Grind House

MacGuffin · **on:** May 26, 2005, 12:11:11 AM

Weinsteins' 'godfathers' set to 'Grind'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Quentin Tarantino, whose "Pulp Fiction" helped turn Miramax Films into a powerhouse, and Robert Rodriguez, whose "Spy Kids" movies have been a lucrative franchise for Miramax's genre arm Dimension, are teaming up to make a film for Bob and Harvey Weinstein's new Weinstein Co. The film is scheduled for a spring 2006 release as part of a rapidly evolving release slate, further details of which the Weinsteins announced Wednesday. Tarantino and Rodriguez will each write and direct a 60-minute horror film, and the two films will be packaged together under the overall title "Grind House." The film, which is planned for a spring 2006 release, also will include its own trailers, bonus materials and added extras from other filmmakers that will be packaged together between the two horror flicks in a tribute to the old, big-city movie houses like those on New York's 42nd Street that earned the moniker grindhouses for programming genre pics back to back. An aficionado of grindhouse, Tarantino sampled grindhouse genres in his recent "Kill Bill" films. He said "Grind House" could be the first in a series of films. In a statement, the Weinsteins said, "We couldn't imagine anything more exciting than a film being made together by the two godfathers of our companies, Quentin and Robert."

Ghostboy · **Reply #1 on:** May 26, 2005, 02:09:05 AM

The part about the fake trailers and all that sort of has me sold on the whole thing already.

modage · **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2005, 09:36:53 AM

horror

gimmick

socketlevel · **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2005, 12:36:00 PM

at least the gimmick opens up future possibilities for filmmakers. if the audience is willing to watch something that breaks, even if slightly, the mainstream way of telling the story then i'm more than happy.

-sl-

SiliasRuby · **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2005, 02:28:21 PM

Interesting idea but I am sick of waiting, if tarantino is going to quit before he becomes an "old person" he better start working on these films right away and stop getting distracted.

Pubrick · **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2005, 07:15:15 PM

there's nothing new about this gimmick. it's exactly the same as Two Evil Eyes just with the fake trailer thing. like all other multi-director endeavors, expect this to suck.

Ronen · **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2005, 04:53:34 AM

Rodriguez already filmed his... it's a zombie movie with his collaborator from El Mariachi.. I don't remember the name of the movie. If anyone does, here's your chance to show off your knowledge...

MacGuffin · **Reply #7 on:** June 10, 2005, 01:37:29 PM

Harry Knowles from AICN spilled some news about the upcoming Tarantino/Rodriguez grindhouse horror madness:

The next thing Quentin is shooting will be here in Austin, Texas with his buddy Robert Rodriguez and it's called GRIND HOUSE. [.. ]I got to chat with Rodriguez about GRIND HOUSE quite a bit and this is really going to be a hardcore geekgasm of a flick. First - They'll be getting very cool directors to create GrindHouse style trailers for fictional films to put between and before the film. As to who goes first? It seems that in California - Quentin's hour will play first... In Texas - Robert's hour will play first... and everywhere else - it'll be projectionists' discretion. Same with the order of the trailers before and between the "featured attractions". They will be shot digitally - but in post - they'll be made to have that flawed dirty, nappy - film stock changing at the "reel breaks" faded, pink, saturated 70's film look. Sometimes there'll be a "bad splice" to purposefully cause a missing piece of dialogue. In otherwords... it'll be exactly like a GRIND HOUSE experience... only without the piss on the floor and rats residing in old discarded popcorn buckets in the theater.

Pubrick · **Reply #8 on:** June 11, 2005, 05:39:14 AM

Quote from: Harry 'beyonce' Knowles

In otherwords... it'll be exactly like a GRIND HOUSE experience... only without the piss on the floor and rats residing in old discarded popcorn buckets in the theater.

and in even more other words.. a completely manufactured idea of "cool" that will get the teenagers thinking they hav street cred and salivating out of their daddy's credit cards to obtain all the merchandise which will make them "totally down", or sumsuch bullshit. the whole idea of tarantino is beginning to go from "obvious" to "manic" to "give a rest, dude, u'll be 50 one day, and pathetic".. a victim of his own image.

SiliasRuby · **Reply #9 on:** June 11, 2005, 08:55:14 AM

I'm sure this will be visually dazzling but you made a good point, p.

w/o horse · **Reply #10 on:** June 11, 2005, 04:57:47 PM

Although I see what you're saying Pubrick, I think that's more of a fallout of Tarantino becoming so big so fast. There's not anything manic about wanting to revitalize a style of film that was influential or pleasing to you, in fact it must be one of the most sane things I can think of a film lover to do. Which is what Tarantino has always expressed himself as first and foremost, a lover of film.

I argue that it is good how he energizes people to see movies, how he attempts to raise the standards, and that his place in film, especially right now, is crucial. While the Grind House movie may be blatant, it is nevertheless uncommon, and although his endeavor might not be completely altruistic, it is beneficiary to film fans as far as I can tell. QT might be a bit out there, he might not be making the films we want him to make at all, but he is setting a precedent and a mark that is going to followed, and if I may quote Hunter, "I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top."

I think you're making a brash judgement here, and perhaps even judging QT by his fans.

eward · **Reply #11 on:** June 11, 2005, 05:23:52 PM

Quote from: Losing the Horse:

a lover of film.

he doesn't really seem to love anything but that, though. that's the whole problem.

w/o horse · **Reply #12 on:** June 11, 2005, 05:32:56 PM

Quote from: eward

Quote from: Losing the Horse:
a lover of film.

he doesn't really seem to love anything but that, though. that's the whole problem.

Agreed. Perhaps it's a matter of perspective, because to me that's not so bad. There are worse flaws to have, and moreso at least his is advancive to the nature of film (albeit by consuming the history of film). As in - I would rather QT have his stature than Michael Bay have the same stature, or I agree with QT's stature more than Ron Howard's. While QT might not be a spark under film in a creative sense, he is in a fundamental sense. He is there to say: look what came before me, look what you can do with it. And both those ideas, those purposes, are worthy of admiration from the film community.

matt35mm · **Reply #13 on:** June 11, 2005, 07:01:59 PM

Quote from: Losing the Horse:

Quote from: eward
Quote from: Losing the Horse:
a lover of film.

he doesn't really seem to love anything but that, though. that's the whole problem.

Agreed. Perhaps it's a matter of perspective, because to me that's not so bad. There are worse flaws to have, and moreso at least his is advancive to the nature of film (albeit by consuming the history of film). As in - I would rather QT have his stature than Michael Bay have the same stature, or I agree with QT's stature more than Ron Howard's. While QT might not be a spark under film in a creative sense, he is in a fundamental sense. He is there to say: look what came before me, look what you can do with it. And both those ideas, those purposes, are worthy of admiration from the film community.

Until it becomes redundant.

I would never argue against his talent and ability to generate excitement in filmgoers (which is all fantastic), but he IS becoming stale because of how redundant his most recent work has become. I saw half of the CSI episode, and couldn't believe that I was supposed to take that buried alive thing seriously. In fact, I did think it was a joke... until I saw that it wasn't. It wasn't even an elaboration on an idea that he previously started in Kill Bill, it was just taking the same thing into I-Don't-Care-Anymore territory.

His whole thing is EXCITEMENT for and in cinema! It's just that the excitement is going down. We need something new from him, not something rehashed from something old, and not something cute like pink, scuffy-looking 70s style movies with trailers in the middle. It's a cute idea, no doubt, but cute can only take you so far.

Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown (and to a lesser extent, Reservior Dogs) were exciting, a jolt to the heartbeat of cinema. Kill Bill was thrilling, another something fresh that was needed at the time. So I'd never say that QT wasn't or even isn't awesome, but I fear of growing weary of him, and this movie idea doesn't do much to squash that fear.

eward · **Reply #14 on:** June 11, 2005, 07:05:17 PM

i suppose i wouldn't mind him as much if he didn't care about his celebrity or act like he was the greatest director to have ever walked the earth. i recall an interview with him, when asked what he wants to remembered as he replied with something like "i wanna be remembered as one of the greatest directors to have ever lived."

it's things like that that have caused me to turn my back on him.