Apple #238: Grindhouse

So I just got back from seeing Grindhouse. I don't usually post my reactions to a movie, and it's not that it was such a stellar film that I think everyone should go see it. But I went into it with a bad opinion, and it turned out that bad opinion was not justified. I have the feeling the movie has gotten a similarly bad opinion in general, and I want to try to counter that, even slightly. I had fun watching it -- for the zombie slasher movie that it is.

Grindhouse: refers to movie theaters whose main focus was "grinding out" or showing as many B movies as possible. Can also refer to the B movies themselves, which were often violent, racy, or exploitative. Sometimes the movies were passed from theater to theater, and over time they would become scratched or worn or some reels (usually the steamiest ones) would go "missing."

(IMDB Movie Terminology Glossary
FirstShowing.net Are you going to the Grindhouse?)

If you have any sort of fondness for the slasher movies of your youth, I think you'd enjoy this double bill. Also, if you remember and faintly miss the Mr. Microphone commercials, or the bizarr-o things they used to put on the movie screen when you were waiting for the feature to start, this movie will speak to you.

Here is what Grindhouse boils down to:

1. It is thoroughly gratuitous -- and knows it
2. The good guys win in the end
3. The chicks kick ass.

What more could you want?

One more thing to note: the Tarantino part of the double bill is really slow at first. Lots of talking, typical Tarantino fashion. Here's where you get up to get the beer (don't get up during the trailers, they're too funny and choice to miss) and the popcorn, go to the bathroom, have a smoke, etc. But make sure you're back by the time the second carload of chicks is on the road. And if you've missed the first part of his movie, know that Kurt Russell is The Bad Guy. Then sit back and wait for the ride. The payoff is worth the wait. Trust me.

And yes, the chick with the automatic rifle for a leg is worth it, too.

Except, in the movie, it's her other leg that's the gun
(Movie poster from worstpreviews.com)