Sebastian Gutierrez is an interesting guy. Really interesting. This is the guy who wrote the quintessential high-concept film, Snakes on a Plane and the equally wild and well-remembered horror film Gothika. He even came to live the all-American Hollywood Dream, landing a beautiful girlfriend who just happened to be a movie and TV star—Carla Gugino, of the much-missed Karen Cisco and more recently Watchmen.
Then came his first directing/acting project, Women in Trouble in 2009, and things really started to get interesting…
Women in Trouble was a classic indie film: lots of odd characters, interlocking stories, strange excesses and earthy realities. And it starred a number of beautiful women and up-and-coming stars, from Gutierrez’ girlfriend to Adrienne Palicki (almost TV’s Wonder Woman) to Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, Third Rock from the Sun). It was a sincere and strangely sweet reach for cult status. but it met with something less than universal acclaim (our favorite quote, from the New York Times: “Mr. Gutierrez, as suggested by all the decolletage, appears to be a breast man. Too bad he didn’t set his sights higher.”)
Did this stop Mr. Gutierrez? Or even slow him down? Heck, no. He just did it again, only better, with Elektra Luxx, a sequeal—sort of— to Women in Trouble. Gugino reappears as the retired but far from retiring porn star Elektra, Palicki returns as the anything-but-retired colleague Holly Rocket, and even Levitt, who’s had a dynamite year and has just been cast in the next Batman movie, reprises his role as young, cutting-edge Latino filmmaker Bert Rodriguez, a passionate young professional who just happens to still live in his Mom’s basement. And it’s good. Juvenile at times, excessive at times, but full of good humor and warmth and the kind of whacky and warm cynicism that reminds one of the man behing Karen Cisco, Elmore Leonard. It’s available on DVD starting June 21, and it’s well worth a look—believe it or not.
And Gutierrez is far from finished. If you click on over to YouTube, you’ll find his latest effort, Girl Walks Into a Bar available for viewing: the world’s first high-quality, professionally produced feature film available in its entirety on YouTube. Lots of the same ensemble actors (though none of the same characters), and much of the same energy. Something else to check out…and talk about later…
