Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. I am so freakin’ there. You know, this pretty much means I’ll be broke for most of March and April, and I doubt I’ll be seeing much in the way of new releases for these two months. That’s because I plan to spend most of my free time and spare cash at The New Beverly Cinema in Hollywood where Quentin Tarantino has programmed a Grindhouse Festival that will run from March 4th to April 30th. That’s 58 solid days of crazy exploitation madness. Suck that, Austin! I’ve seen a lot of the films he’s showing, and some of them I’ve actually seen in Austin at the various QT Fests that I’ve attended at the Alamo Drafthouse. What’s great about this particular version of the festival is that anyone who’s ever been to the New Beverly knows... there is no better place in LA to do this. That place always feels sticky in some intangible way. I have nothing but love for the people who run that place. I think they do a great job running really eccentric and fun programming all year long. But there’s no getting around it... there’s a thin veneer of sleaze to the place that you can’t shake when you’re there. It feels like a grimy little shoebox from the ‘70s because, frankly, it is. And that’s what makes it wonderful. When Tarantino and Rodriguez talk about wanting to make GRINDHOUSE as a way of reproducing the entire experience of how these films were released in their heyday, I get it. I understand the urge. Part of being a movie freak is the way we fetishize our movie love. For a long time as a kid, I kept all my ticket stubs. I also cut out movie art from the newspaper or from magazines and kept it, and I loved the ads for certain local theaters. There were a few places, even in Florida, where the movies all sounded crazier... stranger... more exciting. There were certain marquees I loved to drive by because no matter what was playing there, it sounded exotic and dangerous at an age where I was still basically on an all-Disney diet. You’ll see titles like that on the New Beverly marquee for the next two months. Titles like THE GIRL FROM STARSHIP VENUS and THE LEGEND OF THE WOLF WOMAN, or JAILBAIT BABYSITTER and GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE. I’m so pleased I’ll be able to take my wife to see a double-feature like PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW and REVENGE OF THE CHEERLEADERS. I can’t wait to go with my buddies for THE LADY IN RED and BARE KNUCKLES. I’m hoping I can talk Neill Cumpston into seeing CHINESE HERCULES and BLACK DRAGON with me one night. Or maybe MACHINE GUN MCCAIN and WIPEOUT! When was the last time I got to see a fucking Fernando Di Leo film in an LA theater? Never! That’s when! Man, I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until the press release hit my inbox tonight. AUTOPSY and EYEBALL one night, COONSKIN, SHAME OF THE JUNGLE and TUNNEL VISION the next. I’m not sure what to expect of an LA audience screening FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, but I’m sure I’ll be there to find out, especially if it’s playing back-to-back with THE MUTHERS. I love that Quentin’s life-long admiration for Barbara Bouchet, one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the exploitation screen, is going to give us a double-feature of DEATH RAGE and CRY OF THE PROSTITUTE. And that closing night double feature of THE REAL BRUCE LEE and LEE LIVES WITHIN intrigues me. I’m giddy. I’m so pleased. I love going to Austin for the QT Fests, but being able to attend a two-month-long orgy of these films, all Quentin’s personal prints with him showing up to introduce as many movies as he can, and still sleep in my own bed at night? Heaven. Grindhouse fucking heaven.
LOS ANGELES, February 28, 2007 – In anticipation of the eagerly-awaited theatrical release of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double feature Grindhouse on April 6th, the New Beverly Cinema will host Quentin Tarantino Presents the Los Angeles Grindhouse Festival 2007 from March 4th – April 30th, 2007, it was announced today by creator and curator Tarantino. The event will be a showcase for the risqué films exploiting sex, violence and extreme subject matter from the 1970s that inspired Grindhouse, with prints directly on loan from Tarantino’s private collection, many of which are unavailable on DVD and have not screened for the public in theatres in decades. With double and triple features of roughly seven different films in rotation per week, the ground-breaking fest will screen over 50 historic films throughout the eight-week run, all personally selected for audience re-discovery by the director. “Grindhouse is a tribute to the movies I have loved for decades that have mostly been under-appreciated and forgotten,” states Tarantino. “I’m thrilled to have this chance to show the original works for a new generation to discover, and to give Los Angeles the rare opportunity to see these gems on the big screen.” During the course of the festival, Tarantino has scheduled various theme nights including the "Euro Sex Comedies Triple Feature,” which will feature screenings of Sex with A Smile, Sex on the Run and The Oldest Profession; “Back-To-Back Kung Fu Superstar Angela Mao Double Feature,” presenting two of the actress’ greatest classics Return of the Tiger and Stoner; “Regional Double Feature,” with screenings of Hot Summer in Barefoot County and Redneck Miller; and the "All Blood Triple Feature," showcasing Blood Spattered Bride, Asylum of Blood and Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary. Favorite filmmakers of Tarantino’s highlighted during the festival include famed cult director John Hayes with the double feature Grave of the Vampire, written by David (“The Sopranos”) Chase and Jailbait Babysitter; sexploitation filmmaker Roger Vadim, who will be represented by his Pretty Maids All in a Row; Al Adamson, whose Female Bunch will screen; Fernando Di Leo’s Wipeout and Cirio H. Santiago, director of the classic The Muthers. This whirlwind festival features many uncensored and uncut, not to be missed cinematic experiences such as the sexploitation films The Girl From Starship Venus and The Legend of the Wolf Woman; the blaxploitation films Brotherhood of Death and The Mack; the teen summer comedies The Van, Pick-up Summer and Summer Camp; and the martial arts classics Fearless Fighters, Super Man Chu, Chinese Hercules and Black Dragon; as well as the ultra rare 35mm prints of Slithis, Shame Of The Jungle and Chinese Hercules, just to name a few. In addition to showcasing the “Grindhouse” films from his own vault, the New Beverly Cinema will exhibit a number of original posters and lobby cards of the films from Tarantino’s personal collection as well throughout the run of the festival. For show times, check local listings or visit the New Beverly Cinema website or call for program information (323) 938-4038. For more information on the film GRINDHOUSE, please visit the official site. Films scheduled at the Los Angeles Grindhouse Festival 2007 include: 3/4-3/6 - The Mack, directed by Michael Campus; The Chinese Mack, directed by Lai Chien. 3/7-3/8 – “Italian ‘70s Crime Films.” Machine Gun McCain, directed by Giuliano Montaldo; Wipeout!, directed by Fernando Di Leo. 3/9-3/10 – Triple Feature of The Van, directed by Sam Grossman; Pick-up Summer, directed by George Mihalka; Summer Camp, directed by Chuck Vincent. 3/11-3/13 –Rolling Thunder, directed by John Flynn; The Town That Dreaded Sundown, directed by Charles B. Pierce. 3/14-3/15 –Chinese Hercules, directed by Choy Tak; Black Dragon, directed by Chin-Ku Lu. 3/16-3/17 – "Euro Sex Comedies Triple Feature.” Sex With A Smile, directed by Sergio Martino; Sex on the Run, directed by Franz Antel; The Oldest Profession, directed by Claude Autant-Lara and Mauro Bolognini. 3/18-3/20 –Brotherhood of Death, directed by Bill Berry; Johnny Tough, directed by Horace Jackson. 3/21-3/22 –Autopsy, directed by Jose Maria Forque; Eyeball, directed by Umberto Lenzi. 3/23-3/24 – Triple Feature of Coonskin, directed by Ralph Bakshi; Shame of the Jungle, directed by Picha Boris Szulzinger; Tunnel Vision, directed by Neal Israel and Bradley R. Swirnoff. 3/25-3/27 –Pretty Maids All in a Row, directed by Roger Vadim; Revenge of the Cheerleaders, directed by Richard Lerner. 3/28-3/29 – “Kung Fu Double Bill.” Fearless Fighters, directed by Man-Hung Mo; Super Man Chu, directed by Yang Hsiang. 3/30-3/31 – "All Blood Triple Feature." The Blood Spattered Bride, directed by Vicente Aranda; Asylum of Blood, directed by Fernando Di Leo; Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, directed by Juan Lopez Moctezuma. 4/1-4/3 –The Lady in Red, directed by Lewis Teague; Bare Knuckles, directed by Don Edmonds. 4/4-4/5 –The Female Bunch, directed by Al Adamson; Wonder Women, directed by Robert Vincent O’Neill. 4/6-4/7 –White Line Fever, directed by Jonathan Kaplan; Return to Macon County, directed by Richard Compton. 4/8-4/10 – “Sexploitation Night.” The Girl From Starship Venus, directed by Derek Ford; The Legend of the Wolf Woman, directed by Rino Di Silvestro. 4/11-4/12 – “70's Low Budget Horror Combo.” Slithis, directed by Stephen Traxler; Screams of a Winter Night, directed by James L. Wilson. 4/13-4/14 – “Regional Double Feature.” Hot Summer in Barefoot County, directed by Will Zens; Redneck Miller, directed by John Clayton. 4/15-4/17 –The Muthers, directed by Cirio H. Santiago; Fight For Your Life, directed by Robert A. Endelson. 4/18-4/19 – Dragon’s Vengeance, directed by Ng Loo; Kung Fu: The Punch of Death, directed by Chai Yang-Min. 4/20-4/21 – Triple Feature of The Swinging Barmaids, directed by Gus Trikonis; The Swingin’ Pussycats, directed by Alexis Neve; The Swinging Cheerleaders, directed by Jack Hill. 4/22-4/24 – “John Hayes Double Bill.” Grave of the Vampire and Jailbait Babysitter, both directed by John Hayes. 4/25-4/26 – "Back-To-Back Angela Mao." Return of The Tiger, directed by Jimmy Shaw; Stoner, directed by Feng Huang. 4/27-4/28 – “Barbara Bouchet Double Feature.” Death Rage, directed by Antonio Margheriti; Cry of the Prostitute, directed by Adelchi Bianchi. 4/29-4/30 – The Real Bruce Lee, directed by Larry Dolgin and Jim Markovic; Lee Lives Within, directed by Tam Kai.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
