Robert Arevalo Movies

In this hard-edged urban drama, when a shocking murder is committed in a Hispanic neighborhood in East Lost Angeles, the local residents are up in arms and demand action from the police. When the cops prove slow to investigate the killing, the local street gangs who prowl the area put aside their differences and set out to find the murderer themselves. Starring Ruben Garfias, Robert Arevalo, and Nenna Quiroz, The Barrio Murders was the first feature film from writer and director Jojo Henrickson. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Robert Rodriguez picks up where his successful independent debut El Mariachi left off with this slam-bang South of the Border action saga. Bucho (Joaquim DeAlmeida) is a wealthy but casually bloodthirsty drug kingpin who rules a seedy Mexican border town. Bucho and his men make the mistake of angering El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), a former musician who now carries an arsenal in his guitar case. Bucho was responsible for the death of El Mariachi's girlfriend and put a bullet through his fretting hand, making him unable to play the guitar. Bent on revenge, the musician-turned-killing machine arrives in town to put Bucho out of business, though he finds few allies except for Carolina (Salma Hayek), who runs a bookstore that doesn't seem to attract many readers. Desperado features supporting performances from Cheech Marin as a cynical bartender, Steve Buscemi as the cantina patron who sets up the story, and Quentin Tarantino as a man with a really terrible joke to tell. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The inner workings of a family headed by a union organizer are revealed when his body is brought back to his hometown for burial. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi