GRINDHOUSE
The last time I walked out of a movie it was 1986. I had gone to see the re-release of Sleeping Beauty, and became upset at the memory of the evil queen turning into a dragon. I made my parents take me home. Today, I had to walk out of “Grindhouse.” Since it has been over 20 years since I last walked out of a film, you have to bet that this one was pretty terrible.
Yes, yes, I have a thorough grasp of grindhouse/exploitation cinema. I also love grade B horror movies. But the grade B horror movie that is so intentionally bad that it’s funny, or the grade B movie that pokes fun at the entire exploitation genre has been done TO DEATH- e.g. “From Dusk Till Dawn”-Also by Tarantino and Rodriguez, all the “Evil Dead ” movies, etc…. Grindhouse (what I saw of it anyway) was awful. I feel the same way about this movie that I feel about “Curb Your Enthusiasm” : I understand why it’s supposed to be funny, and can identify the places where you are supposed to laugh, but it is JUST NOT FUNNY!! I cringed every time the meat-heads sitting behind us roared with laughter at these idiotic, disgusting, and supposedly humorous occurrences. The only reason I watched this awful movie as long as I did was because of the remarkable cinematography. Nearly every shot of “Planet Terror” was spectacularly beautiful- gross, but amazing. To be fair, I never made it to the Tarantino segment. However, I think that “Pulp Fiction” is the only decent movie he has ever made, so I didn’t really care.
