Grindhouse

Take two trendy writer/directors known for “off the wall” flicks. Throw in a couple of outrageous scripts, an ample assortment of name actors, more than enough girls in hot pants, zombies with bubbling faces, the KNB Special Effects team, a major car chase, peer group directors in acting parts, and the gimmick of a “double feature”...mix well...add a few other gimmicks...and what do you have? You have Grindhouse: Planet Terror and Death Proof.

If you are not already a fan of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill (Pt 1 & Pt 2), Jackie Brown, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, or Sin City...Grindhouse may not covert you to being a raving fan of Quentin Tarentino and Robert Rodriguez. If you are already a fan, after seeing Grindhouse you will say, “Cool. What’s next for these guys?”

I must admit when I saw the first teaser/trailer on television a while back, I thought Grindhouse was some sort of Tarentino offering similar to Hostel, or The Devil’s Rejects, ie, Horror/Graphic Violence/Thriller/Blood Splatter/T & A/Zombie movie. After seeing Grindhouse yesterday, I discovered that it is indeed a Horror/Graphic Violence/Thriller/Blood Spatter/T & A/Zombie movie...but a fun one! Again, if you are not already a Tarentino/Rodriguez fan...you may not get this movie. And, yes, one of characters in these flicks is the gratuitous violence itself. With that in mind...

Don’t take the kiddies. Don’t take granny. And don’t go see Grindhouse if you are overly sensitive to all the stuff I mentioned above. Beyond those guidelines...see it and expect to have some fun at the movies.

I do have a few complaints, minor complaints, but complaints. First, one big request for Tarentino: Stay behind the friggin’ camera! I’m not sure why you insist on playing characters in your own movies. If you continue to insist on doing that, just play yourself...that’s the only part you do well.

Second complaint. I really think it could have done without the scratchy film, faux bad edits, and missing reels. Although I suspect the missing reels may show up on DVD, just a guess. These are the “grindhouse” gimmicks most of us more mature moviegoers remember well from the olden days. Only in those days, they just happened! All the phoney movie previews at the beginning, and the “Coming Soon” featurettes in between the two flicks worked very well by the way. Nice touch.

(Spoiler in the next paragraph. No big deal though, it won’t “ruin” the movie for you.)

Lastly, the ending of the second movie, Death Proof, was just too funky and abrupt...even for these guys. An extended 100 mph car chase through the countryside ends, the girls kick their tormentor's ass for what seemed like an eternity, then “The End”. Poof...over!

Loretta and I enjoyed Grindhouse. In the scheme of things (our movie-going) it would rate a 7 out of 10 on our scale...if we had a rating scale, which we don’t. Like most people who actually go to the theater to see movies, we are disappointed more than we are “wowed”. We weren’t disappointed at all with this. It was a fun, at times gross, in-your-face Action flick. And that car chase was excellent, especially since it appeared to NOT use any CG effects whatsoever.

I don’t need to go into details about the story lines here. If you are a fan of this genre, you know what it’s about. If you aren’t a fan, click here for some insight, a unique website that is almost as much fun as the movie itself. Then, go see Grindhouse. Don’t take it too seriously. It is “tongue-in-cheek” movie making at its best. Plus, there's always Bruce Willis. Oh, and Zoe Bell...who was Uma's stunt double in several flicks. By the way...Uma's not in this (go figure)!