A quick review: "Grindhouse"
Submitted by Famous Whitewater on Wed, 04/04/2007 - 11:21.
Saw an advanced screening of "Grindhouse" last night. Since my media-ness got me in for free, I figure I should post something.
So, a quick review:
If you're a fan of Robert or Quentin (as if we're friends) and/or '70s exploitation films, you should like this movie.
It's stupid, yes, but utterly, fantastically so.
It feels a bit like Robert Rodriguez took the reins here and maybe Tarantino is just along for the ride. Still, Tarantino's film, whicch takes a bit to get rolling, proves he does dialogue better than just about anyone and sets him up as the master of making being cool...well cool.
Spoiler alert: The previews are as important as the movie.
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Grindhouse was well churned-out...
If you
are going
to see
this movie
...DON'T!!!
(er, uh...actually, DO - DO - DOOOOOO!!! If you see the movie, you'll understand my feeble attempt at humor above. If you haven't seen it yet, you'll be scratching your head saying 'Huh?')
"GRINDHOUSE" is FAN-F*ING-TASTIC! I don't think a lot of the younger audiences will get it--born in the time of videos and DVDs, they've not experienced the age of drive ins and second run double feature theaters--but EVERYTHING about the movie was dead-on right out of the 70s. The bogus trailers totally captured the tone and feel of the 70s exploitation coming attractions (even the colorful "Coming Soon" announcements between them seemed like the ones I remember).
Rodriguez' "PLANET TERROR" (the first feature) was an over-the-top schlocky gore-fest! I laughed all of the way through it. It was an excellent zombie/sci-fi sleaze-fest that truly seemed ripped right out of the late 70s (with the exception of the use of cell phones and other modern conveniences).
Tarantino's "DEATH PROOF" seemed like an odd mish-mash. A s-l-o-w beginning and it's herky-jerky storyline switches focus mid-stream (cleverly catching the audience off balance), but the last half of the movie redeems the film (sort of). To me, it was easy to see why they put Tarantino's feature last. At 3 hours and 15 minutes, without the crowd-pleasing "Planet Terror" to warm things up, people may have given up on and walked out of the movie a lot earlier if Tarantino's slower (and, in some ways, sicker) film played first.
The best part about the movie though, was the fake-o-rama previews. Of the four, surprisingly Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS" was the weakest. I can't decide whether "Machete" (which plays before either of the films) or "Thanksgiving" (a hilarious holiday-themed slasher movie) are my favorite. "DON'T" was really good too.
I'd recommend "GRINDHOUSE" strongly. I'd just caution you NOT to get a large soda at the snack bar beforehand (as it is over 3 hours long...and the "intermission" is NOT to be missed).
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