Death Proof (directed by Quentin Tarantino) A Quentin Tarantino movie is 20 percent celluloid and 80 percent bravado, and the PR whirlwind surrounding the release of his recent double feature Grindhouse with Robert Rodriquez was a prime example. However even though the directors talked up the movie geek factor and the ultra violence factor, the project bombed at the box office. There's probably lots of reasons barely anyone went to see it, but choosing to......

Grindhouse (directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino): Directors and friends Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez really love old movies, particularly the exploitation B movies of '70s with their silly fake violence and boobs galore. They've crafted a three hour, double feature homage to their favorite genre called Grindhouse, which starts with Rodriguez's chemical weapon zombies on Planet Terror, takes a brief intermission with some fake "prevue" shorts and ends with Tarantino's car chase/girl's revenge......

Billy Bob Thorton sets aside his raunchy Bad Santa persona with his new family movie The Astronaut Farmer about a man building a rocket in his backyard. This family drama looks cheesy like Velveeta from the previews, but hey, that's what you expect with these "ordinary Dad does extraordinary thing" movies. They're always heavy on the sentiment. Jim Carrey senses the universe may be trying to communicate mysteries to him through numerology and a book......

EVENT: NYC Photobloggers will take over the Apple Store again tonight, for the 7th of their events there. The A-list...um, list, of past photographers is a long one. Six more will join the ranks tonight, as they are the centerpieces for this event. They are: Jay Parkinson of darkshapesprowl.com Kevin Walsh of forgotten-ny.com Kara Canal & Amit Gupta of photojojo.com Ed Leveckis of leveckis.net Matt Weber of urbanphotos.com Justin Ouellette of chromogenic.net Gothamist is sponsoring......

I recently went to Video Free Brooklyn for the first time, hoping to get a membership and support my local independent video store. I walked in and politely asked about becoming a member. The guy working at the counter handed me a form and told me to fill it out. I did so, and then picked a movie to rent. First he criticized my movie pick (I had not asked for his opinion). I ignored......

This weekend begins the 42nd New York Film Festival presented by the Film Society at Lincoln Center and it's 17 days of international films, new pictures from old favorites and introductions to unsung artists. There's too many things playing over the next couple of weeks to mention in only one posting, even the first weekend alone is a packed schedule. The opening film this Friday will be French actress-director Agnès Jaoui's Look At Me, an......

Things that Sofia Coppola and Quentin Tarantino have in common: A love for Wong Kar-Wai. Best Screenplay Oscars. Obsessions with former TV stars. Distinct personas (maniac/spotlight hog; shy girl). Gothamist can't wait for the Conan If They Mated...and if we missed it - damn it all. But go to If They Mated and laugh at the archives while loving Photoshop. Gawker on the Sofia-n-Quentin matchup: It's Officialish and The Plot Thickens. And we still love......

Arguably the most important film festival in the world, even after last year's unspectacular showing, the Cannes Film Festival starts again, with movie screenings around the clock, preening stars, and deals being made furiously. Why is Cannes important? In a nutshell, it helps films get launched, whether they're American films looking for a bigger audience (think Pulp Fiction and Mulholland Drive) or foreign films looking for American distribution. Films Gothamist is interested in that are......

Wendy Mitchell, indieWIRE...

Hey, everybody, a little independent film called Kill Bill, Volume 2, is coming out this Friday. Apparently there's a DVD of DVD of Kill Bill, Volume 1 out there and it really is about killing a guy named Bill - go check out first! Actually, don't bother buying the DVD - there will probably be a souped up version of it later down the road. Yes, Gothamist is a little tired of all the Kill......

The Indepedent gets Jeremy Drysdale, screenwriter of Grand Theft Parsons, to give his top ten films about music, including 24 Hour Party People (number 1), This is Spinal Tap, High Fidelity, Backbeat, Cabaret, The Blues Brothers and Moulin Rouge. Gothamist agrees with many (but not Moulin Rouge - meh), but would have to consider many others, like Almost Famous, A Star is Born, Amadeus, Hard Day's Night, A Mighty Wind, The School of Rock, plus......

Only in the nutty world of Italian family–run businesses can a once high flying billion dollar long–life milk operation suddenly be on the brink of bankruptcy, needing to get rid of the family and bring in a turnaround specialist whose nickname is from a Quentin Tarantino film. Enrico Bondi, the new chairman of stricken Italian corporation, Parmalat, is nicknamed "Mr. Wolf" by the Italian media for his ability to "clean up" after problematic Italian businesses.......

Gothamist doesn't know how to take the 8/10 score we got on the Guardian's Quentin Tarantino quiz. On the one hand, we thought we knew our QT. On the other hand, why the hell should we know the QT, it's embarrassing we knew that much to break 5. Fametracker gives Uma the Fame Audit (Assets: Hot! Liabilities: Dull!); we also love the Rebecca Pidgeon tangent. QT has a potty mouth. Kill Bill bloodies theaters today.......

- A Law & Order coffee table book! And will Jerry Orbach headline a new L&O spinoff? - The Emmys suck AND blow - Lost in Translation: Racist, spot-on, funny or all of the above? - Infectious song of the week: Do You Realize? - Second Avenue subway debate - Quentin Tarantino, you kiss your mother with that mouth? - Mangosteen, fruit of the Times - Henry Clay's eerie modern day doppelganger: Mayor Bloomberg -......

Quentin Tarantino eloquently rages on about computer-generated effects in movies to Empire: "You know, my guys are all real. There's no computer fucking around. I'm sick to death of all that shit. This is old school with fucking cameras. If I'd wanted all that computer game bullshit, I'd have gone home and stuck my dick in my Nintendo." Meanwhile, Gothamist believes that it's Kill Bill star Uma Thurman's husband, Ethan Hawke, in the first blind......

Sometimes, Netflix, as great as it is, is just not the same as heading to the video store, where you can browse through various titles and be inspired to watch something you weren't thinking about. It doesn't deliver on the instant gratification that sometimes a movie needs to bring you. Gothamist's favorite video stores are Movie Place on West 105th Street (237 West 105th Street/ 212-864-4620), Kim's Video (various locations), and the Cinematheque on Seventh......

The Times reports that Quentin Tarantino's eagerly awaited film, Kill Bill, will be released in two parts, versus one. Kill Bill's press machine has been in overdrive, ever since it was Tarantino, after a five-year break, directing Uma Thurman in China, with lots of kung fu and wire work...yeah, you know the story. About a revenge-seeking female assassin after being in a five year coma caused by a hit on her wedding day, the first......

Apparently the definition of celebrity for the Gawker stalker has finally been expanded to include people we know. Witness, a mention of James Tung's friend Genevieve, the extremely attractive designer on Trading Spaces. "12.30 pm, Sunday. I saw Genevieve, one of the interior decorators from Trading Spaces, having brunch in the garden at Home (on Cornelia Street, in the W. Village) with a male dining companion. She looks shorter and thinner in person than she......