The Family Man

PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY DARREN CARROLL
Austin Power: Robert Rodriguez at Los Cryptos, his home studios in Texas

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Is attempting to revive 3-D similarly the stuff of boyish dreams? "I loved the idea of bringing back that sort of cinema experience. It felt like old-school showmanship, like the old Tingler days when they put stuff in the seat to jolt you," Rodriguez says. Thanks to James Cameron, who developed new digital 3-D technology for his Titanic documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, filming in 3-D is much simpler and more precise than it was and it can be easily converted to 2-D for video. Moviegoers will still don old-fashioned paper and plastic 3-D glasses to see the effect, but only during the video-game sequences. It's not perfect (the colors are lurid), but as Rodriguez notes, "I wanted it to look like a cheesier video game, not Star Wars ."

Still, it's a risky move, as 3-D movies have not had a happy history and neither have sequels. Rodriguez is unperturbed. "I like the fact that I don't really know what I'm doing," he says, sliding over to the music console (he has composed music for this and his next movie as well) to play something off key. "That's terrible," he says cheerfully. It may be his refreshingly low estimation of the seriousness of his work that makes his movies so appealing; he calls Spy Kids 3-D "the only home movie in theaters this summer." But it won't be the only production from the house of Rodriguez in the coming months. Elizabeth is in development on a sibling for Rocket, Rebel and Racer. No word on the name yet. May we suggest Rest?