If you’ve seen Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof (2007) – either as part of the Grindhouse double bill or as a stand-alone feature – and you’ve also seen Russ Meyer’s grrrl power fantasy, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), then you will probably recognize the former to be a quasi-remake, at least in spirit, of the latter. ... read more »

What with all the year-end lists we’ve been seeing lately, I’ve been surprised at some of the omissions. Well, not all that surprised, since lists like these almost always neglect films released during the first three-quarters of the year in favor of movies released at the year’s tail-end (Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, Atonement), ... read more »

Tim Lucas writes a capsule review of this intriguingly titled 1971 film (Mädchen beim Frauenarzt in German): “starring you as the gynecologist. In a manner few films other than Robert Montgomery’s classic noir Lady in the Lake have attempted, the entire action is observed subjectively through the eyes of its principal character, whose face we ... read more »

Years ago – when I was a teenage film buff, so to speak – I remember reading someone’s description of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane as “a perfect film.” “Perfect?” I asked myself, “What about that rubber octopus? I’ve never seen anything so phony looking in my life!” I was thinking, of course, of the rubber ... read more »

One of the not-so-guilty pleasures of Death Proof, the Quentin Tarantino-directed second half of Rodriguez and Tarantino’s Grindhouse, is the performance of Sydney Tamiia Poitier (above) as Austin D.J., “Jungle Julia.” The way Tarantino directs actors – in this film and generally – owes a lot to Howard Hawks. Like Hawks at his most Hawksien ... read more »

Highly recommended: At the L.A. Weekly site, Quentin Tarantino, promoting his Grindhouse (above), conducts a roundtable discussion of exploitation filmmaking with a garrulous group of [former] exploitation filmmakers including Richard Rush (The Stunt Man), Brian Trenchard-Smith (Escape 2000), George Armitage (Miami Blues), Allan Arkush (Rock ‘n’ Roll High School), Lewis Teague (Cujo, The Lady in ... read more »