Robert Rodriguez, Postmodern Director

Rodriguez’s best movies are heightened versions of things that should have already existed. They aren’t really parodies, although humor is an important part of how they work (and some of their core ideas certainly began as jokes.)

The thing is, Rodriguez actually cares about (and enjoys, or maybe loves) his subjects, or maybe he loves the potential and ideal thing that his subjects should have been. He’s more like David Byrne and less like Quentin Tarantino in this, and it’s important.