Film Students Accuse Tarantino of "Grindhouse" Theft
A group of poor student filmmakers apparently talked to Tarantino about their exploitation exploiting Grindhouse movie before he and Rodriguez had even considered their own, and now they’re pissed. Do the two movies have any similarities other than their title? Hard to say without shelling out the 99 cents it costs to buy the “original,” but there are no accusations in that regard. The lower budget Grindhouse’s director, Stephen Tramontana:
It sucks, because now I’m that guy. I’m that guy stating that a big Hollywood
player ripped off my idea. We all know how that looks. But, a. I made the movie
– anyone can see it. and b. he’s constantly referenced the day in 2003 when he
got the idea to make a movie called Grindhouse. My bet is that it was the day he
opened my Fed Ex. Maybe he didn’t even watch the movie, but he had to have seen
the poster, and maybe that was all it took.
Not that we don’t feel for the guy, but if Tarantino’s/Rodriguez’s movie is better, then it really doesn’t matter who originally conceptualized it. History is full of credit given based on the improvement upon the ideas of others, and many times it’s only the improved idea that ends up being noteworthy. May we suggest to Stephen that he take the idea of Tarantino’s next project, Inglorious Bastards, and make it better.
