Dear Editor,
This is a response to the letter to the editor penned by Ron Deutsch in the April 13 issue [
“Postmarks”]. Mr. Deutsch obviously doesn't understand what the intent of
Grindhouse was.
I am the editor/publisher of one of the most popular film and video trade magazine's in the world,
iCOM Magazine. Film is my business. I generally have two words that come up frequently when I am discussing Quentin Tarantino, “insane” and “genius.”
Tarantino is an amazing filmmaker, and I love his work. I believe that Tarantino's objective with
Grindhouse was to put together two sub-B films with just enough insanity mixed in to have “Tarantino” written all over it. And I'm not ignoring Robert Rodriguez, maker of the incredible film
Sin City.
I feel that Tarantino was probably solely behind the concept of
Grindhouse. It's just so Tarantinoish. These films are supposed to resemble the cheap, quickly shot B thrillers of the Seventies. And I think they accomplished that in flying colors.
And there is a lot more to that film noise that Deutsch referred to as “film damage.” It is a very complex process. Rodriguez shoots in pure digital. No film at play. The mathematics required to create those film-noise effects in the digital domain would bust a good calculator – and it looked exactly like real film noise.
The coming attractions between the two films perfectly matched that Seventies feel, and they were absolutely hilarious. When I saw the films, the crowd loved those fake coming attractions. They laughed repeatedly and loudly.
So, Mr. Deutsch, lighten up. We only live once, and we need to enjoy each day. My advice, “Don't sweat the small stuff.”