The days of the drive-in are back, but inside this time
Written: Apr 06 '07 (Updated Apr 09 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Just cheesy enough, great acting for the genre...
Cons: except Tarantino, and his movie's a little slow too.
The Bottom Line: What a wonderful waste of 3 hours! It'll make you love movies again.
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| hist's Full Review: Grindhouse |
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are movie geeks. Of course, they make no secret of that, and watching any of their films can bring some of that movie nostalgia to your life. Yes, some are better than others, but all of them have a certain style that says "I love movies, and I want you to love them too." Being big fans, we had to go see Grindhouse as soon as it came out, and it didn't disappoint. Harkening back to those halcyon days of "grindhouse" pictures that are heavy on the blood and sex and light on the quality acting and story, Grindhouse definitely brings that sense of nostalgia, even if you're not familiar with the genre (which I'm not). It has everything from the "missing reels" when the drive-ins would misplace a reel and jump to another scene, to a recreation of the film burning up. Not only that, but the trailers have to be seen to be believed. These are definitely drive-in type movies, and they're a blast to watch.
Grindhouse consists of two movies: "Planet Terror" written and directed by Rodriguez, and "Death Proof" by Tarantino. "Planet Terror" is a zombie story about a small Texas town dealing with some zombies created by a bio-chemical plot. "Death Proof" is about a maniac stuntcar driver and the women he terrorizes. Both stories are definitely C-list movies, but that's ok because that's what they're supposed to be. "Planet Terror" has buckets of blood and slime in it, with limbs being chopped, chewed, and torn off to go with head-shots and other forms of violence, and is very much the typical zombie movie. "Death Proof" doesn't have the blood, but it's got the trademark Tarantino dialogue and lots of car-violence. What's most impressive about the latter is that all of the car chases are "live," rather than CGI.
Something this campy could easily have crossed the line into silly, but the directors walk that thin line. They are fans of this genre, and this is definitely an homage to these movies rather than a parody. The films are bad, but they are intentionally bad. I know in this day and age that can be a small line to walk, but they do it brilliantly. The acting is mostly terrific as the cast take their roles just serious enough to avoid parody without going over the top into exceptional cheese. The only exception to that, and it's an unfortunate aspect of almost every Tarantino picture, is Tarantino himself. He appears in both pictures, and isn't good in either one of them. He's worse in "Planet Terror" because he has more to do. His dialogue delivery is horrible and his lines are really bad as well. I'll give him a pass, though, because the rest of his stuff is so damn good.
In fact, it's really hard to judge these movies as movies because they are so intentionally overdone. That being said, I enjoyed "Planet Terror" a lot more than "Death Proof," as it was more consistent. The dialogue is wonderful, the blood and explosions are sickening (but in a good way) and Freddy Rodriguez is definitely intense as Wray (the main male character). Anybody who's seen the trailer knows about Rose McGowan and her amputated leg (now with machine gun attachment!). These scenes are priceless, and the rest of the cast is clearly having fun with the movie as well. The ending will be familiar to most zombie fans, which also adds a comfort level to it.
As for "Death Proof", it begins with Tarantino's gift for dialogue, but unfortunately it goes on a bit too long. It takes ages for Russell to be introduced, for example. The beginning of the segment has three women talking about everything from men to sex. Then, once we've gotten some car action, we get a new group of ladies with even more discussion of men and sex, peppered with some dialogue about movies in general (the women in question being in the movie industry). Once that's over, though, and we get to the climactic car chase, everything's forgiven as Tarentino gives us one of the most memorable car chases I have ever seen. The entire segment is intense, well-shot, and almost enough to give you motion sickness (especially if you're sitting in the front row, like we were because we arrived fifteen minutes before it started and those were the only seats left). Again, the acting is perfect for the genre in question.
Two masterful things have to be mentioned before I finish, though. First is the old-movie feel to everything. It looks like the print has numerous scratches on it and it can fade in and out occasionally (along with the aforementioned film-burn). There are the missing reels right when the action's going to get good (this happens in both pictures). On top of that are the delicious trailers in perfect Z-movie fashion. There are four trailers, one before "Planet Terror" and three in between the two movies, that have some delicious cameos in them (watch for Nicolas Cage as you've never seen him before!). I'd tell you what they are, but that would ruin the surprise. There's also a trailer mixed in with the real trailers that's actually a short movie that won a prize offered by Rodriguez. If a movie called "Hobo with a Shotgun" sounds fun to you, it is.
During Grindhouse, you just might feel like getting out of your car and walking to the concession stand, or maybe make out in the backseat. It captures the feel of the drive-in experience that perfectly. This is definitely not a movie to bring the kids to, as there's a lot of violence, language, and some nudity (though no nudity really in the movies themselves). I've definitely seen better movies at the theater, but this is probably the most fun I've had there in a long time.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: David Roy
Location: Vancouver, BC
Reviews written: 721
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