Since I never got a chance to post it, I've decided I'm doing my "El Ray" pitch.
Enjoy.
This is El Ray
You won't find it on any maps and no one you've ever met will have ever heard of it unless they've been there. You've never heard of El Ray but it is comprised of a population of more than one million at any given moment and is one of the biggest centers of commerce in the world. It can be found in northern Mexico, in the center of the Chihuahuan Desert. Nestled alongside a mountain, it appears a fortress, and this is not far from the truth. Inside it's gates, one discovers a piled maze of pueblos, shanties, and opulent homes. The streets are hot and noisy, not unlike some ancient metropolis.
El Ray was founded in 1860 by a bandit of the same name. The famous El Ray escaped Texas authorities after a train robbery and massacre, fleeing across the border and into the desert. He never left, and his hideaway became a home, and his home became a haven, a haven for criminals, murderers, and all of society's villains. Today, El Ray is in essence, the crossroads of all criminal enterprise in the world, unregulated save for a small set of commandments. It's vendors offer every variety of sex, drug, and violence imagineable. Multi-million dollar deals are struck in its palaces, and unspeakable perversions enjoyed in its depths. It's population is diverse, it's visitors infamous.
And high above, in his mountainside palace, one man rules it all: El Ray's descendant and the bearer of his name. His age is wearing on him and he has two sons...
This is...
10 YEARS AGO
On the streets of the city, two boys of 10 roam in tattered clothes, stealing and fighting to survive. El Ray is there father, the city's king. El Ray is not his real name, his birth name is Miguel Torres, but when his father died, he was bestowed his birthright and the title that accompanies it. One may wonder why his sons live homeless and hungry. It's tradition. Between the age of 8 and 16, the descendants of El Ray must fend for themselves, learning the ways of the city, it's people, the life of a criminal. The boys - twins - depend on each other to survive.
NOW
The Torres Family, the Descendants of El Ray Torres -
[IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Miguel.jpg[/IMGL]
Miguel Torres, El Ray (Michael Parks) - The current holder of the title of El Ray. Though he is a hardened man, he loves his sons very much. Age and illness have signaled the fact that he will soon die, but the issue of which of his sons will take his place is as of yet undecided...
[IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Juan-1.jpg[/IMGL][IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Javier.jpg[/IMGL]
Juan Torres (Freddie Rodriguez) - The rebel of the family. He's tired of El Ray and tired of the family. Though he is well-trained and clever, he has no interest in taking control of the city. He plans to leave on his upcoming 20th birthday and never come back.
Javier Torres (Gael Garcia Bernal) - Juan's twin, Javier is far more loyal to his father and the city than his brother. His is obsessed with the minutiae of what his father does. He wants desperately to become El Ray. There's only one problem...
Juan was born ten seconds before Javier. He is the rightful heir to the throne of El Ray. This is obviously a problem, and everyone's too ingrained in tradition to just give the title to Javier.
El Ray is inhabitated by a colorful cast of strange characters, several of who are friends of the brothers and have known them since childhood:
[IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Sanchez.jpg[/IMGL][IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Spider.jpg[/IMGL][IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-German.jpg[/IMGL]
Sanchez Sanchez (Cheech Marin) - The most prolific pimp in the city, or The ***** Master, as he calls himself. Sanchez is invested in all kinds of other illegal operations, and does everything with a sense of style and over the top humor.
Spider Romero (Danny Trejo) - One of the most revered assassin/bounty hunters in the world. He can seem imposing and cold, but he has a heart of gold.
The German (Paul Giamatti) - El Ray's uberpervert. He owns several sex clubs all over the city and has produced and owned more pornography than you could ever imagine. A largely harmless and somewhat comical deviant, The German is never seen without his S&M body suit and gimp mask.
As heir to the throne, Juan's marriage has been arranged since birth, much to his annoyance.
[IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Alejandra.jpg[/IMGL]
Alejandra Garcia (Masiela Lusha) - The daughter of a prominent arms dealer. She's not entirely interested in Juan at first either.
In the weeks before the thirty year anniversary of Miguel's rule of El Ray, Juan grows farther and farther apart from his family and closer and closer to Alejandra.
Meanwhile shadowy things are afoot in El Ray...
[IMGL]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/moonmaster/ElRay-Jed.jpg[/IMGL]
Jed Wright (Harvey Keitel) - Descendant of a crooked lawman who double crossed the original El Ray, Jed Wright is the head of a criminal organization out of Texas known as "The Cowboy Cartel". Clad in rather silly, modernized cowboy attire, The Cowboy Cartel is a surprisingly vicious gang. They've been a presence in El Ray for decades, but Jed's quite the snake and he has plans of his own...
The night before the anniversary party, Juan decides to run away. He asks Alejandra to come with him, but she won't leave her family. Juan rides off on his motorcycle and heads for Texas. Juan roams the backroads for a while, occasionally getting into trouble and learning to live on his own.
One night, in a Texas strip club, Juan is jumped by a group of cowboy types. The sudden appearance of Spider Romero is the only thing that saves his life. The two fight their way out and Spider explains what's happened: Miguel was killed at the party, it was made to look natural but the family knew better. Within 48 hours, Jed Wright and the Cartel took control of the city. Spider asks Juan to return home and lead his people one last time...
Back at El Ray, war wages between the residents of El Ray and the members of the Cowboy Cartel. Javier and Alejandra have been taken captive. All hope is lost, of course, until Juan arrives and organizes the people. They siege the palace and all hell breaks loose. Juan rescues Alejandra and his brother and kills Wright, reclaiming the city.
In the aftermath, the people want El Ray to take his father's place. He refuses, and hands the rule of the city over to his brother. Juan gets on his motorcycle and leaves once more, but not before Javier explains that, though he refused the title, he will always be, to everyone, everywhere he goes, the real
El Ray.
