Ok So...Rodan's Grindhouse Review

Ok, So...Taylor the Latte boy and I went to see Grindhouse over the weekend...this is the first movie the Little Latte Boy has seen in quite a few months. I will comment about my visit to St Petersburg in the near future.




Grindhouse isn't a movie...well it is two movies...Planet Terror and Death Proof. But that isn't my point. Grindhouse is an experience, the movies contained within Grindhouse are fun and mindless, but an experience beginning with the very scratched 1970's feature announcement to the 70's schlocky horror previews.

First up we have Planet Terror. Planet Terror is a gory, if Rasberry Jello were blood, horror flick starring Freddie Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) and Rose McGowen (Charmed) and directed by the guy who made Spy Kids....and Sin City...Robert Rodriguez. The movie is filled with bad dialog, bad special effects and a thin as a hollywood starlet premise...and yet...it was fun. It was hard to lose interest when you never know when the next perposterus plot twist or missing reel is gonna pop up.

And even for a gay man, there is a certain sexiness to Rose McGowan's Machine Gun prosthetic leg.

Death Proof...not nearly as fun...until the last 30 minutes. Unfortunately Death Proof tries to hard to be a low budget chase movie. You know the kind where they have to fill 90 minutes of film but spend 90% of the budget on the big finale. Quentin Tarantino directs and Kurt Russell stars as a stunt driver who likes to kill the ladies with his 'Death Proof' stunt car.

What is interesting...is that the movie is a successful version of one of those 70's horror chase movies. Unfortunately that means that 60 minutes of the movie drag along at a snail's pace (allowing plenty of bathroom breaks). Luckily the last 30 minutes more than make up for the first 60 and will probably be remembered as one of the best car chase / revenge sequences in filmed history.

Grindhouse is more successful as an experience than it is as two independent movies. Unfortunately it looks like most of the movie going public has missed the message and are judging Grindhouse by the quality of the movies contained within it.

If you are looking for something different, check it out. If you don't think you will be able to appreciate the schlock for what it is...then avoid it...as you will be disappointed.

I, on the other hand, can't wait for the DVD!