Surprisingly disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (15 April 2007)

I've been awaiting Grindhouse since I saw the trailers. I must admit, I think it's a great idea. I went into the thing thinking there was no way I wouldn't like it, but unfortunately it somehow couldn't deliver on the hype you get from the trailers.
Planet terror was so-so. I love zombie movies anyway, and appreciated seeing Michael Biehn, so I'll give credit there. Overall it was 1.5 hours of entertainment, probably worth the price of a rental.
The other half, Dealth Proof, was Tarantino's brainchild and after the so-so feeling I got from Planet Terror I really put my eggs into that basket. I'd forgotten that Tarantino loves his dialog and his girl power so much, I guess because previously his dialog had been entertaining (see Pulp fiction... maybe he should go back and re-watch that a few times himself) and I had been able to overlook the girl power stuff as long as it wasn't outrageous and the rest of the movie fit together. But Dealth Proof fails to accomplish some basic things I need as a movie watcher: I have to like the protagonists and dislike the villains, and I have to continue to be engaged in the film by SOMETHING (that can be humor as in the reel jokes, or dialog as long as it's good: see conversations about giving another man's wife a foot massage.) This film does neither. Kurt Russel's character does a complete 180 from cool guy to total wimp in the blink of an eye (nay, it was slower than that... the dialog made it seem like several hours later before Russel's character re-appeared.) For the record, most girls can't deliver punches that hard (especially not ones their size), Kurt Russel's character knew what pain felt like already and wouldn't have wimped out over being shot in the arm (didn't he break his nose and finger, etc in the first accident?), and nobody likes an overly in-your-face girl like the one driving the car making all her shrewd insults. If anything it made me want to see her put in her place. I'm not a chauvinist, just be realistic about things, somewhat? Please? That's all I ask.
I think I'm turning on Tarantino, a man whose directing and writing skills I never questioned before. Seeing this reminds me that I only really liked Kill bill vol 2 because of the Pei Mei scene.
The jokes with the reels, fake trailers, etc are generally funny (my favorite thing was the fake restaurant ad, with those crappy disposable camera shots of their cheap, not that good looking entrées which I've definitely noticed before), but I would say the directors took it too far even for my taste on a few gross things (the trampoline knife, Kurt Russel eating nachos.) He's had his shot at paying homage to the old kung fu movies, now the grind-house ones... next up I guess is old Westerns. I'll give each movie a 6/10, which on my scale is an acceptable way to pass the time. But for Tarantino's standards, that's a disappointment.