Grindhouse

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (with extras from Eli Roth, Edgar Wright, and Rob Zombie)
Starring: Rose McGowan, Zoe Bell, Tracie Thoms, Freddy Rodríguez, Kurt Russell, Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Vanessa Ferlito, Quentin Tarantino
Running Time: 3h 09min

Overindulgence has always been the modus operandi for these two auteur directors, though not in a financial form. Rodriguez is perhaps the most thrifty director around, overindulging his creative palate by writing, directing, scoring, editing and physically shooting his films. Tarantino, on the other hand, has always overindulged on dialogue, violence and odes to cinema oddity. Together, these two overindulge in the pleasure they derive from B-movie films, creating a compelling, though self indulgent grindhouse double feature, which they must have had more fun filming than we have watching.

First off is Rodriguez's take on the zombie flick, "Planet Terror". The better half of the double feature, this gore fest is true to the director's oeuvre, filled with over the top action, crazy cuts, and explosive stunts. It's story arc sticks to the traditional small-town-losers-in-way-over-their-heads-as-army-base-outside-of-town-unleashes-a-slew-of-zombies, and supplies plenty of opportunities for great lines, much machismo, and sweet sweet love making. It's everything a late night drive in experience should provide, and then some.

Planet Terror benefits from some superb performances from lesser lights, Rose McGowan and Freddie Rodriguez (uncertain if there is a family connection here), as well as some toned down supporting work, notably Bruce Willis. The director is no stranger to this genre, having travelled here before in The Faculty and From Dusk Till Dawn, (a far superior use of the two directors' talents). The cheesy special effects give way to mind-blowingly amazing makeup work, and the zombie cliches wind up seeming fresh in the lens of Rodriguez. Guilty fun, with laughs, screams, and gasps, Planet Terror sets us up for a rollicking ride at the Grindhouse.

Following the frenetic pace of the first film is a series of mock trailers, filled with funny cameos, ridiculous voice overs, and preposterous premises from some of the director's most visionary friends in the genre. Any full length treatment of these films would have been more interesting than Tarantino's book end, "Death Proof".

Now, i am a fan of Tarantino, and yet i still didn't find his half of the grindhouse all that interesting. You have to be a super fan of the films he's lovingly re-imagining to fully enjoy his take on a stuntman gone sadistic. Even still, he tests even the most hard core fan, by filling almost three quarters of the film with chicks speaking dialogue that goes nowhere, says nothing, and reveals very little about the characters on screen. For a writer-director that's made a living from his fresh, original and witty screen writing, Death Proof provides very little fodder for fun.

Russell is menacing and McGowan equally good in this second half, playing very different from her role in the first, but Dawson and company are wasted, suited up for eye candy and little else. The real star of the show is the stunt driving, but in this day and age of where we've seen everything, the car chase in Death Proof seems nothing more than an ode to car chases of yesteryear. Stunning, yes. Breath taking, certainly. Mesmerizing, for sure. But worth the hour of pointless dialogue beforehand? Definitely not. Tarantino has reached a point where his love of old movies is overpowering his ability to make new ones. Or inspiring him to make new bad ones. Someone needs to say no to him, as he is starting to abuse his position of harbinger of everything old is new again, instead of creating something fresh and exciting based on hidden gems of the past.

Like the films they are galvanizing, Grindhouse has great moments, but as a whole, is truly a B-movie, best viewed on video, where you can cut to the chase.

Grade: B