Grindhouse

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)

**** (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.

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.

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?

The idea of the movie is to make a homage/parody of B movies and recreate a distilled grind-house experience, with an oversized budget, A-list star cast and by two top directors, resources that none of the trashy genre movies had. It is a work of love and a guilty pleasure to watch, though the first part, Planet Terror, is much more successful and would rate 9+, while the Tarantino entry is somewhat of a miss. The fake trailers, the first of which resulted in an eventual feature - Machete, are great.

Planet Terror is the very definition of camp, and its only (slight) flaw is how obvious and in-your-face that campiness actually is. This part is action filled, and works perfectly as great, over-the-top, always hilariously fun, gory cheesecake. The second part is slower and somewhat different in tone, and is perhaps better viewed separately, it has its moments but Planet Terror is the superior part.