Screening Log

This new site feature is a collective effort to summarize our viewing habits. Occasionally, you will find titles here that are coming to a theater near you, in addition to films viewed on television, and even films viewed in piecemeal. The screening log is archived each month; to view past entries select a month in the menu below.


May 2007 activity

Total Log Entries: 39

Total Comments: 13


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Grindhouse / Grind House / Planet Terror / Death Proof / USA / 2007

The genius artificial trailers notwithstanding, Grindhouse is a flawed film for its sheer smorgasbord of material. It’s more a celebration (and admirably so) of a type of exhibition, one that contemporary audiences (as Adam notes) have been largely disinterested in, than it is of a specific genre. It begins with Robert Rodriguez’s depthless Planet Terror. The film is all artifice, what with its digitally aged filmstock, the carefully considered missing reel, and even the glimpse of the camera crew in the opening credits. All of these elements are particularly ironic because they are staged and not the accidents, blemishes, or compromises that enhance films of this vintage. Rodriguez is admirably enamored by his inspirations – his appropriation of John Carpenter is faithful; the score, for one, is fantastic – but ultimately Planet Terror is absent of any terror.

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, by contrast, is a total thrill, elongated passages of dialogue and all.

Jit’s thoughts

by Rumsey Taylor | Source: The Weinstein Company 35mm print
07 May 2007 12:47 PM | Submit Comment


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