Kevin's Watch

Saw it today with high expectations. Well.......

For those who don't know, it's Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's tribute to the trash movies of the '60s and '70s, complete with phony trailers for other cheesy films.

The trailers are great, especially "Don't" and "Thanksgiving". Nick Cage has a brilliant cameo in the "Werewolf Women of the SS" trailer.

"Planet Terror", RR's contribution is brilliant, including a missing reel placard that takes you from a sex scene with a one-legged Rose McGowan to a burning BBQ restaurant with utterly no explanation of what happened. Classic. It's a real treat for anyone who loved the trashy sci-fi/horror films of 30 years ago. Everything about it works well, and it's obvious that RR really loved making this.

More troubling is QT's "Death Proof". After the nearly non-stop action of "PT", "Death Proof" nearly talks you to death with 4 women getting drunk. Kurt Russell is excellent as Stuntman Mike, but he's sorely underutilized. Like many of the films QT is aping, there's very little exposition about why the characters are doing what they're doing, but the overlong dialogue pieces are straight outta "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction". Which is strange, because the film references "Vanishing Point" quite a bit, yet there's nearly no dialogue in that film. The driving scenes are breathtaking, Kurt Russell kicks ass, but overall QT's contribution falls far short.

It's long, a bit over 3 hours. I'd suggest taking your wee-wee break just after the "Death Proof" opening credits (you'll miss nothing). I give the film a 7/10. The only thing holding it back is all the yakking in "Death Proof".

I'm retarded for Tarantino, and for campy movies in general. I can NOT wait to see this. I've always liked QT's dialogue, so I'm not to worried about that. Thanks for the writeup, Cail!

My pleasure. I'm curious as to your opinion of "DP".

Errr...."Death Proof".

I'll try to snag myself a date and go see it this weekend, then

Once again, I'm on the wrong damn coast.....

Oh, one other awesome thing about "Death Proof"; the music. QT is always good for music, and "DP" is no exception. Any film that features "Jeepster" by T-Rex is OK with me.

Cail, your review is just about the same as the mojority of the ones I read on Ain't It Cool News.

Having seen it ... would it be fun to watch at a drive-in?

It'd be an awesome drive-in flick.

On the T.V. reviews here in the Tampa area,
Grindhouse was more or less a "tribute" to the old B-rated movies
that were played at drive-in theaters in the double features.

(Ahh, how I miss the drive-in theaters.)

Cail wrote:It'd be an awesome drive-in flick.

Then it is a success by the only definition that matters!

I'm amazed that it only did about $12 million. Must be that people are put off by the length.

I want to see the damn thing myslef. Both my spouse and I really dig Tarantino. The guy is freaky-deaky n' fun.

I dug the shit out of both of them, for completely different reasons.

Planet Terror- I'm pretty much down with any campy zombie flick. And Rose McGowan is hawt. And it was funny in the right places and disgusting in the right places, and it was (mildly) suspenseful in the right places. And I'm never going to look at QT the same again.

Death Proof- Loved it. Really. Yeah, it was slow at first, and I think it should have been before Planet Terror. But it is what it is. I can't say which movie I liked more, honestly. Kurt's character was probably the most unlikeable character I've ever had to watch. I mean I liked him, but I really really didn't like him. And I like that QT can make me dislike someone so well. That's a lot of liking, right there. The word has practically lost meaning for me. Like, like, like, like, like... anywhoo...

I dug both. I ain't no good at reviews, so I can't tell you why other than I was entertained, and that's good enough for me. I can not wait till this comes out on DVD. I just know it's going to have some kick ass bonus features.

I was going to see the matinee Saturday, but Creator kept me playing Literati until it was too late to make the run to the theater. The 3+ hour length did keep me from going to a later show. I'm going to try this weekend to see it.

The more I think about Death Proof, the more I liked it. I agree with Wadds, it should've been first. And I still think there was too much talking and not enough Kurt Russell.

I think the larger issue is one of comparison. Planet Terror was just about perfect, so I thought Death Proof was a bit of a let-down. It doesn't help that I found all the female characters unlikeable, and found myself rooting for Stuntman Mike (pathetic soul that he was).

Russell's performance was Oscar-worthy. Death Proof is worth watching for him alone.

Cail wrote: It doesn't help that I found all the female characters unlikeable, and found myself rooting for Stuntman Mike (pathetic soul that he was).

See, the first group I didn't like so much, but the second I loved. Thought they were fine. What did you find unlikeable about them?

Spoiler

Stuntman Mike's death was the most guilt-free and enjoyable beatdown I've seen in a while

Spoiler

Dare I try to interpret QT's motives....The first group of women were victims. Whiny, pathetic women that only cared about their own lives, getting drunk, stoned, and laid. One could almost justify Stuntman Mike's killing them, since they were driving drunk, and the driver was texting while behind the wheel.

But, we know that's not the case. Mike killed them, because they disrespected him. He's a has-been. When he listed the shows he'd been on, they'd never heard of them. They wrote him off as the "old weird guy at the bar". He made them pay.

The second group definitely weren't victims. Mike appreciated that, and when the two cars stopped and he thanked them, he was legitimately done. Now, we could talk about justice again, since they lied to the guy from The Waterboy about the car, abused the crap out of it, and broke all sorts of traffic laws. But again, I don't see Mike as a vigilante.

Mike's reaction after being shot backs up my theory (I think). He deserved the beatdown, and justice was ultimately served.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Must... resist... spoilers...

It's hard to commit 3 hours to a movie - but QT hasn't disappointed me yet.

Cail wrote:

Spoiler

Dare I try to interpret QT's motives....The first group of women were victims. Whiny, pathetic women that only cared about their own lives, getting drunk, stoned, and laid. One could almost justify Stuntman Mike's killing them, since they were driving drunk, and the driver was texting while behind the wheel.

But, we know that's not the case. Mike killed them, because they disrespected him. He's a has-been. When he listed the shows he'd been on, they'd never heard of them. They wrote him off as the "old weird guy at the bar". He made them pay.

The second group definitely weren't victims. Mike appreciated that, and when the two cars stopped and he thanked them, he was legitimately done. Now, we could talk about justice again, since they lied to the guy from The Waterboy about the car, abused the crap out of it, and broke all sorts of traffic laws. But again, I don't see Mike as a vigilante.

Mike's reaction after being shot backs up my theory (I think). He deserved the beatdown, and justice was ultimately served.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Spoiler

Reading too much into it. Remember, he killed Rose McGowan's character and she was nothing but kind to him. (Except the whole "I'm not going to have sex with him" thing. His car wasn't made to hold passengers. I believe that he would have killed her no matter how she had acted.

The first group... I don't look at them as harshly as you- I mean, they're just being young, stupid girls. Fuck, if you deserve to die for that then someone should put a bullet in me right now. Also, I don't remember the driver being drunk, she had had drinks, but she never seemed to be intoxicated. Unless you have something crazy against pot and being a floozy (which they weren't even, really- no boys at the cabin!) then I'd argue that they didn't even come close to deserving to die.

The abuse to the second car was purely a result of Mike's attack. And although they were breaking all sorts of laws, Zoe IS a stuntperson as well- they may be been doing something stupid, but at least she's trained in doing that stupid thing. The ONLY thing that pisses me off about that group is them leaving the pretty little actress with that scary girl. Knowing QT, she probably got raped.

Mike, aside from being a complete sociopath, was also a whiny little douche. But I think we agreed that his was a victim-free death

YAY for the spoilery goodness!

Spoiler

Well, like I said....

I don't think justice had anything to do with it, just that a somewhat reasonable argument could be made for it.....Except for Rose's death.

No, I think the first group screwed themselves by disrespecting Mike, plain and simple. The second group proved themselves worthy, and Mike respected it.

But, the second they shot him, his true colors came through. He was OK playing by his rules, but as soon as the tables were turned, he became a whiny bitch.

But as I said, the more I think about it, the more I like it.

Fair enough