Grindhouse

Tarantino's critics do not seem to fully understand what he is up to. More than "making movies" he "makes movies about movies", in this case the B-movie genre.

This is what Igor Stravinsky did with music. He would take some genre(baroque, 12 tonal or even jazz music), break it down into the essence of its component parts and then put them back together in different ways. What you got was no longer baroque, 12 tonal or jazz. It made you stop to wonder what those styles really were and why they appealed or didn't appeal to you.

In a way, Tarantino is doing the same thing. He's making us question why we go to these movies and what the process of watching a film is all about. As a result it is not fair to criticize him because "the girls should have just stopped the car". In B-movies the girls just don't stop the car! It's like criticizing a serious drama for not having enough good jokes. He has really captured something about why these movies get audiences and are such intense fun to watch.

Now that Tarantino has dabbled with films about B-movies, kung-fu movies,action movies,revenge movies, etc. it will be interesting to see if he can extend into other genres. Will we ever see a Tarantino musical, serious drama, love story or western?

Grindhouse (2007)

**** (out of 4)

Sure, these movies are far from a real grindhouse but you're not going to have a better time inside a theater. With the fake trailers, messed up prints and bloody action, this movie is unlike any other ever made and that can only mean fun.

Planet Terror Robert Rodriguez's horror film about a chemical outbreak, which turns the citizens of a small Texas town into zombies. The only thing standing in the way of the zombies going worldwide is a one-legged stripper (Rose McGowan) and her sharpshooting boyfriend (Freddy Rodriquez). This throwback to the low budget shockers of the 1970's hits all the right marks and also turns out to be the goriest film I've ever seen. How in the world this got away with an R-rating is a mystery to me because this thing is non-stop gore from start to finish and we're not talking about little spots of the red stuff here and there. Each single death (out of hundreds) has tons of the red stuff through heads being ripped off to zombies munching on some flesh. McGowan is the perfect "B" actress to make her role very memorable and goddamn was it nice seeing Jeff Fahey once again. Tom Savini, Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin and various others fill out the cast. The "grindhouse" effect of a cut up print with scratches and missing reels are used perfectly here. There's some humor throughout but the politically incorrect joke of a kid playing with a gun was a real hoot. Rodriquez fills the film with countless "bad" moments in great homage to the films this is trying to be like. If you're a fan of this type of thing then you'll love it. Others beware.

Death Proof Quentin Tarantino's homage to those car chase movies features Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, a psychopath who loves to stalk women in his death proof car. The girls, including Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Tracie Thomas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, stunt woman Zoe Bell and Rose McGowan (again) are all perfectly cast and really nail Tarantino's dialogue but the real star here is the terrific return to form of Russell. Russell wasn't the first choice by the director but damn was he a great one. Russell just has that perfect smile and twisted laugh to make this psychopath so charming that you'd like to have a beer with him even though you know he'd probably kill you afterwards. Russell nails all the right marks making Stuntman Mike live right up there with Snake Plissken. This film is certainly a lot different than the first. This film takes its time in getting to know the female characters and I think this pays off in the end. Tarantino does a great job referencing other pictures so this will add some charm to die hard fans of the genre. Then there's the incredible chase at the end, which has to go down as one of the greatest ever. The chase is incredibly thrilling but it's also just a lot of fun. Seeing the girls being tortured by the "always having fun" Stuntman Mike was just a terrific time at the movies. I won't spoil anything but when the girl's seek revenge it's something that will make you want to cheer in laughter. Once again, if you're a fan then you'll love it but others beware.

I went into this film with expectations for an extreme amount of campy senseless gore and violence - and it was delivered as promised! A WARNING: Know what to expect when you go see this movie, or you might be surprised/disappointed. There is no moral, no good sense or life lesson to be taken from the story lines or characters. Sometimes things don't make sense and this is all done on purpose in homage to original exploitation films Warnings aside, Grindhouse is a lot of fun, there were as many "ooh" and "ahh" moments as there were "oh my god why did they show that?" moments. All of the actors' performances were right on and the action directing was excellent. My only negative comment is that Tarintino's film dragged a bit in the middle, but he more than made up for it. I couldn't help but raise my fist in the air and shout out "yeah!" at the end of his flick.

You will be surprise, you will be disgusted and you'll enjoy the hell out of it.

A unique cinema experience indeed.

I went to the premier in Austin last night. Wow, what an awesome event. Here are a few brief thoughts: One of the previews, that is being made into a movie, looks absolutely absurd and I am sure that it will be a joy to watch.

Planet Terror kept you laughing, groaning, and cringing the entire time. Enough action to keep you into it, enough campy gore to laugh at, and plenty of build up to have you cheering for the good guys. Rodriguez put together an A-rated, B-movie.

Death Proof was also enjoyable. I may have been antsy due to the cramped seating, but it seemed like there was a little lull in the middle. I didn't want to get up at intermission as I didn't want to miss the trailers. As Tarantino has done before, there is some great dialogue flying around the core group of actors.

I will definitely go see it again in the theater. I missed some of the dialogue due to the roar of the audience. However, I think having an interactive audience really adds to the experience.

Enjoy.

Grindhouse is all about excess. Excess blood, gore, puss, explosions, near non-stop laughter and violence. The only thing you will find little of in it is nudity. It's typical Tarantino-paranoid-about-nudity and what we get are two distinct halves to one great film.

If you loved Tarantino's "Jackie Brown", then you'll love "Death Proof". D.P. is basically Jackie Brown on wheels. He rambles on and on and on about completely un-funny and pointless things for nearly 50 minutes with little else happening. I am quite disappointed with QT, as he is my favourite director/writer but I think he is stretching his limit a bit too far. He has fallen into a self-indulgent groove of non-stop banter or over-the-top violence. The end is capped off with probably one THE BEST car chases in history that lasts for about 20 amazing minutes that will undoubtedly give you a heart attack it's so well made. Also, Kurt Russell is NOT the main star of it as many people believe and I'll leave it at that.

Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" on the other hand is a completely off the wall, no holds barred shmorgassboard of absolute cinematic enjoyment. People blow up when shot with revolvers, gore is splattered at least every couple minutes once it gets past the first two minutes and it will have you laughing harder than any Tarantino film ever has. It is so freakin' good that I think my eyes fell out and had an orga*m due to the cinematic bliss that is "Planet Terror".

Rose McGowan will undoubtedly become the new pin-up girl and sex symbol due to her role of Cherry Darling; a Go-Go dancer (unfortunately not a stripper) that eventually gets an assault rifle for a leg. Who knew that an assault rifle for a leg could ever be THAT hot?

There are no words in the history of mankind that can help me explain to anyone the awesomeness that is displayed in "Grindhouse". "Death Proof" may drag it down a bit, but is nonetheless essential for the film as a whole. This is exactly the movie that Hollywood needed to have kicked up it's butt. Hopefully this will pave the way for more "extreme" films or higher rated films in general; although I'm still unsure if it would be a good idea to go to the extremes that French cinema is experiencing at the moment, but would nonetheless be welcome.

IMO, "Grindhouse" is THE BEST FILM since "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in 1966 for pure filmic enjoyment. Sit back, relax, and prepare to have your head explode! Go see it now or you'll regret it!