Los Angeles, March 26, 2007 – Grindhouse is such a mishmash of a movie – actually two movies by two different directors, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, each paying homage to the cheesy fare they grew up on (zombies and slashers, respectively) – and a delightful mixed bag of folks turned out at the Orpheum Theatre for Monday’s premiere.

The Grindhouse cast alone is like a salute to Hollywood's past: Josh Brolin is the son of James Brolin, Jordan Ladd’s mom is Cheryl Ladd, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier’s father, Sidney Poitier, was beaming with pride at the premiere. Lost star Naveen Andrews brought his longtime love, actress Barbara Hershey. Goldie Hawn was reportedly out of town, leaving Kurt Russell on his own for the evening.

Eva Mendes, basketball pro Kobe Bryant and wife Vanessa, and metalhead/horror film enthusiast Rob Zombie traipsed the red carpet, which was sopping wet from a water main break. We were astonished to see actress Natasha Lyonne, who had been battling drug addiction, disease, homelessness and erratic behaior less than two years ago, looking healthy and lucid. (Still, we kept a healthy distance from Natasha, to protect our pets.)

There was a little birthday celebration for Tarantino, who turned 44 the next day.