Saw GRINDHOUSE. Definitely NOT for everybody. Rodriguez's half was totally early Peter Jackson/Romero/Evil Dead (how Evil Dead 2 needed to go out unrated while this gets and R rating - not even counting the atrocities in the trailers and Tarantino's half - is a testament to either how desensitized the MPAA has gotten towards violence, corporate strong-arming, or, I suspect, a combination of both). I think it has a bit more heart than the reviews have generally been giving it credit for, though.

Tarantino's was both more low key and more disturbing - I agree with the critics who say that he couldn't resist doing his type of movie, as opposed to just doing a schlock pastiche (though it's that too). It's definitely going to stick with me, and Kurt Russell is pretty amazing.

WONDERFALLS fans should note that Tracie Thoms basically has the Sam Jackson role in Tarantino's movie, and she cusses the hell out of it.

Grindhouse looks so awesome! I'll probably see it tomorrow. I read that Rodriguez and Tarantino expected that they'd have to fight the MPAA to get an "R," but they were both disappointed that the MPAA gave it an "R" right away.

And Tracie Thoms looks like a badass in the trailer. It'll be nice to see her playing something other than the girlfriend or the best friend.

Grindhouse definitely needs to be experienced in a theater. It just wouldn't be the same on DVD. The fake trailers, oh my God.

I loved Rodriguez's half; I actually think it was a damn fine zombie movie. Well constructed, with characters you end up caring about. Fun dialogue, lots of explosions. It's just fun as hell, a real ride.

And then Tarantino's half is so...slow. It takes a looooooong time for anything interesting to happen, but once it does get going, it's pretty good. But I didn't really care about any of the characters, even though they talked way the fuck more.

The critics seem to prefer Tarantino's half, but I agree with the San Francisco Chronicle review, which sided with Rodriguez and said it felt like Tarantino didn't even try.

I was making the same criticism of Tarantino's half. I admit, I don't like his stuff much (I adore Reservoir Dogs, and it pretty much ends there). His Death Proof I did quite like.

But he totally cheated. Robert Rodriguez was not missing much other than Kareem Abdul Jabbar in lycra. Man, he hit so many fucking schlock notes. He was just rolling around in the cheese.

Tarantino made a basically 'normal' movie, with some meta thrown in to tease.

Does Tarantino's half go first, or can I safely get up and leave when it's clear Rodriguez's stuff is done?

Sean, 28 Days Later was shot on the street scenes without official permits, so there are strategicly placed PAs out of camera range ready to alert the production crew that the police are coming. Also, the film is shot entirely on hi-def video, so there was a whole lot less equipment AND they shot these scenes without sound. So they could go out to a couple streets just at dawn for several days running and capture the footage they needed.

Danny Boyle goes up in my estimation as a very resourceful director.

I'm still wondering how they got shots of London with absolutely no one in sight for 28 Days Later.

Also, the film is shot entirely on hi-def video, so there was a whole lot less equipment AND they shot these scenes without sound. So they could go out to a couple streets just at dawn for several days running and capture the footage they needed.

I'm disappointed. I'd hoped they announced that Dick Van Dyke was signing Mary Poppins DVDs and posters a few blocks away. Thus clearing the streets AND getting the filmmakers free footage of rage-filled mobs.

It's probably not a good idea to excite the wrath of union mobs -- they get extra-crazed when you've used non-union rioters.

But he totally cheated...Tarantino made a basically 'normal' movie, with some meta thrown in to tease.

Well, yes and no. He took about several different grindhouse types (slasher flick, car chase/crash flick, chick revenge flick) and did a mash up with them and a ton of his usual dialog. But, really, that's basically what he usually does. In several ways, KILL BILL (especially Vol. 1) was more of a true "Grindhouse" movie.

Rodriguez was totally revelling in the cheese, though. And he makes me wonder where the hell Michael Biehn's been hiding all these years.

I'm still wondering how they got shots of London with absolutely no one in sight for 28 Days Later.

Not all of it was unlicensed -- they had to have that one shot with an overturned bus, which, I really hope they had a license for -- but it is a bit obvious that most of it is at dawn (probably on a Sunday) and tends to be short cuts, narrowly focussed, panoramic views of the river but not of the bank behind it, e.g.

Of course, what Londoners like to point out to you is that apparently Jim walked about 30 miles in the course of an hour, crossing the river twice, with several backtracks, just to make sure he eyeballed the most picturesque parts of center London on his lonely promenade.

Hey, people who've just woken up from four weeks of coma move faster than you would suspect!