With the extended edition of Quentin Tarantino's half of GRINDHOUSE racing onto DVD this week, I felt I'd turn This Weekend's Film Festival over to him. His DEATH PROOF is a badass car chase flick. Within it, he has his characters gush over three films that fall into that same category, which are all featured in this week's lineup. I've also included a road movie that doesn't feature cars, but motorcycles. If it weren't for this film, the anti-establishment road movie wouldn't even exist. So gas up your tanks for This Weekend's Film Festival — it's an adrenaline ride for all the cinematic grease monkeys out there.
With the lackluster box office performance of GRINDHOUSE, Miramax has elected to initially release both halves as separate films on DVD. Therefore, Friday night feature is only DEATH PROOF, but don't let that scare you off. Tarantino's slasher/car chase opus puts the grrr is girl power. Almost working as two films of its own, the story sets up its killer than sics him on another group of victims. The tale is full of Tarantino's signature dialogue, which slyly sets up the characters and building sympathy by focusing his camera on key moments. The final car chase filmed without visual effects has a real old school visceral feel to it. Anchored by really believable performances, Tarantino doesn't spoof B-movies, like Robert Rodriguez did with GRINDHOUSE's first half PLANET TERROR; he makes a good one. To find out more about the entire GRINDHOUSE experience, read my original review and be on the lookout for my forthcoming look at the extended cut of DEATH PROOF.
The opening film of the Saturday lineup is dedicated to Peter Fonda. The kick off flick is one of the films mentioned in DEATH PROOF — DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY. Fonda stars as Larry a cocky bank robber whose latest job is disrupted by his latest one-night-stand Mary, played by the sexy Susan George. Larry's partner Deke, played by STUNT MAN's Adam Roarke, is a man whose simmering anger is part of his past mistakes. Fun races through many scenes as Larry and Mary play a mental game of tug of war. The evolving dynamic between the trio is what makes the film such a joy to watch unfold. This funny action flick builds its tension off the actions of its characters, right up to its unexpected ending. Crazy Larry is fitting when you decide to fund your racing career by robbing grocery stores. As I said in my original review, it's "less stupid than it is reckless."
Continuing with the Peter Fonda theme, the low-budget road movie began with Dennis Hopper's EASY RIDER. After this film hit screens, many hippie-themed road movies sprung came after. Many of the imitators even followed EASY RIDER's loose plot, which feature Fonda's Captain America and Hopper's Billy involved in a crime (selling drugs) as a way to fund their free-wheelin' dream lifestyle. Midway through, the duo are joined by the drunken lawyer George Hanson, in a star making performance from Jack Nicholson. Along the journey, the film chronicles the state of the U.S. during the late 1960s. The road movie became the new Western, where folks could throw off the shackles of the capitalist world. As I stated in my original review "as a look back on the age of flower power, [EASY RIDER] stands solid."
The two final films for Sunday were both mentioned in DEATH PROOF and followed EASY RIDER in 1971. Featuring the Dodge Challenger from DEATH PROOF, this man on the run from the Man movie made that muscle car a must have. Kowalski, played by Barry Newman, runs custom cars across the country for a living. After making a bet that he can make it from Denver to San Fran in 15 hours, Kowalski is spotted by the cops, which starts an extended police chase. As I described him in my original review, Kowalski is "an archetypical marginal man type; a person caught between two cultures [the establishment and the counter-culture], but doesn’t really fit into either." Much like 1971's SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAAD ASSSSS SONG, this film has a "stick it to the Man" message, wrapped around what is essentially an action flick. For a low-budget production, the down-and-dirty car chases are the soul reason to see this film. And for a lineup celebrating the open road that's good for me.
The closing film in This Weekend's Film Festival, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, is the best counter-culture road movie I've ever seen. Starring folk singer James Taylor and the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, the film has aged better than EASY RIDER and has a deeper meaning than either VANISHING POINT or DIRTY MARY, CARZY LARRY. As I stated off the bat in my original review, "director Monte Hellman creates an existential trip into the shallow end of both the establishment and the counter culture of the early 1970s." Taylor is the driver. Wilson is the mechanic. They pick up the girl, played by Laurie Bird. In their raggedy customized car, the driver and mechanic challenge an older Korea vet in a brand new G.T.O. (played wonderfully by Warren Oates) to a race across the country for pink slips. This brilliant film "is a product of its time, but also holds universal human truths that are still relevant and poignant today."
So there you have it. If you don't like any of the films in the lineup this week blame Quentin Tarantino. Seriously, this is a fun lineup of films looking at our obsession with cars and what that means to us. So hope in your automobile and head to the video store or update your rental queue or zip over to Zap2It.com for TV listings. If you have a DVD player in the car, you can watch the films there.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
