Movie Review: Grindhouse

I went to the theater yesterday to see the movie Grindhouse. Honestly, I had zero expectations... believe it or not, I don't like all of Tarantino's movies, I mean, sure, I love Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs, but I never really got into the Kill Bill movies. I don't know why, I would've thought they were right up my alley, but instead they just kinda bored me.

Anyways, Grindhouse was amazing! It was thrilling, exciting, just a blast to watch, I don't think I've ever been as entertained by a movie as I was by this one.

Basically it's two movies in one, the first part is a film directed by Robert Rodriguez, it's called Planet Terror. The opening scene takes place at a dance club and showcases the lovely Rose McGowan go-go dancing, certainly an auspicious beginning! So, the film is pretty much just a crazy zombie movie... the action is great, tons of crazy stuff happening... super extreme violence, which really didn't bother me because it's so overdone that the violence loses most of its usual meaning. And the film is really crisp, seamless, suspenseful, atmospheric, the dialogue is fun and great, the characters are wonderfully crazy and stylized... Weird stuff happens, like Rose McGowan's character loses a leg and gets a super-gun screwed in to take the place of her leg... did I mention that there are lots of needles in this movie, one attractive lady doctor has a reserve of needles which she wields like a carnival knife thrower. Cool. The film is just superb, the violence, visuals, humor, execution of the scenes, dialogue, it just doesn't get more perfect and fun than this.

The second film is directed by Quentin Tarantino and it's called Death Proof. After Rodriguez's film, I was doubtful this second part would be as good. Death Proof was different in style and content, but it was every bit as good! This movie involves young attractive women, a pyscho serial killer who kills young attractive women with his car, and car chases with said young attractive women and psycho serial killer, and constant references to the movie Vanishing Point, which I've never heard of... Anyways, Tarantino's film is less cartoony and less stylized than Rodriguez's film, and it's a little more focused on dialogue and not as visually stunning or violent in comparison to the Rodriguez flick, but it's just as cool and exciting... although, if forced to choose, I have to say Planet Terror was my favorite of the two films.

These films spoof tons of older films and are very silly but the spoofing and silliness never manage to overshadow the action, story, and atmosphere of the films. It's hard to be original and stick with your story when you are constantly spoofing crazy shit, sometimes a story loses all sense of meaning when that happens, but that never happens with these films, they are just too fresh, crazy, and fun!

And the craziest thing is that these films are so damn funny! I wish I could tell you about the end of Death Proof, I laughed so hard...

These movies have everything going for them, they are funny, filled with beautiful action, great dialogue (which would seem weird because it's very B movieish), awesome suspense and atmosphere, I mean, it's all good, all around! and to see these flicks back to back, how awesome is that, they work so well together.

I guess all I can say is that the film was masterful, absolutely positively masterful. Definitely one of my favorite films ever!

Violent Movies, Who Doesn't Like Them?

First of all, a moment of silence so we can give thanks that there are so many ridiculously violent and amazing movies out there to choose from and watch.

I just watched Assault on Precinct 13, and I was thoroughly entertained. It was nicely shot, had good action, and something interesting was always happening (mostly someone getting shot or blowed up every 3-5 minutes). Most of us like this last fact because at heart we are all sadists.

Anyways, Assault on Precinct 13 is one of the few kinds of movies I've been able to watch since I've been ill. Why you ask? I'll actually be serious for a moment. My headaches can be pretty bad and last a long time, so it's hard to focus on anything that isn't extremely visceral and carnage-ridden. Nonetheless, I've always had a love of the violent at every stage in my life, whether it be Schwarzenneger, Stallone, it doesn't matter who does the blowing up, so long as it gets executed in the most bombastic and theatrical ways possible.

Seeing things getting blown apart is satisfying to us all. Yet while I love and treasure this violence, I am at heart such a peaceful person. You could call it the paradox of my existence, of every man. Maybe the love of violence and destruction is part of our cultural rage because we are frus.... haha just kidding, who cares, just go throw in a crazy ass violent DVD right now and soak up all that stuff getting blown up, and be proud of our culture that is cool enough to allow this kind of wacky and seriously messed up shit to be made in the first place.