Skip to main content

Grindhouse

I saw Grindhouse last weekend. From the start, I enjoyed the double-feature setup with fake trailers and celluloid cigarette burns that led into a full-bore, over-the-top pastiche of 70s action/horror schlock.

I especially liked the Rodriguez's "Planet Terror", which came first, and featured an insane mutant-zombie attack fest. The Tarantino feature, "Death Proof", was good too, but this was more of an ode to gearheads and muscle cars, and is not a genre I enjoy quite as much as the first one.

Grindhouse is worth seeing in the theaters, and I recommend the film, but there are some caveats:
  1. You really have to buy into the premise of the film, that the features are both cheerfully imitating and mocking their pulp predecessors.
  2. Humorous or not, the film is gory, and if you've been turned off by the violence in previous Rodriguez or Tarantino films, you likely will feel the same about Grindhouse.
  3. You'll need some movie theater stamina, as, combined, the features are over three hours long.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe by Roger McNamee

Zucked is a sobering and important book for the stand it takes in calling out Facebook and major Internet platforms in how they are addictive by design, are eroding our privacy, and are susceptible to manipulation by bad actors threatening democracy.  I especially appreciated the coverage of filter and preference bubbles and the explanation of how and why modern online platforms can contribute to self-perpetuating beliefs and tribalism.  The author read widely about the subjects covered in the book and included a rich bibliography for further reading. Even if you don't read Zucked itself, I've included below some of the organizations, peoples, and books mentioned so you can explore. By coincidence or not, just one month after its release, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy blog detailing how Facebook will shift to become more of a privacy-focused communications platform . Organizations Center for Human Technology Common Sense Media - Non-profi...

When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work

I recently contributed an article to Information Outlook, the online magazine of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The title is "When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work", and it's about how new networking tools enable us to cultivate workplace connections with people we rarely (or never) see but who can help us in important ways. Download the article as a PDF or read the web version below. When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work (PDF) When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work If you’re not sure who the weak ties are in your social network, look at the contacts on your phone. Chances are, there are some people in your contacts list you don’t call (much less see) on a regular basis, but you find it useful to keep them listed for those occasions when you do need to contact them. Perhaps your doctor, babysitter, mechanic, or accountant fits this description. If you use a social network like LinkedIn or Twitter professionally, you will have even mo...

Electric Snow Blower?

UPDATE - 12/15/2009 After some back and forth, we went with the Snow Joe Ultra 622U1 13 Amp Electric Snow Thrower. I'll be commenting about its performance as the winter progresses and we use it regularly, but we already had a chance to try it last Thursday (12/10), when the first big Lake Effect snow of the season dumped more than a foot of snow on us here just south of Buffalo. Based on the test run, the Snow Joe performed admirably, handling the one foot high snow in our driveway without issue and essentially doing everything I expected of a powerful torque but lightweight snow thrower. ORIGINAL POST - 8/17/2009 I know it's only August, but I live in Buffalo, and you always need to think ahead about snow. The last two winters, we went without any snow removal machinery, and it hasn't been fun. The first winter I just shoveled, and the second we hired a plowing service. The plow service was better than shoveling all the time, but there were still too many times ...