Or so I'm told

Three valuable lessons from the enjoyable documentary, American Grindhouse (now playing at a Netflix near you):

What we needed at that time were heroes.  We needed physical heroes.  We didn’t need creative heroes, we didn’t need actors, we needed somebody saying “spray their water on me, put those dogs on me, I’m killing ‘im, and after I’m finished with him I’m gonna kick your ass.”  I don’t do no singin’.  I don’t do no dancin’.  You guys ain’t killing me, and I win my fights and I get the girl.  That’s it, bottom line.

- Fred Williamson

  

There’s only so much you can do with Nazis.

- William Lustig

Anything that makes money…is good.  It’s America.

- John Landis

 

One of the nicely made points of this movie (alternate titles:  Conversations with John Landis and 11 People You've Never Heard Of and A Modern History of the American Subconscious), is that Hollywood has been stealing grindhouse tropes all along.  Some well-framed examples from the film:

• Psycho
• Beach Blanket Bingo
• Easy Rider
• Jaws

"Although," I am misquoting this one guy, "that slowed down after the giant rabbit movie."

Landis gets the last word:

"The only real grindhouse movie of the past 15 years has been The Passion of the Christ."