Rodriguez & Tarantino's Grindhouse

The Grindhouse is a "sleaze-filled" double feature of two films: Planet Terror, a zombie film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Death Proof, a slasher flick directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Between "features," fake trailers will be shown directed by such directors as Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. The Grindhouse is a tribute to those cheesy slasher and horror flicks we loved growing up. It was the 70s and the 80s that brought these flicks to us. Visual effects were still in their infantile stages and we weren't as picky about our films as we are now. We watched at the drive-in or at theatres with sticky floors and threadbare seats. We rented them on VHS at the local rental house and watched them after our parents had went to bed.

They were ridiculous and silly and, unlike some recent horror flicks, not meant to be taken seriously. You could almost "feel" the director winking at you from behind the camera.

Something tells me that The Grindhouse will be best viewed from the torn leather seats of an automobile at a drive-in, if you can find one still in operation.

This weekend, I did something I had never done before. I went to see a movie at the drive-in.

Let's start with the movie. The movie was pretty much everything I expected it to be. How Miramax can entertain the idea of splitting these two features from one another is beyond me, but as evidenced by some driving off in the middle of the movie, it's understandable that some don't get it. However, I have to wonder if a film like Grindhouse was even made with these people in mind anyway.

Planet Terror was the first one out of the box. A gory, ridiculous, humorous zombie movie, this movie was so absurd that you would have thought you really were watching some of those insane 70s/80s horror flicks we all used to rent at the local rental house. I've been "in love" (for lack of a better term) with Robert Rodriguez for years. The first DVD I ever bought was the El Mariachi/Desperado double feature. I've read Rebel Without a Crew numerous times. I just adore him.

RR is one of those filmmakers that I wish they could clone. Oh, don't get me wrong. I enjoy my PTA movies and all, but enough is enough people. Let's put the fun back in cinema for crying out loud. It seems like it's either one end of the spectrum or another. You either have the umpteen hundred films about some kid dying in a third world country and overrated mafia movies (cough) or you get the craptastic talent vehicles which do nothing but serve some overpaid actor's bank account. That being said, I do think audiences are getting sick of it and movies like "300" are proving that. We shouldn't have to pull out a superhero costume or a pirate's hat to have fun at the movies, folks.

Planet Terror is certainly the antidote for all those overdone and underdone flicks. Pure sexploitation. Unadulterated gore. You'll cover your eyes. You'll scream for your Mommy (okay, maybe not). And I just can't give the actors in this film enough kudos. They bridged absurd performances with enough craft and talent to make it enjoyable to watch. And dammit, I do love Bruce Willis. Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez were off the hook as well. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

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