Review - Grindhouse
Writer(s):
Quentin Tarantino,Robert Rodriguez
Director(s):
Quentin Tarantino,Robert Rodriguez
Actor(s):
Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton, Rosario Dawson, Freddy Rodriguez, Danny Trejo, Josh Brolin, Naveen Andrews, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Stacy Ferguson,
Synopsis:
Directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez present two full-length movies in a new horror double feature.
In Tarantino’s “Death Proof,” Austin’s hottest DJ, Jungle Julia, sets out into the night to unwind with her two friends Shanna an Arlene. Covertly tracking their moves is Stuntman Mike, a scarred rebel leering from behind the wheel of his muscle car, revving just feet away.
In Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror,” two doctors find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by sores. Among the wounded is Cherry, a dancer whose leg was ripped from her body. As the invalids quickly become enraged aggressors, Cherry and her ex-boyfriend Wray lead a team of accidental warriors into the night.
Source: Yahoo Movies
Reason for wanting to see it:
All I have to say about this is hell ya this looks cool. This just looks way too over the top. I’d be in line for either one of these movies. When you put them both together plus add on trailers for fake movies by different directors you have what will most likely be the coolest movie going experience. It may not end up being the best movie but it sure will be cool.
Did you see the clip where they attach a gun to her amputated leg??? Now come on that right there sums up both entire movies!
Website:
http://www.grindhousemovie.net
Trailer:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/grindhouse.html
Rating: - 
I’ve been trying to think about how to review Grindhouse. Should I review it as one movie or as two. I’ve decided to go with treating it as just one. I believe this is how it should be reviewed. I also don’t see Grindhouse as so much just a movie as a movie going experience.
I was fortunate enough to win some tickets to Grindhouse. This meant that I was in a packed theatre with a crowd that was pumped up for the movie. This only helped to heighten my enjoyment of the overall experience. Grindhouse is made up of two very different movies and 4 or 5 trailers. Since we were at the pre-showing we did not have any real trailers and therefore we missed the Hobo With A Shotgun Fake trailer. I’ve since seen it on youtube but would have preferred to see it in the actual theatre. I’ll say right off the bat that Grindhouse is not perfect but it is very enjoyable and I had a blast watching it. I’ll give you my rating of 4 out 5 stars first so I can explain why I didn’t give it higher.
We start off with the trailer for Machete. I really hope they do turn this into a full movie. It is so bad looking in all the right ways that it would be totally fun. I think it would bomb horribly but it would still be great fun. After Machete we get Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. Planet Terror was so balls out over the top that it was terrific to watch. My only complaints would be Tarantino’s small role in it and the mini motorcycle. I enjoyed the whole sexual assault scene but Tarantino just felt out of place. The mini motorcycle was just going too far into slapstick for me. Other than that though Planet Terror was a total over the top funny gross out of a movie.
The next trailers were Don’t, Thanksgiving and Nazi Women of the S.S. Of the three Nazi women was the weakest but had a funny cameo. Thanksgiving was gross and Don’t had the best dialogue of any trailer.
The second movie was Death Proof. I feel that Death Proof succeeded in being more grindhouse like than Planet Terror. Even though it may be a better movie technically and in referencing the style I did not enjoy it as much as Planet Terror. I though the dialogue went on just a bit too long. I understand that these older movies had very limited budgets and relied on one or two big money shots and that the rest was mostly dialogue. Tarantino is a master at movie and music trivia and it showed but it just went a bit too long for my tastes.
The car sequences are broken into two parts. Both were amazing. I loved the multiple crash sequence of the first car bit. It highlighted the death of each woman perfectly and was totally brutal. The second sequence is much longer and is beautifully filmed. This is a car chase in the wide open and it is probably the best car chase ever filmed. I don’t think I can describe all the pieces of the last chase but it buy itself is worth admission.
The final thing that needs to be said about Grindhouse is the ending for Death Proof. The final 10-15 seconds sum up perfectly grindhouse cinema. It has been a couple of weeks now since I saw Grindhouse and I still can’t get over how perfect it was.
It is a shame that they are breaking the movie up into two pieces since it has not done to well. It is also a shame that people complain about originality being dead in cinema when you get two directors trying something different and most people ignore it. As long as the general public aren’t willing to put some risk in their movie going experience we are going to continue to see sequels for Are We Done Yet and fewer and fewer interesting movies that are different.
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