Grindhouse

Grindhouse

I went out last night and finally checked out this flick and goddam is this a great flick! First of all it’s 2 movies in one by 2 of my favorite directors. Second it’s a throwback to old exploitation/B-Movies/Horror movies. Third it’s a couple of guys making flicks they want to make, the latter being something that has become increasingly more important to me as of late.

Being that I’m a little late to the boat (along with everyone else who is going to see “Wild Hogs” instead of this movie) I’m sure you know the deal. Robert Rodriguez kicks off the show with “Planet Terror” a Gore-Fest of great Zombie movie proportions. Full of everything you’d expect from a movie starring a Go-Go Dancer with a machine gun leg Rodriguez has brought his filmmaking to a place where he can virtually put anything he can imagine on screen and he has a hand in every aspect of his work. He writes, directs, edits, does the sound track, acts as visual effects supervisor and director of photography. He’s working fully digital all from his own friggin’ house. He’s one of the few modern day filmmakers who are harkening back to the days of the 1970’s Film Brats. Back when guys like Francis Coppola were starting independent studios like American Zoetrope. Zoetrope never came fully into fruition thanks to some impatient studio heads, but the genesis of the studio spawned into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and others. Rodriguez’s own studio “Troublemaker Studios” is even farther from the vile clutches of Hollywood, residing in Austin, Texas. “Planet Terror” pulls no punches and is a wild ride complete with Rodriguez’s trademark fast action and super quick cuts. Along with some fancy “Missing Reel” editing, “Planet Terror” alone was worth the admission price.

In between features you have a handful of hilarious “trailers” by Rob Zombie and Eli Roth’s hilariously disturbing “Thanksgiving” trailer. All of this and we haven’t even gotten to Quinten Tarantino’s “Death Proof”.

Now pretty much everyone I’ve talked to or read about who’ve seen Grindhouse prefer QT’s flick to Rodriguez’s. But the best part of this is that both movies are completely independent of one another and are just different interpretations on a theme, the theme obviously being Grindhouse movies. Death Proof stars Kurt Russell in one of his best roles ever as Stuntman Mike. You know what. I’m not even about to spoil the wild ride Tarantino takes you on through this movie. It’s honestly one of the best times I’ve even had in a theater. Amazing dialogue with one of the best car chases since “The French Connection”. QT is flat out one of the greatest filmmakers ever. To ignore anything that this guys puts on film is waste of every movie lover’s time.

In true “Lazy Rambling” tradition I should go into a long diatribe about how the American Film going audience is a giant gaggle of blubbering idiots who should all have their theater going rights revoked for the remainder of their lives…. But I won’t.

Go see the movie…