Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I'm going to keep this as brief as I can. One, because I'm incredibly tired, having stayed up past my bedtime to watch the first screening in Austin of GRINDHOUSE's regular run and am now looking at about hour 22 of consciousness. And two, because you've gotten a glut of review already and I don't know how much different mine will be.

Unlike most of my friends at the site, I did not read Tarantino's script for DEATH PROOF. I've heard both positive and negative reaction and even though I had it available to me, I opted to keep my cherry intact until the film. I read through KILL BILL years before it was made and I regretted it upon seeing the first film. I thought it was great, of course, but there was a level of excitement I didn't get because I already clued myself in on the story, the characters and where they all end up.

I didn't want to do that again.

I must also mention that I also write this review from the perspective of someone who collects film. 16mm and 35mm. I got hooked thanks to the Alamo Drafthouse and it's programming and have been collecting for nearly 10 years now... add on to that every QT Fest that has come through Austin since the very first screening at the very first one and 10 years soaking up the Alamo Drafthouse and it's unique and sometimes battered library and you have someone who has had the style Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are going for ingrained deeply into his brain.

Of the two films, Rodriguez's has the most "damage," meaning scratches, burns, jumps, etc. Its meant to look like it was run through the meanest, sharpest, ill-working film projector created by the hand of the devil himself. I love that, however I have to say I was a little disappointed in some of his stylistic choices. Every jump or scratch seemed orchestrated, part of the filmmaking. I know this won't mean a damn to 99% of the people who see the movie, but for me I missed the more random aspect to print damage.

But that's all surface. What's really important is how Rodriguez did writing and directing. He comes up with some great, colorful characters, realizing how important it had to be to distinguish them considering there's so many damn people in the film. In particular, Josh Brolin is as good as I've ever seen him, playing the mean old bastard Dr. Block, Rose McGowan is smokin' hot (although strangely distracting since my ex looked like a real world version of her), Jeff Fahey and Michael Biehn as a pair of brothers (one owns a BBQ joint and one's the sheriff) and Naveen Andrews, who I expected to be more of a bit player, but has a significant character.

Rodriguez took more time than I expected fleshing out these people, especially Freddy Rodriguez and Rose McGowan, who had a romantic history, and Marley Shelton's relationship with her family, including young son.

There's no fear from Rodriguez here, not that there's ever really a sense of him holding back, especially in his R-rated fare, but he's not afraid to push the limits. He's not afraid to put a gun in a kid's hand. He's not afraid to put more blood in a single squib hit than you'll find in an average kickboxing match.

And when it goes crazy at the end, it goes fuckin' crazy. Huge. I couldn't count the number of giant fireballs.

Tarantino's segment is 100% Quentin. From his foot fetishes, to throw-back references to Big Kahuna Burger, "That's a tasty beverage," or talk about foot massages in a sexual way. Long takes, complex camera moves, gratuitous violence. It's all here.

And he gets bonus points from this film fetishist. His print is mostly clean. It's been in the care of a knowledgeable collector, one that's undoubtedly been searching film collector sites and communities and scouring the Big Reel for that damn missing reel... Still, there are small moments, more subtle stuff, like a scene replaced with a scene from another print... maybe due to sprocket damage?... but spliced in a little off, missing a few frames, so you'll get a jumpy repetition of a few words.

I'm so damn glad I didn't read DEATH PROOF. I still knew more than I should going in, one of the hazards of this job, but I got to experience the full story visually. I don't know what I'd do if INGLORIOUS BASTARDS showed up on my doorstep... I probably couldn't resist and read it, but I'd feel really, really bad about it.

The movie really knocked me down. Kurt Fucking Russell is so good in the movie. He's not just intimidating or creepy or something, but he runs the gamut. He's charming, thoughtful, funny, loose, up-tight, hysterical, calm... he touches on every emotion.

There's a gore moment in this segment that was so good we had to see it at least 4 times, from different perspectives, showing us different things that happened during this giant scene. My God... some of the most realistic, yet somehow still over-the-top gore I've seen.

If you needed any reason to bow down at Kurt Russell's feet (you shouldn't. He should be topped up with his Carpenter work alone until about 2087), then this is the reason you've been waiting for.

Also, personally, I'm grateful to Tarantino for making a thoroughly Austin film. The first part of DEATH PROOF takes place in Austin and he's documented what I love about this city better than anybody has before it. We see the Alamo Drafthouse as well as the best eateries in town.

And, on another personal note, he gave a rather big part to Zoe Bell, Kiwi stuntwoman. The two places I love the most in this world are Austin, TX and New Zealand. He made an 80-some-odd minute movie that captures both places. Austin is visually and New Zealand is all from Zoe. She's energetic, happy, adorable and just oozes the essence of New Zealand every time she's on screen. She's going to win a lot of hearts, boys. She got mine.

The fake trailers... I'd seen Eli Roth's trailer a lot and I think it's great, but the one I loved the most was Edgar Wright's DON'T. It's funny, disturbing, fucking horrifying and completely right on the nose for that kind of LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE vibe, with a definite touch of great Fulci thrown in. I'd go batshit to see Edgar make that film.

The whole experience is fantastic and I desperately want to see this continue as a series. Hopefully it does well so we'll see further GRINDHOUSE double bills, preferably at least one feature based off of one of the trailers.

You don't want to miss this. It's a decidedly theatrical film, designed to give you that communal feeling of watching some truly fucked up stuff with an audience. It'll miss a lot on video...

Okay, I'm actually starting to nod off at the keyboard. I'm going to call it a night. Hope that review still makes sense when I wake up and re-read it...

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com