Horror Actressing: Rosario Dawson in "Death Proof"

by Jason Adams

Every time I see Quentin Tarantino's bifurcated 2007 flick Death Proof I want to write about Death Proof, and every time I write about Death Proof I tell myself I'm going to write about something besides Rosario Dawson's performance in Death Proof... and every time I spectacularly fail at this mission. This "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" post you're now reading is further proof, dead proof, of just that. It's just there is that moment, that single moment seen above, where Tarantino's camera zooms in on Dawson's face as her worry melts into absolute exaltation, and it is by my humble estimate one of the greatest, most electric close-ups in cinematic history. Just that!

But we are, like so much of this movie, zooming right on ahead of ourselves. Just what is it about that moment that makes all the hairs on my arms stand on end?

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Celebrating Grindhouse: 10 Years Later

By Spencer Coile 

There was something electric in the air when I sat down at an opening night showing of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's collaborative work, Grindhouse ten years ago to this day. I was only 15 years-old at the time, crowded into a rowdy, sold-out theater. Dripping in nostalgia, the film heralded back to B-movies from the 60's and 70's that were pulpy, campy, and over-the-top in every way imaginable. This 3+ hour epic featured trailers, two films (Planet Terror from Rodriguez, Death Proof from Tarantino), and an "intermission" as a means to immerse its audience into a culture of filmmaking that had long been forgotten... 

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