#29

As Luck Would Have It (2011)
38%

#29

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After suffering a freak accident, an unemployed ad man (José Mota) hires an agent to help him turn his newfound [More]

Starring: José Mota, Salma Hayek, Manuel Tallafé, Blanca Portillo

Directed By: Alex de la Iglesia

#30

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)
37%

#30

Critics Consensus: This overstuffed, scattershot vampire flick suffers from poor characterization and an unwieldy mix of scares and chuckles.

Synopsis: Darren (Chris Massoglia) is just like any other teenager, until the day he encounters the Cirque du Freak and a [More]

Starring: John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia

Directed By: Paul Weitz

#31

Ask the Dust (2006)
36%

#31

Critics Consensus: Though Hayek is luminous, Farrell seems miscast, and the film fails to capture the gritty, lively edginess of the book upon which it's based.

Synopsis: Arturo Bandini (Colin Farrell) is a writer who moves from Colorado to Los Angeles with aspirations of completing a great [More]

Starring: Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, Donald Sutherland, Idina Menzel

Directed By: Robert Towne

#32

Fools Rush In (1997)
33%

#32

Critics Consensus: Only Fools Rush In to see a basic romantic comedy where opposites try to attract and find an unlikely happy ending.

Synopsis: Three months after a one-night stand with Isabel Fuentes (Salma Hayek) in Las Vegas, New York City real estate developer [More]

Starring: Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Jon Tenney, Carlos Gomez

Directed By: Andy Tennant

#33

Septembers of Shiraz (2015)
31%

#33

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: After creating a prosperous life in Iran, a Jewish family may be forced to abandon everything as a revolution looms [More]

Starring: Adrien Brody, Salma Hayek, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ariana Molkara

Directed By: Wayne Blair

#34

Bliss (2021)
27%

#34

Critics Consensus: When it comes to building an entertaining sci-fi drama around some cool ideas, this Bliss is largely ignorant.

Synopsis: Bliss is a mind-bending love story following Greg (Owen Wilson) who, after recently being divorced and then fired, meets the [More]

Starring: Owen Wilson, Salma Hayek, Nesta Cooper, Jorge Lendeborg

Directed By: Mike Cahill

#35

Everly (2014)
29%

#35

Critics Consensus: Everly benefits from Joe Lynch's stylish direction and Salma Hayek's starring work, but it's too thinly written and sleazily violent to fully recommend.

Synopsis: Fighting back after four years as a yakuza sex-slave, a woman (Salma Hayek) matches wits and weaponry with a legion [More]

Starring: Salma Hayek, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Laura Cepeda, Togo Igawa

Directed By: Joe Lynch

#36

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)
25%

#36

Critics Consensus: Despite the charms of its ensemble, The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard fails to protect the audience from repetitive and tired genre tropes.

Synopsis: The world's most lethal odd couple -- bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) and hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) -- [More]

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas

Directed By: Patrick Hughes

#37

Like a Boss (2020)
22%

#37

Critics Consensus: Like a Boss oversees a merger of powerful comedic talents, but the end results are likely to leave audience members feeling swindled out of their investments.

Synopsis: Best friends Mia and Mel run their own cosmetics company -- a business they built from the ground up. But [More]

Starring: Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Salma Hayek, Karan Soni

Directed By: Miguel Arteta

#38

The Velocity of Gary (1998)
22%

#38

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: When bisexual porn star Valentino (Vincent D'Onofrio) meets new-in-town hustler Gary (Thomas Jane), there is an immediate attraction between the [More]

Starring: Salma Hayek, Vincent D'Onofrio, Thomas Jane, Olivia d'Abo

Directed By: Dan Ireland

#39

After the Sunset (2004)
18%

#39

Critics Consensus: A slick but bland thriller.

Synopsis: Having already stolen two from the set of three priceless Napoleon Diamonds, expert jewel thief Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) decides [More]

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle

Directed By: Brett Ratner

#40

Fled (1996)
19%

#40

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: During a routine prison work detail, convict Piper (Laurence Fishburne) is chained to Dodge (Stephen Baldwin), a cyberhacker, when gunfire [More]

Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, Salma Hayek, Will Patton

Directed By: Kevin Hooks

#41

Wild Wild West (1999)
16%

#41

Critics Consensus: Bombastic, manic, and largely laugh-free, Wild Wild West is a bizarre misfire in which greater care was lavished upon the special effects than on the script.

Synopsis: When President Ulysses S. Grant (Kevin Kline) learns that diabolical inventor Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh) is planning to assassinate [More]

Starring: Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Salma Hayek

Directed By: Barry Sonnenfeld

#42

54 (1998)
15%

#42

Critics Consensus: Robbed of its integral LGBTQ themes, 54 is a compromised and disjointed glance at the glory days of disco.

Synopsis: In 1970s New York City, Studio 54 is the epicenter of sex, drugs and disco music. It's there that up-and-comer [More]

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, Mike Myers

Directed By: Mark Christopher

#43

Grown Ups (2010)
10%

#43

Critics Consensus: Grown Ups' cast of comedy vets is amiable, but they're let down by flat direction and the scattershot, lowbrow humor of a stunted script.

Synopsis: The death of their childhood basketball coach leads to a reunion for some old friends (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris [More]

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade

Directed By: Dennis Dugan

#44

Grown Ups 2 (2013)
8%

#44

Critics Consensus: While it's almost certainly the movie event of the year for filmgoers passionate about deer urine humor, Grown Ups 2 will bore, annoy, and disgust audiences of nearly every other persuasion.

Synopsis: Lenny Feder moves his family back to his hometown to be with his friends, but he finds -- what with [More]

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade

Directed By: Dennis Dugan

#45

Some Kind of Beautiful (2014)
6%

#45

Critics Consensus: Stranding Pierce Brosnan as a charmless cad, this tone-deaf romantic comedy is Some Kind Of something, but it definitely isn't beautiful.

Synopsis: A woman starts to fall in love with a successful college professor who had a baby with her younger sister. [More]

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Jessica Alba, Malcolm McDowell

Directed By: Tom Vaughan

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Salma Hayek has a busy year lined up, with Beatriz at Dinner and The Hitman’s Bodyguard on the docket for later this year — and an appearance in the irreverent ensemble comedy How to Be a Latin Lover this weekend. In honor of Ms. Hayek’s return to theaters, we decided the time was right to take a fond look back at some of the brighter critical highlights from an admirably eclectic filmography, arranging them by Tomatometer — and offering you a chance to rank your own personal favorites in the bargain. It’s time for Total Recall!

Use the up and down arrows to rank the movies, or click here to see them ranked by Tomatometer!

Since breaking into Hollywood in 1992 with his low-budget masterpiece El Mariachi, Robert Rodriguez has done it all — and not only in terms of his eclectic filmography, which includes action, sci-fi, horror, comedy, and family-friendly thrills. He’s also one of the most hands-on filmmakers in the studio system, assuming editing, composing, and cinematography duties on top of directing, writing, and production. Given all that, we felt it was only right that we honor Rodriguez’s work on the long-awaited Sin City sequel A Dame to Kill For by taking a look back at some of the brightest critical highlights from his career. It’s time for Total Recall!

The Faculty (1998) 58%

With Robert Rodriguez behind the cameras and a script from Scream‘s Kevin Williamson about a high school faculty taken over by alien parasites — not to mention an attractive cast that included Jordana Brewster, Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek, and Famke Janssen — 1998’s The Faculty should have been an instant genre classic. Alas, the movie sort of sputtered out at the box office, where it earned a mere $40 million, and a sizable percentage of critics found it lacking. But the Austin Chronicle’s Marc Savlov was entertained: “No one around these days edits with such sublime accuracy as Rodriguez. A master of the smash-cut, The Faculty is overflowing with the director’s ‘I’ll try anything once’ spirit, and that’s what makes the film such witty, freaky fun.”

Desperado (1995) 71%

El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) returned — with a beefed-up budget — in this 1995 sequel, which finds the guitar (and gun)-toting vigilante on a mission to purge Mexico of its drug lords. But Desperado isn’t just a Nancy Reagan pipe dream — it’s also a taut and bloody (albeit somewhat uneven) tale of love, loss, and deeply satisfying revenge. Jeanne Aufmuth of the Palo Alto Weekly approved, calling it “A zesty action thriller that recycles the best of the B genres and rolls them into a big-budget, pistol-packing extravaganza that in its best moments leaves you breathless with wonder.”

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) 66%

Rodriguez picked up a Tarantino script for 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn, a gonzo action thriller/horror hybrid about a pair of ne’er-do-well brothers (played by Tarantino and George Clooney) who flee to Mexico after a bloody bank robbery, only to end up at a strip club where the staff, the bartender, and the star dancer (Salma Hayek) are — hey, guess what? — vampires. An unusual blend, to be certain, and one that wasn’t to everyone’s liking — but it proved irresistible to critics like Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star, who called it “Like a Cheesecake Blizzard: It’s a pulpy mess loaded with empty calories, but it’s so divine that once you start, you can’t help but shovel it into your mouth until the last drop, brain freeze and diet be damned.”

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) 66%

Rodriguez concluded his Mariachi Trilogy on a high note with Once Upon a Time in Mexico, adding an assortment of big names (including Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, and Willem Dafoe) and a tangle of subplots to match. Though some critics felt Mexico‘s storyline crowded the Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) to the margins, the movie ultimately made almost $100 million at the box office — and the admiration of critics like Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle, who argued, “Despite the movie’s dark humor, violence and the occasional nonvoluntary facial surgery that will drive away the queasy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the most crowd-pleasing film in the series.”

Machete (2010) 70%

You know, it isn’t supposed to work this way. Characters who get their own explosively violent movies generally don’t come to life as bit players in silly kiddie flicks, then star in fake movie trailers — but Machete (Danny Trejo) doesn’t play by the rules. Aided by an eclectic cast of talented character actors (led by Trejo, of course, along with Don Johnson, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, and Michelle Rodriguez), soaked in the nasty Grindhouse vibe, and blessed with inspired, albeit brief, appearances from Robert De Niro and Steven Seagal, Machete gave fans just about everything they’d been asking for. “It’s a movie that just wants to have fun,” wrote the Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan. “To a large degree, it succeeds.”

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) 75%

Is it a (probably unnecessary) sequel to a goofy kids’ movie? Yes. But Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams has so much going for it — including a stellar supporting cast that included Ricardo Montalban, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Tony Shalhoub, Danny Trejo, and, as a mad scientist who genetically engineers teeny-tiny animals and an army of flying pigs, Steve Buscemi. While plenty of critics scoffed at — or were, at the very least, sadly perplexed by — Rodriguez’s decision to release back-to-back family films, the sequel earned nearly $120 million at the box office and earned praise from scribes such as Roger Ebert, who argued, “With Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, the Spy Kids franchise establishes itself as a durable part of the movie landscape: a James Bond series for kids.”

Planet Terror (2007) 77%

Rodriguez’s half of the Grindhouse double feature found him at his most gleefully bloodthirsty, delving into the zombie genre with loads of gory style and a rock-solid cast that ran the gamut from superstars (Bruce Willis!) to wizened B-movie vets (Jeff Fahey!) Also: Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas gets her brains eaten, and Rose McGowan plays a go-go dancer with a machine gun for a leg. What else can a film fan ask for? Nothing, according to David Edwards of the Daily Mirror, who pronounced it “Insanely violent, ludicrously gory and probably as much fun as you’ll have in a cinema this year.”

Sin City (2005) 76%

Put together Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (plus special guest director Quentin Tarantino, who took the reins for one scene), and what do you have? The great big mess o’ pulpy noir action known as Sin City. Adapted from Miller’s comic series, City blended cutting-edge digital backlot technology with gritty, gleefully violent imagery and a marquee cast that included Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Clive Owen, Benicio del Toro, and Mickey Rourke. It certainly wasn’t a combination for everyone — the movie provoked accusations of misogyny, and some critics found it an exercise in style over substance — but even a few scribes predisposed to dislike this kind of thing were won over in the end, like the New York Observer’s Andrew Sarris, who admitted, “In the end, I have to say I liked Sin City almost in spite of myself.”

El Mariachi (1992) 91%

Made for the astonishingly low sum of $7,000, Rodriguez’s debut overshot its intended audience — the Mexican home video market — and became one of the great success stories of modern independent cinema in the process. At bottom, El Mariachi is really just another movie about vengeance, mistaken identity, guns, and a guy named Booger, but hey — when you can use familiar ingredients with this much flair, why get fancy? “It goes without saying,” prophesied the New York Times’ Janet Maslin, “that Mr. Rodriguez, having made such a clever and inventive debut, is prepared for a big future of his own.”

Spy Kids (2001) 92%

Spy Kids at number one? Look, we’re just as surprised as you. But it makes a certain amount of sense — this big box office hit represented Rodriguez using all his filmmaking gifts (he wrote, directed, edited, and produced) to reach the broadest possible audience. In a way, the over-the-top, family-friendly action of Spy Kids represented the full fruition of the talent that blasted its way onto the screen with El Mariachi almost a decade before — and it’s also, in the words of USA Today’s Andy Seiler, “A good live-action children’s movie — a species so rare that many presumed it extinct.”

In case you were wondering, here are Rodriguez’s top 10 movies according RT users’ scores:

1. Desperado — 80%

2. Sin City — 78%

3. Planet Terror — 78%

4. From Dusk Till Dawn — 77%

5. El Mariachi — 76%

6. Once Upon a Time in Mexico — 64%

7. Machete — 64%

8. The Faculty — 55%

9. Spy Kids — 45%

10. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams — 38%

Take a look through Rodriguez’s complete filmography, as well as the rest of our Total Recall archives. And don’t forget to check out the reviews for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Remember the news that director Doug Liman and screenwriter Simon Kinberg were planning to bring their "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" to television? OK, well, it seems like they have their Mrs. Smith locked up.

According to Moviehole.net, none other than Ms. Jordana Brewster will be stepping into the role made famous by Angelina Jolie. Jordana is certainly not a stranger to genre fans; she can be found in flicks like "The Faculty," "The Fast and the Furious," "D.E.B.S.," and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning." Oh, and she was also in "Annapolis," but we forgive her for that.

Filming will begin in a few months, and ABC is looking at a Fall 2007 slot for the series. Apparently the pilot episode of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" will pick up six months after the movie left off. No word yet on who’ll be snagging the Brad Pitt role. I’m guessing it will be someone attractive.

This week in RT Ketchup: Kevin Smith answers critics in RT’s Forums; hunky Heath Ledger may play the Joker in the next "Batman Begins"; another grotesque "Saw 3" poster has been unveiled; you’d better get your "Harry Potter" DVDs fast; and some excellent clips of "The Simpsons Movie" have been released.

In other news, Jay Leno to give his thumbs up; Disney returns to traditional animation; Lindsay Lohan incurs the studio’s wrath while filming "Georgia Rule;" and The Hoff decides to fight back! Read on for details:

The Week’s Most Popular News

Kevin Smith Responds to Comments Calling "Clerks 2" a Flop
Director Kevin Smith, who is known for pulling no punches with readers on message boards, visited Rotten Tomatoes’ own forums to respond to criticism made by a poster that his latest movie "Clerks II" is a commercial flop.

Apparently, Heath Ledger IS The Joker…
Another Joker casting rumor is always good fun, but the guys over at Latino Review seem pretty confident that they’re offering the straight scoop: Heath Ledger as The Joker in the sequel to "Batman Begins." (And I really wish they’d give us the title already.)

"Saw 3" Poster Has Bite!
You know how the first "Saw 3" poster showed a gaping mouth that was missing a trio of teeth? Well, those choppers have apparently been located: You’ll find ’em on the all-new "Saw 3" poster. (This flick could do more damage to the dental industry than "Marathon Man."

Peep a Pair of "Simpsons Movie" Clips
Some of the "Simpsons" creators stopped by the San Diego Comic Con to do a presentation on a little something called "The Simpsons Movie," and they even brought some clips! And you can watch ’em too!

"Harry Potter" and the Recall Scheme
Specific DVDs go "out of print" all the time, sometimes due to poor sales and sometimes due to elaborate marketing schemes. Anyway, the point is this: If you want to own a "Harry Potter" movie on DVD, you better buy your copies before December.

In Other News:

• Guillermo Del Toro has signed a one-year deal with FOX TV to develop and executive-produce one-hour series projects for the network. He plans to write or co-write a drama as part of the deal, and also to direct a pilot.

• The frustrated CEO of Morgan Creek Productions called out Lindsay Lohan, stating in a letter that "we are all aware that your ongoing all-night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called ‘exhaustion,’" and threatened to "pursue full monetary damages" should she pull any more no-shows on the set of "Georgia Rule."

• Jay Leno will step in as a guest reviewer alongside Richard Roeper on "Ebert & Roeper" as Roger Ebert continues to recover from surgery. The episode will air August 5-6. Kevin Smith will co-host on August 12-13.

• Simon Pegg is set to star in "Run, Fat Boy, Run" written by Michael Ian Black, and to be directed by David Schwimmer.

• Disney will go back to 2D animation with "Frog Princess," a female spin on the tale of the Frog Prince.

• Elisha Cuthbert will star in "My Sassy Girl," about a brazen girl who turns the life of a small-town guy from the Midwest upside down.

• Dreamworks has acquired the comedy "The Intern" from writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, who worked together on NBC’s "The Office."

• Samuel L. Jackson will star with Hayden Christensen in "Jumper" to be directed by Doug Liman in his first Sci-fi feature.

• Quentin Tarantino is interested in remaking the Dutch horror film "Dead End," even though it has not been released yet. The film will debut in Holland August 3rd, but Mr. Tarantino was shown a 20 mintue clip that piqued his interest.

• And finally, Weekly Ketchup fave David Hasselhoff is suing a British tabloid for claiming that he was removed from the Wimbledon Championships for public drunkenness. Fortunately, Mr. Hasselhoff is not including the staff of Rotten Tomatoes in the suit, after we reported the same story in the Weekly Ketchup three weeks ago.

Good to have you back, Hoff

CHUD.com clues us in on a few of the first cast members signed to star in the Tarantino/Rodriguez horror flick "Grind House," which is presently in production down in beautiful Austin, Texas. Here’s a clue: One of the new cast members is no stranger to things that occur "Six Feet Under."

Says the CHUD gang: "Robert Rodriguez is currently hard at work making mayhem down in Austin with his part of the RR/QT combo Grind House, and now we’ve heard of another human appearing in the flick: Six Feet Under corpse-restoration expert Freddy Rodriguez… Though his HBO show may be over, Freddy will still have bodies to contend with — the Robert Rodriguez half of the horror-exploitation double-feature is called Project Terror, a zombie homage that apparently concerns a sheriff department dealing with an outbreak of infected lunatics (called "sickos").

We’re not sure of Freddy’s role in the film, but given the involvement of gore god Greg Nicotero and Rodriguez’s penchant for splatternalia, there’s a good possibility he’ll meet a messy end. Project Terror also stars Michael Biehn (yay!), Josh Brolin, Tom Savini and Marley Shelton, among others yet to be confirmed or identified."

—

Both filmmakers have displayed some success in the arena of horror: Robert Rodriguez for his "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "The Faculty," and Quentin Tarantino for his acting career. (ba dum bum)

For a bit more info on the project, including some scoopage on the QT side of the story, hit CHUD.

Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies comes our first look at Robert Rodriguez‘s "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D." The tale of adventurous kids and colorfully imaginary heroes hits theaters on June 10th …

… and it’s pretty impressive how this filmmaker can veer from something dark and dangerous like "Sin City" to something flashy & fun for the whole family! (Kinda like he did when the "Spy Kids" trilogy followed "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "The Faculty.") David Arquette ("Scream") and Kristin Davis ("Sex and the City") play the parents in this kid-laden affair.