Grindhouse

Grindhouse ****

"Planet Terror"

Written and Directed by Robert Rodriguez

Starring:
Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling
Freddy Rodríguez as Wray
Josh Brolin as Dr. William Block
Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block
Jeff Fahey as J.T.
Michael Parks as Earl McGraw
Bruce Willis as Lt. Muldoon
Michael Biehn as Sheriff Hague
Naveen Andrews as Abby
Stacy Ferguson as Tammy
Nicky Katt as Joe
Hung Nguyen as Dr. Crane
Tom Savini as Deputy Tolo
Carlos Gallardo as Deputy Carlos
Quentin Tarantino as The Rapist

"Death Proof"

Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Starring:
Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Jungle Julia
Vanessa Ferlito as Butterfly
Jordan Ladd as Shanna
Rosario Dawson as Abernathy
Tracie Thoms as Kim
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lee
Zoe Bell as Zoe
Michael Bacall as Omar
Michael Parks as Earl McGraw
Rose McGowan as Pam

With appearances by Danny Trejo and Nicolas Cage

191 Minutes(Rated R for strong graphic bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, some sexuality, nudity and drug use).
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"Grindhouse" is the second film in the past month that will easily target the male audience, from teenage and onwards, the other being "300." After watching this one, it is easy to see what the winner is. "Grindhouse" blows "300" out of the water in terms of entertainment, satisfaction, and just good old film making. "Grindhouse" exceeds normal cinema and actually becomes an event. This isn't the type of thing that you go see at twelve o' clock in the afternoon while there are another ten people in the auditorium. This is something to see in the evening, with a crowd, hopefully even on its opening nights when all of those looking forward too it are going. I had the chance of seeing a special advanced screening the night before it opened, and the packed theatre just added to the fun.

Let me explain what "Grindhouse" is, just in case you don't know. It's quite clear from their past films that Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez love to take things from cinema's history that they like and incorporate them into their films. With "Grindhouse," they took the 70's style of "grindhouse cinema" and created their own version of it. Grindhouse cinema was normally in a small theatre where they played B-horror movies, exploitation flicks, and anything loaded with graphic violence, strong sex, T +A, the works. Basically everything that makes a movie worth seeing(small joke!). In an ironic twist of fate, the people that probably see this movie were most likely not even alive with these films came out, and probably have never seen any. So Tarantino and Rodriguez made their own B-cinema flicks-each one about ninety minutes or so, and they tied them together with flashy theatre advertisements and fake horror movie trailers with directors like Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth, and even one by Rodriguez himself. The result is a three hour and eleven minute pure entertainment rush, and one of the best nights at the movies that you'll ever have.

After a short trailer called "Machete," directed by Rodriguez starring his friends Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin, we watch "Planet Terror," also directed by Rodriguez. "Planet Terror" takes place in Austin, Texas, where stripper Cherry Darling connects with her former boyfriend, Wray. However, a showdown at a military base ends up releasing a batch of toxic chemicals which begin to turn residents of the town into blood-sucking zombies. When Cherry gets her leg ripped off by one of the zombies, her way of escape seems bleak, up until Wray attaches a machine gun to the stump. Also trying to survive is the cheating wife Dakota Block who is just trying to escape her husband, who is bent on revenge. Rodriguez really does go for a sleazy look to his film, and even went back to add film scratches, out of focus work, and at one point(during the sex scene sadly) ends up burning the film up and then adding a sign that says "Missing Reel-Sorry for the Inconvenience." This is all supposed to add to the grindhouse feel of poorly treated prints and bad projection work. "Planet Terror" even goes beyond corny at times, and is just overly violent and downright hilarious. Some of the dialogue is horrible, some of the violence is extreme, but its all part of the mood.

Then instead of any intermission there are three more fake horror film trailers-"Werewolf Women of the SS"(featuring the best cameo I've seen in recent memory), "Don't," and "Thanksgiving." Finally there is Tarantino's "Death Proof," which is extremely tamer compared to the "blood splattered" way of "Planet Terror." "Death Proof" stars Kurt Russell(who is fantastic here) as Stuntman Mike, a man who likes to follow groups of girls and then kill them using his death proof movie stunt car. He gets four easy victims with the sexy Radio DJ Jungle Julia and her three friends(one of whom treats Mike to a lap dance in another "Missing Reel" segment), but gets more than he bargained for when he targets Kim, Abernathy, and Zoe(played by real life stunt woman Zoe Bell who you could actually fall in love with here. She is just so damn cute and charming.)

Watching the two films back to back it is easy to see the extreme differences, and this is where I actually wonder if Tarantino had his heart into the spirit of the grindhouse. While I loved Tarantino's film a lot, it seemed as if he were just making an actual film and not part of the grindhouse double feature. For example, it is not as cheesy, the dialogue is almost pitch perfect, the acting is downright excellent-the camera even follows a conversation between the four girls for a good eight minutes. He does not scratch his print up much, and except for a few bad edits in the beginning it is pretty smooth sailing in that department. And when he does add a "Reel Missing" segment it just seemed a little forced and unnecessary. It's almost as if he made a film that was too good for this type of picture. But it also ends up being his best film after "Pulp Fiction." Unless writers like Kevin Smith(who is funny at times), Tarantino does write dialogue that is more true to life. I never get the feeling that he is trying to be clever, it just comes across naturally, while Smith does at times seem to be trying too hard.

In this way, I cannot pick either "Planet Terror" or "Death Proof" as the best of the two, because they are both so perfect in their own way. They both make "Grindhouse" the experience that it is. It is somewhat like watching the two volumes of "Kill Bill." If you recall, the first part was extreme action while the second was heart, and a lot of talking and conversations. The whole of "Grindhouse" works that way as well. Do not expect the action from "Planet Terror" to eek out onto "Death Proof," but do not let that drift you away from "Death Proof." And if you don't like "Death Proof," you have to at least admit that the car chase scenes were breathtaking(with no CGI at all!) and that Zoe Bell is absolutely perfect and impossible to take your eyes off of. She just manages to make every shot shes in about her. When you walk away from "Grindhouse," you will be full and satisfied. You will want to sit through another three hours, and you would feel that it was worth more than $11. This is the best event of the year so far, and the best time at the movies I've had in ages-and one that will make you forget about "300."