directors: Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino
starring: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Naveen Andrews, Marley Shelton, Bruce Willis, etc, etc, etc.
While Grindhouse is actually made up of two separate films, I’m going to review the whole shebang as one experience, as it is just that–an “experience.” If you haven’t heard, Grindhouse is an ambitious double feature conceived by directors Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City) and Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill) that hearkens back to the “grindhouse” era of film in the seventies. You could plunk down your four or five bucks and be treated to back-to-back flicks about zombies or car chases or vampires or ruthless women seeking revenge, along with a whole host of trailers for similar films “coming soon.” Those types of nights at the movie theaters would be real events, the kind of thing you often hear your parents relate about their youth, and from actors and directors who grew up going to the theaters on Saturday nights to see these films, and thus inspired them to take up that very pursuit. The thing is, I never experienced any of that. Everything I’ve heard about it has been second and thirdhand, so I only have this vague grasp on the overall concept.