To be brutally honest, I’m not really in the mood to write a film review today, but since I’ve had about twenty people email me asking what I thought of Grindhouse, I figure I might as well write something quickly. Let me preface this review by saying these four things: if you like Quentin Tarantino’s films, go watch Grindhouse; if you like Robert Rodriguez’ films, go watch Grindhouse; if you like both Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’ films, you should be watching Grindhouse right now instead of staring at your computer screen; and if you don’t like either of Rodriguez’ or Tarantino’s films, I really don’t know if I can be your friend anymore.

For those of you that may have missed all the buzz, Grindhouse is essentially a dual-feature where Rodriguez and Tarantino have allowed themselves to have as much as fun as they could possibly have while making a film. Harkening back to the glory days of exploitation film, both directors have packed their movies with enough violence, gore, and sex to scare off even the most hardy viewers unless you go into the theater cognizant of the fact that the directors are in fact making a statement about this kind of cinema rather than simply just creating in the genre. Packed along with Rodriguez’ Planet Terror and Tarantino’s Death Proof are four (five if you’re in Canada) fake trailers directed by some fantastic film-makers: Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, and Eli Roth. The films and the trailers feature a Hollywood A-list cast, indicative of the fact that when Tarantino and Rodriguez make a movie, even the most pretentious celebrities know it’s going to be a blast.

I won’t talk about the fake trailers anymore, they’re definitely better to be seen and surprised. I will give a few quick thoughts on each feature, but I’ll keep it short. The first part of Grindhouse, Rodriguez’ Planet Terror, is exactly what you’d expect from the director of Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Only this time, Rodriguez doesn’t have to work within the confines of reality, so he packs the film full of ridiculous characters and plotlines, and even “loses” a film reel so we can skip all the boring bits half-way through the movie and get back to the action. There’s a lot of violence, a lot of stupid jokes, the babysitter twins, and Rose McGowan with a gun for a leg. All in all, tons of half-witted B-movie fun. It is Tarantino’s Death Proof, however that makes Grindhouse much more than simply a violent and gory romp: despite the lack of depth of character motivation, Death Proof features writing that makes such a astute statement about this kind of perverse cinema so subtly that you don’t realize that Tarantino is talking at you instead of the movie itself. Easily the strongest part of Grindhouse, this feature will keep you on the edge of your seat and puzzled (in a good way) from the first sight of the babysitter twins (again) to Kurt Russell’s ultimate standoff.

Oh, and Nicholas Cage stars as Fu Manchu. Enough said.