Date of Birth27 March 1963, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Birth NameQuentin Jerome Tarantino
NicknameQT
Height6' 1" (1.85 m)
Mini Biography
In January of 1992, Reservoir Dogs (1992) appeared at the Sundance Film Festival, by first-time writer-director Quentin Tarantino. The film garnered critical acclaim and the director became a legend immediately. Two years later, he followed up Dogs success with Pulp Fiction (1994) which premiered at the Cannes film festival, winning the coveted Palme D'Or Award. At the 1995 Academy Awards, it was nominated for the best picture, best director and best original screenplay. Tarantino and writing partner Roger Avary came away with the award only for best original screenplay. In 1995, Tarantino directed one fourth of the anthology Four Rooms (1995) with friends and fellow auteurs Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Allison Anders. The film opened on December 25th in the United States to very weak reviews. Tarantino's next film was From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), a vampire/crime story which he wrote and co-starred with George Clooney. The film did fairly well theatrically.IMDb Mini Biography By: Kale Whorton
Trade Mark
Lead characters usually drive General Motors vehicles, particularly Chevrolet and Cadillac, such as Jules' 1974 Nova and Vincent's 1960s Malibu.
Briefcases and suitcases play an important role in Pulp Fiction (1994), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Jackie Brown (1997), True Romance (1993), and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).
Makes references to cult movies and television.
Frequently works with Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Uma Thurman, and Samuel L. Jackson.
His films usually have a shot from inside a car trunk.
He always has a Dutch element in his films: The opening tune, Little Green Bag, in Reservoir Dogs (1992) was performed by George Baker and written by Jan Gerbrand Visser and Benjamino Bouwens who are all Dutch. The character Freddy Newandyke, played by Tim Roth is a direct translation to a typical Dutch last name, Nieuwendijk. The code name of Tim Roth is Mr. Orange, the royal color of Holland, and the last name of the royal family. The Amsterdam conversation in PulpFiction, Vincent Vega smokes from a Dutch tobacco shag (Drum), the mentioning of Rutger Hauer in Jackie Brown (1997), the bride's name is Beatrix, the name of the Royal Dutch Queen.
[The Mexican Standoff] All his movies (including True Romance (1993), which he only wrote and did not direct) feature a scene in which three or more characters are pointing guns at each other at the same time.
Often uses an unconventional storytelling device in his films, such as retrospect (Reservoir Dogs (1992)), non-linear (Pulp Fiction (1994)), or "chapter" format (_Kill Bill: Vol.1 (2003)_).
His films will often include one long, unbroken take where a character is followed around somewhere.
Often casts comedians in small roles: 'Stephen Wright' as the DJ in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Kathy Griffin as an accident witness and Julia Sweeney as the junkyard guy's daughter in Pulp Fiction (1994), 'Chris Tucker' as Beaumont in Jackie Brown (1997).
Widely imitated quick cuts of character's hands performing actions in extreme closeup, a technique reminiscent of Brian De Palma.
Long closeup of a person's face while someone else speaks off-screen (closeup of The Bride while Bill talks, of Butch while Marsellus talks).
[Aliases] He uses aliases in nearly all of his movies: Honey Bunny and Pumpkin from Pulp Fiction (1994), Mr White, Blonde, Orange etc. from Reservoir Dogs (1992). Bill's team in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) (Black Mamba, Copperhead, Cottonmouth, and California Mountain Snake), The Basterds and other major characters in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
[Director's Cameo] Often plays a small role in his films (Jimmie Dimmick in Pulp Fiction (1994), Mr. Brown in Reservoir Dogs (1992), the answering machine voice in Jackie Brown (1997), The Rapist in Grindhouse (2007) and Warren in Death Proof (2007)).
Frequently uses Mêlée weapons, such as the samuri sword that Butch uses in Pulp Fiction (1994) and the bride uses in the Kill Bill movies, also the stake attached to a jackhammer used by George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).
Extreme violence, much of which is off-screen in his films.
Frequently has a female character who wears a black and white pant suit (Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction (1994), Pam Grier in Jackie Brown (1997), Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)).
Often creates fictional brands of objects due to his dislike of product placement. The Red Apple cigarettes and Big Kahuna burger established in Pulp Fiction (1994) are often referenced in his other films.
Frequently sets his films in Los Angeles.
Often frames characters with doorways and shows them opening and closing doors.
Minor character dialogue is off-screen in his films.
A character cooly talks through an intense situation, either delaying the occurrence of violence or avoiding it through resolution.
Interjects scenes with introduction of a character's background (Inglorious Basterds, Hans Stieglitz is introduced. In Kill Bill V1. O-Ren is introduced with a interuption in the main story)
Trivia
Was sued by Don Murphy for $5,000,000, accused of assault. Tarantino attacked Murphy in restaurant, slammed him against the wall and punched him. [14 November 1997]
Together with Lawrence Bender founded record company called A Band Apart Records. It will focus on film soundtracks and its releases will be distributed through Maverick Records, owned by Madonna. [30 July 1997]
Was planning to direct an episode of "The X Files" (1993) but refused to join the Director's Guild of America. The Guild refused his request for a waiver so that he could direct the show. [November 1996]
Claims that Tarantino acted in the film Dawn of the Dead (1978) or the film King Lear (1987) are incorrect. Quentin falsely listed these credits years ago on his acting resume to compensate for his lack of experience and these incorrect credits have subsequently been attributed to him in such places as Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide and the Cinemania CD ROM.
First noted screenplay was titled "Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit," which was written in 1985.
Tarantino claims that James Best taught him how to act.
Collects old board games having to do with TV shows like "I Dream of Jeannie" (1965), "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979), "The A-Team" (1983), etc.
In all of his original screenplays the name of a police detective named Scagnetti is referred to at least once. Most of the times the particular scene was cut out of the final versions.
Is widely reported to have helped to write Tony Scott's Crimson Tide (1995).
As of the year 2001, he wanted to begin filming the film Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) with Uma Thurman. Production was delayed because of Thurman's pregnancy.
Is a big fan of The Three Stooges.
His father, actor/musician Tony Tarantino is of Italian descent, and his mother, Connie McHugh, is half-Irish and half-Cherokee.
Although he uses both elements in his films, he strongly detests violence and drugs.
Is listed in the acknowledgments of actor Ethan Hawke's novel, Ash Wednesday.
Two of Tarantino's favorite films are _'Manos' the Hands of Fate (1966)_ (which he owns a 35mm copy of) and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982), which he references in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003).
Was the head judge at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where Pulp Fiction (1994) won the Palme D'or, the top honor, only ten years earlier.
In most of his movies, you'll spot Red Apple cigarettes.
Considers Ride in the Whirlwind (1965) one of the finest Westerns ever made, even writing an extensive article about it for Sight And Sound magazine titled A Rare Sorrow. The article was featured in the Pulp Fiction (1994) Special Edition DVD as an extra and also appears in Paul A. Woods' Film Geek Files (pgs. 129-132). Interestingly, the director of Ride in the Whirlwind, Monte Hellman, was the executive producer of Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Has an IQ of 160 despite dropping out of high school.
He is a good friend of Robert Rodriguez.
He has called Uma Thurman his muse.
Named after the Burt Reynolds character Quint Asper from "Gunsmoke" (1955)
Was at one point in his life considering to become a novelist. He said that he tried writing two chapters of a novel about his experiences working at the Video Archives in Hermosa Beach. As can be immediately seen, novelistic narrative techniques bear a strong influence on his distinct filmmaking style.
In 1994, before Pulp Fiction (1994), in an interview with Charlie Rose, he cited his three favorite films as Blow Out (1981) (directed by Brian De Palma), Rio Bravo (1959) (directed by Howard Hawks) and Taxi Driver (1976) (directed by Martin Scorsese).
In the last Sight & Sound Greatest Films Poll (2002), he listed his Top Ten films as: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) (aka "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," Leone), Rio Bravo (1959) (Hawks), Taxi Driver (1976) (Scorsese), His Girl Friday (1940) (Hawks), Rolling Thunder (1977) (Flynn), They All Laughed (1981) (Bogdanovich), The Great Escape (1963) (J. Sturges), Carrie (1976) (De Palma), Coffy (1973) (Hill), Dazed and Confused (1993) (Linklater), _Tian xia di yi quan (1973)_ (aka "Five Fingers of Death," Chang) and Hi Diddle Diddle (1943) (Stone).
Considers two of his best friends to be Paul Thomas Anderson and Sofia Coppola.
His mother was only 16 when she gave birth to him.
Once a vocal proponent of celluloid-over-digital film-making, Tarantino got his first experience with the latter technology by directing a segment of the film Sin City (2005) with his friend 'Robert Rodriguez' (I) . Rodriguez, who lauds the technology at every opportunity, made it his mission to convert Tarantino as well. At the end of shooting, Tarantino is reported to have said simply, "Mission accomplished."
On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), he stated his all-time favorite James Bond film is From Russia with Love (1963).
Hates product placement hence, the use of the fictional cigarette Red Apple and now-defunct cereal Fruit Brute in his films.
Dropped out of Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California, at the age of sixteen to pursue film making.
Six of his movies are mentioned in FHM's (DK) 100 Best Male Movies Ever (7 October 2004 issue): True Romance (1993) at #75, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) at #73, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) at #26, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) at #25, Reservoir Dogs (1992) at #11, and Pulp Fiction (1994) at #1.
Was offered the role of the President of the United States of America in Batoru rowaiaru II: Chinkonka (2003) but had to decline due to scheduling conflicts.
Known for giving comebacks to "forgotten" actors and/or cult actors by giving them important roles in his movies: John Travolta (Pulp Fiction (1994)), David Carradine(Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)), Lawrence Tierney (Reservoir Dogs (1992)), Pam Grier (Jackie Brown (1997)), Robert Forster (Jackie Brown (1997)), Sonny Chiba (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003))... even in smaller/cameo roles: Sid Haig (Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)), Edward Bunker (Reservoir Dogs (1992)) and Michael Parks (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), which QT wrote and co-starred in).
Frequently casts Michael Bowen.
Has stated that he would like to direct a James Bond movie at some point in his career.
Has named Rio Bravo (1959) as one of his favorite films.
Named his production company, A Band Apart, after the Jean-Luc Godard film Bande à part (1964) (Band of Outsiders).
Often references numerous attributes of the works of Jean-Luc Godard, particularly in Pulp Fiction (1994). The disjointed structure of Pulp Fiction (1994) may itself be an homage to Godard's use of jump cuts in À bout de souffle (1960) (Breathless), the film that launched the French New Wave of cinema.
Is a huge fan of the Half-Life computer game series, and has considered possibilities of directing a movie adaptation.
Ranked #81 on Premiere's 2004 annual Power 100 List. He was unranked in 2003.
Cites his influences as Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Sergio Leone, and Jean-Luc Godard.
Ranked #8 in Empire (UK) magazine's greatest directors ever 2005 poll.
Was the spokesman for SkyperfecTV, a Japanese based satellite TV network, a competitor to the now locally defunct DirecTV endorsed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Was guest director for one scene for Robert Rodriguez' Sin City (2005).
Eli Roth wanted to have the world premiere of Hostel (2005) at the 2005 Iceland Film Festival. During the festival, Roth and Quentin Tarantino were made honorary vikings at Viking Village, in a ceremony arranged by Eythor Gudjonsson. Roth's Icelandic name is Eli Sheldonsson, and Tarantino's Icelandic name is Quentin Conniesson.
His all-time favorite director is Howard Hawks.
Each of his movies, with the exception of Death Proof (2007), features someone from the cast of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973). Harvey Keitel from Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), Robert De Niro from Jackie Brown (1997), David Carradine from Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), and David Proval is in Four Rooms (1995).
Was originally offered the chance to direct Men in Black (1997), but turned it down.
Was originally offered the chance to direct Speed (1994/I), but turned it down.
Is godfather to two of Michael Madsen's sons Hudson and Calvin Michael. Michael and his wife DeAnna joked in OK! magazine about naming Quentin godfather to their newest son Luke Ray as well.
Is spoofed in the short film Let's Get Real! (1999), which contains several satirical references to Pulp Fiction (1994).
Has stated that he would like to make and star in a film telling the story of John Brown, the abolitionist.
Named his favorite films of 2005 as Sin City (2005), Domino (2005), Hustle & Flow (2005) and The Devil's Rejects (2005).
Has named My Bloody Valentine (1981) his all-time favorite slasher film.
During his stay in the Philippines, Tarantino got trapped in traffic due to flooding as he was traveling to Malacanang Palace to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and receive a lifetime achievement award. Refusing to give up, he and his partner Tikoy Aguiluz got off their limousine and took a pedicab each to reach the palace. After arriving, Tarantino stated "It was a lot of fun. It just took a long time but it was not bad at all".
Has two sisters and one brother: Tanya Marie Tarantino (b. Pasadena, California, 4 Oct 1964), Ronnajean Tarantino (b. Arizona, Phoenix, 22 June 1969) and Edward James Tarantino (b. Simi Valley, California, Simi Valley, 3 Oct 1974).
His father was born in Queens, New York, and has a sister named Diane. Their parents are Dominic Tarantino and wife Elizabeth.
His mother was born in Tennessee on September 3, 1946, She is the adopted daughter of Ellis and Elizabeth (Betty) Shaffer.
After his parents divorced, his mother married Curtis Zastoupil.
As a child, one of his favorite movies was Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). He credits the film with helping him learn genre distinctions.
Wrote the forward for the book Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi".
Was offered a chance to direct Westworld (2009), but turned it down.
Was ex-girlfriend Mira Sorvino's date the night she won her best supporting actress Oscar.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, he was raised in Los Angeles.
Close friends with Jennifer Beals.
Is of Italian, Irish and Cherokee descent.
In the 2008 Empire Magazine poll of the 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, Tarantino listed his favorite films as: 1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), (Sergio Leone), 2. Rio Bravo (1959), (Howard Hawks), 3. Blow Out (1981), (Brian De Palma), 4. Taxi Driver (1976), (Martin Scorsese), 5. His Girl Friday (1940), Howard Hawks), 6. 5 Fingers of Death / King Boxer (1972), (Chang-hwa Jeong), 7. Pandora's Box (1929), ('Georg Wilhelm Pabst'), 8. Carrie (1976), (Brian De Palma), 9. Unfaithfully Yours (1948), (Preston Sturges), 10. Five Graves to Cairo (1943), (Billy Wilder), 11. Jaws (1975), (Steven Spielberg). Choices #2, 3 and 4 are marked as "interchangeable".
Lived with Jennifer Beals while getting his first films produced.
Directed 4 actors in Oscar nominated performances: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Robert Forster.
His three favourite Alfred Hitchcock movies are; Suspicion (1941), Sabotage (1936) and Torn Curtain (1966).
Personal Quotes
(At MTV Movie Awards 1994) As he won Best Picture for Pulp Fiction (1994) "Pop quiz, hotshot: you go to the awards ceremonies all year long; you keep losing to Forrest Gump (1994)! It's really annoying the hell out of you - what do you do? You go to the MTV Awards!"
On "rival" director Guy Ritchie marrying Madonna: "I guess I'll have to marry Elvis Presley to get even."
If I've made it a little easier for artists to work in violence, great! I've accomplished something.
When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.'
On using surfing music, when hating the surfing culture: "It's like surf music, I've always like loved that but, for me, I don't know what surf music has to do with surf boards. To me, it just sounds like rock and roll, even Morricone music. It sounds like rock and roll Spaghetti Western music, so that's how I kind of laid it in."
Movies are my religion and God is my patron. I'm lucky enough to be in the position where I don't make movies to pay for my pool. When I make a movie, I want it to be everything to me; like I would die for it.
On the comparison between Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)'s group fight and Neo vs. 100 Agent Smiths in The Matrix Reloaded (2003): "First off, I've always thought of the black suits as mine, so I don't think of them as Agent Smiths, I think of them as Reservoir Dogs with less cool sunglasses. The similarities between the fight sequences never occurred to me until I had a director's screening and Luc Besson turned up with Keanu Reeves as his guest. I watched Keanu watching and suddenly I felt it."
On media criticisms of violence in his movies: "Sure, Kill Bill's a violent movie. But it's a Tarantino movie. You don't go to see Metallica and ask the fuckers to turn the music down."
On media criticisms of violence in his movies: "What if a kid goes to school after seeing Kill Bill and starts slicing up other kids? You know, I'll take that chance! Violent films don't turn children into violent people. They may turn them into violent filmmakers but that's another matter altogether."
On collecting movies: "If you're a film fan, collecting video is sort of like marijuana. Laser discs, they're definitely cocaine. Film prints are heroin, all right? You're shooting smack when you start collecting film prints. So, I kinda got into it in a big way, and I've got a pretty nice collection I'm real proud of."
On how to take the violence in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) (re: The final duel with Lucy Liu): "It's supposed to be kind of amusing and poetic at the same time. And also just a teeny-tiny bit solemn. When you see her head, it's funny. And then her line, 'that really was a Hattori Hanzo sword,' that's funny. But then, the next shot is not funny, when she tips over and Meiko Kaji is singing about revenge on the soundtrack. So, it's all together. Funny. Solemn. Beautiful. Gross. All at the same time."
On becoming famous: "Going into a videostore and going through the videos, looking at every title they have, trying to find some old spaghetti western, that's gone."
I have an idea for a Godzilla movie that I've always wanted to do. The whole idea of Godzilla's role in Tokyo, where he's always battling these other monsters, saving humanity time and again- wouldn't Godzilla become God? It would be called Living Under the Rule of Godzilla. This is what society is like when a big fucking green lizard rules your world.
On violence in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): "When I was on "The View" (1997), Barbara Walters was asking me about the blood and stuff, and I said, 'Well, you know, that's a staple of Japanese cinema.' And then she came back,'But this is America.' And I go, 'I don't make movies for America. I make movies for planet Earth.'"
On directing the "ER" (1994) episode "Motherhood": "When I was directing ER, I didn't want to stand out. Everyone else is wearing all that crap. I wanted to fit in. I didn't want to be the odd man out. I wanted to be inside, not on the outside. When I was directing the ER thing, the emergency room guys wore the green scrubs. I wore those for a few days. Then, I wore the blue scrubs, which were the surgeons,' for a few days. When I wore the nurse's pink scrubs, though, that's when I became a hero on the set. The nurses didn't think I was going to throw in with them. I ended the episode, the last two days, wearing the nurses' scrubs. When I walked on the set all the nurses applauded me. They were like, 'Oh my God, he's so cool!'"
On Thriller - en grym film (1974) and its influences on Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003): "And that is, of all the revenge movies I've ever seen, that is definitely the roughest. The roughest revenge movie ever made! There's never been anything as tough as that movie."
"If you want to make a movie, make it. Don't wait for a grant, don't wait for the perfect circumstances, just make it." - Giving advice to young aspiring filmmakers at the 1994 Independent Spirit Awards
I hope to give you at least 15 more years of movies. I'm not going to be this old guy that keeps cranking them out. My plan is to have a theater by that time in some small town and I will be the manager - this crazy old movie guy. (March 2005)
I will never do 'Pulp Fiction 2', but having said that, I could very well do other movies with these characters.
I've come to a point where I like Pauline Kael's reviews of Godard more than Godard's films.
(On making another "Kill Bill" movie) "Oh yeah, initially I was thinking this would be my "Dollars Trilogy". I was going to do a new one every ten years. But I need at least fifteen years before I do this again. I've already got the whole mythology: Sofie Fatale will get all of Bill's money. She'll raise Nikki, who'll take on The Bride. Nikki deserves her revenge every bit as much as The Bride deserved hers. I might even shoot a couple of scenes for it now so I can get the actresses while they're this age."
I'm never going to be shy about anything, what I write about is what I know; it's more about my version of the truth as I know it. That's part of my talent, really - putting the way people really speak into the things I write. My only obligation is to my characters. And they came from where I have been.
The exploitation films were made in such an artless way with these big wide shots of Sunset Boulevard or of Arcadia or downtown L.A. or wherever. In mainstream films, especially in the 1980s, the Los Angeles you saw wasn't the real one; it was a character with this back-lot sort of atmosphere. They tried to luxuriate it. In exploitation films, you see what the place really looked like, you see the bars and mom-and-pop restaurants.
There's only one list that's more illustrious than the list of directors who won the Palme d'Or. It's the list of directors who didn't.
I don't believe in putting in music as a band aid to get you over some rough parts or bad film making. If it's there it's got to add to it or take it to another level.
When I give props to these movies, you have to understand - it's not like they were all good. There's an expression: You have to drink a lot of milk before you can appreciate cream. Well, with exploitation movies, you have to drink a lot of milk-gone-bad before you can even appreciate milk! That's what part of the love of these movies is - going through the rummage bin and finding the jewels.
[on the death of David Carradine] He was a dream to direct, a fantastic actor, a great character actor and really one of Hollywood's great mad geniuses.
[On how The Dirty Dozen (1967) could never be made today] Ernest Borgnine. Charles Bronson. Those guys were real men. They were a different breed. Many of them had been to war. Today's young actors are soft.
[On the Cannes Film Festival] I just like Cannes. It's like the whole planet is checking your movie out - boom! - at one time, and - bam! - it either works or it doesn't. And especially when I'm there - it's the closest thing to Muhammad Ali having a championship fight. It's just - bam! You're throwing it down.
I've had people write that I've seen too many movies. In what other art form would being an expert be considered a negative? If I were a poet, would I be criticized for knowing too much about Sappho? Or Aristotle?
Some people will like Inglourious Basterds (2009). Some people won't. But it was made with all the passion I've made everything with - except maybe my first film, which was probably made with more passion than I'll ever have again.
When you gotta go out and make a movie to pay for the kid's private school and for the three ex-wives, don't talk to me about your artistry. It's their job. It's not my job. It's my calling.
[On why his characters in Inglourious Basterds (2009) use Native American fighting tactics] I'm actually equating the Jews in this situation, in World War II, with the Indians. It's not nothing that they're doing Apache resistance. It's not about dying. It's about killing. They ambush their guys. They trick the enemy. It's not a straight-up fight. And then they go and they just completely desecrate the bodies to win a psychological war.
[On Late Night with Conan O'Brien, when asked how he comes up with such good dialog] Well, not to be facetious or anything, but....I'm a good writer!
I think the opening chapter of Inglourious Basterds (2009) is one of the best things I've ever written - before that sequence my best piece of writing would be the Sicilian sequence in the True Romance (1993) script; that was the best thing I'd ever done in a beginning to end piece. And I think I finally matched it, or topped it with that sequence so I knew I couldn't just let it go. I would have been haunted by it and I wouldn't be able to move on to anything else until I had it out of the way.
CGI has fully ruined car crashes. Because how can you be impressed with them now? When you watch them in the '70s, it was real cars, real metal, real blasts. They're really doing it and risking their lives. But I knew CGI was gonna start taking over.
There's my realer-than-real movies like Reservoir Dogs (1992). And then there's my movie-movies. And Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) is definitely one of those. It's the movies that Jules and Vince (from Pulp Fiction (1994)) would go and see...I always thought of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) as my Apocalypse Now (1979) and that House Of Blue Leaves is my 'Ride Of The Valkyries' helicopter sequences.
When I first discovered Howard Hawks, I spent a year and a half reading the TV guide and they played about 80 percent of his entire oeuvre on Los Angeles TV. Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone and Hawks were a huge influence on me.