Springtime for Hitler… and Dr. Cheese!

The much anticipated Grindhouse opens today, courtesy of Messrs. Tarantino and Rodriguez. I've never been much of a Tarantino fan and I don't really know squat about Rodriguez, but when we are talking about zombies, Kurt "Snake Plissken" Russell, and Rose McGowan with a machine-gun prosthesis, I'm inclined to pay attention.

Dr. Cheese has been doing his homework so that you don't have to (er...), and he's put together some appropriate links for your B-movie edification, bullet stizz:

• The Rotten Tomatoes roundup is mostly positive.
  
• Filmwad reminds viewers that, "Going to see Grindhouse does not mean that Rose McGowan will have sex with you." Spoilsport.
  
• The Virginian-Pilot compares Grindhouse to, well, grindhouse.
  
• Cinema Blend has clips from the movie as well as a full report on Rodriquez's "Grindhouse 101" course (including trailers of other sleazy films) at last month's SXSW festival.
  
• Mark Maynard asks, "Is anything acceptable if it's done with a knowing hipster wink?" (The answer, for better or worse, is probably yes.)
  

And finally, The Guardian UK takes a trip down memory lane to the real grindhouses of the 1970s:

These tawdry, smelly fleapits were on the slow fade to oblivion. They showed the cheapest, grimiest exploitation fare—the second-class citizenry of postwar cinema, which in my day included car-chase movies, chop-socky kung fu imports, slasher flicks and pornos—and the audiences could be equally terrifying.

In other news, zombies are continuing strong in 2007 with a new Resident Evil movie coming out as well as an awful-looking Day of the Dead "remake."


Resident Evil: When will zombies learn to leave Milla Jovovich alone?


Day of the Dead: Can you say "straight to DVD"?

Meanwhile, here in Ann Arbor, April 21 marks the 16th Annual Smithee Awards honoring movies featuring "bad monsters, bad acting, bad special effects, and bad science." Who's going with me (besides Dr. Cheese)?

Also, Rose McGowan is hot:


Are you sure she won't have sex with me?

Update: Not to be outdone, Shane McGowan of the Pogues went out and got his own machine-gun leg shortly after hearing about "that American tart in that new movie." British paparazzi captured him in a quiet moment following the amputation/weapon-fitting: