"I never miss!"
Last night I finally went to go and see the Rodriguez/Tarantino collaberation, "Grindhouse." I went into it figuring I'd prefer the Tarantino film "Death Proof" more than Rodriguez' "Planet Terror" and ended up leaving completely satisfied with both. I put my comments under the cut. I promise there are NO spoilers, I just didn't want to take up everyone's friends page.
PLANET TERROR
Directed By: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews and Bruce Willis.
I've been a fan of horror films ever since I was in the fifth grade (gruesome, I know), which may be behind the reason why I loved "Planet Terror" so much. It has a wonderfully ridiculous plot that involves a military base infected with a foreign zombie virus, while a one-legged go-go dancer and her former boyfriend try to defend the survivors who remain uninfected.
Rodriguez gets the seediness of grindhouse films down to perfection, complete with scratches across the frame, missing reels and crackling audio. It felt like I was watching a film at the drive-in in the 1970's. It had a really authentic feel, and the gross-out factor was perfectly balanced with humour and lame one-liners.
The cast is terrifically cheesy, especially McGowan as Cherry the go-go dancer, Rodriguez (yay, Rico from Six Feet Under!) as her ex-boyfriend Elray, and Shelton as a young doctor trying to escape her evil, doctor husband (Josh Brolin).
Overall, I thought it was beyond enjoyable. I loved every minute of it and, out of the two films, I think I enjoyed it more.
DEATH PROOF
Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson and Rose McGowan.
I love Tarantino. I love all of his films. He's one of the directors that, if I were an actress, I'd wait in line to do a movie with him. I went into "Grindhouse" looking forward to his segment. The plot is simple enough, as we see Stuntman Mike stalk women in his car before chasing them and causing them to die in tragic accidents. He never leaves his car to commit his crimes, and willingly sacrifices his own well-being for the perfect car crash.
This felt like a Tarantino film, which I thought was one of its flaws. There was far too much dialogue in the beginning, and while I usually love Tarantino conversations (example: discussing Madonna in "Reservoir Dogs" or the French metric system in "Pulp Fiction"), the discussions between the women in this film weren't interesting enough to warrant the first half of the film being entirely dialogue. It slowed down the pace of the film, especially considering people's adrenaline was still pumping after "Planet Terror". However, once the film gets going, you are in for quite the ride as Stuntman Mike picks the wrong women to bother, as they fight back.
The cast is great, especially Russell, who is hilariously over-the-top as Stuntman Mike. When the women he's stalking unexpectedly fight back he acts like a spoiled child, "WHY? Why me?"
Overall, once the first half hour is out of the way, Tarantino picks up the pace and gives you a thrilling film that, for the most part, is one big car chase.
*The fake horror commercials in between the two films are HILARIOUS. My two favourites are "The Werewolf Women of the SS" and "Don't". Although, they can't beat the title of another commercial, "Hobo with a Shotgun."
Rating: FOUR AND A HALF STARS (out of five)
PLANET TERROR
Directed By: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews and Bruce Willis.
I've been a fan of horror films ever since I was in the fifth grade (gruesome, I know), which may be behind the reason why I loved "Planet Terror" so much. It has a wonderfully ridiculous plot that involves a military base infected with a foreign zombie virus, while a one-legged go-go dancer and her former boyfriend try to defend the survivors who remain uninfected.
Rodriguez gets the seediness of grindhouse films down to perfection, complete with scratches across the frame, missing reels and crackling audio. It felt like I was watching a film at the drive-in in the 1970's. It had a really authentic feel, and the gross-out factor was perfectly balanced with humour and lame one-liners.
The cast is terrifically cheesy, especially McGowan as Cherry the go-go dancer, Rodriguez (yay, Rico from Six Feet Under!) as her ex-boyfriend Elray, and Shelton as a young doctor trying to escape her evil, doctor husband (Josh Brolin).
Overall, I thought it was beyond enjoyable. I loved every minute of it and, out of the two films, I think I enjoyed it more.
DEATH PROOF
Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson and Rose McGowan.
I love Tarantino. I love all of his films. He's one of the directors that, if I were an actress, I'd wait in line to do a movie with him. I went into "Grindhouse" looking forward to his segment. The plot is simple enough, as we see Stuntman Mike stalk women in his car before chasing them and causing them to die in tragic accidents. He never leaves his car to commit his crimes, and willingly sacrifices his own well-being for the perfect car crash.
This felt like a Tarantino film, which I thought was one of its flaws. There was far too much dialogue in the beginning, and while I usually love Tarantino conversations (example: discussing Madonna in "Reservoir Dogs" or the French metric system in "Pulp Fiction"), the discussions between the women in this film weren't interesting enough to warrant the first half of the film being entirely dialogue. It slowed down the pace of the film, especially considering people's adrenaline was still pumping after "Planet Terror". However, once the film gets going, you are in for quite the ride as Stuntman Mike picks the wrong women to bother, as they fight back.
The cast is great, especially Russell, who is hilariously over-the-top as Stuntman Mike. When the women he's stalking unexpectedly fight back he acts like a spoiled child, "WHY? Why me?"
Overall, once the first half hour is out of the way, Tarantino picks up the pace and gives you a thrilling film that, for the most part, is one big car chase.
*The fake horror commercials in between the two films are HILARIOUS. My two favourites are "The Werewolf Women of the SS" and "Don't". Although, they can't beat the title of another commercial, "Hobo with a Shotgun."
Rating: FOUR AND A HALF STARS (out of five)