Grindhouse (Planet Terror)
Initially directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
released their movies ‘Death Proof’ and ‘Planet
Terror’ as a ‘double’ feature, complete
with a trailer for a non-existent film. The idea was to recreate
in a cinema the experience of a typical ‘B’ grade
program. The sort of thing you would find playing in a ‘flea-pit’
on a Saturday afternoon, or a midnight double feature at a
drive-in. Somewhere along the line the movies have become
separated, and they are now only available on DVD as independent
films. This is a shame, as it is important to watch both movies
in their correct sequence, ‘Death Proof’ then
‘Planet Terror’, to appreciate the ‘campy’
cult humor that the directors have been able to instill into
their superbly created ‘B’ grade ‘flicks’.
In a brief previous review I said that “Quentin Tarantino
creates another exceptional film, in homage to ‘B’
grade movies. There is a lot of Post-Feminist blah-blah-blah
in ‘Death Proof’, but when the girls finally shut-up,
and the action starts, the film is incredible”. I still
stand by that review, for there is a lot of pseudo intellectualizing
going on in Tarantino’s movie which does tend to slow
down the action considerably. (Tarantino has always been noted
for his pseudo intellectualizing). However, Robert Rodriguez
does not make the same mistake in his component of their ‘double’
feature, and his ‘homage’ to ‘B’ grade
movies is by far the more successful film. The action starts
immediately in ‘Planet Terror’, and never lets
up. After a small American country town is exposed to a lethal
gas, the inhabitants are transformed into flesh eating zombies.
It is up to a brave band of heroic survivors to kill as many
zombies as they can, as they try to escape. Robert Rodriguez
fills his movie with many ‘in-jokes’ from the
genre, which is not really fair to tell you about, for they
consist of most of the humor to be found in the film, and
if you are not conversant with this particular genre you will
probably wonder what all the critical commotion has been about.
Rodriguez also employs a cast of ‘unknown’ actors,
who throw themselves totally into acting in an exaggerated
and careless ‘B’ grade style. Plus, the movie
is full of many illogical and improbable plot twists that
add considerably to the intentional ‘black’ humor.
In-retrospect, Robert Rodriguez’s highly amusing movie
balances the more serious overtones of Quentin Tarantino’s
contribution, but, both movies are essential viewing. Just
be sure that you watch them in their correct order, to get
the full impact!
The Bourne Ultimatum
Having been bored to tears by ‘Bourne 1’ and comatosed
by ‘Bourne 2’, I wasn’t expecting much from
‘The Bourne Ultimatum’. However, Paul Greengrass’
movie comes as a total surprise. Matt Damon reprises his role
of a renegade CIA spy, hot on the trail of a dubious conspiracy.
Just what this conspiracy actually is, is not clear, and the
final twists and turns of the movie are not resolved to practically
the last frames. This rather obvious plot ‘devise’
successfully contributes to maintaining interest in the movie,
but, the real suspense and tension of the movie is created
through one spectacular chase scene after another. Starting
in Moscow, with brief stop-overs in Turin and Paris, and continuing
on with an elaborate chase through Waterloo Station in London,
the movie then zooms through breathtaking chases in Madrid,
Tangiers, and onto an ultimate showdown in New York. The plot
is really not essential to the movie, for it is all about
‘action’! Matt Damon doesn’t do much in
terms of acting as well. All he does is run around looking
‘concerned’. However, Matt Damon’s acting
abilities aren’t really of importance to the movie anyway.
The real star of this movie is the film editor Christopher
Rouse. With his superb expertise, Rouse has fashioned an amazing
fast paced action movie, which will become essential viewing
for any film student, or film aficionado, interested in the
art of film editing.
Puccini for Beginners
I am so sick of pseudo intellectual New York ‘talk-fest’
movies, in which glamorous people spend all their time in
glamorous bars and restaurants endlessly discussing their
emotional shortcomings, that I am going to introduce a new
form of categorization into this column. In the future, when
you read ‘piny movie’ (pseudo intellectual New
York movie) you should know immediately what I am on about.
This will save me an enormous amount of writing time, and
an enormous amount of creative energy. Also, it will save
you the trouble of reading a review! As the first film listed
in this new category, ‘Puccini for Beginners’
is a genuine ‘piny movie’ classic. After a disastrous
break-up with her girlfriend, a New York lesbian decides to
give men a go, and spends the entire movie justifying her
decision to her lesbian friends, in a never ending round of
glamorous bars and restaurants.
Diana, Last days of a Princess
Why won’t the world’s media let Diana, Princess
of Wales, rest in peace? Supposedly to commemorate the 10th
anniversary of her death, Scott Wiper’s appalling movie,
which is a jumble of ‘real’ footage mixed with
terrible performances from ‘look-alike’ actors,
rehashes all the myths associated with Diana’s last
weeks. The film is abysmal, and is not in the same league
as British director Stephen Frears’ recent and very
successful ‘The Queen’.
