Grindhouse.....

[Birdman9]

Did Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, I Spit On Your Grave, Gone In 60 Seconds (the H.B. Halicki version), Vampyros Lesbos, Cannibal Holocaust, Zombi 1 & 2 or Vanishing Point hold your interest?

Have you seen these movies?

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - Awesome, recommended to everyone with a pulse and a sense of humor.

I Spit On Your Grave- I don't understand the appeal of this film, needlessly degrading and not my idea of fun.

Gone In 60 Seconds (the H.B. Halicki version)- great car wrecks, excellent driving, unfortunately too often hapless storytelling/filmmaking-does noy diminish the fun, thankfully, that's how awesome the car shit is in that movie

Vampyros Lesbos- super boring to me, but nice set pieces, hot Euro-babes (at least Soledad), nice visuals all around but the film didn't grab me at all. Not to my taste.

Cannibal Holocaust- Can someone please explain who 'enjoys' this genre of films ('Cannibal Apocalyspse', etc etc) and why? Wait, I take that back. Please don't explain a thing, I really am not interested if this is your cup of tea, some things are best unspoken.

Zombi 1 & 2- I assume this is the Fulchi 'Zombie' pics and not the Euro release of 'Dawn of The Dead'....fun if you are into Zombie pics, but amateur-ish when compared to Romero's originals-and-still-champs 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'Day of the Dead'...you can't improve upon some things.

Vanishing Point-greatest car chase pic ever made or meandering faux-arthouse-existentialist 'counter-culture' cheapie hoping to cash in on stoned teen audiences? A bit of both, especially the greatest car chase part. At least the director had the skill to tell a story and the sense to make the car the star. See the original 'Gone in 60 Seconds' and tell me that it doesn't make 'Vanishing Point' look like 'Citizen Kane' by comparison.

 

[Mr_Delmont]

Grindhouse movies kind of have a formula like porn movies.

Shitty dialogue mixed with shitty story development in between the money shots/eye candy (Explosions, Tits, Zombie's going toe to toe with sharks, etc).

There is not one grindhouse style movie I can totally sit all the way through. I went into the QT/RR Grindhouse fully expecting that. The money shots were worth it though.....especially Sidney Portier.

Damn, I sound like a fan boy......I think I'll bow out of this thread right about now.

 

[Birdman9]

Damn, I sound like a fan boy......I think I'll bow out of this thread right about now.

That has never stopped anyone in this forum before!

 

[soulmarcosa]

Vanishing Point-greatest car chase pic ever made

That movie is utterly overrated IMO. Endless scenes of a car driving do not a chase movie make. Here's the real deals:

DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY
RACE WITH THE DEVIL
SMOKEY & THE BANDIT
CANNONBALL RUN
MAD MAX
ROAD WARRIOR
ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (not really a chase movie but similar in tone to VANISHING POINT, and 100 times better)

meandering faux-arthouse-existentialist 'counter-culture' cheapie hoping to cash in on stoned teen audiences?

"Faux-arthouse" and "cash-in" are exactly what come to mind when I've seen VANISHING POINT the two times I've viewed it. The movie does have an undeniable iconic value and Cleavon Little's character is amazing (obviously the inspiration for the DJ in THE WARRIORS), but in total VANISHING POINT always seemed like a major studio's attempt to duplicate EASY RIDER (with a car) just for a quick buck.

Good to see Kowalski reappear in THE LIMEY, though.

 

[Birdman9]

Vanishing Point-greatest car chase pic ever made

That movie is utterly overrated IMO. Endless scenes of a car driving do not a chase movie make. Here's the real deals:

DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY
RACE WITH THE DEVIL
SMOKEY & THE BANDIT
CANNONBALL RUN
MAD MAX
ROAD WARRIOR
ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (not really a chase movie but similar in tone to VANISHING POINT, and 100 times better)

meandering faux-arthouse-existentialist 'counter-culture' cheapie hoping to cash in on stoned teen audiences?

"Faux-arthouse" and "cash-in" are exactly what come to mind when I've seen VANISHING POINT the two times I've viewed it. The movie does have an undeniable iconic value and Cleavon Little's character is amazing (obviously the inspiration for the DJ in THE WARRIORS), but in total VANISHING POINT always seemed like a major studio's attempt to duplicate EASY RIDER (with a car) just for a quick buck.

Good to see Kowalski reappear in THE LIMEY, though.

ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (not really a chase movie but similar in tone to VANISHING POINT, and 100 times better)

Funny, because every criticism you have for Vanishing Point applies doubly so to Electraglide In Blue, IMO. Different Strokes.

There may be better 'chases' in the films you mentioned, and granted, DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY is neck and neck for GOAT, I just think Vanishing Point encompasses the totality of the 'car movie' than these others you mention. And each of those other films fits comfortably in at least one established genre (DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY is a heist pic, Bonnie and Clyde twist,etc., RACE WITH THE DEVIL is horror/occult, SMOKEY & THE BANDIT & CANNONBALL RUN are comedies, MAD MAX & ROAD WARRIOR are sci-fi), wheras 'Vanishing Point' really becomes soley about the chase, the open road, the cars, and everything else is kind of secondary. I guess that's why I feel it gets top billing. 'Two Lane Blacktop' is right there with it in that regard, but I would put 'Electraglide in Blue' after those, personally. I never really regarded it too highly.

 

[Electrode]

Death Race 2000 was really cool, too. I'm not a Roger Corman fanboy, although that guy was a

on a budget.

Cannibal Holocaust- Can someone please explain who 'enjoys' this genre of films ('Cannibal Apocalyspse', etc etc) and why? Wait, I take that back. Please don't explain a thing, I really am not interested if this is your cup of tea, some things are best unspoken.

I agree. I saw that for the first time last year. I love a good dose of gore from the brutal, European 'cops vs. Mafia' flicks to the 80's horror, but that snuff film Salo-like bullshit that uses a weak "I'm just trying to show this is what society can do to people capable of evil" justification is real corny. I could read a historically accurate book on any given dictatorship controlled government and get the same message. I could deal with stupid or corrupt cops, morally ambiguous soldiers, pimps and other shady individuals, maybe the occational dumb innocent bystander, getting clipped in the crossfire. But scary looking sharp objects being taken to the sensitive bodily areas of women and childen? Fuck that.

 

[Mad Drama Teacher]

Good to see Kowalski reappear in THE LIMEY, though.

There's a movie you don't hear much about. I really like this one. I haven't watched it in quite some time, but was this one supposed to be a dig-up of an extinct genre, as well?

Where has Soderbergh been?

 

[GenePontecorvo]

Man, bring on more lists of exploitation movies.

I dunno if I'll ever sit through "I Spit on Your Grave". My homie saw it and he said it kinda fucked w/ his head it's so brutal but for no reason, seemingly.

I've seen "Cannibal Holocaust". It's not something to be enjoyed but endured. "They made it so I wanna see the bullshit they made" is kinda my approach. It's funny y'all bring it up actually, because I was perusing this book about cannibal movies and mythologies at HPB the other day and I actually found myself wondering "Do I need to see Cannibal Holocaust again."

There is something exciting about watching verboten shit like that. What am I gonna see? Usually it's nothing gross or exciting or even interesting but the anticipation is the thing.

There's a movie called "Porno Holocaust". It's a D'Amato. I'm sure it's atrocious. I'd watch it.

 

[Birdman9]

Good to see Kowalski reappear in THE LIMEY, though.

There's a movie you don't hear much about. I really like this one. I haven't watched it in quite some time, but was this one supposed to be a dig-up of an extinct genre, as well?

Where has Soderbergh been?
I think he has been making endless crappy 'Ocean's 11' remakes/sequels.

The Limey is more of a nod to the 70s film in general, I don't think it tries to explicitly mine any exploitation genres or specific type of crime story. I guess you could look at it as a sort of updating of Boorman's 'Pont Blank'. It's got a great style as a result, I think, I think it's his best film, certainly his most watchable/enjoyable in my opinion.

 

[soulmarcosa]

The Limey is more of a nod to the 70s film in general, I don't think it tries to explicitly mine any exploitation genres or specific type of crime story. I guess you could look at it as a sort of updating of Boorman's 'Pont Blank'. It's got a great style as a result, I think, I think it's his best film, certainly his most watchable/enjoyable in my opinion.

I also like thinking that it shows Kowalski, Captain America, and Terence Stamp's character from POOR COW all meeting up 30 years after their last appearances.

And to keep up our "horses for courses" thread - I think OUT OF SIGHT is Soderbergh's best.

 

[mannybolone]

I just got back from GH as a treat for finishing up all my midterm grading (ugh). Random thoughts:

1) Goddamn, that shit ran long.

2) The trailers were easily one of the best parts of the experience for the simple reason that they were exactly as long as they needed to be without needing to drag shit out further. Alas, the same can't be said of of PT and DP.

3) Personally, I thought it was a really crazy cinematic experience and I mean that mostly in a positive sense. I genuinely enjoyed the sense of play that the whole project has and even though I wish they had a bathroom break up in there

4) Say what you will about QT's films but his taste in music is pretty fucking good. Smith? Joe Tex? Eddie Floyd? Hells yeah.

5) Overall, I thought PT worked better if only because the pacing was good. I "get" what Tarantino was trying to do in DP but to me, it just seemed like a very strange fit to go from faux-femme melodrama chit chatter to Kurt Russell/slo-mo/vehicular homicide. Provided, that crash was

but narratively, I just thought it was awkward and the dialogue - while not shitty to me - just didn't work well.

DP didn't really get fun for me until the second chase scene, at which point, I did pause and think, "Hmm...this guy is trying to run down three stuntwomen in a muscle car. I wonder how this is going to go for him?" and it just seemed a bit ridiculous...not that I minded per se (especially when Dawson drops that foot in the end).

6) PT was a far better homage to the '70s. DP didn't feel throwback at all. It felt like an odd QT film with some fake cigarette burns and scratches and missing reels tossed in for effect but otherwise, no one would ever confuse that film with something from the '70s.

7) Poitier's daughter is

 

[mannybolone]

Good to see Kowalski reappear in THE LIMEY, though.

There's a movie you don't hear much about. I really like this one. I haven't watched it in quite some time, but was this one supposed to be a dig-up of an extinct genre, as well?

Where has Soderbergh been?
I think he has been making endless crappy 'Ocean's 11' remakes/sequels.

I saw the preview for "Oceans 13" before "Grindhouse." One just has to ask: why?


(I'll still go see it though).

 

[Birdman9]

1) Goddamn, that shit ran long.

Not singling you out, O, but the running time has come up so often I have to ask:

Is no one familiar with the concept of "Double Feature" anymore? I know it's no longer much of an option, but a lot of you old farts are as old as me, didn't you sit through double features in your youth? Isn't it a good deal to get 2 movies for the price of one? It seems like a lot of heads wanna pay full price and run after 90 minutes! And aren't a LOT of Hollywood films these days 3 hours anyway? Lord of the Rings, hello? I mean, at least with Grindhouse there's some variety! It's 2 complete movies!

I remember sitting through 2 films at the drive-in, getting home at 2:30 am!

 

[mannybolone]

1) Goddamn, that shit ran long.

Not singling you out, O, but the running time has come up so often I have to ask:

Is no one familiar with the concept of "Double Feature" anymore? I know it's no longer much of an option, but a lot of you old farts are as old as me, didn't you sit through double features in your youth? Isn't it a good deal to get 2 movies for the price of one? It seems like a lot of heads wanna pay full price and run after 90 minutes! And aren't a LOT of Hollywood films these days 3 hours anyway? Lord of the Rings, hello? I mean, at least with Grindhouse there's some variety!

I remember sitting through 2 films at the drive-in, getting home at 2:30 am!
For real, I wouldn't have minded the length if I didn't have to pee.

Real talk.

But seriously, BOTH films could have lost 10-20 minutes (at the very least) and they would have been the SAME FILMS. Deny that.

 

[mannybolone]

I'm not really hating, regardless. I still enjoyed it.

 

[rootlesscosmo]

(I'll still go see it though).

One just has to ask: why?

 

[Birdman9]

1) Goddamn, that shit ran long.

Not singling you out, O, but the running time has come up so often I have to ask:

Is no one familiar with the concept of "Double Feature" anymore? I know it's no longer much of an option, but a lot of you old farts are as old as me, didn't you sit through double features in your youth? Isn't it a good deal to get 2 movies for the price of one? It seems like a lot of heads wanna pay full price and run after 90 minutes! And aren't a LOT of Hollywood films these days 3 hours anyway? Lord of the Rings, hello? I mean, at least with Grindhouse there's some variety!

I remember sitting through 2 films at the drive-in, getting home at 2:30 am!
For real, I wouldn't have minded the length if I didn't have to pee.

Real talk.

But seriously, BOTH films could have lost 10-20 minutes (at the very least) and they would have been the SAME FILMS. Deny that.
Can't deny it. I prefer to think that QT could have cut 10 minutes of 'snappy patter' and had 10 more minutes of stunt shit (cars or fights, either or) or some female nudity (for more of an authentic 70s exploitation feel). Planet Terror could have excised QT's scene and it would have benefited greatly. That was about 6 minutes, at least it felt like it.

 

[motown67]

I thought the first feature had much more of a "play" feel to it than QT's did. Liked the zombies, the crappy film stock, the bad jokes, etc. So much of that was missing from QT's feature.

And I'm sorry to return to this, but all the chit chat with the girls just seems more and more like an utter waste of time given what happens in the movie.

One example, the DJ girl is texting this big time movie director who never shows up. What is the point of this???? What does it add? Nothing as far as I could tell.

Give me more Kurt Russell!?!?!!

 

[mannybolone]

J---,

Totally cosign. I was listening to The Treatment on KCRW when Mitchell interviewed QT and even when Tarantino was describing what he was going after, I thought (not having seen the movie yet) - "hmmmm...this sounds hella strange." And in the movie...it turned out to be, indeed, hella strange.

I mean, if the point was to make us care for these characters before brutally killing them, you don't need 40 minutes to make that shit happen.

 

[Hotsauce84]

For real, I wouldn't have minded the length if I didn't have to pee.

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this...