Grindhouse

(2007) *****There will be no spoilers in this review.

Much has already been written about the re-teaming of Rodriguez and Tarantino for their loving homage to the Hollywood exploitation machine of the 1970s. As they’ve repeatedly acknowledged, their careers have been heavily influenced by the violent, sexual cinema that cheap studios were literally grinding out during that era; the kind of films that could never live up to their theatrical posters. Surprisingly, despite their mutual track records, Grindhouse inexplicably bombed at the box office. A lot of reasons have been cited including; people don’t want to sit for a 3 hour/11 minute movie; those who didn’t grow up in the 1970s just don’t “get it”; or perhaps releasing such hyper-violent fare on Easter weekend was a miscalculation. In Europe Grindhouse was released as 2 separate films and apparently Hollywood is currently mulling a similarly destructive decision. Tatantino is re-cutting Death Proof by re-inserting the “missing reels” in order to present it at Cannes later this spring. I’m sure that Rodriguez and Tarantino are taking it all in stride rather than scratching their heads.

Make no mistake gentlemen Grindhouse is a fucking masterpiece.Rodriguez and Tarantino are on top of their game here. Setting aside the actual films for a moment, what R&T have achieved is virtual time travel. When you sit down for Grindhouse, you’re immediately jolted back into the 1970s via vintage “Coming Soon”, “Enjoy Some Refreshments” titles, fake trailers directed by some the Hollywood’s best genre-busting directors including Rob Zombie and Eli Roth, and scratched celluloid with a hiccupping, static-infused soundtrack chock full of pops and screeching. The 1970s vibe grabs hold quickly and your ass is quickly kicked all over the place with its ultra-coolness. As soon as you catch your breath Grindhouse begins with Rodriquez’s zombie movie, Planet Terror. Bearing similarities to Return of the Living Dead, Planet Terror is a non-stop, gore-fest replete with cannibalism, beheadings, and every sick image you’ve come to expect from a Rodriquez flick. Think From Duck Till Dawn, but with much more of everything. If you saw this film in the 1970s you would believe that it was the greatest horror movie you had ever seen. Watching it in 2007 you’ll giggle throughout at Rodriquez’s amazing ability to capture the essence of why these films are so silly.Funny aside; when Planet Terror concluded with a big “The End”, several people in the audience actually got up and left, believing that Grindhouse was over! I’m certain that some day they’ll learn that they missed 90 more minutes of movie. It reminded me of the first concert I ever saw. Picture it, 1983, Worcester Centrum, Duran Duran. Having never been to a real concert before, I thought it was over when Duran Duran walked off the stage. Only the next day at school did I realize that I missed like 30 minutes of encores, including my fave, “Girls on Film”. Sigh.Following Planet Terror we’re treated to more fake trailers, including one that made me laugh so hard my abdomen still hurts as I’m writing this. Next up is Tarantino’s Death Proof, which makes Kurt Russell cool all over again and cements his iconic status. In Death Proof, Russell is in the unique position of playing a character that is clearly an homage to Kurt Russell characters. He’s every bit as cool here and it makes you wish that he’d choose more roles like this rather than crap like Dreamer, Sky High, and Miracle.As Jordan has postulated previously, Tarantino gets criticized for doing the same thing over and over rather than being praised for doing that one thing really, really well. Death Proof is everything you expect from a Tarantino film from pithy conversations to orgasms of extreme violence. However, what hasn’t been written about, at least not very much, is that Tarantino might have created the single best car chase ever put on film, my apologies to Ronin, The Bourne Identity, and The French Connection. Like all of Grindhouse, Death Proof is full of static, missing reels, which will have you yelling at the screen, burnt celluloid, and a soundtrack that doesn’t always sink with the actors’ lips. Death Proof has been criticized for being “boring”, which is utterly ridiculous. The “boring” parts are chock full of your favorite Tarantinoisms and once Death Proof kicks into high gear you’ll be holding your breath for its 30-minute, balls-to-the-wall, hyper-violent climax. Death Proof is the ultimate “revenge” flick that will leave you Hostel-satisfied. This review is way too long and I’m sorry. The bottom-line; see Grindhouse on a big screen in a good theater. It would be a crime to watch it any other way. This is the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a very long time.