(Recently posted this on another board to an astounding silence. Thought I'd invoke the same here!)

Just when you thought Tarantino was the only one left talking about GRINDHOUSE . . .

Watched PLANET TERROR for Halloween night. Mildly entertaining in a no-brainer kinda way. Thought the movie would have benefited from a no-CGI policy, to better mimic the 70s look. Think of the wonderful puppetry and prosthetics of THE THING and ALIEN. But asking Robert "Green Screen" Rodriguez not to do CGI is like asking Quentin not to indulge his foot fetish, right?

Random thoughts:

- The opening tearful go-go dance was very mst3k's GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS. "I had such a pretty mind!"
- Against all reason, Quentin Tarantino continues to labor under the impression that we want to see him act. Destiny, turn off the radio.
- Josh Brolin's sadistic doctor exists in the same GRINDHOUSE universe as a car that kills, much like daddy James starred in the classic THE CAR. Also, Josh could have kept the mustache but lost the goatee part -- he would have looked more like '70s horror guy Tom Atkins.
- One of the worst movies ever has to be THE DOOM GENERATION with Rose McGowan.

On DEATH PROOF, the long bouts of dialogue were really freakin draining. I don't mind slow build-up as a rule -- I can watch the first hour of PSYCHO and appreciate Janet Leigh negotiating her way through a mundane bit of theft -- but those girls were just so very annoying to listen to. And like comedian Doug Benson observed, Quentin might has well pulled a Norbit and dressed up as the entire ensemble, filming himself talking to himself in a variety of wigs.

However I did revisit the movie and had a much better time the second go, liberally exercising the FFWD button . . .

On the upside, an indelible character from Kurt Russell, some nicely staged violence, and a kick-ass car chase finale with real-time stunts. (Wonder if that slam to CGI delivered by Kurt Russell was a playful swipe at Rodriguez.) Edited down, it's a classic Tales from the Crypt episode. Just retitle it "Kurt Russell and The Kick-Ass Car Chase."

Random thoughts:

- I enjoy saying "Kurt Russell IS DEATH PROOF" far too much.
- All the Vanishing Point talk made me think of mst3k's Mitchell (and I will think of it): "They're filming Vanishing Point on the other side of the canyon."
- Stuntman Mike's emotional transformation worked for me. It made sense that a guy who apparently has to prop himself up with old glories ("I did the entire third season of VEGAS") and who only attacks others when protected by his death proof car, might prove to be all too fragile when hurt.
- Loved Kurt. Loved his John Wayning through lines like "In my book, that's no good." Loved "Ladies, now that was fun!" (*bang*) Loved simple shots of him lowering binoculars from his eyes and smiling evilly. I hadn't realized just how much goodwill the guy had been bought from me with THE THING and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.

So anyone see the(se) movie(s)? <-- kurt without the lustrous head of hair

I'll bite. I just watched both movies last week, and most of my reactions seem pretty similar to yours.

Planet Terror: Really liked this one a lot, but I'm a sucker for zombies. Watched it with my sister, and we had a long conversation about this Brolin kid, how he's everywhere all of a sudden, never heard of him before now, etc. We both agreed that movies really need more male leads like this, to balance out all the smooth, pretty boys. Believe it or not, we also compared him to Tom Atkins (whom I adore.)

I know the entire point of the movie was to be over the top, but I couldn't help but think did they really have to kill the kid AND the dog? Harsh! Loved the scene toward the end with two brothers and the chili recipe. Loved all the Savini-esque splatter, and the turning-off-the-radio-just-before-hearing-the-crucial-news gimmick. Old school!

Death Proof: I think you're right; the front end was way too talky. Tarantino is too in love with his dialogue, to the point of ruining the story structure. Plus, those wandering dialogue scenes work better if you care a little about the characters, and I didn't really care about that first set of girls, at all. The second set, marginally more. But still, too talky.

Kurt Russell, however, was awesomely menacing. Loved every scene he was in. The stunts did in fact kick ass.

Also, I loved all the little extras, like the fake preview, and the little jumps in the film. And I laughed my ass off at the one big jump in the film, involving the Rodriguez non-revelation.

Thanks xii! Enjoyed the read. You win a cool Icy Hot jacket for not leaving me hanging.

This Brolin kid is everywhere all of a sudden. I recently caught him in an NPR interview, and I'm sure I'll be giving that new Coen Brothers movie a good long look.

The first and only other time I was aware of seeing him: a semi-obscure Ewan MacGregor psychological thriller that was a remake of some well-received scandinavian film (?). Law student Ewan takes a graveyard shift in a morgue for the summer, and Josh Brolin plays his on-the-edge pleasure-seeker buddy who could be hiding something sinister. He does quite well with the role -- his scene in the pool hall is particularly memorable -- and I was colored impressed.

Okay, that's enough hyphens for one post.

I caught the tail end of that interview on NPR, and without knowing who they were talking about, I figured it must be the omnipresent Junior Brolin. He sounds like a relatively humble, non-vapid fellow, for the kid of a famous person. I most definitely want to see the Coen movie since it's gotten so many glowing reviews.

I vaguely recognize the description of the morgue movie from seeing some preview, but it feels like it was like 10 years ago. Could Brolin have been around that long ago, or am I thinking of another movie entirely? I'll have to check it out.

You called it right -- it was ten years ago. 1997.

Nightwatch

It was all right, I agree with the criticism that the plot isn't all it could be and the pay-off isn't especially satisfying. However I generally enjoy Ewan, and the Brolin kid showed me something.