FILMS: Grinding

I'm a few weeks late on this one, but finally saw "Grindhouse" on Saturday and have not stopped thinking about it since. While critics generally loved the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature, the public isn't buying it because of it's length (3 1/2 hours) and violence. I, however, walked out of the theater happy to have given up my $12 for the two horror flicks. Both films had a certain campy, feminist edge (a heroine with a machine gun as a leg for Pete's sake) that I loved. And like the first and second "Kill Bill" installments, none of Rodriguez's or Tarantino's women needed to be saved by anyone. I ended up screaming with glee and clapping during the finale when three loud-mouthed chicks got revenge on a serial killer. It made me want to go take a kickboxing class.