Kerri and I went to see Grindhouse at the Kendall Theater last night. It was a fantastic romp – completely over the top – and I came out wanting more.
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If you’re not familiar with the concept of Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino teamed up to create a B-movie style double feature and show both films, along with some terribly wonderful “fake” trailers (a number of which may turn into real films), as one.
The first feature, Planet Terror, is a zombie flick written and directed by Rodriguez. There’s tons of blood and gore, bad acting and unrealistic action, all of which makes the film great. Everything – from the bubbling flesh of yet-to-be zombies to the fountains of blood (somewhat reminiscent of Kill Bill vol. 1) when people (and zombies) are shot – is completely over the top and makes Planet Terror the most fun hour and a half I’ve had in a movie theater in a long time.
The second movie, Tarantino’s Death Proof, is a completely different beast. It tells the story of a crazed stunt man (an excellent Kurt Russell) and how he uses his car – a stunt man modified, “death proof” vehicle – to hunt down and kill seemingly innocent women. There’s a lot of dialog and back story in Death Proof and a lot of exciting action and it all contributes to the suspense and surprise of the final moments of the picture.
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The trailers that sit before and between the movies are excellent as well. Machete, what Rodriguez calls a “mexploitation” film, is about a double crossed Mexican gun for hire who takes revenge on his ex-employers. As soon as I saw the trailer I wanted to see the whole movie, which Rodriguez will be releasing direct to DVD at the same time as the Grindhouse DVD. Thanksgiving is a take on Halloween and is hilariously creepy.
If you haven’t seen Grindhouse yet, please do. Despite the three plus hour running time the films move fast and are tons of fun.