Grindhouse - New Tarantino/Rodriguez film announced.. - Page 5

Colton · 04-09-2007, 05:37 AM

My wife and I watched this on Friday and absolutely loved PLANET TERROR, but DEATH PROOF was unbelieveablely slow - way too much talking ... I think the scene with the girls sitting around the table clocked in about 20 minutes of talking. At this point, I started getting irritated and bored. However, once DEATH PROOF picks up at the final chase - it was great.

My recommendation, take your bathroom / snack bar breaks during the first half of DEATH PROOF ... you won't miss anything. What Tarantino should have done is give us a classic girls in prison/cages movie.

Overall, a fun movie ... just wish DEATH PROOF was as good as PLANET TERROR.

Michael Allred · 04-09-2007, 10:18 AM

Well.....hmm. What are my initial reactions to "Grindhouse" after watching it tonight? First off, the fake trailers were pretty entertaining, even hackmeister Eli Roth made something enjoyable.

As for the films themselves, I have to say I enjoyed Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" more than Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof."

Rodriguez really embraced the "grindhouse" aspect to his film (what with the beat up film quality, "missing reels" and the like) all the while throwing heaps of zombie gore, laughs and surprises on the screen. I didn't buy Freddy Rodriguez as the badass (he's what? 5'4"????) but it was an enjoyable thrill ride. The score was very atmospheric and added to the overall mood of the piece. "Planet Terror" was not the cinematic milestone that he achieved with "Sin City" but his winning streak continues. Rodriguez knew what he had to deliver for this story and he did that in spades.

Now Tarantino I have issues with because (and this is my fault) I always have very high expectations for him. "Death Proof" really let me down. First, I am a HUGE Kurt Russell fan but there were long stretches of the film where he was nowhere to be seen. Second, in interviews Tarantino said to Russell that "Stuntman Mike" would be another cool character Kurt could add to his rogues gallery of Snake Plisskin, McCready from "The Thing" and so on. Well without ruining the ending for you, I will just say Stuntman Mike was promised a whole hell of a lot at the beginning of the film but it bottomed out in a big way, completely destroying the mystique and coolness of the character. Third, the dialogue, previously snappy and sharp in QT's work came off as dull and boring throughout. It wasn't remotely interesting and THAT is a huge shock. Granted there were a few cool sequences in the film with a few brutal and inventive kills but that's about it. "Death Proof?" I wish it would've been boredom proof. So much potential all thrown away for what boiled down to being a "chick revenge" flick.

So out of a total *****, "Planet Terror" gets ***and a half and "Death Proof" lands with a dud at **. Overall, "Grindhouse" (with fake trailers) gets ****.

RobertR · 04-09-2007, 11:16 AM

There have been way too many comments talking about the boring dialog in Death Proof for me to see this in the theater. I'll wait to rent Planet Terror. The person who called people who choose not to see this film in the theater "idiots" is way off base.

Jason Seaver · 04-09-2007, 12:06 PM

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Originally Posted by Michael Allred

I will just say Stuntman Mike was promised a whole hell of a lot at the beginning of the film but it bottomed out in a big way, completely destroying the mystique and coolness of the character.

Well, that's the complete point, isn't it?

Spoiler:

I'm glad the film ended with Death Proof; as much fun as Planet Terror was, it was overly busy and always seemed to try a little too hard.

And I'll second the comment of suggesting people find copies of Double Dare if they enjoyed the second half of Death Proof. I came in already a fan of Zoe Bell from that documentary, and hope more people can discover it.

Michael Elliott · 04-09-2007, 03:47 PM

Here are my little write ups on the two films. I'll come back with more comments later but I need to run out for a bit.

Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007)

Robert Rodriguez's horror film about a chemical outbreak, which turns the citizens of a small Texas town into zombies. The only thing standing in the way of the zombies going worldwide is a one-legged stripper (Rose McGowan) and her sharpshooting boyfriend (Freddy Rodriquez). This throwback to the low budget shockers of the 1970's hits all the right marks and also turns out to be the goriest film I've ever seen. How in the world this got away with an R-rating is a mystery to me because this thing is non-stop gore from start to finish and we're not talking about little spots of the red stuff here and there. Each single death (out of hundreds) has tons of the red stuff through heads being ripped off to zombies munching on some flesh. McGowan is the perfect "B" actress to make her role very memorable and goddamn was it nice seeing Jeff Fahey once again. Tom Savini, Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin and various others fill out the cast. The "grindhouse" effect of a cut up print with scratches and missing reels are used perfectly here. There's some humor throughout but the politically incorrect joke of a kid playing with a gun was a real hoot. Rodriquez fills the film with countless "bad" moments in great homage to the films this is trying to be like. If you're a fan of this type of thing then you'll love it. Others beware.

Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007)

Quentin Tarantino's homage to those car chase movies features Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, a psychopath who loves to stalk women in his death proof car. The girls, including Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Tracie Thomas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, stunt woman Zoe Bell and Rose McGowan (again) are all perfectly cast and really nail Tarantino's dialogue but the real star here is the terrific return to form of Russell. Russell wasn't the first choice by the director but damn was he a great one. Russell just has that perfect smile and twisted laugh to make this psychopath so charming that you'd like to have a beer with him even though you know he'd probably kill you afterwards. Russell nails all the right marks making Stuntman Mike live right up there with Snake Pliskin. This film is certainly a lot different than the first. This film takes its time in getting to know the female characters and I think this pays off in the end. Tarantino does a great job referencing other pictures so this will add some charm to die hard fans of the genre. Then there's the incredible chase at the end, which has to go down as one of the greatest ever. The chase is incredibly thrilling but it's also just a lot of fun. Seeing the girls being tortured by the "always having fun" Stuntman Mike was just a terrific time at the movies. I won't spoil anything but when the girl's seek revenge it's something that will make you want to cheer in laughter. Once again, if you're a fan then you'll love it but others beware.

Robert Anthony · 04-09-2007, 03:52 PM

This was a very interesting experiment, and both movies were entertaining. Tarantino definitely made the more authentically Grindhouse of the two, but neither of them actually hit the mark as solidly as they claim they wanted to do. They managed to make a pair of exploitation movies that don't actually have much (if any) exploitation in them.

Rodriguez's movie is an almost Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg-esque parody of the 80's dirtcheap actioner. It's an 80 minute punchline, on meth. and it worked really well in that sort of hyperactive hyperreal meta-meta context Rodriguez is playing in with Planet Terror. I'm also glad he got someone to help him edit.

Is it a grindhouse film? Not even close. But it's definitely entertaining and fun. Crap blowing up for no reason. Plot holes gaping wide and laughing like the open sores on the genitalia photos in Doc Block's OR. Wooden acting carved into pointy, hilarious weapons to stab the audience with. It's the Golan Globus film output of the 80's put in a blender and spewed onto the screen, and that's worth checking out. For all the positives and negatives that entails (Golan Globus didn't make much of anything good when they were around)

Death Proof is Quentin Tarantino's worst movie. That's not to say it's BAD--it's still fun and entertaining, and since it exists as an homage to Grindhouse/exploitation pictures (which are largely not very good at all) it fits. I'm not saying he set out to make a bad film on purpose, so I excuse the bad parts of Death Proof, I'm just saying if he had to stumble for the first time, it's a good thing it's in a double feature that can help EXCUSE the stumble.

For the first time ever, Tarantino's dialog has failed him, and the direction of his actors didn't help. It sounded more like Kevin Smith than Quentin Tarantino, something not helped by the fact Rosario Dawson was delivering some of that dialog. And as the movie follows classic exploitation flick pacing, that dialog needed to carry a LOT of the weight, and it doesn't. It's deflating and annoying and superficial.

The movie works only when it's purely kinetic, and when it moves, it MOVES. It's worth seeing in a theater for the maybe 25 minutes total of driving action in the 85 minute movie. Those 25 minutes make up for that dialog and then some, to the point where after it's sunk in, I think I like Death Proof better than Planet Terror right now.

But I'm not surprised it only made 11 million. It's a movie marketed to people who don't really get the concept of Grindhouse and no one really bothered to explain it. And the idea of getting regular moviegoers to watch two straight movies back to back might have something to do with it as well. Some speculate that the fact this is TWO movies wasn't made clear in the advertising, but it was made pretty blatantly clear, and I think that kept people away.

Outside of film geeks, hardly anyone goes to the movies to STAY THERE longer than the end of one movie. I've asked friends who I considered nascent film geeks if they wanted to stick around and watch another one, and I was shot down every time. People don't go to double features anymore. They're conditioned to leave after the movie ends, not stay and watch a second one. Much less a second one that stays truer to the concepts of Grindhouse than the first one, meaning the second one is going to be a lot harder for people to embrace, just as the original exploitation flicks they're homaging were little liked by most who set eyes upon them.

Michael Elliott · 04-09-2007, 05:05 PM

A few comments on some previous posts and yes, exploitation and grindhouse (42nd Street stuff) are different things.

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Planet terror was a nod to Cronenberg, Romero, and Carpenters early films with none of the subtext that makes them classics it was just a series of zombie

None of those three make "grindhouse" movies so it certainly wasn't really a nod to them. More like a nod to something like CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEATH THINGS.

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I've read say that "Planet Terror" is great but "Death Proof" stops the film dead.

I think people are being a bit unfair because these are two movies so one shouldn't "stop" the other. We're seeing two movies that have nothing in common. It's kinda like watching MISSION IMPOSSIBLE and following it up with HOWARD'S END and then bashing HE for bringing down MI.

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Yes. He doesn't seem to really understand the exploitation concept, or he thinks he's too cool to stick to it. Too bad.

Which grindhouse flicks are you comparing DEATH PROOF to? Grindhouse flicks were nothing but talking so I don't understand the heat DP is getting because it "talks". With a $500 budget (of a real grindhouse film) you can't do anything but talk.

BarryS · 04-09-2007, 05:11 PM

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Oh, and is there any catchier tune than "Chick Habit" by April March?

Nope. I've had that song stuck in my head for three days.

I loved, loved, loved Grindhouse. I've seen it twice, and I just can't stop thinking about it. I haven't been this obsessed with a movie since Kill Bill came out. I'm a Tarantino fanatic though, so that's the way it works. Seeing the film the second time, I really think Death Proof is the better of the two, however I'd love to see it as a stand-alone film, which supposedly it will be sooner or later. It's so absolutely a Tarantino movie that I loved every second of it. I want to see the longer version badly. Planet Terror is a really fun flick, but it's basically a John Carpenter ripoff (a really good one, though). Tarantino however managed to do something really different and original. A slasher-movie, chase movie, revenge movie. It has all of those elements and yet remains distinctly Tarantino. I love it.

Michael Elliott · 04-09-2007, 05:15 PM

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet but the theater is the ONLY way to see the two films together with the trailers. The Wein Brothers have already stated that these will be released separately on DVD and at different times.

That's not to say we won't get them together as a SE sometime down the line.