Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

2/5

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For is the most recent in a seemingly endless spate of uninspired summer sequels that do little more than attempt to rehash a winning franchise/formula and only end up disappointing everybody. It brings back some actors but not others (I was really hoping for a Clive Owen cameo, but it never came) and jumbles up the timeline in the most unnecessarily labyrinthine way. A lot of it just didn't make sense if you spent more than a few seconds thinking about the plot. The one saving grace is the pure villainy of the film's title character; she is a femme fatale for the ages.

A Dame To Kill For looks exactly the same as the original without feeling as inventive or awe-inspiring. While the first one was fresh and gritty, this one is tired and gruesome. The special effects and the writing both go way overboard in an attempt to one-up itself and raise the bar on violent deaths even more extravagantly. It's all a little too much--honestly even a little sickening--and we've seen it before. I loved the first one and saw it three times the first week it came out in theaters, but I have no desire to watch this one ever again.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458481/

Grindhouse (2007)

4/5

Grindhouse is pure entertainment of the most guilty form. And two movies for the price of one! With the most hilarious trailers in between them! I don't remember the last time I had this much unadulterated fun in a movie theater. I've seen "better" movies in theaters recently, but never enjoyed myself this much.

The first movie, Planet Terror, is from Robert Rodriguez, who has always loved the exaggerated. This is why the El Mariachi trilogy was so successful--it is excessive. But in Grindhouse, Rodriguez really lets loose. And being a grind house film, he has an excuse to. Planet Terror is everything I expected: gory, gross, and cheesy. Heads explode, penises melt, guns attached to amputated stubs shoot rockets. This is the kind of movie you'll watch in a theater and come out cheering, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" But it doesn't just copy other movies without a life and mind of its own. There is a "missing reel" in the movie, which Rodriguez cleverly uses to advance the plot without wasting our time. Rodriguez also uses stock footage effects to enhance our moviegoing experience, rather than detract from it. This is loads of fun, but be warned: it is disgusting and definitely not for everyone's palate.

The second movie, Death Proof, is from Quentin Tarantino. Every single one of Tarantino's movies has been a spin on a typical genre, and Death Proof is no exception. Like most of his movies, there is a ton of dialogue, and it is all luscious. It is like silk in your ear. But coming after Rodriguez's movie, I felt a bit disappointed. Wasn't this supposed to be a grind house film? Well, it is, in a way, and it isn't, in Tarantino's way. It has the same elements: sexploitation, blaxploitation, psychotic murderers, and old muscle cars. But there is something undeniably fresh about the way Tarantino puts it all together. And despite what I said coming out of the theater, upon reflection I see it as a movie that can and should stand on its own as an excellent example of Tarantino's style. It is actually good filmmaking. I don't know how well it works as the second half of Grindhouse, because Planet Terror is raw, old-school, brainless fun and Death Proof is polished, new, inventive art. It's an interesting dichotomy. Regardless, I would recommend you check Grindhouse out in theaters if you still can, because this is not to be missed on the big screen.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0462322/