28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Bosco B Thug]

Death Proof is a straight-up masterpiece. Tarantino really continues to grow as a filmmaker; his craft is impeccable, every shot and cut is essential, fluid and impactful. The narrative strikes me as one of the most ambitious in American cinema of the decade, and he populates it with so many wonderful details that hint at a carefully-constructed universe that I don't think I can even begin to grasp at with a first viewing. It's a challenging, morally ambiguous work, a great companion piece to Inglourious Basterds (which I'm very excited to watch again), and similarly astute about pop culture and its place in it.

StanleyK, hope I didn't give you a black eye, from how fast that rep came.

[Pop Trash]

Could you elaborate on the "challenging, morally ambiguous" bit? I've only seen the movie once (theatrical release) and there wasn't anything particularly challenging about it, much less ambiguous.

Yeah, you (StanleyK) were being rather vague in your praise. Could you name some specifics? I liked Death Proof, but any depth there is tenuous at best.

[Lazlo]

AN OPEN LETTER TO AMC ENTERTAINMENT

To whom it may concern,

Let me tell you about my experience at AMC Northlake 14 in Charlotte, NC on July 25, 2011. It was far from pleasant.

There was a couple with small child that would not stay quiet. They were asked once to be quiet by someone else. When I asked again shortly after, the man cursed at and threatened me, challenging me to a fight.

I left the theater and went to the lobby at approximately 11:30pm and could find no employees to help me.

The man exited the theater and approached me, got in my face, and told me he had every right to bring his son, no matter how disruptive, and that I was the one who should leave. He reiterated that we could “take things outside” if I still had a problem. I walked away and he returned to the theater.

I continued to search for an employee, to no avail.

At 11:54pm I called the theater phone number. No one picked up. I left a message.

Upon discovering the door to the upstairs of the building was open, I went upstairs in search of help. After knocking on a few doors I found the manager. I explained my problem and he refunded my money (though not before repeatedly telling me that he could only give me a pass because all the money had been closed for the night; eventually he gave me cash) and offered to kick the offending patrons out of the theater. By this time the movie had ended and the couple had left.

I continued to talk to the manager about the absurdity of the situation. He was respectful and apologetic but insisted that the theater was technically closed and he had other duties to attend to other than ensuring the safety and satisfaction of his customers.

The fact that it took me a half hour to find anyone that could help me is deeply troubling.

My moviegoing experience was greatly damaged. No one was around to help deal with the disturbance.

What if the man had assaulted me? Who would have known or been able to help me? The lobby was deserted. I could have been injured and unable to notify anyone.

What if someone gets hurt accidentally in one of your theaters? Where is the First Aid kit? Where is anyone who knows its location? This is a huge safety and security issue. The options should not be either (a) call 911 or (b) go to the hospital. There should be assistance available at all times there are customers present on the premises. Someone should be around to at least pick up the phone when called.

No one should have to fear for either their safety or the disturbance of their theater experience upon entering your building.

I was able to open every door marked “Private” and walk through the entire upstairs of the facility. Film prints, concessions, and lobby displays are vulnerable to theft. The building’s entire electrical system is accessible to anyone.

The theater should not be considered “closed” when it is still occupied by customers. I understand the need to close out the business day, but your business is in fact not closed if it is still serving customers.

I returned to the theater today and spoke with the general manager. I laid out all my concerns and she listened attentively. She had read the report and watched the security tapes first thing this morning and was very familiar with the situation. She agreed with every one of my points and told me that the supervisor that should have been walking the floor had been disciplined and a written account of the incident had been placed in his permanent employment file. She volunteered that from what she could tell from the security footage, the supervisor lingered too long in one theater, ignoring his duty to sweep the facility. A mandatory staff meeting would be held to discuss the incident and ensure that others like it do not happen in the future. The general manager also promised that she would bring up the incident at a training conference she is attending later this week. She agreed that it was wrong that children so young were allowed into the theater so late and she said she would suggest a policy to restrict such activity. Overall she was friendly, receptive, understanding and in full agreement with my complaints and concerns. It was clear she took the situation very seriously. I appreciate her concern and candor. Hopefully her understanding and appreciation of the situation will lead to improvements in the operation of the theater.

Please know that while the general manager’s response was welcome, I will no longer attend this location.

Sincerely,

Griffin Van Malssen

[Qrazy]

Alternatively you could have just kicked the shit out of the guy. That would teach his son to shut his big yap next time around!

[Lazlo]

Alternatively you could have just kicked the shit out of the guy. That would teach his son to shut his big yap next time around!

Dude had five inches and eighty pounds of muscle on me. He would have destroyed me and no one would have known.

[Spun Lepton]

Lazlo, just a quick suggestion to remove your email address from this site. When I was running a similar site, there was no end to spambots.

[Lazlo]

Lazlo, just a quick suggestion to remove your email address from this site. When I was running a similar site, there was no end to spammers.

10-4, thanks.

[Irish]

Lazlo, throw a heads up to the Consumerist website too. They usually eat stuff like this up.

[Qrazy]

Dude had five inches and eighty pounds of muscle on me. He would have destroyed me and no one would have known.

Yeah I was just kidding but... knife him in the spleen?

[Lazlo]

Lazlo, throw a heads up to the Consumerist website too. They usually eat stuff like this up.

Rock and roll.

[Lazlo]

Yeah I was just kidding but... knife him in the spleen?

Yeah, I know you were kidding. It was just a super shitty situation all around. Probably including the kid's diaper.

[Derek]

Yeah, I know you were kidding. It was just a super shitty situation all around. Probably including the kid's diaper.

You have an awesome name. I don't know about the douche bag at your theater, but I'd never threaten anyone named Griffin Van Malssen.

[Lazlo]

You have an awesome name. I don't know about the douche bag at your theater, but I'd never threaten anyone named Griffin Van Malssen.

Thanks. Maybe I should start wearing a nametag.

[MadMan]

Lalzo that's really shitty that anything like that happened. The last theater I worked at wasn't the greatest, but late at night we didn't lock the doors and shut down anything until the last showing ended. And there was someone at least behind concessions, plus at least one manager wandering around making sure everything was a-okay. And I recall having to deal with one asshole customer before-him and his friends wouldn't be quiet when I asked them too, but they shut up after I got a manger and she showed up.

But I can't blame you at all for not wanting to back to that theater. I wouldn't, either.

You should definitely see De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise if you're into "horror".

I will, at some point. I think I'll try and view Hi! Mom before I see Sisters and Carrie.

[transmogrifier]

I will, at some point. I think I'll try and view Hi! Mom before I see Sisters and Carrie.

Sisters and Carrie are both a million times better than the tone-deaf, inexplicably loved Phantom of Paradise. Boy I hated that movie.

[Spinal]

Death Proof is a straight-up masterpiece. Tarantino really continues to grow as a filmmaker; his craft is impeccable, every shot and cut is essential, fluid and impactful. The narrative strikes me as one of the most ambitious in American cinema of the decade, and he populates it with so many wonderful details that hint at a carefully-constructed universe that I don't think I can even begin to grasp at with a first viewing. It's a challenging, morally ambiguous work, a great companion piece to Inglourious Basterds (which I'm very excited to watch again), and similarly astute about pop culture and its place in it.

I disagree with just about everything you said here. Death Proof is easily Tarantino's most tedious film, full of bluster and bloat. The dialogue draws far too much attention to the writer rather than servicing the film. Unlike other Tarantino films where the dialogue amuses or heightens tension, here it just drones on and on and on. The narrative is really just atrocity followed by revenge interrupted by endless chit-chat. Not sure what's ambitious about that. Morally ambiguous? What, because the chicks beat the shit out of a murderer instead of reporting him to the proper authorities? It's not a complex film. There's a baddie baddie and some vulnerable hot chicks and some tough hot chicks. It's an exploitation film for people who like feet and women who won't shut up. I watched it twice thinking I had missed something and ending up discovering there was even less there than I thought. Not a good film.

[Spun Lepton]

I disagree with just about everything you said here. Death Proof is easily Tarantino's most tedious film, full of bluster and bloat.

/snipped, but agreed.

Although, I thought the last 20 minutes were excellent. Too bad you have to sit through so much tedium to get there.

[Russ]

Sisters and Carrie are both a million times better than the tone-deaf, inexplicably loved Phantom of Paradise. Boy I hated that movie.

I would need to see it again to defend it, but yeah, you're really in a minority on this one.

Hi Mom! is awesome. I especially like the completely out-of-left-field "Be Black, Baby" theater piece that was plopped down in the middle of this film. See it.

[Irish]

Ok, Spinal's Death Proof post is pretty much the post to end all posts. I'm embarrassed my own is so skimpy and, well, content-less.

Particularly like the line "The dialogue draws far too much attention to the writer rather than servicing the film."

That clearly states my beef with the movie -- it feels written, like the entire thing is a constant setup to the next scene, and completely inauthentic.

[Ezee E]

I like it up until the tough chicks. There is character building, even if it's deserving to a whole different story. The second round never really builds on it to me like it should have. The cafe talk intends to be something like the discussion of pipes in Basterds but the subpar acting drolls it out.

[EyesWideOpen]

Finally, I've watched Grindhouse! The wait was long because I wanted to see it the proper way: both parts together, 90-minute version of each, and the fake trailers. While I definitely feel like this is the way to experience the film, the trailers are kind of a let-down; not very funny, and even as short films they feel too long.

Planet Terror is nothing groundbreaking and not particularly accomplished filmmaking, but it's probably Rodriguez's best film. I don't share the mindset that zombies are intrinsically entertaining; what makes this one loads of fun is that it feels very earnest, full of love for the films it's mimicking rather than smug irony. Like Shaun of the Dead, it succeeds through its own memorable characters and cool dialogue, and it's thanks to all the build-up that its centerpiece moment (the machine-gun leg rampage) is so satisfying.

Death Proof is a straight-up masterpiece. Tarantino really continues to grow as a filmmaker; his craft is impeccable, every shot and cut is essential, fluid and impactful. The narrative strikes me as one of the most ambitious in American cinema of the decade, and he populates it with so many wonderful details that hint at a carefully-constructed universe that I don't think I can even begin to grasp at with a first viewing. It's a challenging, morally ambiguous work, a great companion piece to Inglourious Basterds (which I'm very excited to watch again), and similarly astute about pop culture and its place in it.



Planet Terror - ***
Death Proof - ****
Fake trailers - **½
The whole thing - ***½

Since you seemed to like Death Proof so much. You should definitely watch the full version. It was filmed as a 2 hour movie and then cut to fit in the Grindhouse package. I've seen Grindhouse once and the 2 hour cut of Death Proof 4 times now and it's the better version.

[Ezee E]

Since you seemed to like Death Proof so much. You should definitely watch the full version. It was filmed as a 2 hour movie and then cut to fit in the Grindhouse package. I've seen Grindhouse once and the 2 hour cut of Death Proof 4 times now and it's the better version.

Disagree fully. The two hour version is just more fluff crammed in.

[EyesWideOpen]

Disagree fully. The two hour version is just more fluff crammed in.

It's my favorite QT movie. And I love QT movies.

[Ezee E]

It's my favorite QT movie. And I love QT movies.

I love QT movies too. And I think this is his one hiccup amongst the rest of his reel.

It has some fantastic moments, sure. But it takes far too long to get to them, and Spinal's post says it best. No need to repeat.

[EyesWideOpen]

Different strokes. I don't consider anything in Death Proof to be "fluff".