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Capone Visits GRINDHOUSE!!
Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here. You know, every so often I take stock at what's going on in the world at large, and ask myself, "What's missing in this big ol' world right at this moment that would just make everything seem a little more alright?" And today an answer came back to me: "Another GRINDHOUSE review."
If you care even an iota about the two films that make up the experience known as GRINDHOUSE, then you know you're in for a long day or night at the movies and one that both delivers on every expectation you might have, while never missing an opportunity to throw in a few surprises along the way. Writers-directors-conceivers Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY) and Quentin Tarantino (KILL BILL) have pulled together the complete GRINDHOUSE experience in their three-hour-plus package. You get trailers (albeit for fake exploitation films, directed by the likes of Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth, and one by Rodriguez), ancient warnings about the explicit nature of the material, vintage-looking opening credits and music, missing reels (both films feature "missing" footage that might have been really helpful in getting from point A to point B in the story, but that's the fun), and damaged film stock.
But there are other, more subtle elements at work here. The fact that many of the same actors appear in both films or in the trailers (sometimes playing the same characters), an acknowledgment that some great character actors used to be in a lot of these ultra-low-budget, limited-run gems. And both offerings have much more dialog than I thought they might, again in an effort to remind us that the non-existent money available for elaborate special effects throughout the film made these filmmakers of the '60s and '70s fill their movie with loads of exposition and saved the money shots for the last 20 minutes.
Rodriguez's sci-fi/horror offering PLANET TERROR is the roller coaster ride loaded with squishy zombie-like creatures, bullets and limbs flying in every direction, and explosions coming out of your ass (not literally, but if that did happen here, it wouldn't have surprised me). In two star-making turns, Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez star as a couple who find themselves mixed up in a military-spawned plague that it taking over their down and infecting all residents into flesh-eating zombie-like creatures. The lasting image from this film is go-go dancer McGowan losing her leg and Rodriguez equipping her with a machine gun in its place.
A secondary plot involves married doctors (Josh Brolin and Marley Shelton). She is planning on leaving her abusive husband with her young son and setting up a new life with her lesbian lover. But when the zombie infestation overruns the hospital where the couple work, plans change. PLANET TERROR is loaded with a great supporting cast, including an uncredited Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews ("Lost"), Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn (TERMINATOR), horror makeup legend Tom Savini, Michael Parks, and even a decent, sexy turn by Black Eyed Pea Stacy Ferguson. And while both films want to call to mind the films of old, they are both clearly set in the present, with characters calling each other on cell phones or text messaging.
Copious amounts of blood and guts flesh out the film nicely, allowing Rodriguez to dazzle us with great effects work, stunts, and even a sweet love story and tale of sacrifice. The film's coda is laughable but totally appropriate, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.
While Rodriguez's film is about good messy fun, Tarantino's DEATH PROOF is an entirely different monster altogether. This is a film about sheer, blinding aggression. It is speed and rage and revenge in their purest form. It's also two stories in one. The first is about a group of Austin, Texas girls (Jordan Ladd, Vanessa Ferlito, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier, who naturally is billed simply as "Sidney Poitier") who drive around town looking for hot guys to hang with and possibly have sex. They spend a lot of time talking about nonsense and wearing very little clothes. They come across a guy who calls himself Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), or more precisely, he tracks them to a local Chili Bar. Also featured in this film is McGowan again, this time in a platinum blonde wig, as a slightly drunk woman who needs a ride home. Stuntman Mike just happens to have a bitchin' car, fortified to withstand just about any accident, as any stunt car would be. But Mike's car is also an instrument of death, with which he gets into horrible accidents that he can walk away from but his passenger cannot. The first half of the film is mostly talk, either between the girls or between Mike and various women. The conversations are light, funny, peppered with not-so-veiled sex talk, and pure Tarantino.
Then the film cuts to a new set of women, all working on a movie shooting in town. The girls include two stuntwomen (Tracie Thoms and Uma Thurman's KILL BILL stunt double Zoe Bell), an actress in the film (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and crewmember Rosario Dawson. Bell (playing herself here) wants very much to drive a specific Detroit muscle car on what is said to be her first trip to America, but once she finds out that a local man is selling one (she just wants to test drive it, not buy), he and Thoms decide to have a little fun. While on their test drive, Bell climbs onto the hood of the vehicle, which is going at top speed. This section of the film goes on for so long that you begin to wonder how it ties into the beginning of the film, and then along comes Stuntman Mike. What ensues is one of the greatest car chases I have ever seen, not just because of the inherent danger in driving this fast, but because during the entire chase, Bell is clinging to the hood.
And as satisfying as the chase is, what happens after the initial chase is even more spectacular. In terms of sheer blood spilt, PLANET TERROR wins hands down, but DEATH PROOF builds up and fleshes out its characters to the point where we actually care about them. I have adored the hell out of Zoe Bell since I saw a documentary a couple years back called DOUBLE DARE, part of which profiled her move from doubling "Xena's" Lucy Lawless on that show to coming to the U.S. for the first time and getting the KILL BILL work almost immediately. Her performance here is very natural and sweet, even when her mouth is spewing all manner of four-letter words. And, yes, it makes a huge difference knowing that it's actually her on the hood of that car. There's no possible way to fake it. The car chase makes you forget to breathe, and it's the main reason I'll go see this movie again when it opens.
I hope these two gifted and immensely fun filmmakers attempt something like this again in their careers. These aren't parodies or copies, per se; they are more updated tributes to a style of filmmaking that has largely disappeared. So often, the posters or trailers for films like these were so much better than the actual films, and make no mistake, most grindhouse films are junk. But PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF take this potential for greatness and make it happen. It's an endurance test at times, but one that is well worth the aching bladder.
Capone
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getting kinda specific with them plot points...i would have been a little perturbed reading this if i hadn't already seen the film.
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especially in a theatre full of ignant fools...
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...should immediately start being used in their TV spots, print ads, etc, wherever those one-line reviewer quotes are used. What a great, tongue-in-cheek tagline that would be. As for the spoiler-iffic review--I've read all the reviews for this flick on this site, and somehow I still don't feel spoiled. Somehow I feel like the details of the plots aren't as important as just the overall experience, and all the reviews seem to have done a great job of not revealing the final outcomes of either story, so good job all around.
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What happened to the beautiful, curvy woman? Now all I see is another Hollywood beanpole like all the others. DAMN YOU HOLLYWOOD!!! Why do you keep destroying the curvy, beautiful actresses? Christina Ricci, Rose McGowan, Sara Rue, Lindsey Lohan, Jennifer Connelly... The list goes on and on. If Marilyn Monroe had come along today instead of in the 50s, she'd be told to starve herself and get some fake boobs and a nose job. Leave some women in movies looking NORMAL for those of us who like that, willya?
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Richie are what happened to Hollywood women and dont get me started on those garbage shows like The Swan and Extreme Makeover. They are Horrible just horrible.
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Not really. In fact, we were all kinda hoping you'd get hit by a bus. Nobody gives a fuck, dipshit.
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I have nearly every film made by these two. I think they blow hot and cold. I was excited at the end of Jackie brown in that I wanted to see What QT did next. I found Kill bill to be a mixed bag. Some parts great some not so. Sin City left me cold, mickey Rourke was great and I will admit that but he looks like a cartoon character these days so I guess he fitted into the thing. I would like to see QT and RR modernise some those movies long forgotten B movies. Especially the dramas. Get Scorcesese doc and you will see what films I mean.
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hopefully Quentin will finally release the ultimate slice your cock off directors cut of Kill Bill.
http://tinyurl.com/pv8do -
I'm sorry but it was not the greatest chase scene ever. That title still belongs French Connection. I'm interested in what eveyone else thinks, and if anyone has a list of their top ten.
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You won't regret it. Make sure to catch the faux-trailers though.
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-Bullitt
-The Blues Brothers
-Ronin
-The Bourne Identity
-The Road Warrior
-The French Connection
-Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
-The Matrix Reloaded
-Vanishing Point
-Goldfinger
Oh and yeah I agree leave after the
retro previews.I thought kurt was awesome in the movie but hes not in it enough -
Anyone...hello...is this thing on
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Death Proof is better. The initial Russel attack is insane. Planet Terror may as well've been directed by the Zucker Brothers. But,overall compared to the other two great entries of the year, 300 and Zodiac, Zodiac still wins out.
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I know this is the wrong way to look at these films, okay? I understand that. But still.....When the car chase was underway with Zoe on the hood...WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST STOP THE EFFING CAR??? Again, I know "doing what makes sense" is as far from the point of these films as a pleasant scent is from Oprah's nether regions after a 10-mile jog. But ... COME ON, now...Btw, the chase wasn't that great, but ending scenes with Russell and the chix were fantastic. The whole experience of the movie was an absolute blast overall. A fantastic time at the flickeroos.
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Granted, she's close to being too skinny, but ... GOOD LORD, she was a goddess in this flick.
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All that the chase scene consisted of, was one car bumping the other from behind.Alot of bumping from behind doesnt make a great car chase scene No obstacles, no suprises or close calls. Although the first scene with the death proof car taking out the four girls in the red car was great.
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All that the chase scene consisted of, was one car bumping the other from behind.Alot of bumping from behind doesnt make a great car chase scene No obstacles, no suprises or close calls. Although the first scene with the death proof car taking out the four girls in the red car was great.
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I must be heard!
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She had a mad amount of surgery done on her face.
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is that I got to see something I've never seen before: the bad part of a bad movie. I seriously laughed in the middle of the 30 minute chat-fest between the girls in Deathproof, because I knew QT knew that I'd sit through the whole damn thing, regardless of how bad it was. I paid my money, watched some kick-ass (and hilarious) action scenes, and he had me waiting for the next kick-ass action scene knowing full well that I couldn't change the channel and that I wouldn't walk out. Hearing some of the nervous people in the theatre laugh out loud at anything that might be considered funny (like the Sixteen Candles schtick) was some of the best entertainment in this movie. For that and the rest of the experience, hats off to RR and QT.
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I loved the whole thing. Yeah, Deathproof was almost a complete 180 from Planet Terror, but the whole thing was awesome. I was laughing the whole way through Planet Terror. I thought it was fucking great. Badass and hilarious. Loved it. The Nicholas Cage moment in the trailer had me close to tears. I was laughing harder than anyone else, but I couldn't help it. It was fucking HYSTERICAL. The trailers were all pretty cool, although yeah, Zombie's was the weakest one. I also liked Deathproof. I loved the way Tarantino cut the first collision. That was fucking awesome. And I also loved the restaurant scene. Sure, it was all talk, but it was done in one long-ass take, and the way the camera moved around...I thought it was great. And the chase sequences are pretty intense. I was on the edge of my seat. Mostly because of how he used Zoe Bell. That gave him the freedom to shoot the scene however he wanted and because of that it was a much more visceral and intense experience. Great experience through and through.
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Does no one feel manipulated by Deathproof? The Chase scene is built upon a gimmick: We will get a real stunt girl, who plays a stunt girl in the movie to hang on the front of a car in a chase scene so we can move the camera any way we want and show the audience that it's not a stunt double doing the stunts. That will be amazing!!! Come on!!!!
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How did Rose pull the trigger on the machine gun leg? Didn't make sense. Annoyed the piss out of me.
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Nowhere near my top ten. Actually rather silly (except for the terrific V8 roar). I agree we can't ask the characters to act sensibly but still, c'mon, just pull over and stop. Or shoot the crazy throught he window. And what's Rosario doing landing punchs like SHE'S a stunt woman. The chase scene totally lost me when it committed the cardinal sin: turning spectacular automotive icons into crumpled reilcs from a demolision derby.
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To all who asked questions like, "how did Rose pull the trigger on her machine gun leg?" Or make statements like, "why didn't the girls just shoot Kurt's character through the window?" The beauty about exploitation films from the 70's is that they rarely made sense and the plots were normally filled with holes.
Tarantino and Rodreguiz crafted one of the most fun experiences i've had at the movie theater in a long time. This movie is supposed to be filled with plot holes. It doesn't have to make sense as to how Rose pulls the trigger on her machine gun leg. If you leave your brain at the door, you could have as much fun as I had at the Grindhouse. -
as to how could that happen. it's like holy shit dude it's a fucking movie! how can you ask a question like how can she pull the trigger when the fuckin movie is about zombies.
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If you're genuinely bothered by how she's able to fire, then you missed the entire fucking point of the whole Grindhouse experience. As for why they didn't just stop and whatnot? Holy fuck, do you really think that Quentin fucking Tarantino didn't think about that?? I mean, do you really think you're that much more clever than he is and that you spotted a "mistake??" No, what you did was miss the fucking point. I'm not saying he's the smartest and cleverest ever, but he's a fucking cinephile to an insane degree and he knows how to make a movies. These two films may seem like they're poorly constructed when, in fact, they're anything but. Almost everything you see up there is deliberate, even the continuity errors and the plot holes and the nonsensical shit. If you can't realize that and just have fun, then you're missing the point.
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if you're gonna whine about it being brainless, you've totally missed the point. Pick up some of the grindhouse gems of the early seventies like Arnold's Wrecking Company or Eat My Dust, and let me know how they stack up in that department. GREAT SHOW.
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Okay, I get it, you have QT’s poster on your bedroom wall. I’m not saying you have to take it down. Death Proof didn’t work, not for most people, and because of it Grindhouse will have the Condemned sign out before next weekend. Move on.
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it didn't ruin the movie for me or anything, but it was just the fact the rose kept holding her hands open like a retarded magician every time she jumped or shot the fucking thing. it reminded me of halle berry in x-men, what a tard.
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You know, you're right, Death Proof is going to be the most divisive part of the Grindhoue experience. It's the part that will generate the most complaints. I admit that I need to see it again because it wasn't what I expected, and I want to see how I'll feel after a second viewing. But no...I don't have a Tarantino poster. Although I do plan on someday getting myself a Pulp Fiction one...
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But the reason I went on that mini-rant is because I thought it was ridiculous for people to complain about the plot holes and departures from reality when they were fucking INTENTIONAL and meant to be part of the experience of these films. Here you are complaining about a chick with a gun for a leg, when you have fucking crazy zombie things running around and a doctor who has a syringe gun she wears in her stockings. And not to mention that she has an injury she sort of forgets about later on in the movie. It's like, you're complaining just to fucking complain. And btw, 9000rpm, note that I'm mostly discussing Planet Terror. Regarding Death Proof, I was just saying that being able to shoot Zoe Bell made that chase sequence that much more visceral and intense. Not necessarily the greatest chase ever. And yeah, casting her just so he could do that? Why the fuck not? I think she did a damn good job all throughout.
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So at the end of Planet Terror, after guessing the obvious last lines some dipshit woman behind me gets up and goes "Well, I won't be paying to see that. Oh wait, I already did." And walked out. The theater laughed their asses off at her and everyone who wasn't a dumbshit got to stick around and hear Kurt Russell HOWLING LIKE A BANSHEE. Fuck leaving in the middle. And fuck questioning why they didn't stop the car. This movie was made so they WOULDN'T stop the car. That is all. Also, I reccomend bringing a pair of beef-n-potatoe burritos into this movie. It made them twice as delicious as usual.
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The Tarantino/Rodriguez Days are sadly over...
I guess the 1st half was kind of fun, with its’ silly, half-retarded sort of charm, but after Planet Terror ended, the picture as a whole went straight down the cinematic-shitter. Like a seven-headed, sphincter-mouthed, diarrhea-spewing hydra of the apocalypse, this steaming corn-riddled turd of a film really let most of the audience down in a big way. I have not seen such a packed theatre abandon ship in such droves since having the misfortune of watching Freddy Got Fingered. It was so bad in fact, that the theater ushers thought there was a fire or some other misfortune as they watched dozens of people make their escape. What a foul piece of optical shit. What a sad waste of time and money. There’s a old Spanish saying that comes to mind about this debacle;
‘Tanto pedo para cagar awado”
Which literally translates into;
“For such a loud, boisterous, series of farts, you sure shitted rather watery” -
i remember noticing a dozen or so people (out of the 40 or so in the whole joint) that left 20 minutes into deathproof. i'm glad i stayed, but i can understand how bored they were.
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