New York, March 31, 2007 – We chatted up movie directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, co-directors of the double feature Grindhouse, and some of their stars at a Manhattan comic book shop on Saturday, where they’d gathered to sign Grindhouse memorabilia for fans. (There's even a book.)

One young lady presented Tarantino with a box of pastries containing cookies, cupcakes and tarts, in honor of his birthday, which was a few days earlier. The Pulp Fiction director thanked her warmly, and jumped up and pecked her on the cheek. He also talked with some Spanish fans about a certain theater in Madrid, the first place that Reservoir Dogs played in Spain.

Rosario Dawson was thrilled when a patron handed her one of her own comic books to autograph. "You're appealing to the narcissist in me", she told the guy.

Freddy Rodriguez described his role as the “action/anti-hero”, and said that the extreme violence in Grindhouse is funny. “I got to tell you, when you see this movie, you’re going to laugh your a-- off. People at the premiere were just laughing”, he said. “It’s not the type of horror movie where it’s like, real”, he added. “It’s almost surreal, and over the top. It’s just a fun rollercoaster ride this way”.

Rose McGowan’s Grindhouse character has a prosthetic leg made out of a machine gun, and she said that wearing it while shooting “was everything you would imagine it would be. It was a heavy, heavy gray cast. And that was flat, and then the other side was a four-inch high heel [on her other leg].”

McGowan and Robert Rodriguez have been rumored to be romantically involved, and the two did arrive together at the signing, and we heard them discussing their plans for the rest of the day as they left.

The two directors talked about the grind house tradition, their plans to make each feature longer in order to screen them separately at the Cannes Film Festival and in other countries, and how Tarantino chooses his actors.

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