GRINDHOUSE

(8.5/10)

What a treat. I really don't know where to start. You should certainly inform yourself on what this is all about before going in but you also don't want to ruin all the suprises. At a run time of 3 hours, it's not going to be the huge hit they may have hoped but its going to have a nice little following, these directors made this with hard work and love and everyone involved should feel privledged to be giving back to the fans. The double feature, the fake trailers/commercials, cameos, blood, sex, guts, missing reels, witty dialogue- its all here. But have a strong stomach I warn you! I'm goona split the review into two parts since both the films are very very different:

PLANET TERROR - Directed by Robert Rodriguez

This gutsy zombie flick doesn't hold back on anything. It has balls!(No pun intended...) Rose Mcgowan finally declares herself here as not just "The chick who died in the garage door" and stands out among the crowd as the sexy, machine gun for a leg vixen named Cherry Darling. Marley Shelton(Sugar and Spice), James Brolin (The Goonies!), Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under ...or Seth Greens funny friend from Can't Hardly Wait) and an uncredited Bruce Willis also star. A bloody good time, very fast with great action though some of the gore was even too much for me! Cringe Cringe! Also the ending is very satisfying. The cheesy effects and musicprovide tons of laughs and don't miss Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson who has some screen time.

DEATH PROOF- Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Ok this one wasn't as good, simply put BUT it was very different. And by the end I found myself falling really enjoying it but the dull first half cannot be ignored. I can understand why this was chosen as the second movie because after the boom bang wow fest of 'planet' it would be ok to let the audience settle for a little while but if this one began the grindhouse everyone would be falling asleep. Its Tarantino dialogue don't get me wrong but it's not up to par and it's not interesting but you have to give him props for always writing females as never vulnerable and more badass than not. Kurt Russell plays a psychopath(or is he just a pussy?)
who likes to track down women and kill them with his car as a weapon instead of a gun, knife, MACHETE(haha..)..anywho Rent babes Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms give some fun performances but Zoe or whatever (Uma Thurmans real life stunt double), her accent bothered me but of course I was in love with her by the end. I won't give much away- stick out the first half hour and you'll be in for a treat, maybe the slowness of the beginning is what helped made the end more impactful. The final 20 minutes are soooo gripping and fun!

Anyway, if your going to see this- see it in the theatre because there is no way that people will sit down and watch this is in one sitting while its on video(to be honest, rewatchability isn't one of Grindhouses virtues) because its just an experience or a ride if you will so go enjoy it if it sounds like something you'd have fun with but if you'd rather spend your three hours elsewhere just because you don't 'get it' then ..do that.