Grindhouse

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Has anyone experienced something that I've read of, where theater personnel have come into the theater before Grindhouse starts to tell the audience about the "missing reels" and "scratchy prints" experience since they had had too many customers come out to complain about these things after they've paid.   It just goes to prove that no matter how much promotion you do,  there will always be people who walk in without any idea of what they have paid good money to see.   I've left after sub-titled movies and heard people bitch about having to read the movie more than once.  This board is full of the kind of people who do know something about the movies we attend but there's tons of the other kind out there as well.

Nah. I paid, went in, and the movie started like normal. Empty fuckin' theater. No explanation needed, no explanation wanted. Real trailers, then Grindhouse. That was it.

[ScottotD]

I agree with Mr. Grug,

[MrTorso]

There was a sign up in the lobby about how it was supposed to look and to not worry about it. I am glad that I saw it the right way. The missing reel gags were perfect and make them better flicks as far as I am concerned. Hopefully if the Harvey Scissorhands is smart when it comes time for the DVD we will get the double feature versions as well as the extended ones.

[gbeenie]

    On Thursday they announced what films are playing at Cannes this year and Tarantino's half of Grindhouse is playing at the expanded length of 110 minutes.  I'm not that upset that the films are being re-released separately here if that is what it will take to get them seen.  And both versions will end up on vid anyway.

       Has anyone experienced something that I've read of, where theater personnel have come into the theater before Grindhouse starts to tell the audience about the "missing reels" and "scratchy prints" experience since they had had too many customers come out to complain about these things after they've paid.   It just goes to prove that no matter how much promotion you do,  there will always be people who walk in without any idea of what they have paid good money to see.   I've left after sub-titled movies and heard people bitch about having to read the movie more than once.  This board is full of the kind of people who do know something about the movies we attend but there's tons of the other kind out there as well.

I wanted to make a hand-out to give out to ticket-holders, reprinting the contents of the memo Weinstein sent out with the prints (I'll post that later, BTW), but my boss said don't bother (hint: our number-one movie last weekend was Are We Done Yet?).

[pyro]

There was a sign up in the lobby about how it was supposed to look and to not worry about it. I am glad that I saw it the right way. The missing reel gags were perfect and make them better flicks as far as I am concerned. Hopefully if the Harvey Scissorhands is smart when it comes time for the DVD we will get the double feature versions as well as the extended ones.

I'm guessing they have those at all regal theaters since it had it at the United Artist theater I saw it at and then the regular Regal one I saw it at....  I got a quick shot of it while passing slowly one of the last times I was there, not a great photo since I ended up missing most of the picture but got all the text

[starfighter]

   Question for the various theater employees of this board.   Do the various posters, standees and other promotional goodies always end up traveling with the prints or do you guys have access to these?   I ask since Grindhouse had such an amazing floor display that sat in our local theater for at least a month before the movie arrived.
       If you do get a chance to take any of these home, what's your favorite piece you've personally taken?

[gbeenie]

   Question for the various theater employees of this board.   Do the various posters, standees and other promotional goodies always end up traveling with the prints or do you guys have access to these?   I ask since Grindhouse had such an amazing floor display that sat in our local theater for at least a month before the movie arrived.

I saw it; what a great display. Unfortunately, I saw at an another theatre; ours didn't get one. Besides, my boss HATES floor standees (he prefers banners); our Simpsons one was trashed a couple months ago.

[MisterRiffley]

i try to keep my fits of outright fascist sentiment to a minimum but anyone who is stupid enough to complain about the look of "grindhouse" and the missing reels is too stupid to live among humans without dragging us all down. they need to be either deported or killed.

sorry to be so harsh, but extreme ignorance demands extreme measures.

[mrbasehart]

   Question for the various theater employees of this board.   Do the various posters, standees and other promotional goodies always end up traveling with the prints or do you guys have access to these?   I ask since Grindhouse had such an amazing floor display that sat in our local theater for at least a month before the movie arrived.
       If you do get a chance to take any of these home, what's your favorite piece you've personally taken?

Some films promotional stuff is individually identified, so they have to be sent back (films like Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, Harry Potter), anything else is fair game.  I heard of one local cinema near me had it's Phantom Menace posters "go missing", and as a punishment, the film distributors didn't give them the film prints for the opening weekend.

[starfighter]

     Finally got to see Grindhouse today.   The other guy in the theater seemed to enjoy it as much as I did.

    As much as I did enjoy it,  I think QT is way too much in love with his own dialogue.  The conversation in the diner between the four girls dragged on for so long I was expecting some of the customers to ask them to shut up.  But all the action more than made up for any of my perceived drag during conversations.

     What does it say for me as a film-goer if I would have liked even the most half-assed attempt at explaining how Cherry is able to fire her gun-leg?  Yes, you do put it out of your head almost immediately and it's not like the rest of the flick is a bastion of reason.

    I'll be curious to see what both these films will be like in their full length versions.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

I loved the dialogue of Death Proof. It was refreshing to see QT do a dialogue-heavy movie again, after the action-packed Kill Bill.

I don't think it really matters how Cherry's leg-gun works. It works, is what matters.

I can't wait to see Planet Terror and Death Proof in their full-length versions either. There's some complaint online about the idea of releasing the films separately, but that was always the intention. The double feature was just a way of getting peoples' asses into theater seats. All I got to say is, get to a theater as soon as possible if you want to get the full experience, 'cause once it's pulled, the experience is gone forever. Even if they release the double-feature version on DVD, it's not going to be the same as seeing it in the theater.

[MisterRiffley]

I loved the dialogue of Death Proof. It was refreshing to see QT do a dialogue-heavy movie again, after the action-packed Kill Bill.

i totally agree. i liked both movies but i thought death proof was much more emotionally powerful. you spend so long getting to know those women and then when they have that car crash it's just bloody awful. the dialogue with the second group of women i don't think was quite as good but still, it makes the whole revenge thing that much more gratifying.

[Tarantulas]

There was a sign up in the lobby about how it was supposed to look and to not worry about it. I am glad that I saw it the right way. The missing reel gags were perfect and make them better flicks as far as I am concerned. Hopefully if the Harvey Scissorhands is smart when it comes time for the DVD we will get the double feature versions as well as the extended ones.

I'm guessing they have those at all regal theaters since it had it at the United Artist theater I saw it at and then the regular Regal one I saw it at....  I got a quick shot of it while passing slowly one of the last times I was there, not a great photo since I ended up missing most of the picture but got all the text

Wow... that proves exactly why Grindhouse failed.  90% of film goers are morons.

(Thus also explaining Wild Hogs)

[Petey Wheatstraw]

The double-feature had the perfect advertising campaign. Had it been released on any weekend other than on Easter weekend, it would have been a huge moneymaker. It wasn't the audience. It was the release date.

[J-Proof]

Good point Isaac -- I really like seeing movies opening weekend (I dunno why =P ) and because this one happened to fall on Easter Weekend, I /still/ haven't had a chance to go check it out