Screening Log: April 8

April 8:

Grindhouse
Directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
Written by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews, Stacy Ferguson, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Four stars (out of four)

Summary: The first film, Rodriguez's Planet Terror, follows a zombie outbreak as it spreads from a research facility to the community at large. There are a number of survivors, including the local sherrif and his barbecue restaurant owning brother, a doctor, a scientist, two crazy babysitters and a go go dancer with a gun for a leg. The second, Tarantino's Death Proof, is about Stuntman Mike (Russell), a bloodthirsty man with a stunt car designed to keep the driver perfectly safe. Also part of the Grindhouse experience is four fake movie trailers (directed by Rodriguez, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright) and other little goodies thrown in for fun.

Short take: How do you even start to critique a movie like Grindhouse, especially since there's not exactly a movie called Grindhouse? Planet Terror certainly felt like the more complete movie, but I think Death Proof was actually more interesting, simply because Tarantino was really the inspiration for this whole endeavor. I think everything about these movies was pretty much perfect, right down to the strategically placed scratches, burns and missing reels, giving it the total grindhouse experience. My only real complaint is that Tarantino perhaps knows too much about movies because he certainly name and title drops like crazy in Death Proof, which reminded me a lot of that scene in Garden State where Natalie Portman says that a song by The Shins will change his world. It's a little too "look at how awesome I am," but so far, Tarantino has proved that he can support his boasting. I just hope he can keep it up.