Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticRobert Rodriguez famously made his first feature, “El Mariachi” (1993), for $7,000, and in the years since he’s made a point, rather charmingly, of staying in touch with that DIY side of himself.
This first became apparent in the early 2000s, when he churned out three “Spy Kids” films in a row, working out of a home studio where he wrote, directed, edited, and shot these cheeky Bondian kiddie flicks with a gizmoid invention as airy and frictionless as the films’ homegrown FX — but in a way it all played as a sly poke at Hollywood becoming a big-budget toy factory.
Read more on variety.com