dizzying and spectacular and passionate and great

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2007)

Take it from someone who has been watching crapola of a certain vintage for months and months - this movie knows of what it speaks. It doesn't speak it with complete fealty - Rodriguez's editing rhythms and camera moves are more early 80s, that is when he's not imposing the jump-cut rhythm of mangled prints to absolutely brilliant effect. It's like ballet, and it's exciting and hilarious. Tarantino's is more 'deep grindhouse' or 'the whole action' - OF COURSE the actors won't shut up, because this is the rhythm of the grindhouse. You have to be bored to cutesy tears for hours before you are rewarded with the spectacular car chase - and even though the boredom here has no thematic relevance whatsoever to the era, the structural message gets through and I think it's pretty brilliant and audacious - BECAUSE it's boring, is it all right for me to think that? Anyway we can hardly demand even more breathless excitement immediately after an hour of Rodriguez and! and! the trailers, oh my god. Thanksgiving.