El Mariachi gave special mention to director Robert Rodriguez and his ability to merge two separate genres of films—"the narcotraficante film, a Mexican police genre, and the transnational warrior-action film, itself rooted in Hollywood Westerns"—successfully "despite the constraints of a shoestring budget." The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: El Mariachi El Mariachi is a 1992 American contemporary western action film and the first installment in the saga that came to be known as Robert Rodriguez's "Mexico Trilogy". It marked the feature length debut of Rodriguez as writer and director. The Spanish language film was shot with a
Mariachi El Bronx (2009 album) another band where they play mariachi music." In March 2009 The Bronx played the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, followed by a tour of the United States ending in June. In an April 2009 interview, Caughthran spoke more about "Mariachi El Bronx": The record's been done for a while now, hopefully it's gonna come out in like early or mid summer. It's a really really important record; it's the best thing I've ever done. It's all original music, traditional mariachi stuff, and it's the punkest thing in the world for a band like The Bronx to put out