Rodriguez Will Handle BARBARELLA

This news just made this project interesting. Rodriguez's style should mesh well with this material. Looking forward to the trailer.

I'm not the biggest Rodriguez fan, but thinking to Sin City, Desperado and Planet Horror - yeah, this does ratchet up my interest.

Now if he can do sexy, funny, innuendo AND in your face while including some decent to good action - which, as I mentioned above, he has pulled off before to varying degrees - Barbarella may become more than nostalgia for me and actually an anticipated film in its own right.

Oh, great...this should be trash!!! Barbarella is a film about high sexuality, but Rodriguez is extremely A-Sexual in his directing and writing choices. Violence is exchanged for sexuality in his movies...and not very good violence, at all.

Further, Barbarella is a subversive work...drawing its laughs from open and indirect sexual metaphor. It is Fellini-esque in its execution. Brilliantly satirical, Barbarella was Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles before those films were even created, and probably served as their inspiration. The Argentino family should do this film, both father and daughter. Asia Argentino would make the perfect Barbarella, and her father Dario...would be great as the director. They have a gift for what is "European Kinky"...and to do this remake right, you need someone with that off, and twisted foreign feel for the absurd...and the strangely erotic.

Robert Rodriguez doesn't have that ability...and has shown no signs of it. In fact, he seems to be, adverse to sexual themes...and any controversy it may provoke and evoke!!! Director Paul Verhoven knows how to explore these themes, when allowed to be fully unleashed...but Hollywood doesn't have the guts to produce a film about erotism...one with teeth these days. Yes, the kind of film that may be pushing an NC-17 based solely on tone...and mood...in addition to it threatening challenges to existing sexual mores...and certainly, Robert Rodriguez isn't the man to bring such a film forth. No, he is too much of A-Sexual personality in terms of his work to do it!!! And for a new Barbarella to be timely, one must exceed the old film's freaky style, vulgar worldlyness and kinky nature. The reason??? For the 60's, Barbarella...was innovative...and freeing in its exploration of sex-- therefore, a new version of the film, if it is to equal, or surpass, the original, it must be just as bold for modern times...as the original film was for the 60's.

Robert Rodriguez just doesn't have the guts to pull it off!!!

Crud. I was hoping he would be directing Madman. That movie will NEVER get made I'm afraid.

I disagree with MW (surprise, huh) about Rodriguez.

I think many of his non-kiddie films have sexuality and spunk. If he signs on and knows that Barbarella isn't a female Mariachi (I'm sure he does) then this should be good.

Examples include Cherry Darling from Planet Terror, Carolina from Desperado, Nancy Callahan and Gail from Sin City. And that scene from Machete (the trailer in Grindhouse) where Machete is in the pool with the villain's wife and daughter. He can do it.

I'm pleased.

I actually fully agree with you Merin. I think you picked great examples from his work.
I don't like his kid films but I understand why he makes them. I really don't even take them into consideration when I think about his work.
He is one of the directors that I am usually looking forward to seeing his new projects.

OK, now bring on Jessica Alba!!!!!!!!!

Dammit, I was hoping they would get David Lynch to do it. Curses upon the world that shuns his impressive masterpieces!

First of all, perhaps for the time Barbarella was a bit risky and impressive for the time it came out. In order to create a wave of that magnitude as MW was speaking about is virtually impossible by this point in time when it comes to sexuality. Is it because studios shun NC-17? No, it’s because David Cronenberg already did it years ago in his movie Crash (not that new one about prejudice). He dealt with taboo, fetish and eroticism with such a hyper-realism that we were forced to look upon ourselves and find something although not what the movie was about was still up there.

Barbarella as movie fare is just not up to what MW is talking about. Not so much by the test of time, and the differences inherent within them, but quite frankly Barbarella is not NC-17 material. You could make a great R rated movie with it, but most movies that hit the NC-17 tend not to have the joviality that Barbarella had. At it’s core the silly movie that it was is about sixties ideological beliefs. Because of that a translation without that would be lacking in fans minds, it would be in mind. The movie should be exciting and playful. PLAYFUL about sexuality. Not so much taboo, we already had that movie…it’s called a Dirty Shame by the fantastic John Waters.

In order to break boundaries Barbarella would be forced into being something it’s not, and never was to begin with. Especially when there are many other movies in the last ten years that have already done it. I do actually agree that I would think it interesting to see Asia Argento play Barbarella, with her sultry Italian talents. Her father Dario, though able to deal with sexuality in a movie very well, is not playful with his attempts.

At it’s core, no matter what anybody says about Barbarella, it was a playful film when dealing with sexuality and the remake should be the same. Change the whole fucking story, but keep it playful. To that extent I actually believe Rodriguez is a good choice. I believe that when he does deal with sexuality he does so in very fun and directly in your face way. Barbarella did the same thing.

I’m happy. Hopefully we shall see it happen. Does anybody remember how he was supposed to do the next Conan movie? Yeah, that didn’t happen either.

DANNY TREJO AS CONAN THE BARBARIAN!!! You know that would rule.

A.

MW, Paul Verhoeven over Rodriguez, are you kidding? Verhoeven wants tp push the limits over Rodriguez, amazing!

Could there be better directors to helm this, of course there are, but Rodriguez fits the bill just fine.

And for the fact that he does not push sexualtiy, what do you want to see man, some girl getting raped? If you want to see some sex go to your local video store or purchase a girl from you local street corner!(Just about every film Rodriguez has done he has had some sort of sexuality in it. Paul verhoeven has the occasional tit shot, ooohhhhh sexxy!!)

The only thing that dissapoints me about this film, is the fact that if Rodriguez is going to direct it, he should write it too. He always has a hands on to his films, it would be weird to see him direct something not of his material.

While I like Lynch, if he did this film, it would wander for three hour and be incredibly ambiguous.