It's the Reason for the Season
I'm still waiting for Saiyuki Reload vol. 7 to arrive in my area, but browsing Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez made the trip to the bookstore somewhat worthwhile. This is the companion book on the making of the movie. A lot of it didn't sit right with me, you know, the obsessing over all the expensive set and costume design, CGI, and computer aging you're using to make this movie look like a battered 70s film made on a cheap. Hearing the film techs say that the best way to make the film look beaten to crap was often just to take it outside and physically beat it to crap is also such a "Duh!" thing.
But the bit on Death Proof about it being a car duel with these old cars, stunt people, and actual stunts instead of effects made me happier contemplating that part of the movie. '72 Mustang! Charger vs. Challenger!
But the thing you have to browse the book for is the six to eight hilarious pages about the making of Thanksgiving, the preview for a fake early '80s slasher film. They recount the entertaining tale of how the guy behind Hostel: Part 2 squeezed in Thanksgiving after filming Hostel: Part 2 in Prague. There's the brain-bendingly disturbing picture of the Thanksgiving roast with stuffing coming out his orifices and meat thermometer in his ass. You have the 5 to 10-year-old Czech majorettes in their own uniforms and white boots for the parade filmed at 7 a.m. in Prague. Filmmaker to translator: "Make sure they and their parents know there will be blood involved, okay?" Once the Czech majorettes really understood what they'd signed on for, they really got into the running and screaming. The filmmaker hopes that they manage to get the fake blood out of their white boots. *g* There's the turkey mascot costume guy getting decapitated, the costumed parade Pilgrim with machete.... Michael Biehn is in it! And this whole story is told in such a funny manner that I was trying not to laugh too loudly in Barnes & Noble as I read.
So while Rodriguez and Tarantino obsessed over set and costume design and computer-aging the film, the Hostel guy was scrounging for extras and materials in Prague on a strict time limit filming in actual grindhouse style. Bless him.
There's some fun stuff in the book about design and cars and what-not, but the creme of the book for me was definitely the few pages and hilarious photos for Thanksgiving.
But the bit on Death Proof about it being a car duel with these old cars, stunt people, and actual stunts instead of effects made me happier contemplating that part of the movie. '72 Mustang! Charger vs. Challenger!
But the thing you have to browse the book for is the six to eight hilarious pages about the making of Thanksgiving, the preview for a fake early '80s slasher film. They recount the entertaining tale of how the guy behind Hostel: Part 2 squeezed in Thanksgiving after filming Hostel: Part 2 in Prague. There's the brain-bendingly disturbing picture of the Thanksgiving roast with stuffing coming out his orifices and meat thermometer in his ass. You have the 5 to 10-year-old Czech majorettes in their own uniforms and white boots for the parade filmed at 7 a.m. in Prague. Filmmaker to translator: "Make sure they and their parents know there will be blood involved, okay?" Once the Czech majorettes really understood what they'd signed on for, they really got into the running and screaming. The filmmaker hopes that they manage to get the fake blood out of their white boots. *g* There's the turkey mascot costume guy getting decapitated, the costumed parade Pilgrim with machete.... Michael Biehn is in it! And this whole story is told in such a funny manner that I was trying not to laugh too loudly in Barnes & Noble as I read.
So while Rodriguez and Tarantino obsessed over set and costume design and computer-aging the film, the Hostel guy was scrounging for extras and materials in Prague on a strict time limit filming in actual grindhouse style. Bless him.
There's some fun stuff in the book about design and cars and what-not, but the creme of the book for me was definitely the few pages and hilarious photos for Thanksgiving.