GRINDHOUSE Premiere

Grindhouse director Quentin Tarantino celebrated his 44th birthday with a cake presented by femme fatales Rose McGowan, Rosario Dawson and Marley Shelton at last night’s premiere of the highly anticipated double feature film helmed by Tarantino and his good friend Robert Rodriguez. Earlier on the Orpheum Theatre stage, executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein thanked the directors for following them to The Weinstein Co. after the brothers' ugly 2005 split from Disney. But the celebration was not without mishap. Just before the star arrivals, a water main break flooded the red carpet, causing Tarantino to fret about ruining his "groovy" black boots. "I'm glad they fixed that," he said.

Opening April 6, Grindhouse is actually a double bill of Rodriguez's sicko zombie flick, Planet Terror, and Tarantino's road rage revenge tale, Death Proof. Homages to low-budget '70s exploitation fare, the films are tied together by movie trailers for such fictitious features as Don't! and Werewolf Women of the S.S. "Two movies for the price of one," noted Rodriguez, differentiating the film from Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vols. 1 and 2, which Rodriguez joked were actually "one movie for the price of two."