“While these movies really can function as stand alone films, they’re best when aprpeciated as a pair. That’s how they were intended, and I was so upset when they ended up being sold separately. Going to a legit double feature (not just me going to two movies) is a lot of fun, especially when your posse takes up an entire row. Add in the fake trailers, and the Grindhouse feel, and you had one of the best movie going experiences ever. People cheered and laughed over the missing reels. All of the intentionally bad editing and worse special effects, and you had some unexpected gold. It’s also worth watching them in parallel to catch the overlaps. A few actors appear in both, sometimes as the same characters, sometimes not. There’s some cross-referencing going on (ie, a radio message about Death Proof’s Jungle Julia in Planet Terror). I’m glad that the boys are at least trying to keep the spirit of this semi-failed experiement going (success in that it was good and enjoyed, failed in that it wasn’t as monetarily successful as hoped.)
Planet Terror
I talked this one up plenty on my favorites post. With each subsequent Rodriguez movie I see, I keep telling myself, “”That’s how you make a kick ass action movie””. And I mean it every \m/ time. I especially mean it with Planet Terror. Explosions, zombies, gore, humor. Great cast, better vibe. Love.
Death Proof
There’s a common theme with my first viewing of a lot of Tarantino movies. They dont quite live up to my once misguided perception of what his movies were. Like with Jackie Brown, I was expecting action. I didnt understand the pulp appeal. I remember posting a write up on my old blog, and I lamented the lack of action and remarked that the dialogue was kinda good but “”who goes to a Tarantino movie for the dialogue?”” A friend posted a comment quoting that remark followed by “”*raises hand*””. I get it now. I really really \m/ do.
Tarantino is a director who has a merry band of actors and crew who work with him on many of his flicks. Death Proof is no different. What makes it special in that respect is that Death Proof gave him the opportunity to let one of his unsung faithful heroes shine: the lovely and incomparable Zoe Bell. For those of you scratching your heads at the name, Ms Bell is primarily a stunt woman. She was Uma Thurman’s stunt double in Kill Bill. Now we just recently discussed the awesome that was Kill Bill and all its action-y glory. Zoe Bell was a big part of what made that all possible. Here she had a chance to actually show her face in the front of the camera, take on a sizeable role, and still get to do some of the wonderful stunts she does best.
I’m certainly watching it now with far more appreciation than before. It’s been a while, so this re-view is very much deserved. Knowing how it plays out, I’m loving the build up and the dialogue and the–oooh Eli Roth!”