#tbt Grindhouse review

Happy Throwback Thursday guys! Even though it's not Thursday.

 Sorry about that. Quentin Tarantino, weird as he can be, is one of my favorite directors. Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs... The list goes on. I pretty much love all of his movies. Back in 2007, Robert Rodriguez (a fellow director and Quentin's bud) and Tarantino himself decided to team up and make a double feature in the homage to those old poorly made exploitation pictures they all loved when they were a kid. The product was Grindhouse. Although I'm not old enough to have seen said exploitation flicks back in the 60's and 70's, I am old enough to enjoy the nice mixture of sheer insanity and genius that is Grindhouse. There are two full movies in the Grindhouse package. The first, Planet Terror, is a grossly over-the-top zombie film directed and written by Robert Rodriguez. It stars such big name actors as Josh Brolin and Bruce Willis, even Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas shows up for a short cameo (but I'm not sure how necessary that was). The plot of Planet Terror is that a scientist (Naveen Andrews, or as you may know him, Sayid from Lost) "accidentally" unleashes a gas turning people into bloodthirsty lunatics. So a loner, an ex-go go dancer, a bartender, and Josh Brolin's character's wife try and stay alive and find out what's happening. Next is Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, but in between the two is packed with a few fake trailers and commercials that are actually great. First is Machete, directed by Robert Rodriguez, which is less of a fake trailer because that actually turned into a real movie with the same plot line as the trailer promised. Then there's Werewolf Women of the SS. Which is as stupid and ridiculous as it sounds. But it does have a funny cameo from Nicholas Cage. Rob Zombie directed that one. After that was Don't, directed by the great Edgar Wright. That one was about some haunted house, but it was done in such a way I was cracking up throughout the entire trailer. Lastly was Eli Roth's slasher-parody, Thanksgiving. That one was almost as funny (and bloody) as the rest of the trailers. Honestly, even if you hated the two films in Grindhouse (which I did not) the trailers make the whole thing worthwhile. Finally, there is Death Proof. The plot of Death Proof is there's two groups of girls who are being stalked by psychopathic murderer, Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russel) who kills with his 'death proof'car. After the sickeningly bloody Planet Terror, Death Proof was a nice break. It was violent, but it was much more dialogue-centric (as are most of Tarantino's movies). I enjoyed Death Proof a lot. It had some fun dialogue and characters, and it was more enjoyable in a sense than Planet Terror was. I didn't hate Planet Terror though. It had some strangely fun moments. Like for example, Rose McGowan's character has a machine gun for a leg that she uses to kill zombies. This is ridiculous, but it works for this movie. Rodriguez added in a lot more of the 'grindhouse' feel' to his film than Tarantino did. While Planet Terror constantly had the dirty cheap exploitation feeling to it, Death Proof used it a lot less. In Planet Terror Robert Rodriguez added in a "missing reel" to add to the feel. Tarantino did that too. Yet in Planet Terror, the reel was used to tie up loose ends and make the story easier for Rodriguez. While in Death Proof, the missing reel was added only for the feel, not as a plot device. It's obvious that Quentin Tarantino is more talented than Robert Rodriguez. Never the less, I still really enjoy most of Rodriguez's stuff. I liked Planet Terror, but Death Proof was just a bit better. Either way, the entire Grindhouse feature is a terrifically fun time that I would certainly watch again. So yeah, I recommend it! Happy Viewing guys. Remember you can follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies!            

#tbt Natural Born Killers review

Sometimes when a man loves a woman very much they go on a cross country murder spree, killing anyone that irritates them in the slightest way. Wait, that's not right at all.
Way back in ol' 1994 filmmaker Oliver Stone made a little movie called Natural Born Killers. It's about two lovers named Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis). Both had very traumatic childhoods, and both have developed a certain bloodthirstiness that can only be satisfied by murder. They are quickly turned into stars, almost idols, by the media. Particularly Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), who looks upon Mickey and Mallory as legends who can boost his ratings. The film documents their (fictional) crime spree through a very trippy directing job by Oliver Stone. Quentin Tarantino originally wrote the screenplay, but it was vastly changed by Stone, David Veloz, and Richard Rutowski. Thus Tarantino only got a story credit here. But a few of his trademarks are still present (i.e. it being very violent and a Mexican standoff being held towards the end). There was an outrage against the film for being way too violent when it came out. People said that it promoted violence. Yet, the movie actually does the opposite. If simply glance at the film, you would just see the violence and nothing past that. Yet, if you really watch it, you can see this is actually a pretty smart movie. Oliver Stone got a Golden Globe nod for Best Director here. I can see why. Natural Born Killers is a cinematic fever dream of an insane person. That's one reason that makes the film so damn cool! Certain scenes are shot in 35mm and Super 8, while others are given a strange grainy feel or put through a color filter. Not just the look of the movie is strange. There are some parts that feel as if it's all part of some bad drug trip or weird dream. At one point in the motel Mickey and Mallory are staying at, the images of the television are being projected onto the motel window. Another scene in the film is shot and edited as if it's a sitcom with a laugh track, while the scene is depicting Mallory's father abusing both her and her mother. It's strange, but it is effective in showing how Mallory's childhood was and it really solidifies the scene in your mind. You've got to hand it to Stone for really being creative with his direction here. Oliver Stone isn't generally known as an auteur director like say, Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino. Yet, this movie is perfect proof he could be. I am a pretty big Oliver Stone fan. I loved Born on the Fourth of July and JFK, and of course Platoon was great. Natural Born Killers may not be as good as those, but it comes close. Partially because of the direction, but also because of the acting. I really enjoy Juliette Lewis' acting. I think she is an underrated actress. She was terrific in Cape Fear and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Personally, I think her performance here is her best yet. She plays Mallory with such a wicked fascination, she seems just to be a teenager who because of being all messed up as a kid, took her "rebellious' stage a bit too far. Woody Harrelson is great too. He's driven by his hatred but also by his love for Mallory. Harrelson portrays his character to near perfection. The best part of the film is how it shows how the killers became celebrities. Everyone knows that they're murderers, yet they think they are cool and the idolize them. At one point in the movie someone says, "If I could be a mass murderer, I'd be Mickey & Mallory!" It just shows how distorted these things can get. I personally think Natural Born Killers is an underrated classic. while it's not Oliver Stone's best, it's still pretty good. Happy Throwback Thursday and Happy Viewing! You can follow me on Twitter @WhitsMovies and like me on Facebook at Facebook.com/WhitsMovies!