Originally I had no intention of seeing Grindhouse. I love Rodriguez and Tarantino, but this looked like an over the top gorefest a la From Dusk ‘Til Dawn and I really don’t like those types of movies. But I had the opportunity to see it with a unique crowd and a unique venue, so I didn’t turn it down. It was insanely gory and violent, but it was executed brilliantly. Rodriguez shot his segment digitally and then added tons of processing effects to make it look like it was filmed thirty years ago. Death Prook, Tarantino’s segment, was a bit like Reservoir Dogs: long stretches of dialogue punctuated by horrible violence.
1. Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Stay
4. American Astronaut
5. Shortbus
6. Stranger Than Fiction
7. Pan’s Labyrinth
8. Grindhouse
9. Apocalypto
10. Black Snake Moan
We just saw Grindhouse as well. Strangely, I much preferred Rodriguez’s half to Tarantino’s, though all of the movie reviewers seemed to like the second half better. I couldn’t help thinking that all of the characters in Death Proof sounded like QT in different disguises. And it just felt kind of… mean-spirited, I guess, or sadistic, as opposed to the exuberance of Planet Terror.
I think you put it exactly right. Planet Terror was way more fun than Death Proof. In Death Proof, every character was just Tarantino wearing a mask. Even Tarantino was Tarantino.
And Death Proof was mostly boring except for the second half.