# the "Grindhouse" thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034 "2007-04-06T21:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/41 "2007-04-08T23:12:08Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] I can’t wait to see it, but it’s dying a painful death at the box office. From [Deadline Hollywood](http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/grindhouse-didnt-gun-friday-ticket-sales/) : Too narrow a target audience, maybe? I hope this doesn’t discourage the Weinsteins from more Tarantino ventures, he’s served them well in the past. [/QUOTE] This is sad, it did very well in my neck of the woods. Perhaps it will pick up on word of mouth. Maybe Good Friday/Easter weekend was not the best time to release it. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/42 "2007-04-09T01:19:31Z")
I forgot to ask this last night, but could someone spoiler the set-up for El Wray? I think I’ve got something niggling around back in my brain about it, but I can’t quite think of it correctly. Little help? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/43 "2007-04-09T01:51:14Z")
Kick. Ass. Sure the first bit of Death Prood could have been cut by 20 minutes, but if that’s what it took to get to that cheer-worthy ending. Like a rape revenge flic without the rape (thank og). And imagine, using talented, hot actresses instead of just a bunch of 16-year-old anorexics willing to flash their boobies. Huzzah. And remember… If you… are planning… on going… down… to the basement… DON’T! ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/44 "2007-04-09T01:54:49Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] If you… are planning… on going… down… to the basement… DON’T! [/QUOTE] Heheh. This has become the new catch phrase in our household. "If you…are thinking…of going…into…_this…house_… **DON’T**." ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/45 "2007-04-09T05:55:14Z")
I saw it this evening and the whole thing was brilliant. It very well may be too high concept for people who would be lured in by the exploitation factor and too much exploitation for film fans pulled in by the concept. Planet Terror was definitely the “better” segment mainly because Rodriguez clearly worked at making the film horribly directed. The awkward jump cuts, the bad continuity, and the quality of the production make me think that he took apart how that kind of film would have been made in 1974 and then rebuilt it (“Hmm… the cheap strippers they hired to fill in the background people probably wouldn’t have been available every day so I’ll take a few of them out during some camera angles…”). The whole thing is ingenious and has a manic energy that carries his segment well. Tarantino’s Death Proof was also true to the exploitation film form, though he seemed to be trying for of a Russ Meyer film. It probably would have worked better if any of the women in the movie had been interesting characters, but they were shallow, vapid, and annoying so I didn’t care about their long conversations (something which would be used in exploitation films because talk is cheap to film while car chases are expensive). The talking slowed the pace of the film and there was a real irritation with waiting for him to get on with it. Grindhouse really needs to be seen in the theater simply because it replicates the experience so well. The “poor quality” print and the trailers and bumpers are going to have less impact as a home viewing experience. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/46 "2007-04-09T06:03:38Z")
One more thing. I stayed through the whole credits because we were interested in some of the music in the film and were curious if they were going to slip anything in at the end and I noticed this credit: Mr. Tarantino’s Chef: [some name I forgot] Mr. Rodriguez’s Chef: Robert Rodriguez ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/47 "2007-04-09T06:15:56Z")
I saw a 4pm showing earlier today. The theater was almost empty. ☹ I thought _Planet Terror_ was fun but _Death Proof_ was freakin’ amazing. As I said in the other _Grindhouse_ thread, _Planet Terror_ is not a grindhouse movie: it’s what we **wish** they would be, or, rather, it embodies how we remember the good ones when our memory glosses over all the not-so-great stuff. Those of you who found _Death Proof_ too talky, how many movies in this genre have you actually seen, really? Endless empty dialogue is practically a hallmark of the style; low-budget exploitation filmmakers can’t afford to do more than two or maybe three big set-piece type scenes, so they pad out the running time with travel shots (driving and walking, mostly) and self-consciously clunky banter. In my opinion Tarantino captures that element of the experience brilliantly. And it wasn’t just pastiche, either, emulating a form. To repeat what I said in the other thread: > [@](#): > > Tarantino’s movie is a love letter to (a) the grindhouse genre: movies shot on extremely low budgets, such that they get to do maybe 15-20 minutes of cool stuff and pad out the rest of the time with static chitchat, which structurally the film emulates almost perfectly; (b) the craftspeople who work on these films: note that the second group of women is mostly movie people, and notice the prominently featured movie posters in the bar scene, among other elements; and (c) stuntwoman Zoe Bell, who plays herself in the movie, and who kicks unholy amounts of ass. And on the last point, the definition of an exploitation movie is a movie whose budget is so low that it can’t afford to do what a Hollywood movie does, which is hire lots of cast or build large sets or go to exotic locations or produce elaborate visual effects, so they stretch their dollar by “exploiting” the elements they can afford, which is to say, naked girls, cheap gore, midgets, and the like; and what is more in the spirit of an exploitation movie than hiring a lead actress who you can ACTUALLY STICK ON THE HOOD OF THE CAR DURING THE HAIR-RAISING CHASE SCENE. 😃 It’s not just a grindhouse movie: it’s a thesis on “grindhouse-ness,” filled out and animated by Tarantino’s boundless love for the genre. A legitimately impressive piece of work by a legitimate film artist. Planet Terror: B Death Proof: A+ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/48 "2007-04-09T08:50:11Z")
LOVED 'EM BOTH fuckin’ OMG, they’re definitely different, but I give them equal marks. Major points for having Zoe Bell play herself, and I love the way props and characters keep showing up, it gives it a parallel universe where this shit really happens feeling. Sadly the theater was mostly empty, maybe because it’s Easter Sunday, although that seems a perfect time to me. ETA, I think Tarantino hit his acting high water mark as Richie Gecko I SO want to see machete ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/49 "2007-04-09T13:17:03Z")
Saw it Saturday morning. AMAZING. Like _Kill Bill_ and _Sin City_ thrown into a blender, and then x100. I wish all movies were more like this! I thought _Planet Terror_ edged out _Death Proof_ just slightly, although my wife preferred the latter. I’ve already ordered the soundtrack to _Death Proof_. I’m trying to spread the word about how great the movie is, but it’s the kind of thing that’s either right up your alley, or not at all. I would really hate for it not to succeed. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/50 "2007-04-09T13:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] I can’t wait to see it, but it’s dying a painful death at the box office. Too narrow a target audience, maybe? I hope this doesn’t discourage the Weinsteins from more Tarantino ventures, he’s served them well in the past. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I told my wife about a month ago that I would be _stunned_ if this movie breaks $100m, and that it would be doing well to make it to $60m. She was all like “I can’t believe you just said that! I thought you were a Tarantino fanboy, that you see everything he directed… how can you say this movie is going to tank?” Now she’s like “How the hell did you know?” Simple. Tarantino plays to a limited audience, and this movie is even more limited. Sure it’s a great idea, sure it was done brilliantly, but really… how many other people than these two really _love_ 1970s-era sub b-flicks? And in a way, we’ve seen it before… and better. _Kill Bill_ is a far better hommage, and with it (and _Pulp Fiction_) we already know that Tarantino can take second-rate material and make a first-rate movie out of it chock full of in-jokes, movie references, and second/third-tier talent. Been there, done that. Me? I’d like to see Tarantino write a romantic comedy next. Now _that_ will be different. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/51 "2007-04-09T14:09:09Z")
I saw it fully expecting to like Tarantino’s film better, but I really enjoyed “Planet Terror” more. I understand that rambling dialogue is Tarantino’s signature (and **Cervaise** , although his intent may have been to ape the dialogue of grindhouse films, to my ear it sounded completely “Tarantinoesque” as opposed to authentic), and I thought it was extremely well-employed in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction,” but in this movie, stretches of it really began to try my patience. It wasn’t particularly interesting in itself, and many of the actors didn’t have the charisma to make it so. I found Sydney Poitier particularly annoying (although easy to look at) and quickly began wishing she would die off soon. I really felt like it was a subpar effort by Tarantino (and not in ways that seemed intentional) but it is possible that onset butt-petrification fueled my impatience, or that I’m just gradually getting weary of his meandering-dialogue shtick in general. (I found myself eyeing the FF button on the remote a couple of times when I watched “Kill Bill 2” on DVD, so that may have been the beginning of the honeymoon’s end for me.) The chase scenes in “DP” were cool, though, and the ending was utterly hilarious and worth the admission price. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/52 "2007-04-09T14:56:14Z")
“Death Proof” was Tarantino jerking off on the faces moderately attractive actresses for an hour and half. It was boring 95% of the time. I can see why Planet Terror was placed first even though it was the better of the two. People would have walked out during Death Proof if it was first. Planet Terror was a lot of fun. I was disappointed that after going through all the effort to make El Rey Jesus Christ that when they killed him they didn’t place him in a christ-pose. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/53 "2007-04-09T15:08:18Z")
[QUOTE=Push You Down] “Death Proof” was Tarantino jerking off on the faces moderately attractive actresses for an hour and half. It was boring 95% of the time. I can see why Planet Terror was placed first even though it was the better of the two. People would have walked out during Death Proof if it was first. Planet Terror was a lot of fun. I was disappointed that after going through all the effort to make El Rey Jesus Christ that when they killed him they didn’t place him in a christ-pose. [/QUOTE] I disagree with the your review of Tarantino, but that is simply opinion. To each their own. I am dumbfounded by your spoiler. How did you come with this idea? I did not get that at all or in anyway and I still do not see it. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/54 "2007-04-09T15:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Danny Trejo is my god. Who else can say, “It was the funniest thing I’d ever heard. I’d been in Soledad, San Quentin, Folsom, Vacaville, Susanville, Sierra - and here’s a guy asking ‘Can you act like a convict?’ I remember I said ‘I’ll give it a shot.’” The rest of you pussies want a god you have to PRETEND to fear? 😉 [/QUOTE] Whoever asked him that question has to be a moron, I mean, is he not covered in prison tattoos? ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/55 "2007-04-09T15:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I disagree with the your review of Tarantino, but that is simply opinion. To each their own. I am dumbfounded by your spoiler. How did you come with this idea? I did not get that at all or in anyway and I still do not see it. Jim [/QUOTE] “El Rey”=The King, in Spainish culture, is used to refer to Jesus Christ.The dove tattoo on his wrist=The symbol of Christ. The reverence the characters who treated Rey badly once they discover he is “El Rey”. And I can’t remember of the exact line but there’s a line that just added to the Christ-ness of it. ---
**Author:** ![Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a87d85/32.png) [@Rebecca\_DiMwitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebecca_DiMwitter)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/56 "2007-04-09T16:35:29Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] I saw a 4pm showing earlier today. The theater was almost empty. ☹ I thought _Planet Terror_ was fun but _Death Proof_ was freakin’ amazing. As I said in the other _Grindhouse_ thread, _Planet Terror_ is not a grindhouse movie: it’s what we **wish** they would be, or, rather, it embodies how we remember the good ones when our memory glosses over all the not-so-great stuff. [/QUOTE] Theatre was about 1/2 full for our viewing yesterday afternoon (what a way to spend Easter afternoon!) Lots of audience participation, and very well received by the group we were amongst, but this was not playing at the premier theatre in town, and that made me a bit suspicious of its reception/expectations. Sadly. Couldn’t agree more with **Cervaise** on DP. Someone else on this thread mentioned that PT seemed almost lacking in dialog and set-up, and I agree. The zombies quickly became laughable, instead of truly creepy as they might have been with a bit more set-up. I completely appreciated the dialog and set-up in Tarantino’s segment, even if at times thinking that he doesn’t quite have his finger on the full pulse of female interaction. But the buildup to the lap-dance “missing reel” (Stuntman Mike had his little book that he wrote everyone’s name in, good or bad…BIG chills up n’ down my spine!) was spectacular, sinister, sneaky-evil and perfect. And Tarantino confirmed for me what I have always felt I knew about the sociologically disordered: they are cowards of the worst ilk inside that coating of pure shit-insane evil. As a child of the 60’s coming of age in the 70’s, I have an altogether idealized view of those wonder years at the movies, complete with torn film, reels out of order, scratched up screens & whiny, out of sync music. This was a great step into, and out of, time for me. My 16-year-old wouldn’t have missed it for the world, either, tho clearly he idolizes Rodriguez above Tarantino. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/57 "2007-04-09T18:36:59Z")
I saw this on Saturday in a little local theater. The kind that used to be a single screen with balcony, but they turned the balcony into a “screening room” and have two theaters in the building now. I was disappointed to find this little room and then to have it close to empty (about 35 people) was a bit sad. I don’t have much to add to what’s been said already, except I don’t get the love for Zoe Bell. Her stunts were great but her acting was so utterly atrocious that I couldn’t wait for her to shut-up. (I’ll throw in Tarrantino in these flicks for the same crime). Am I the first to mention the awesomeness that was the pocket bike? ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/58 "2007-04-09T19:41:09Z")
I LOVED the pocket bike scene. Wheelies, popping zombies, awesome. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/59 "2007-04-09T22:07:25Z")
Saw it in a 1/4 full theater of movie geeks on Sunday afternoon. I freakin’ loved it! As I was leaving the theater, I saw one of the first geek arguments about the movie between a theater employee and someone who had just come out of the movie. The theater employee said “Go smoke a cigarette during the first ten minutes of “Death Proof”. Treat it as an intermission.’” I disagree. I’ve been going back and forth between the two since I saw it, but I think the tonal shift in the beginning of Death Proof comes at pretty much the right time. The dialog is fantastic, too. Planet Terror is awesomely funny. I never got to go to a real grindhouse-type movie theater, but I was exposed to those sorts of movies on rental VHS video in high school. I saw a dozen movies like “Planet Terror” during high school makeout sessions where we didn’t really care what we were watching. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034/60 "2007-04-09T23:51:31Z")
This could be interesting. Harvey Weinstein, disappointed at the BO take, is planning to re-release it in May as two separate movies, with additional footage. [Deadline Hollywood](http://http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/what-went-so-wrong-with-grindhouse/) > [@](#): > > EXCLUSIVE (keep refreshing for latest): Harvey Weinstein told me this morning that he’s “incredibly disappointed” with the half-than-expected $12 mil box office for Grindhouse released on Easter Weekend (a controversial move itself). So much so, that he’s considering abandoning the double feature as a single feature concept and re-releasing the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez movie around the U.S. “in a couple of weeks” as two separate feature-length movies with additional footage put in. That’s what Harvey says The Weinstein Co. is already intending to do with the film’s release in Europe: split it into two separate pics, Tarantino’s Death Proof and Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. “Quentin’s movie goes out first in competition at Cannes. He’ll do an extensive 4 to 5 month tour. And the trailer will be all Quentin’s,” Weinstein told me about his European plans. “Then we’ll release Robert’s a couple of months later. By splitting it up, we’re going to do a hell of a lot better internationally than we did here.” I guess it depends on the ‘additional footage’ whether those who have already seen it will stump up again, but I don’t think that those who weren’t attracted by the double bill will turn out in droves for the single movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-grindhouse-thread/399034.md?page=4)