Pure Genius. GRINDHOUSE makes cinema good again.

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2007)

Going into this, one knows what they are getting into. (One helluva fun time!)As soon as the lights go off and the movie starts, the viewer is put into a time machine and transported back in to the 70's when exploitation films were at their highest. And for that Misters Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino should be honored as the greatest filmmakers in the world. They certainly have made one of the best films in the world. The viewer is first pulled in by the first 3 seconds, hair scratches, sound pops, stuff a viewer is not used to in a fancy theater. But it is there, all part of the movie, all part of the experience. We are welcomed with a trailer from Robert Rodriguez, "Machete", starring the Danny Trejo, the man the created High Definition for. This trailer is hilarious along with the others, but my personal favorite has to be Eli Roth's sick "Thanksgiving" trailer. Funny. So funny. First up is Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" which is certainly the most action-packed of the two films in this double feature. There are many, many hilarious parts especially when Quentin himself appears on the screen. Rose McGowan burns the screen up (litterally). She wears her beauty proud in this movie. Freddy Rodriguez plays an ultra-bad-ass (perfectly) and Marley Shelton is very fine to look at as well. The cast is huge and really great. Planet Terror is a movie that nobody will take a break from to use the bathroom. Well paced and just so much fun to watch. Not to mention the insanely catchy theme music by Rodriguez is just delicious and so is Rose McGowan with a machine gun for a leg. For some reason, it is really hot, and it works. Then, after that zombie romp is "Death Proof", Tarantino's effort. This film is very different from "Planet Terror" as in these films are two different sub-genres, but also because the viewer can tell that unlike Rodriguez, who just made a really fun exploitation film of his own, Tarantino honors those movies from the 70's. He also throws in plenty of references to older movies and a couple of homages to his own movies that are fun to pick up (Kill Bill 1 and Reservoir Dogs) "Death Proof" proves how amazing a writer Tarantino is because he is writing a movie that is pretty much all girl dialogue. Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan (again) and others do an amazing job putting his words on the screen. Zoe Bell, a real life stuntwoman playing herself, is fantastic. She has the biggest balls that I have ever seen. Kurt Russell is back to his bad ass days playing the slasher 'Stuntman Mike.' He plays him with conviction and charisma that makes you smile. The movie starts out a bit slow, but it is all for a reason; to lead you in to one of the best car chase scenes in the history of film. That is no exaggeration. Why would it be? It's a Tarantino car chase. He tries to do the best stuff in any kind of thing dealing with film.
All in all, "Grindhouse" was so good that I know I have to see it again. Take my word for it...it is worth the watch. So go watch.