Saturday, April 07, 2007

Two views of Grindhouse


In Oriole action, Adam Loewen pitched well in his second visit to Yankee Stadium and got big help from teammates Jay Gibbons and Nick Markakis to ensure the Baltimore Orioles will not go winless in 2007. Huzzah.

And, though I promised to do the "Thinking folks" list of site I was tagged to do by friendly reader Kookiejar, it's a "Grindhouse" day here, and therefore not one on which I plan to think too much at all. It will come, I promise.

Today, however, we get two opposing views of "Grindhouse" from people who are both kind enough to read my opinions and offer their own. Keep in mind, these are only excerpts, so I encourage you to visit their sites and get their full opinion.

First comes Divinity, who in her Den of Divinity blog couldn't resist dropping a few F-bombs, which given the movie seems more than a little appropriate:

I'm not of the generation that frequented drive-ins and I know that numerous references flew right over my occasionally-cowering head, but I recognize a labour of love and the sheer amount of fun Rodriguez and Tarantino had putting these movies together, missing reels and all. If only we all could have careers we loved this much.
I guess I didn't really swear enough in this review to really justify all this invisi-type, but I did text anyone I didn't think would be offended with the message,"Just saw Grindhouse. There's some fucked up shit right there, Batman" after we left the theatre so it's safe to say the movie had an impact. Fuck, yeah.


Very well put. I'm almost certain I will enjoy this one as much as she did.

Our second review comes from Ashok who, understandably, had a negative reaction to what he saw as the pointless gore of "Planet Terror," but had more time for "Death Proof." Here, from his Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying blog, are two excerpts.

"I am trying hard to think of some good lines or cheesy scenes or maybe even story telling, but it is an “exploitation” movie and hence it is the way it is. I did not enjoy all the parts of the parts flying around or blood drooling, which concludes I did not like “Planet Terror”.
... The film goes through the girls partying and also having some of Tarantino’s classic conversations. When I say classic, it says it is a trademark Quentin touch. Is it interesting? For a while, yes, but it dies with the time. But Quentin shows how it can be done. He put back the faith of having some real solid invention out of the dirty old garbage. Taking the elements of those comedies of errors, he sprinkles his formula. While Rodriguez’s piece stays as “typical” Grind House movies by the definition, Tarantino flairs with his style of presentation."


I have a much higher threshold for gore, especially when I know going in that it is coming, but I can definitely see where he is coming from. Thanks to both of you for sharing. I'll finally be seeing this today, and offering my own thoughts tomorrow morning. Peace out.

5 comments:

Ashok said...

Hey Keith, Thanks for linking my comments in your blog ! I do not mind gore if the movie demands and the funny part was I went in, as you said , expecting it :-). Still it blew me out of shape :-D. Opinions differs ;-). Thank you once again for your comments.

Reel Fanatic said...

I just got home from the movie, ashok, and I have to at least agree with you that Tarantino had the upper hand this round ... While Rodriguez made an entertaining (at least to me) homage to zombie flicks, Tarantino took his love of car movies and really put his own stamp on it .. I'm gonna let it sink in overnight before writing a full review, though

Divinity said...

"Death Proof" reminded me most of a scene from Tarantino's episode of C.S.I. where the lab guys are sitting around learning how to play the Dukes of Hazzard board game. You can always tell a Tarantino project...

Divinity said...

BTW, I think you're the first person I know of to quote a blog post of mine. Thanks! :)

Ashok said...

As Divinity says, you are the first one to quote of mine too :-) ! Eagerly waiting for your review !!! And it is good to be like in a "team" sort of thing for this movie :-). By the way, Divinity's review was impressive in her own style of "Grind House" :-), as I would put it. Good to have a series of comments through this movie ! Hope to continue this with further movies too !