Trailer Thursday ... with Grindhouse!

Before I go any further, a quick word of praise for YouTube. Whatever it was originally designed for, it has quickly evolved into my single greatest time waster at work, and for that I can only say thank you.

Especially when it brings something as wild as this. For anyone somehow still in the dark, ubergeeks Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have teamed up for "Grindhouse," which will actually be to back-to-back short features, complete with fake trailers in between the two.

Count me as at best mildly excited about this project. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, Quentin unconditionally and Robert, well, about half the time. He's made some truly great flicks ("Spy Kids," "El Mariachi" and, of course, "Sin City"), but he's also made some real dogs (the "Spy Kids" sequels and the two awful flicks that followed in the "El Mariachi" series).

However, he's a guy who clearly has fun making movies. The key question is always will anyone else have any with his finished product. After watching the trailer for his half of "Grindhouse," which will be called "Planet Terror," I can only offer a tepid "I think so."

What does it have going for it? Well, a scantily clad Rose MacGowan doesn't exactly turn me off, and the hero is Danny Trejo's Machete, who has turned up in most of Rodriguez's movies and who is, without getting too technical, a very bad man. Plus, who wouldn't want to ride a motorcycle loaded with very heavy artillery off a ramp, taking out all your nemeses on the way?

What's bad? Well, you can tell right away it's gonna be very, very bloody, so if that's not your thing, look away. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion that the cheesy '70s look will wear thin well before the end.

Anyways, I promised you a trailer, so here it is. I can no longer find it on YouTube, so click here and enjoy it courtesy of AICN. And, as always, tell me what you think.

Terry Gilliam takes to the streets

Just as often as YouTube can bring us something fun like that, it can bring something truly tragic. Like Terry Gilliam begging on the streets of New York, just for the right to get his films seen.

Now, Terry Gilliam is, first and foremost, a prankster, and you can definitely look at this as a stunt. But if you think about it for even a second, it's also really depressing.

Gilliam's troubles securing distribution for "Tideland," his new movie about a girl who turns inward and starts talking only to her own dolls after her mother's death, have been well-documented. It will get an opening in at least one theater in New York tomorrow, but probably very few more after that.

The most depressing thing about this whole mess is that Gilliam has brought much of it on himself by being so obstinant. "Lost in La Mancha," the great documentary about his failed attempt to make a Don Quixote flick, shows that once he gets an idea in his head, he sticks to it, even if no one else is willing to go with him.

But no filmmaker should be forced into this stunt he performed recently outside the studios of "The Daily Show." If you can take it, click here to see for yourself. Just remember, I did warn you that it's fairly painful viewing.