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My Night at the Grindhouse

Tue., Mar. 27, 2007 5:40 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

The director turned 44 today, but he started celebrating last night at the premiere of Grindhouse, the new film he made with Robert Rodriguez.

At the stroke of midnight, a gaggle of Grindhouse starlets—led by Rose McGowan and Rosario Dawson—surprised Tarantino by presenting him with a cake and serenading him with "Happy Birthday."

The premiere took place at the old Orpheum Theater in downtown Los Angeles. In the house was Sidney Poitier, who laughed many times watching his daughter, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, spew dirty words on the big screen (she plays a badass radio deejay having a night on the town with her party-hearty girlfriends).

The after-party took place under a tent next to the theater. Cheeseburgers and fries were served. I'm assuming the squishy plump dumplings on the menu were inspired by one of the movie's subplots. I'm thinking of the one in which a crazy scientist, played by Lost's Naveen Andrews, seems to enjoying cutting off men's...well, you get the picture.

I didn't see Rodriguez and McGowan hanging out much together during the evening, but I'm told they're still very much a couple. Rodriguez and his wife and producing partner, Elizabeth Avellan, reportedly split after Rodriguez and McGowan hooked up during the making of Grindhouse.

I got to meet Jordan Ladd, who plays one of the Poitier's friends in the flick. She's the daughter of my favorite Charlie's Angel, Cheryl Ladd. While I chatted with Jordan, I couldn't help but think of the poster I had of her mom in my childhood bedroom. Jordan, who held court in one of the VIP banquettes, is a spitfire who looks exactly like her mother. As she smoked a cigarette, her publicist told her, "I don't think you can smoke in here." Without missing a beat, Ladd hissed, "No one told me I can't."

I also got the chance to catch up with one of the movie's producers, my old pal Sandra Condito. She told me that Zoe Bell insisted on doing the very dangerous scene in which she rides on the hood of a speeding car.

But it probably wasn't as scary for Bell, because she's a pro. Bell was Uma Thurman's stunt double in Tarantino's Kill Bill flicks. Whew!

As for the movie, I loved it. It's violent, scary and gory. But it's so over the top, like a comic book, you can't help but have a good time. I screamed, covered my eyes and laughed a lot. I think I even jumped into my friend's lap a few times. While Grindhouse is definitely for grown-ups, I felt like a kid again, watching a scary movie.