I'll have to disagree; I would have missed it greatly if DeathProof were tossed out. I saw this film, in it's entirety, 4 or 5 times, just in the theatre, and to be completely honest, I had a hard time with DeathProof the first time through, mainly because it comes right after Planet Terror, which is a near 360. But the more I saw them, the more I grew to LOVE Death Proof, and more I ended up seeing wrong with Planet Terror. At this point in my life, I've seen so many films, that frankly I've being a bit of a prick about it, and that's not an excuse, but a statement. I love Death Proof, and am able to admit that it has one major plot problem, however remain a devout follower of the film, even to the point, that it could very well be my favorite QT film to date. I love all the dialogue; people tend to talk on an on about nothing important, and that was something that he got a hold of fabulously here. The first set of women were lame, talking about bullshit, full of themselves to the max, the kind of person that always gets me all too eager to have just one more drink at the bar. But this was the moment of the film that we got to know Stuntman Mike, who was an awesome character, and when he kills them at the end, you don't care so much, because these woman just wouldn't shut the fuck up. Now when you come to the second bunch of woman, I found them a lot more interesting, and I wanted them to kick back, so that was set up fine, I thought. The problem was, he had nothing holding the two sections together, so in some ways, it felt like two short films, both of which starring Stuntman Mike. He could of have some easy fixes there, such as gone the Psycho route, having the second set of woman friends of the first, looking for Mike, or we could have just followed Mike as the lead after the first half was over. But this wasn't my movie, and QT did what he wanted to do with it. I'll agree that this film did not feel like a slasher, the way he'd planned it to be, however, the film did look 70's to me, mainly movies like Vanish point, or Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, which is an awesome fucking movie, I am in love with 1970's cinema all the way around, and not just with horror, and I think he did a spot on job.
As for Planet Terror, I'm really fond of Rodriguez but I am getting tired of his relying on computers "TOO MUCH." He's got a great imagination, and I'd love to see that come out of his hands, and not a computer, just. I really enjoyed Planet Terry first few times around, and hell, I still enjoy it, I just wish it would feel more organic. I LOVED Sin City, because I'm a giant fan of the Graphic Novels, and Frank Miller's Dialogue, but I'm having trouble sitting through those movies anymore, because they feel so cold to me. Planet Terror, as much fun as it is, just felt like a mock John Carpenter film to me, like something Carpenter could have done better... well at least in the late 70's, early 80's he could have, and I didn't love the zombies look for some reason, they felt like plastic to me. No you mentioned Dead/Alive; those zombies were great! I love Peter Jackson Zombies, I love Sam Raimi zombies, or deadites, whatever, I love George Romero Zombies, I LOVED Land of the Dead, and I loved 28 Days Later, Weeks seemed too much old hat to me, but the zombies looked the same. But Rodriguez's zombies, with the red, You Can't do That on TV slime just seemed cartoony to me, which seemed odd, because he said that he was trying for realism.
Anyway, sorry for the giant critique, but I felt like spewing a little.
"planet terror" makes a fine companion to "from dusk til dawn" but is too high tech and modern to even come close to the look or feel of a 70s low-budget actioner. it made a lousy companion to "death proof" but i enjoyed both films on their own.
the title sequence of "death proof" doesn't just resemble a 70s grindhouse flick...if i saw it cold i'd tell you it WAS one. as far as the pacing of the film that everyone complains so much about, all i can say is they must not have seen too many grindhouse movies. those films were NOT wall to wall action, suspense and special fx - - they didn't have the money! you watch 'em on video and you fast-forward through the boring dialog and scenery filler to get to the money shots, that's how it goes. "death proof" you fast-forward to the car crash and the car chase.
final thought on both of these movies:
they needed much more boobie. check out rottentomatoes.com list of "grindhouse 101" and you'll see a lot of films with a lot of titty. i rest my case. and my titty.
As for Planet Terror, I'm really fond of Rodriguez but I am getting tired of his relying on computers "TOO MUCH." He's got a great imagination, and I'd love to see that come out of his hands, and not a computer, just. I really enjoyed Planet Terry first few times around, and hell, I still enjoy it, I just wish it would feel more organic. I LOVED Sin City, because I'm a giant fan of the Graphic Novels, and Frank Miller's Dialogue, but I'm having trouble sitting through those movies anymore, because they feel so cold to me. Planet Terror, as much fun as it is, just felt like a mock John Carpenter film to me, like something Carpenter could have done better... well at least in the late 70's, early 80's he could have, and I didn't love the zombies look for some reason, they felt like plastic to me. No you mentioned Dead/Alive; those zombies were great! I love Peter Jackson Zombies, I love Sam Raimi zombies, or deadites, whatever, I love George Romero Zombies, I LOVED Land of the Dead, and I loved 28 Days Later, Weeks seemed too much old hat to me, but the zombies looked the same. But Rodriguez's zombies, with the red, You Can't do That on TV slime just seemed cartoony to me, which seemed odd, because he said that he was trying for realism.
Anyway, sorry for the giant critique, but I felt like spewing a little.
Yours,
BH.
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"planet terror" makes a fine companion to "from dusk til dawn" but is too high tech and modern to even come close to the look or feel of a 70s low-budget actioner. it made a lousy companion to "death proof" but i enjoyed both films on their own.
the title sequence of "death proof" doesn't just resemble a 70s grindhouse flick...if i saw it cold i'd tell you it WAS one. as far as the pacing of the film that everyone complains so much about, all i can say is they must not have seen too many grindhouse movies. those films were NOT wall to wall action, suspense and special fx - - they didn't have the money! you watch 'em on video and you fast-forward through the boring dialog and scenery filler to get to the money shots, that's how it goes. "death proof" you fast-forward to the car crash and the car chase.
final thought on both of these movies:
they needed much more boobie. check out rottentomatoes.com list of "grindhouse 101" and you'll see a lot of films with a lot of titty. i rest my case. and my titty.
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