrive at the final confrontation with the "final boss"

   Only when he sees his loves desire and all the kids with nacho like hooded masks come to support his fight, he gets his powers together and can literally fly as he finally beats the fleeing opponent.

   

   

   Now I am not spoiling too much of the plot here, as it is all quite predictable and settles very close to tried and tested vehicles for telling stories and creating slapstick gags. I find that it suffers from the same problem with Napoleon Dynamite. The situation takes a lot of time to create a "believable" and engaging environment and set of characters. But then most of the movie has gone by and to wrap things up, everything has to be resolved too quickly in the end.

   It is as if the director is more concerned with the gags and the specific scenes than creating a memorable whole. This is not to say that what you get is second rate. The part of Nacho is really tailored to a funny actor like jack Black, who does not have any problem presenting himself in a less than optimal pose or situation.

   

   

   The cinematography is carried over stylistically from Napoleon Dynamite, but with a nudge less stiffness, so that it gels better with the fairly large number of "action" scenes in the wrestling arena. Hess uses a lot of "still leben" scenes, but this cannot work in a wrestling ring so it must be softened out a bit to make it come together.

   Now for the gags, they are fine, if not overly imaginative but rather predictable. It is good fun and this movie as such, is a good one to watch with your kids if they are pre teen or early teens. It is good fun overall with a few very funny scenes, but not too hard follow plot or story line.

   

   

   it is a kind of movie that you can watch without spending too much time thinking about it, but it still has a good deal to offer in both a nice cinematography and a few good laughs. I recommend this movie.

   6/10

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2. ›Nacho LIbre (film): Not exactly what you expect from Jack Black, but a real good time@gooddream2800d

   When i first saw the poster or trailer for this film I really expected it to be the usual silly Black film and in many regards that is what this is, but it also has some real acting in it that kind of shows what Jack is capable of.

   

   I was also suprised to find out that this film is loosely based (and i suspect VERY loosely based) on a real story of Fray Tormenta, a real-life Mexican priest who funded his orphanage with money raised from being a luchador (masked wrestler in Mexico.)

   

   Of course, part of the fun is the fact that Jack Black is not in great shape and he doesn't try to pretend that he is and I think a big part of his fame revolves around the fact that he is completely willing to make fun of the fact that his body is a little less than muscular. In the film, he does try to show off a bit after he experiences some success.

   

   The matches he is in are absurd, but we would expect nothing less. Wrestling is actually taken very seriously in Mexico and has for quite some time. Some would argue that it is taken seriously in USA (well, in the world) via WWE. However, for a luchador, one of the most disgraceful things that can happen is for one's mask to be removed, and their true identity to be revealed.

   It definitely is silly, but it isn't a full on comedy (if that makes any sense.) This actually made a lot of the critics respond negatively to it, as if they don't want black to experiment at all. I dunno. I liked it a lot more than the general public or professional critics seemed to but i will still admit that it isn't exceptional - but to be fair i don't think that any of Black's work, aside from Pick of Destiny, is.

   6.5 / 10

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3. ›Nacho Libre (2006) - Teal and Red@lionsuit2892d

   

   Color Palette Focus #3: Jared and Jerusha Hess' Nacho Libre

   Co-written by Mike White, cinematography by Xavier Pérez Grobet, production design by Gideon Ponte.

   

   I've posted a story structure breakdown on Nacho before: https://steemit.com/movie/@lionsuit/film-structure-analysis-2-nacho-libre-2006 A fun film, beautiful structure, beautiful imagery, much smarter, sweeter, and funnier than the poster might suggest.

   

   One of the creative tools they use so well is the color palette as a symbol of true character, excitement, and yearning.

   In the most simple sense, it is teal and red, the colors of Nacho Libre's costume, that are used for this visual messaging.

   

   If we wanted to be more specific, we could focus primarily on teal even.

   The Hess' team threads teal throughout the costumes, props, and set design of so much of the film, and they amp this up or down in line with the story.

   

   To start, teal is prevelant in the monestary, touches and splashes here and there that energize an otherwise boring or basic natural color scheme of browns, yellows, grays, etc.

   When Nacho disguises himself for Ramses' party, he wears no teal.

   

   When he tries to fit in with a religious lifestyle not in line with his core being, he wears a brown robe, which at one point literally covers up his teal and red clothing beneath.

   

   When he leaves the monestary after being exposed, the grounds are surprisingly void of teal, of that energy, that life, honesty, hope, and urging.

   

   And when we finally succeed, get a field trip bus for the orphans, and team up with Incarnación, Nacho is dressed in a full body, teal, "fancy" suit, a symbol of being able to fully embrace himself and fight for good in his own way. His teal flag flies high.

   

   Victory! "Yes!"

   Be well. http://www.LionSuit.com

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4. ›Film Structure Analysis 2 - Nacho Libre (2006)@lionsuit3029d

   

   A lot of the films recently that I have rewatched or broken down in structure have boiled down to a simple change, a key movement from one thing to another. That's the story.

   In Close Encounters it's from normalcy into radical exploration.

   In Whiplash it's from childhood/dreams/dad to manhood/actualization/drumming full tilt.

   In Nacho Libre, a phenomenal film if you ever wondered, it's from the rigidity of the church to the freedom of being you, a wrestler who is churchy in his own way.

   

   (The first time I saw this film was by accident, by the way. It was playing on an airplane I was on. It looked cheesy to me or perhaps too slapstick. I watched because I legally had to stay in my seat. I ended up laughing so hard and I got worried the stranger next to me would reach her limit with my elbow bumping and shaking laughter. It has sense become one of my favorite films. The colors, the sentiment, the story, all so good.)

   Regarding the structure, it's simple when viewing in the above mentioned perspective.

   

   The story is kicked off upon Nacho, an unhappy, bullied, heart of gold, orphan-caring monk spotting a wrestling poster. Inspiration hits him. Let's do this. He recruits his fight-over-the-orphans'-chips-mate and they prep.

   Act 1 wraps as the main question of the film is established and we set off to pursue it--can we be legit wrestlers? We had our first fight and made some money. That's a start.

   The journey of fighting and improving as a wrestler continues. We have an amazing eagle egg magical powers scene, etc.

   

   The midpoint to me is a fight montage, a declaration of wanting to win and "go pro," and a new goal of getting to Ramses.

   Nacho's actions though from here not only get him distanced from and humiliated by Ramses, but they also cause him to fall behind on his duties at the monastery.

   

   Then he loses his big-opportunity fight, his chance to advance to the pro level and to challenge Ramses himself in the ring. He gets second place in a winner takes all event. Brutal defeat.

   At the end of Act 2 we find Nacho as a failed wrestler who is ejected from/leaves his monastery disgraced (maybe the best scene in the film), and sets out to the wilderness to live or die alone.

   

   Act 3 begins with the news that a technicality has deemed Nacho the winner of his big-opportunity fight. He writes an impassioned love letter to his forbidden dream girl at the monetary, Sister Encarnación, and sets out to challenge Ramses at the pro level.

   

   He takes on his once-was-idol, but Ramses is powerful and levels Nacho. Flat on his back, he sees Sister Encarnación enter the arena with the orphans, all there to support him, embrace him, allow him to be a wrestler who fights for good, to support him in the freedom of being himself, a wrestler who is churchy in his own way.

   

   This support fills Nacho. He powers up (eagle egg powers) and defeats Ramses.

   The film ends with Nacho, Encarnación, and the orphans on a happy field trip. Success.

   Nacho answers the question of can he be a legit wrestler. We also settle the issues created while trying to answwr this question: his issues whith fitting into a rigid religious system.

   A new "normal" is created.

   Power to you :-)

   (These are my own personal, current story structure theories. I do not claim them as the intentions of the filmmakers.)

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