Movie Review: Grindhouse

I was really really excited for this movie. I saw some bits on the Internet back in November or December, and from that point on I couldn't wait. Yeah, I'm a movie geek, wanna fight about it?

Well, it pretty much delivered what I expected which was just insanity. Granted, I am a little too young to remember the days of the actual grindhouse movies from the seventies and early eighties, but I have seen my share of terrible movies on cable from that era to get the general idea. From what I can piece together this movie captures the experience pretty well, right down to the cheesy "Our Feature Presentation" place cards.

It also has four trailers that should all be made into movies (I think a Machete movie is in the works, uh fuck yeah). In my opinion the Thanksgiving trailer is the best simply because it takes every horror movie cliche from the 80s and throws it together. If you are as demented as I am, you will laugh your head off.

I guess I should break down my thoughts in two bits like the movie itself.

Planet Terror:

Standard zombie movie and Rodriguez pulls it off pretty well. The acting is wooden and the special effects are both disgusting and very cheesy. The plot makes no sense whatsoever (what the fuck does Bin Laden have to do with it?). Oh, and Rose McGowan is hot. I mean I knew this way back when Scream came out, but I'm glad she is back up on the big screen instead of banging Marylin Mason. That really creeped me out. I think my favorite parts are:

1.) The missing reel from the middle of the movie which seems to have contained the story behind Wray's mysterious past. Hilarious, especially since they keep referencing the story the rest of the movie without revealing it again.

2.) The little kid shooting himself in the head. I don't know why it cracked me up, but you knew it was going to happen and it made little to no sense. I liked that his mother kept carrying his body around after that.

3.) Jar of testicles. Yes, why not.

4.) The bad jokes. You know they are coming and it still makes you cringe and smile all the same.

Death Proof:

Well, going into a Tarantino movie you should know that his characters will talk at great length and throw in references to movies you have probably never seen while an awesome soundtrack of songs you have never heard are playing in the background. Not to mention numerous toe shots, the man has a serious foot fetish. Most of Death Proof delivers this and if it doesn't sound like your type of movie than skip it.

The other bits of the movie involve a horrific crash, which will definitely make you a little nauseous and an amazing car chase done without CGI if the articles I have read online are right. If Zoe Bell really did those stunts I might have a rather sizable crush on her. It helps she looks like Uma Thurman (she is her stunt double) and has a kiwi accent.

So, what did I think? Well, it is fucking long. That's ok though, I was still smiling walking out and glad that two grown up kids can get their masturbatory fantasy made into a hilarious movie. I mean, the whole experience isn't that deep and the fact that I would watch it again means they have accomplished their goal. It's nice to see that maybe Hollywood still has a little bit of a soul left (probably not thought).