Anissa Brown

Quentin Tarantino

Early Life• Born March 27, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee to

separated parents.

• His mother took him to the movies very often, one his favorite movies being "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" at age 6

• Dropped out of school at age 15 to go to James Best Theatre Company full time

• His first job was at Manhattan Beach Video Archives, a video rental store, at age 22. He spent all day watching and discussing movies. He paid close attention to what was popular and different genres

• Tarantino wrote his first script in 1987, "True Romance," which he later sold for $50,000. Directed by Tony Scott

• While taking acting classes he got small roles in movies "King Lear" by Jean Luc Godard and "Dawn of the Dead" by George A. Romero

• Tarantino wrote his second script "Natural Born Killers" in 1988, directed by Oliver Stone

• Using the money he wrote "Reservoir Dogs" He made it in black-and-white on 8mm with his friends in the lead roles

Big Break

• Tarantino's script reached producer Harvey Keitel, who raised more money for the film and helped Tarantino get it screened in the 1992 Sundance Film Festival

• Reservoir Dogs made almost $15 million dollars with a million dollar budget

• By 1994, Tarantino finished his third script, Pulp Fiction. When it hit theaters it was critically acclaimed and awarded 60 awards, including the Palm d'Or

• Pulp Fiction made over $200 million

Big Bomb

• Right after Pulp Fiction Tarantino co-directed Four Rooms with long-time friend, Robert Rodriguez, starring Tim Roth, his segment was called "The Man From Hollywood"

It bombed, receiving poor reviews

• Tarantino wrote the script for Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn, but that received mixed reviews

• Kill Bill is a two part series (Volume 1 and 2) released 2003-2004

• Volume 1 won Saturn Award for Best Action Film and an Empire Award for Best Director, along with 10 other wins and 43 nominations

• Volume 2 was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 9 awards and 39 nominations

• Inglourious Basterds in 2009 won an Oscar for Best Performance by actor Waltz, 75 other awards, and 63 more nominations

Controversy"Jackie Brown" in 1997 was Tarantino's homage to

blaxploitation films of the 1970s, and an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, Rum Punch.

"Django Unchained" (2012) is a homage to spaghetti Westerns, featuring intense violence set in the deep South of the 1850s

They are controversial because of the use of the n- word, as well as the humorous connotation to the gore in the latter film. Spike Lee, also a director, boycotts the newest film

Must-See #1: Reservoir Dogs

Release Date: 1992Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth,

Steve BuscemiPlot: After a jewelry heist goes

terribly wrong, the remaining criminals try to figure out who is the rat in their midst

Reservoir Dogs Trailer

Must See #2: Pulp FictionRelease Date: 1994 Starring: John Travolta,

Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth

Plot: The lives of a pair of bandits, a gangster's wife, a boxer, and two mob hit men are all intertwined

Won 60 awards, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay,, and 46 nominations

Trailer

Must-See #3: Jackie Brown

Based on novel by Elmore Leonard

Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro

Plot: A flight attendant is forced to help police take down an arms dealer after being caught smuggling thousands of dollars into the country. She then forms a plan to run off with the money.

Nominated for over 15 awards, won 6, including the Golden Slate for Best Female Lead and Best Screenplay.

Trailer

Must-See #4: Kill Bill

Release Date: 2003Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy

Lui, Vivica Fox Plot: Betrayed by the other

members of an assassination league, a woman wakes up out of her coma and seeks revenge.

This film was unique to the previous films because of the extensive use of Japanese and animation

Trailer

Must-See #5: Inglourious Basterds

Release Date: 2009Starring: Brad Pitt, Eli

Roth, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger

Plot: In Nazi-occupied France, two plots to murder Nazi officials at a special premiere coincide.

Trailer

Style

Tarantino's movie are typically

• Dialogue heavy

• feature violence and gore in a humorous way

• heavily influenced by other movies/genres he likes (Western, Blaxploitation, Samurai, War movies, Anime)

• "I steal from other movies"

Frequently Used Actors

• Samuel L. Jackson

• Uma Thurman

• Harvey Keitel

• Tim Roth

Tarantino likes to take small roles in his own movies

• Mr.Brown in 'Reservoir Dogs'

• Jimmie in 'Pulp Fiction'

• Warren in 'Death Proof'

• Answering machine voice in 'Jackie Brown'

• Chester Rush in 'Four Rooms'

• Australian mining company worker in 'Django Unchained'

"The good ideas will survive."

"When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'No, I went to films'"

"I was kind of excited about going to jail the first time and I learnt some great dialogue"

"I couldn't spell anything. I couldn't remember anything, but I could go to a movie and I knew who starred in it, who directed it, everything."