Kevin's Watch

Really enjoyed Grindhouse--just wish I had stood up during the second previews!

Definitely liked Death Proof more than Planet Terror. More of a build-up/dialogue guy than explosive action--a Kill Bill 2 over 1, I one might say. Makes sense to me that you have a slower piece after Rodriguez's crazy opener; kind of like putting "Something" after "Come Together."

Still; both films were equally well done. So many references and visual quirks that I'll be watching this thing several times on DVD.

Say, I've got a question...

in the era that these movies are trying to kinda imitate, did film reels really go "missing"? Cause that's weird. It would really suck, too. I'd want my money back.

I'm going to see it RIGHT NOW! I'll report back!

Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:Say, I've got a question...

in the era that these movies are trying to kinda imitate, did film reels really go "missing"? Cause that's weird. It would really suck, too. I'd want my money back.

Not usually. This particular gag is a tribute to a film QT bought that was missing a reel (and a huge subplot). He felt it added to the experience of the film, so he and RR did it too.

Gotcha, thanks Cail

No, it's true, there are stories of this, one of which I was able to verify as it happened to my cousin. It was in a backwater theatre who got a crap copy and it was missing, not a reel, but a whole length of film that was apparently badly spliced when the film split at one point. Likely the operator spliced it together after choping a hunk out of it.
As for missing "reels" ... I have not heard of that.

Werewolf Women of the S.S.! HAW!

I liked it a lot, though I thought Planer Terror was the superior of the two offerings.

I liked the overall use of the theme of empowerment. Guns likes him a srtrong female lead, doncha know?

I liked Kurt Russell as stuman mike a bunch as well...especially the scene

Spoiler

where he had been shot and was having to pour whisky on it...he was such a self-pitying baby...very funny.

Watched Planet Terror last night--great film. Funny as hell.

Watched these last week. Of the two, I'd say Planet terror was better overall. Death Proof had the potential to be superior, but I got the feeling it sort of wandered to a slightly rushed conclusion.

Great signature CJ!

CovenantJr wrote:Watched these last week. Of the two, I'd say Planet terror was better overall. Death Proof had the potential to be superior, but I got the feeling it sort of wandered to a slightly rushed conclusion.

Well, that wouldn't be out of character for the movies they are emulating. Nah, I didn't mind that as much as the dullness of Death Proof up until the "big payoff" moments. But then again, I think I strongly dislike QT's dialogue style these days. Everyone must be cooler than thou. It starts becoming like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Which is why I disliked Kill Bill pt. 2, and really enjoyed Kill Bill pt. 1.

I went off Tarantino a long time ago, when I started to see the foreign films he so shamelessly stole ideas, shot compositions, and dialogue off. However, I'm mildly interested in seeing Death Proof just for Kurt Russel's character. Frankly though, I think I'd just rather see the fake previews, which sound pretty damn funny.

Kurt Russell is fantastic, Death Proof is OK. The previews are the best thing about the film.

Tarantino seems to have painted himself into a corner, dialogue-wise. Every character has to have a long-ass monologue where he/she talks like a geek about a movie concept or the "philosophy of cool." Then I realize: Tarantino is a film geek.

I felt like Kill Bill was homaging the old films--giving them a slick update--rather than pure mimicry. In that sense, the dialogue didn't bother me. But on Death Proof the old films were more integral to its structure, and it definitely could've been more to the point. Most of the movie seemed to be sitting in a bar or diner talking about what makes great car chases and the rest an actual movie.

I hope he starts making films that rely on their own weight and not the campy nostalgia of B films (Inglorious Bastards, I'm looking at you).

Lord Foul wrote: (Inglorious Bastards, I'm looking at you).

Ugghhh...just rent out the original Italian film. Now that's a cool B movie.

So that's based on an older film, too, eh? Tarantino might be getting mired in his own style, like Wes Anderson. Sigh.

Lord Foul wrote:So that's based on an older film, too, eh? Tarantino might be getting mired in his own style, like Wes Anderson. Sigh.

Yeah, it is indeed. Originally, Tarantino claimed he was doing a remake of The Good the Bad and The Ugly, and he never mentioned a thing about the original The Inglorious Bastards made in the '70s. I suspect, as he did with the HK film City on Fire (of which much of Reservoir Dogs is a shamless rip-off) and others, he was hoping to get away with borrowing ideas without anyone noticing.

But you can't really take such a distinctive title like The Inglorious Bastards (one of the best film titles around for a B Movie, I say), and have noone notice. The plot sounds exactly the same: US soldiers on death row go behind enemy lines and have to take over on an Allied mission they inadvertently ruin. The only difference in the new one is, ala the Dirty Dozen, the soldiers are offered the chance to save their necks by taking on a suicide mission. In the Italian original, the soldiers simply escape during an air attack, and cut loose without army authority.

I think I'll skip his "remake" and just rent out the original again. Ridiculous as it is, it's a classic piece of anti-war nihilist action adventure flick.

For those who are curious, here's the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cGaYDwpXf4

The film later became known under the less cool title: That Damned Armoured Train.