Weinstein Defends Death Proof
According to the Guardian Unlimited, Kurt Russell is disappointed by the cutting of Grindhouse into two separate expanded films, but Harvey Weinstein defended his decision during the post-Grindhouse press screening at Cannes (Link via Movie City News).
Since I didn’t much care for Planet Terror (it was amusing but forgettable), I originally thought Death Proof would be better on its own. However, after recently sneaking into a Grindhouse screening just to see the second half, I’m no longer so sure.
For all its flaws, Grindhouse is a unique and interesting experience. Without all the Grindhouse double-feature trappings, Death Proof is just a fun car chase. Since the bulk of the new material appears to be Vanessa Ferlito’s lap dance, I don’t see how the expanded Death Proof could be a significantly richer film. Longer maybe, more lap dancey maybe, but not richer. I agree with Stunt Man Mike. Let Grindhouse live.
Maybe Weinstein is just trying to recoup some losses on a film that stiffed at the box office despite his high hopes for it. Good luck to him, I guess.
I suppose an expanded Grindhouse DVD would be nice with the longer versions of both Planet Terror and Death Proof, but I’m guessing that’ll turn up around the same time as the combined Kill Bill DVD – the same day leprechauns fly out of my ass and turn everything into lollipops and gum drops.
Filed under: Opinion
If the stuff cut from DEATH PROOF is the same stuff that was in the script that I read that’s been floating around on the internet (and there’s no reason to think that it isn’t, the movie followed that script) then Tarantino did us a service by cutting the thing down to 85 minutes.
I’ve been a little vocal on HE of my irritation with DP, and I’m probably becoming a broken record, but that script (at 130 pages) was ENDLESS, just more and more of what was pointless and indulgent the first time around.
The film isn’t awful, but its a pretentious curiosity, worth seeing once for Kurt Russell’s wonderful work.
Overall though, I liked GRINDHOUSE quite a bit, I like the huge, sloppy unwieldiness of the thing, and Rodriguez, Roth, and Wright were actually willing to deliver upon the film’s promise.
The fact that I don’t know where to begin defending Death Proof probably says more about it than if I tried and failed.
I still like it, but I’m not convinced it will stick with me.