Review: Death Proof.

Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror is a flick made in the style of a grindhouse flick, and I'm not just talking about the scratches. Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof is a flick made just like a grindhouse flick, even though it has a lot less scratchy quality.

Grindhouse movies often have poor acting, lousy plots and stupid endings. So does QT's offering here. It's one thing to produce an homage to a genre, it's another thing to make a crappy movie like the crappy movies you used to see in the theater on Saturday afternoon.

Kurt Russell and Rosario Dawson are awesome. Zoe is terrific, and so is the car chase with her fantastic stunt work. I don't know how she held onto that damned car hood. Rose MacGowan was fine as always, even as a blonde.

There's a theory that the boring talky parts set up the exciting driving parts, and I can see that. I was genuinely afraid during that car chase, and that was because I cared about the characters. I dunno. I know that QT makes me genuinely afraid in the movie theater (last time was buried alive in Kill Bill).

Some even compared Death Proof to Psycho, which also made an abrupt turn halfway through the movie. Maybe I have to see it again. I dunno.

One peeve: Reviewers keep saying that Stuntman Mike drives a Dodge Charger with a skull on the hood. It was a Chevy Nova with the skull. The Charger was basic black.

One more thing before I leave the theater... Fu Manchu. Awesome.

Only at the Grindhouse.