“Crime Jazz” -- remember those words.
Local filmmaker Marco “Polo” Saldana hopes to establish the term as the name for the genre in which he makes movies. The style he employs in ultra-low-budget thrillers like The Ghetto Was Never Enough derives from the ultra-hip spy and private-eye movies of the 007-knockoff era, tales of snazzy heroes looking impeccable while dodging bullets and babes to the accompaniment of driving, percolating jazz.
Saldana, a Mexico City native who works in Tempe, performs in two bands: Curse of the Pink Hearse, which he variously describes as “spy-rockabilly” and “Spa-ghetto Western,” and Acapulco Five-0, which he describes as “James Brown in Spanish.” His cinematic interests mirror his musical ones; his brain is stuffed with French, Italian, Japanese, and Mexican thrillers. He sold his car to produce The Ghetto Was Never Enough, intended as the middle segment of a “Crime Jazz” trilogy.
Also scheduled: performances by Acapulco Five-0 and Green Lady Killers and a fashion show by Black Spy Killers.
Fri., Nov. 20, 8 p.m., 2009
