Puerile

Rating: 6/10 (19 April 2007)

The first half of "Grindhouse" is an over-the-top, senselessly violent and gore-filled cliché of a zombie movie. Rose McGowan isn't "all-that" and the only reason any of the acting can be applauded is because the actors manage to keep straight faces while spewing some of the all-time stupidest dialog ever written. I love George Romero. I love zombie movies. You, Mr. Tarantino and Mr. Rodriguez are certainly NOT George Romero.
The second half of "Grindhouse" is a suspenseful chase thriller with an excellent performance by Kurt Russell who is deliciously menacing in his role as a psychopath. The car scenes are excellent, although "Bullitt", "The French Connection", and "Ronin" still have the best car chases. The problem with the second film is the same as the first: Tarantino (and perhaps Rodriguez) are grown men with the mentality of 14 year old boys. Their fascination with (and knowledge of) sex and violence is that of someone who has experienced neither. It's like listening to a couple of virgins brag about sex or a couple of boys who have never fought talk about fighting.
Tarantino's idea of feminism is to make his female heroins as inane, obnoxious, reprehensible and vulgar as their male counterparts. Some equality...
Cleverness is not intelligence. Kitsch is not art. Moxie is not courage. Damning them with faint praise, I can say that these films are, without a doubt, clever, kitschy, and produced, written and directed with a lot of moxie. Tarantino has an ear for dialog (even if he overindulges himself in this respect) and a thorough knowledge of pop culture and film history. I can admire his homage to films of the past, but wish he would find his own, worthy, voice as he did in "Pulp Fiction".
With his performances in these films, I think we can all agree that regardless of his directorial gifts and writing talents, Tarantino must never, repeat, NEVER be allowed to act again. His appearance on screen is distracting and nearly stops each movie in it's tracks.
Even with all this, the funky, 70's style drive-in intros and trailers are a hoot. The trailer for the slasher-horror movie "Thanksgiving" is worth the price of admission.