Grindhouse

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 won tickets to the world premiere of Grindhouse in LA this past week and it was the best 3 hours of my life in recent history. The stories of the two movies combined with the detail and inventiveness of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez brought together 3 hours of action packed fun. The two directors updated the sleazy grindhouse movie experience from the 70's and commercialized it so that we can all enjoy it. You won't find some greasy guy with his pants around his ankles sitting next to you, but you are probably going to be able to sit through all 3 hours of these movies.

I want to compliment the directors for having a unique cinematic vision (and the Weinsteins for funding that vision). I don't always agree with the choices made with either of the filmmakers, but I think they are two of the hardest working most innovative people in Hollywood today. I add this because most film studies students love to hate both of these people and in most conversations suggest that they would be able to do a much better job than either. I disagree.

Planet terror is a gross out flick that has appropriate amounts of gore and guts. If you like Rodriguez, then this movie fits in with all of his previous works. No real surprises here, but fun fun fun!

Tarantino surprised me. I liked the first movies from Tarantino because his movies were set in realities not far from our own. I doubt that it would happen in a weekend, but Pulp Fiction is a semi-believable good story in Los Angeles with unbelievable dialog. Same with Reservoir Dogs. (Jackie Brown is too believable and therefore, uninteresting) As he has progressed, his movies became fantasy, e.g., From Dusk til Dawn and Kill Bill 1 & 2 and WAY too over the top for a "Tarantino" flick.

Death Proof brings it all home! I don't want to spoil any of the movie, so just go see it! It's a simple plot with unbelievable suspense and decent dialog. I have never been so nervous in a film in as long as I can remember. Its no secret that the movie involves a car -- but Tarantino has taken a "classic" car scenario using a classic car and updated it for the new millennium. One only has suspend belief "just enough" for this mix of reality and fantasy to suck them in. It was Tarantino at his best.

Both movies were well executed, well scored, well written, and well played. The extra's and cameos are icing on the cake. No Oscars for either director, but that isn't why you went to see these movies in the first place, now is it?

Grindhouse(2007)

Review 1: Planet Terror(2007) Welcome to the Grindhouse. We start off with an excellent and extremely funny "trailer". This is brilliant stuff. "Machete." You will laugh, you will enjoy the B-movie magic. This is filled to the top with cheese and including the silly voice-over to go. It's a hoot.

Planet Terror is on. We see retro movie intros with the misspelled words and low budget sound. It's all so well done. Anyway, Planet Terror is the next wave of zombie horror. This movie delivers all the goods and then some. We get all kinds of extreme violence and B-movie humor. This movie takes it all the way with the violence! We also have a terrific cast. The story is actually pretty good.

Michael Biehn is great as the Sheriff Hague. We also get Rose McGowan as a former stripper. The scenes at the hospital are incredible. When Quentin Tarantino shows up, this can be the most original zombie scene ever! It's grotesque, but you will be in total shock! The movie has an age feel to it and is treated well. We have the old looking film reel to the burnouts and missing scenes too.

Planet Terror is an amazing tribute. This is one of the BEST zombie movies I have ever seen! Now for a treat. We get a few more rather hilarious and twisted movie trailers. Let me just say is that Eli Roth is twisted. These trailers are a hoot. Damn they are funny. Shlock value guaranteed. Be sure to look out for a surprise appearance that NOBODY will see coming! Now for the Tarantino.

Death Proof(2007)

Review 2: After an amazing first half we get a rather lackluster second. Hear me out, Kurt Russel is Stuntman Mike. He is homicidal and bad to the core. I found him to be one of the most likable villains ever. That's a plus. Also Death Proof has some unique kill sequences by Stuntman Mike that are well done and are satisfying. Russel is fantastic as the devil behind the wheel.

However, Death Proof has many weaknesses. First is the inane and annoying girl-chat that goes on for what seems like an eternity. Worse yet, this has almost NOTHING to do with the movie! Second, the film does not have the old feel of the previous movie. Third, the heroines of the movie are just plain annoying. I, for the life of me got bored and frustrated with the girl chat and could not root for these girls. The second batch of girls were incredibly annoying.

This is too bad as Death Proof has some really well done stunt work and a nice car chase scene. The revenge chase was lame though, due to the driver constantly cursing trying to be a bad ass at every conceivable moment to the point of hideous. Tarantino should have given Russel A lot more screen time as Stuntman Mike and less to the ladies. I found myself rooting for Stuntman Mike. I felt the ending was well.....unsatisfying is an overstatement. I felt ripped off.

So, we got a tale of two movies. One a success and the other a massive letdown, despite a few cool scenes. This is a fitting tribute to the days long past, but Tarantino just did not deliver.

The Last Word: Stay for Planet Terror and the trailers. Death Proof start off right, but hits a crash landing. Watching Death Proof is for the VERY patient. Trust me.

I'm commenting on the double feature version of this rather than the separate films. I do have quite separate impressions of these but I do believe that the original intent was that they be seen together, and with all the interstitial matter.

When you approach films from certain filmmakers, you do it on a basis of trust. Its a matter of how willing you are to allow yourself to be.

Rodriguez has never betrayed my trust, so each time I encounter him, I am willing to play the game by his rules. That allows me to take more chances about the balances he chooses to make. Its a matter of yielding in the collaboration, so when he makes a cinematic joke or comment, I don't fight it. Trust.

In this case, its sharpened by this phenomenon I notice a lot: he's directing a lover. It is obvious of course, but even if it weren't, it drives him to make ever stronger chances, on the edge of his emotional horizon.

I think these two factors would make me like what he has done here regardless of all other factors. I do see the interior nature of the cinematic world. I do settle into the thick web of narrative threads. I do cheer when his love kicks ass.

But the opposite is the case with Quentin. I cannot trust him. It isn't just because he's made some bad films. Its because he sets himself aside. He doesn't include the viewer: he preaches. All of the cinematic effects are delivered as monologues not as a collaboration. So we are never in on the joke, never in on extending the nature of the world.

So I truly disliked his film. Sure, there's an empowerment story, and a sort of male's view of female bonding. But its all from the outside: the current of fate, the access to the group, the folding of all the principle characters being in the movie business. The actual camera-work of the stunts is from a discrete viewer, where Rodriguez puts the camera jumping around in the midst of the action and the emotional space.

Both films play with the joke of what constitutes good and evil. But they themselves represent this as well.

I will give Rodriguez a 3 and Tarantino a 1, but having Tarantino to have to go through increases the value of Rodriguez' effort. Bless him. I hope he does well with this woman.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

When I first heard about Grindhouse, I was pretty excited. I have enjoyed practically everything Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have ever done, so the idea of such a nostalgic homage as Grindhouse really peaked my interest. I was really hyped for the movie, and managed to snag free passes to an advanced screening, and was it ever worth it.

Grindhouse consists of two very different films. The first, Planet Terror, is directed by Rodriguez and is a horror movie about zombies. The second, Death Proof, is directed by Tarantino and is a thriller about a crazed killer who murders women with his car.

Just knowing these two simple plot lines is enough. They are two stand alone films, and they are just as awesome as I thought they would be. This is the closest to a true homage that either director has ever done, and it works amazingly on screen. I was never a big on watching real grindhouse-style films, but these two films are exactly what I would expect them to be like. Just watching the films together was an experience that is simply unmatchable.

I was not expecting anything more than an obscene amount of violence, but the films were a lot more than that. Despite some missing reels, both films have just enough story to actually make them work as conventional films. As said previously, they could easily stand alone away from each other, and still be just as good (but probably not as awesome as they are back-to-back). Having part of the films missing really does not even matter, they work that well without them, and have all the trademark carvings of a Rodriguez or Tarantino film. Planet Terror drags on a bit near the finale, but that seems only because Rodriguez tried to pack in a lot more story to offset the action than the premise really set out for it too. Death Proof is loaded with dialogue, but it comes off brisk and so much faster paced. But all the same, both stay very much in tone with their particular genre.

The missing reels are only a complement to the fact that both of the film's actual picture quality is intentionally absolutely terrible. The films (more so Planet Terror) are scratched up and tarnished to the point where some scenes are practically unwatchable. You just stop seeing the action on screen, and only notice how beat up the print is. It looks old and worn out. And it works wonderfully, and makes the experience all the more authentic. The DVDs will not look anywhere near as stylistically worn as the films do here. Watching these films in perfect quality would just ruin the true homage-style the pair were going for.

The violence in both is another key element to the true impact of both films. Both are quite obscenely violent, and just become downright disgusting in a lot of sequences. They set out to push the limits of conventional 2007 era violence, and they more than do that. People are decapitated, ripped limb from limb, and just shot left, right and center. These people are destroyed beyond all comprehension, and just when you think they have done enough, it just keeps coming. Gorehounds will be in heaven, and those who have trouble looking at more than the slightest hint of blood may need to sit this one out. It gets to the point of being sick and twisted, but it works beautifully in the films, and they just would not be the same without it. The makeup artists put in a lot of work here, and it shows in how graphically violent the films are.

But by pushing it to the limits, the films also become darkly hilarious. It is not just the dialogue that will give you a chuckle, it is the effects and the action happening on screen. In some places, it just becomes so downright ridiculous that you cannot do anything but laugh. A lot of what happens is downright vile and inhumane, but it is done with such style and wit, that it just cannot be anything but hilarious. Every obscene and violent action done in previous Rodriguez and Tarantino movies is more than topped here, and fans will be hard set on not wanting some more by the time Death Proof concludes.

The faux trailers are also a nice touch, and in a way, push the boundaries of violence and hilarity even more so. I do not want to ruin any of them, but I just could not stop laughing. They are absolutely perfect, and they connect the films even more than they are already (not to mention the old-school ratings and preview reels). Rodriguez's Machete trailer that opens Grindhouse is amazing, and sets the tone for everything that follows. They only further how dedicated the filmmakers were to their original visions, and make the film all the more authentic.

The acting is campy, cheesy and right on the mark. Everyone is at their best, no matter how small their role, and no one feels like they are wrong for their part. Rose McGowan is a particular stand-out in both films, delivering every line and action to the highest degree possible. Kurt Russell is another stand-out, playing a character that is so evil that he exhales cool with every breath. And Freddy Rodriguez more than proves that he has what it takes to be a leading man. I did not like one particular character's sudden change half way through their film, but it works for the most part anyway.

There is nothing more I can say but that you need to see this film. It may be imperfect and a bit longish, but it is the closest thing to a brilliant homage that any filmmaker or audience has ever seen. It is everything that anyone could have hoped for and more.

9.5/10.