'Grindhouse', a modern day double feature. by singate

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

'Grindhouse', a modern day double feature.

POSTED BY: SINGATE
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 18:26
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VIEWED: 5246
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Saturday, April 7, 2007 8:03 PM

I went to see this Saturday afternoon and was completely blown away. I won't try to convince anyone that these films were the greatest of all time but running them back to back along with mock trailers and advertisements produced my best cinema experience in a very long time. I actually left the theatre feeling as if I just had a great time. This is a throwback to childhood and needless to say I haven't experieced this at movie since I don't know when.

The first of the two films, Planet Terror is directed by Robert Rodriquez. In this effort he manages to amp up his love of over the top violence to an almost unbelievable level. It is a zombie film at heart with some of the most gruesome visuals I've seen in the genre or anywhere else for that matter. The thing is, the violence is so ridiculous that it becomes laughable. The acting is surprisingly good considering the film is a homage to cheesy '70s horror flicks. Rose McGowan gives a great performance as the lead character while the rest of the cast is comprised of many familiar faces.

The second film, Death Proof is directed by Quentin Tarantino. Similar to many of his other films this is largely character and dialogue driven. I experienced a bit of a let down during the first half hour after watching the in your face blood and guts of the first film. Kurt Russell plays a twisted stuntman who drives around looking for victims to run down in his "death proof" car. Though he is billed as the star, he has surprisingly little screen time until the end of the movie. That being said he manages to make the most of his character and really sets the tone for the movie. Tarantino throws a bit of a curveball with a mostly female cast. Much of the story is told by two different groups of women who have run-ins with Stuntman Mike. The film features one of the best car chases in the past twenty years, finishing with a legendary beat down.

Something that both films share is a nod towards bad drive-in movies of the past. The directors intentionally added what looks to be bad editing throughout the double feature. A few examples are: lines in the film, skipping a few frames, and those old "reel missing" messages.

The last thing I will mention are the fake trailers at the beginning and during the intermission. These were some of the funniest ideas for movies I can imagine. They even had Nicholas Cage appear in one of these things. If Grindhouse is any kind of success I would love to see them actually develope a few of these into more double features.

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We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Saturday, April 7, 2007 9:24 PM

VEGASKNIGHT

I went and saw Grindhouse saturday at the 8pm showing with a few friends in Boise. There was only like 10 people in the entire place sadly. The first part "Planet Terror" we all loved. Tons of action, gore, corny dialog and such. The fake trailers were fun. Then "Death Proof" came on screen. That was one of the most boring leadups to an awesome car chase I've ever seen. A bunch of annoying women talking about random stuff that had very little to do with anything, then Kurt Russell shows up and does some cool stuff for the last like 15 minutes. They could have cut out the hour plus of blabbing and I think it would have been fine. As one critic for I think the San Francisco Times said, watch the first half, then leave. Except for the car chase at the end, I agree.

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Sunday, April 8, 2007 3:10 AM

SISTER

Husband and I saw this last night; gotta say first half had its moments; the cheesy feel of the "reels missing" and previews were funny...the second half...b.o.r.i.n.g. AND absolutely HATED how Kurt's character turned....at the end...But man, Tarentino is getting so "wordy"...reminded us of Kill Bill Vol. 2, kind of a letdown after Vol. 1. I mean, those 'stream of consciousness yakking scenes...it's like the stuff that is going on in my brain All freekin' day...I don't need to see/hear it on screen. Seen better car chases, too...just my opinion. Did LOVE that he used a real-life stuntwoman as a character, tho; saved his portion of Grindhouse - again, in my opinion. Lots of people did leave the theater while "death proof" was meandering on, and on, and on....

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Sunday, April 8, 2007 4:38 AM

REGINAROADIE

I agree. I never thought I'd be saying this, seeing as how I love filmmakers like Tarantino, Smith and Linklater whose films are overtly chatty, but "Death Proof" did seem to go on and on with the wordplay. If he had just gotten rid of maybe the first 20 minutes or so with each of the quartet of girls and just started with them in the bar or the eatery and had more of Stuntman Mike, then the movie would be better.

Also, one small problem that both movies had was that they kinda chickened out with the explicit sexuality. Now both used the "missing reel" gag really well in that when Rodriguez used it it was to disorient and skip over some important exposition, and Tarantino used it with no build-up and was just arbitrary. But despite both their movies having close up shots of the girls' legs and ass, they seemed to shy away from the sex scenes so as to not incur the wrath of the MPAA. I think that if you're going to truly recreate the grindhouse experience, then go all the way. Have a hardcore sex scene or a lap dance to

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go along with Naveen Andrews head exploding or a helicopter mowing down a group of zombies or Quentin or Bruce Willis becoming a walking glob of goo and pus.

There was more nudity in the fake trailers than the actual films.

What was your favorite of the fake trailers? While it seems like a rip-off of ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, I'd love to see the film version of MACHETE, if only just to see Danny Trejo finally be the lead in an action movie. DON'T was a really good send up of the American trailers for international movies that overly rely on narration. How it keeps saying "Don't do this or that" over and over. THANKSGIVING works as a trailer, but I'm not sure if it would work as a full length movie. But WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS is a Rob Zombie movie that I actually want to see.

And ironically enough, if it were to be a movie and Nicolas Cage were to play Fu Manchu, he'd have more dignity and respect than as Johnny Blaze in GHOST RIDER.

**************************************************
"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Sunday, April 8, 2007 6:01 AM

SISTER

...Werewolf women...yeah, that was my fav trailer.

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Sunday, April 8, 2007 8:11 AM

CONSTANCE

lucky you guys. Grindhouse will be split into two movies in Europe. Supposedly because its no tradition for double features... We'll have to wait for the DVD.

Constance

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Monday, April 9, 2007 10:11 AM

OATH

'Nicolas Cage as...FU MAN CHU!'

The place f*cking ERUPTED.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ERTIA: Uh huh. We aren’t the one with the unusual fondness for the floor, are we?

PAIN: Well maybe the floor has an unusual fondness for me did ya ever think about that?

- Travel To Persephone PT2 (Life Onboard Serenity)

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Sunday, April 22, 2007 3:33 AM

REAVERINA1985RIVIERA

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:

Also, one small problem that both movies had was that they kinda chickened out with the explicit sexuality. Now both used the "missing reel" gag really well in that when Rodriguez used it it was to disorient and skip over some important exposition, and Tarantino used it with no build-up and was just arbitrary. But despite both their movies having close up shots of the girls' legs and ass, they seemed to shy away from the sex scenes so as to not incur the wrath of the MPAA. I think that if you're going to truly recreate the grindhouse experience, then go all the way. Have a hardcore sex scene or a lap dance to
Select to view spoiler:
go along with Naveen Andrews head exploding or a helicopter mowing down a group of zombies or Quentin or Bruce Willis becoming a walking glob of goo and pus.
There was more nudity in the fake trailers than the actual films.

Actually, Tatantino and Rodriguez had to do some MAJOR cuts in order to squeek by with an R rating. dumb MPAA

. All the good stuff will restored when it hits DVD.

---------------------------------------------
How many Jaynes does it take to change a light bulb?

Two. One to try to put it in and another to find a bigger hammer.

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Sunday, April 22, 2007 5:25 AM

REDLAVA

I saw this a couple a weeks ago and I thought it was very well done too. All thought for those of you who are going to wait for DVD, I urge you to not wait and to see it in the theater. You may not get the full effect of what both directors intentions were by watching it at home. There are some movies that you should go see in the theater, and in my opinion, this is one of them.

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Sunday, April 22, 2007 6:18 AM

LEONIDAS

Yeah, Grindhouse!
Me and blackbeanie are dying to see that, aren't we?

I love Tarantino, one of my favs beside Joss.

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Monday, April 23, 2007 1:43 PM

THIEFJEHAT

I just spent the better part of a year working in central Tennessee, specifically in Wilson County around Lebanon. The car chase held special meaning to me since I actually knew exactly where it was shot and had been through the area several times in 2006.

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Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007 6:26 PM

CATWOMAN

I totally loved the double feature,lots of action,lots of blood,crazy but awesome chicks.all the arsenal and explosions.not to mention the 3 chicks who beat the mess out of Kurt Russells character(hope i spelled his last name right)i give it a totally must see!

Bridget

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