Welcome to Grindhouse...for real...
OK, we have now all been taken to school by two true MASTERS....
If you could go back in time about 10 years and told me two of my newfound heroes, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, would team up to attempt the greatest night of geek cinema ever made, I would have said "dude, I HAVE From Dusk Till Dawn on Laserdisc? Duh..."
...but GRINDHOUSE is another beast all together.
and now the trailer is out, and it might be the closest thing to pulp perfection I've ever seen. It seems to be sticking true to the experience of the Grindhouse experience, rough splices and moog music et al. It also boasts one of the greatest casts ever, and I never thought Kurt Russell could get any cooler, and Rose Macgowan...any hotter. If you haven't seen the trailer yet and gotten your keyboard slick with geek goo, behold it HERE.
Funny how it takes seeing the trailer in pristine HD to get the full "film wiped on the ass of the projectionist" look they are going for.
Speaking of which, I got to hit the "Real" Grindhouse at the New Beverly on Tuesday, where they were playing the appropriately programed original version of BLACK CHRISTMAS and the lesser quality SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT. The place was PACKED, and the energy was high since director Bob Clark, stars John Saxton and Olivia Hussey were in attendance (as well as 2 stars from Clarks seminal holiday classic A CHRISTMAS STORY, Scott "Flick" Schwartz & Zack "Scut Farkus" Ward) and once the movie rolled (after a slew of poorly selected trailers cut by some guy named "Trash" who we will get to in a moment) the crowd was RAPT by it. This is a testament to the quality of the original film, since it's truly a well crafted horror film with a perfect smattering of dark humor, and it will take a LOT for the remake to surpass the freaky tension the original film creates. THIS version of the script, with it's healthy use of the "C" and "T" word (you know which ones...) and also an ambiguous sensibility that would never pass the studio walls. Like I mentioned with ROCKY BALBOA, they just don't make horror films like this anymore. I will see the remake, but it's gonna be a tough sell after such a powerful flick that predated the "slasher" genre by 5 years (It truly has the first great "Killer POV" shot that I still can't figure out how they did...Fuck you STRANGE DAYS!). See, that is the strange thing with the grindhouse at the New Beverly. Things have been a little TENSE since a few "GH's" back one of our crew got into a fight with a twunt who thought that noone should talk during the show. See, people go to the Grindhouse TO talk during the show, to laugh along with buddies, sneak in a pint of Jack Daniels and try to out-quip the rest of the audience who generally welcomes the commentary. But since there's been a few serious-minded GH-goers who think that this is the MOMA, and that's put a damper on our monthly ritual. Now half of our gang won't even go, which really sucks because it was a good excuse for us all to get together and have a great night. But here is the kicker....the grindhouse programmers actually came up to our buddy Dan (who is also the sick fuck who wrote SEE NO EVIL) to tell him to monitor the rest of us so we're not rowdy. Then, the penis dribble that put the trailers together (Eddie "Trash" or some shit like that) proceeds to drink himself silly and scream and yell through the film...and got kicked out! Afterwards the programmer apologized to Dan and said "I can't yell at you guys anymore" and thank fucking god it worked out the way it did. Hopefully the GH will keep it's integrity in the next few months (coming in January: Jack Hill night! Woo!) with the dawn of Rob and Quentin's GRINDHOUSE which will surely make the New beverly the hot spot for a clip, but now hopefully the fun will come back to the place and we can all make fun of SWITCHBLADE SISTERS without the fear of B-Movie Blacklisting. See you there!
In the spirit of Xmas, we got a tree. Not quite a "Charlie Brown" but it does the job nicely, thank you. Bri and I couldn't help but notice that some trees in the lot were upwards of 450 dollars in price. Um....what? Welcome to the Hollywood Holidays, I guess. Im sorry but a 450 dollar tree better wrap my presents and give me a Cleveland Steamer as well. If you pay more, do you receive MORE Holiday spirit?
Bah Humbug.
DREAMGIRLS- Got to see a screening at the DOME (God I love it there) and I wont bore you with the usual gushing over the flick. I HATED CHICAGO. Im proud of that claim. It wasn't for me, and neither was DREAMGIRLS really, but it didn't mean I didn't enjoy most of it. The first hour has the rapid-fire energy and verve of an R&B BOOGIE NIGHTS, and both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy should get ready for heaps of award talk and praise (seriously, both are amazing and Murphy is the best he's been since PLUTO NASH...har) but when they leave the world's story in the second act, the film falls flatter than farina. Everyone else in the cast is great but the story NEED the arc both Hudson's and Murphy's characters go through, their stories are much more compelling than the Motown madness that encompasses the second and third act. When both performers return front and center, the film's live is revived, and it's a thrilling and heartfelt conclusion. I did enjoy the film, I won't lie. But it's far from completely "Dream-y". Christ who am I Joel Segal???
Christmas looms....I need to watch SCROOGED....
If you could go back in time about 10 years and told me two of my newfound heroes, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, would team up to attempt the greatest night of geek cinema ever made, I would have said "dude, I HAVE From Dusk Till Dawn on Laserdisc? Duh..."
...but GRINDHOUSE is another beast all together.
and now the trailer is out, and it might be the closest thing to pulp perfection I've ever seen. It seems to be sticking true to the experience of the Grindhouse experience, rough splices and moog music et al. It also boasts one of the greatest casts ever, and I never thought Kurt Russell could get any cooler, and Rose Macgowan...any hotter. If you haven't seen the trailer yet and gotten your keyboard slick with geek goo, behold it HERE.
Funny how it takes seeing the trailer in pristine HD to get the full "film wiped on the ass of the projectionist" look they are going for.
Speaking of which, I got to hit the "Real" Grindhouse at the New Beverly on Tuesday, where they were playing the appropriately programed original version of BLACK CHRISTMAS and the lesser quality SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT. The place was PACKED, and the energy was high since director Bob Clark, stars John Saxton and Olivia Hussey were in attendance (as well as 2 stars from Clarks seminal holiday classic A CHRISTMAS STORY, Scott "Flick" Schwartz & Zack "Scut Farkus" Ward) and once the movie rolled (after a slew of poorly selected trailers cut by some guy named "Trash" who we will get to in a moment) the crowd was RAPT by it. This is a testament to the quality of the original film, since it's truly a well crafted horror film with a perfect smattering of dark humor, and it will take a LOT for the remake to surpass the freaky tension the original film creates. THIS version of the script, with it's healthy use of the "C" and "T" word (you know which ones...) and also an ambiguous sensibility that would never pass the studio walls. Like I mentioned with ROCKY BALBOA, they just don't make horror films like this anymore. I will see the remake, but it's gonna be a tough sell after such a powerful flick that predated the "slasher" genre by 5 years (It truly has the first great "Killer POV" shot that I still can't figure out how they did...Fuck you STRANGE DAYS!). See, that is the strange thing with the grindhouse at the New Beverly. Things have been a little TENSE since a few "GH's" back one of our crew got into a fight with a twunt who thought that noone should talk during the show. See, people go to the Grindhouse TO talk during the show, to laugh along with buddies, sneak in a pint of Jack Daniels and try to out-quip the rest of the audience who generally welcomes the commentary. But since there's been a few serious-minded GH-goers who think that this is the MOMA, and that's put a damper on our monthly ritual. Now half of our gang won't even go, which really sucks because it was a good excuse for us all to get together and have a great night. But here is the kicker....the grindhouse programmers actually came up to our buddy Dan (who is also the sick fuck who wrote SEE NO EVIL) to tell him to monitor the rest of us so we're not rowdy. Then, the penis dribble that put the trailers together (Eddie "Trash" or some shit like that) proceeds to drink himself silly and scream and yell through the film...and got kicked out! Afterwards the programmer apologized to Dan and said "I can't yell at you guys anymore" and thank fucking god it worked out the way it did. Hopefully the GH will keep it's integrity in the next few months (coming in January: Jack Hill night! Woo!) with the dawn of Rob and Quentin's GRINDHOUSE which will surely make the New beverly the hot spot for a clip, but now hopefully the fun will come back to the place and we can all make fun of SWITCHBLADE SISTERS without the fear of B-Movie Blacklisting. See you there!
In the spirit of Xmas, we got a tree. Not quite a "Charlie Brown" but it does the job nicely, thank you. Bri and I couldn't help but notice that some trees in the lot were upwards of 450 dollars in price. Um....what? Welcome to the Hollywood Holidays, I guess. Im sorry but a 450 dollar tree better wrap my presents and give me a Cleveland Steamer as well. If you pay more, do you receive MORE Holiday spirit?
Bah Humbug.
DREAMGIRLS- Got to see a screening at the DOME (God I love it there) and I wont bore you with the usual gushing over the flick. I HATED CHICAGO. Im proud of that claim. It wasn't for me, and neither was DREAMGIRLS really, but it didn't mean I didn't enjoy most of it. The first hour has the rapid-fire energy and verve of an R&B BOOGIE NIGHTS, and both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy should get ready for heaps of award talk and praise (seriously, both are amazing and Murphy is the best he's been since PLUTO NASH...har) but when they leave the world's story in the second act, the film falls flatter than farina. Everyone else in the cast is great but the story NEED the arc both Hudson's and Murphy's characters go through, their stories are much more compelling than the Motown madness that encompasses the second and third act. When both performers return front and center, the film's live is revived, and it's a thrilling and heartfelt conclusion. I did enjoy the film, I won't lie. But it's far from completely "Dream-y". Christ who am I Joel Segal???
Christmas looms....I need to watch SCROOGED....
posted by Joe Lynch at
9:45 AM
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