GRINDHOUSE- 9/10
Wow guys. What can I say? I waited for 10 months for this baby, and let me tell you…it kicked me square in the cajones. And you know what? I loved the kick more than anything I've seen this year, including 300.
Craig, myself, John, Logan and our main man Brett decided to fulfill our Grindhouse experience by going to the latest show offered at the Regal. 10:50PM. Perfect. We chose the row with the stickiest floor possible, grabbed some seats and prepared for a true experience.
The film started with Rodriguez's Machete trailer. Freaking rich and totally true to the nature of exploitation films. (The plot was sorta like the new Marky Mark flick Shooter, but it looked more BA than that one did.) Danny Trejo reprised his role as Robert's main man when it comes to butt-kicking Hispanics, and boy did he bring a sweet role to the screen.
Then.
Planet Terror. This flick was exactly what I was hoping for and so much more. The plot was pretty straightforward, story not always being Robert's strong point, but he fully supplied the viewer with enough guts and gore to make an Iron Stomach Champion sick. I loved every second of it. The story comprised of some biochemical weapons being used by the army (a perfect cameo by Bruce Willis) and the effects that the virus has on the town. The main characters were played by Rose McGowen, Freddy Rodriguez, and my boy Naveen Andrews from LOST. Mcgowen played the "go-go dancer" Cherry Darling, and Rodriguez played the legendary gunslinger El Wray. Like I said before, there wasn't too much character work done on these people, but what the heck. We all know that wasn't why I was at the theater! The "Zombies" of the story were dubbed "Sickos," and were characterized by these really nasty sores on their body, pulsating with puss and blood. (By the way, this film is definitely NOT for the squeamish, seeing as everything someone is killed there is literally an explosion of guck and guts and blood and gore and…well you get the point.)
Two of the best cameos in the film were Michael parks as From Dusk Till Dawn and Kill Bill's Sheriff Earl McGraw, and Carlos Gullardo from El Mariachi. Those just made if for me. I loved it. I am a Robert Rodriguez geek so those meant a lot.
The story played out and it was full of delicious gore scenes and zombie fun. I really don't want to give to much away, because I think if you know way too much about this film, it's not going to hit you as hard as it should.
As I said though, if you are at all grossed out by any of the following, beware Planet Terror! Exploding heads, testicals, castrations, bubbling bubbles of molten flesh, intestines, random pink goo, squirting tongue pimple juice, melting penis, or disembowelments.
You will love every second of this film on the other hand if any of the previous appeal to you. Seriously.
The best part of the film for me was the MISSING REELS section. I am not going to give away its place in the picture, yet just for background information I will explain its origins. Back in the hay day of exploitation films, perverted theater workers would often jack a reel of the juiciest sex scenes and take them home for a little one on one time…yeah. You get the point. It's good.
Overall I loved Planet Terror for everything that it was. It was not a serious film and I had just plain fun. I was extremely pleased.
THEN.
There was the "intermission." Featured in this intermission were the faux trailers created by Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Esgar Wright.
First was Zombie's "Werewomen of the S.S." The story was Hitler propaganda about how he used Werewolves and such to fight the US soldiers. Eh…I had mixed feelings about this one and it really didn't do much for me. Too bad too cuz I think that Zombie is a really talented filmmaker. His Halloween should be good.
Next was Edgar Wright's trailer. Now for those of you, who are not familiar with Edgar Wright, shame on you. Bloody shame on you. Edgar is one of the freshes and most skilled filmmakers on the scene today. His film Shaun of the Dead is one of my top 5 of all time. It is a hilarious film starring his life-long partners Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. If you haven't seen this film….AGAIN, SHAME ON YOU. Anyway, onto his trailer. Wright created a trailer in the same thread as Raimi's Evil Dead. It was genius. The trailer was called "DON'T," and featured many Wright usuals including Frost and Pegg. I really don't want to give away this one, so just enjoy it to the fullest.
Lastly was Eli Roth's trailer, "Thanksgiving." This was probably my favorite. I caught it on IGN.com a week before the film came out and let me tell you, I loved it just as much when I saw it in the theater. Basic plot entails a man dressed as a Pilgrim who kills people on Thanksgiving. Absolutely genius. Pure exploitation fun.
FINALLY.
Death Proof. The latest Quentin Tarantino film. Now, immediately after the show, I had very mixed feelings about this one, yet now, a week later, I decided that I truly did like it. The main idea for this one, is that a man named Stuntman Mike kills girls with his car. Pretty BA premise. I like it. Kurt Russell plays the stuntman and does so perfectly. His cool manners and tough guy look totally embody everything that Tarantino wrote for him. The other players in the film were all lovely ladies. Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Tracy Thoms, and again Rose Mcgowen all played premier roles in Tarantino's dialogue heavy slasher.
If I had one complaint about Death Proof initially, it was the amount of chatter. Most of it, seemingly useless. Don't get me wrong. I don't think that there is snappier or smarter diologue in all of cinema than Quentin Tarantino. I love the guy death. I think that he just may have gotten carried away with this one. Most of the talking revolved around sex and drugs. Entertaining? Sure. But boy did it get boring after awhile. A scene reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs played out in a diner lasted nearly 6 minutes, and seemed to never end. It just started to distract me from the main point of the film: STUNTMAN MIKE AND HIS PLIGHT TO DESTROY ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL WITH HIS NOVA!
On to Stuntman Mike. Russell is one of the most gifted actors around in my opinion. Tarantino loves the guy and I think his written character is embodied perfectly by Russell's swagger. One of my favorite scenes from the film is when Mike takes on a John Wayne persona and actually slurs and swaggers his way through a quote by Duke. Perfect.
The cars. The cars in death proof were probably the best part. Old car films like Bullitt, Vanishing Point, and others come to mind when watching the film, primarily because that is the direct era that this particular exploitation effort was taken from. Zoe Bell, the double for Uma Therman on Kill Bill, was perfect in this film. She portrayed herself, as a stunt woman, and that is exactly what she did: STUNTS.
The best action scene of the film involved her on the hood of a Dodge Challenger, being rammed by Russell's Nova. It was pure adrenaline. I loved it.
The other characters were a bit dry, but something that any Tarantino fan would notice is Tracy Thoms' direct correlation to Jules form Pulp Fiction. She was him as a female. Exactly. Down the amount of times she dropped the MF bomb. Brilliant.
There is no way I am spoiling the end of this film, because that was indeed what made the bountiful amounts of talking all the worthwhile.
My opinion changed for the better as I realized that the characters that Quentin established through these scenes were very well thought out. I just think that it took too long to get to that point. Way too long. But I decided that I was willing to look past that and appreciate his efforts at recreating a genre that appealed to him as a young man.
All in all guys, Grindhouse was a pure riot. I loved it. I think that any film geek like me will thoroughly enjoy it and even those who aren't drunk on cinema will enjoy it too. If you are looking for 3 hours and 5 minutes of pure fun, PLEASE SPEND IT ON THIS FILM!
This has been my favorite film of 2007 so far, and I feel honestly fulfilled after my 10 months of waiting.
So without further ado from me, grab your popcorn, get your butt in a chair, and enjoy your sleazy experience at the Grindhouse.
TB
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