Muscle Cars, Severed Limbs and Badass Cinema

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2007)

Greetings again from the darkness. The much anticipated quasi-collaboration between Tarantino and Rodriguez delivers everything we could have hoped for. The "Double Feature" replete with shocking trailers for non-existent movie is almost as fun to watch as it probably was for the cinema bad boys to make. The best warning I can give is that some boys have toys like chemistry sets and toy trains. QT and RR have their movie cameras. This is a fantasy camp production for two lucky guys who get to live their dream in their own world.
The first feature is the Rodriguez zombie flick. It is actually much better than expected and advertised. Rose McGowan is outstanding is the go-go dancer (not stripper - "there's a difference") who loses a leg in a most unfortunate manner. Her boyfriend, played by the up and coming Freddy Rodriguez, sweetly provides her a new leg - a machine gun that later morphs into a Gatling gun. How's a guy supposed to compete with that? Sure the story is a bit weak, but who really cares? The action is non-stop and the mandatory gross out stuff is in abundance from the likes of Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Marly Shelton, Stacy Ferguson (Black-Eyed Peas), Naveen Andrews ("Lost") and Michael Biehn. I would never give away anything here but will say, it is the most fun one can have in a zombie flick! Second feature belongs to Tarantino and includes everything you would expect delivered in ways you could never expect! Kurt Russell, as "Stuntman Mike" plays the oddest bad boy in a muscle car that I have ever witnessed on screen. For extra enjoyment, remind yourself that this guy got his start in Disney films!! He has a knack for getting rid of obnoxious girls in the most violent of manners. The best filmed segment of the film is in the diner as four ladies loudly do the chick thing by yakking non-stop. The camera moves totally around the table getting views from every angle and occasionally catching Russell in the background. Brilliant. Real life stunt woman Zoe Bell is amazing in her role as a stunt woman who is always looking for that thrill in life ... this time in the form of a Dodge Challenger! The whole car chase sequence is unlike any we have seen before and QT adds a bit of humor and statement when the classic muscle cars go weaving in and out of traffic full of SUV's and 4 door sedans. Yesterday meets today ... and today looks pretty lame. The downside to this story is that Rosario Dawson is basically awful. Still not enough to take the edge or fun out of this Tarantino buffet of badass cinema.
The faux-trailers are very well made and very funny by directors such as Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright. Especially funny is Wright's "Don't". Interesting acting notes include double dipping roles (both films) for Rose McGowan, Marley Shelton, Michael Parks and Tarantino (who has extended screen time). Also Bruce Willis, Nicolas Cage and Danny Trejo make appearances, as does the great Sydney Poitier's daughter, Sydney Tamiia Poitier.
Not in the classic film sense of "Pulp Fiction" or "Kill Bill", but hugely entertaining and funny. There are so many inside jokes here it may take 10 viewings to catch them all. One of the best is the "missing reel" announcement just as the sex scenes get started. All of the stuttering, skipping, poor editing and black outs really did happen back in the day. We forget just how lucky we are ... both for film quality and to experience the madness of Tarantino and Rodriguez.