To celebrate the release of Grindhouse, the new film directed by Robert
Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the new Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles is
hosting a two month long grindhouse movie fest, featuring some of the best and
worst low budget cinema the seventies had to offer.

The grindhouses were the sleazy, run down theaters that ran equally sleazy, down
and dirty movies of all stripes: Kung-fu, horror, sex comedies, rednecks running
amok, and more. To be sure, many of these movies were pretty awful, but there
are definitely some real gems to be found in the dung heap.

When Tarantino hit it big with Pulp Fiction, he bought up all the prints of his
favorite movies he could get his hands on, and the films he's showing at the
Grindhouse Festival come from his personal collection. As reported in the L.A.
Times, his lobby cards and posters for some of these films will also be on
display, and in some cases, they're much more entertaining to look at than the
films themselves.

Just a sample of the films scheduled:

* The Mack (1973), the epic story of a pimp's rise and fall, March 4, 5, 6.

*A sex comedy triple feature with The Van (1977), Pick-Up Summer (1980), and
Summer Camp (1979), March 9-10.

* Rolling Thunder (1977), one of Tarantino's all-time favorite films about a
Vietnam vet out for revenge, with a screenplay by Paul Schrader, March 11, 12,
13.

*Tunnel Vision (1976), a look at an uncensored, and very politically incorrect,
network of the future (it takes place in 1985 and David Eisenhower is the
President). Featuring early appearances of Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Al
Franken. One imdb review pointed out that a lot of the skits, which are pretty
tasteless, aren't that funny today, some of the political satire, like the
commercial for Axxon, a conglomerate that's killing the environment with oil
spills, was ahead of its time. March 23, 24.

*There's kung-fu up the wazoo with a double bill of Chinese Hercules (1973), and
Black Dragon (1974), March 14, 15, Fearless Fighters (1971) and Supermanchu
(1973), March 28, 29, as well as Dragon's Vengeance (1972), and Kung Fu: The
Punch of Death (1973), April 18, 19.

*There's also films that defy categories like The Female Bunch (1969), directed
by Al Adamson, the Ed Wood of the '60's and '70's, about a secret society of
chicks fed up with men who will kill any guy that gets in their way, April 4.

* And of course, no grindhouse fest would be complete without low budget horror
flicks like Grave of the Vampire (1974), a great little gem written by Sopranos
creator David Chase, April 22, 23, 24, Slithis (1978), about a giant nuclear
lizard on the loose in Venice, CA, April 11, 12, and many, many more.

Having seen a bunch of local grindhouse screenings of my favorite B movies, I
can attest they're a lot of fun to see with an audience, who make the bad dialog
and filmmaking gaffes even funnier. If you want to see what independent cinema
was all about long before there was a Miramax, check out the Grindhouse Festival,
and be prepared for a really wild ride.

For more information and showtimes, go to:

http://www.newbevcinema.com/calendar.cfm