Kontraband Know It All

What's Quentin Tarantino's new film called? What is it about? Is it any good?
Maverick director Quentin Tarantino is currently enjoying oodles of critical praise for his latest film, Django Unchained. Unsurprisingly, considering the director (and writer), the film has been noted for its violence, inflammatory themes and choice selection of dialogue. The western has a starry cast, with big names like Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio turning up and previous Tarantino collaborators like Christoph Waltz and Samuel L Jackson also featuring.
The main plot line concerns a freed slave called Django in pre-Civil War USA looking for his wife who has been kidnapped by a rather cunning and cruel plantation owner. The former slave (Jamie Foxx) teams up with a bounty hunter called Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) as they fight and kill various people. Reviews for the film have been very good and it has already received 5 Oscar nominations including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (for Waltz, who won an Oscar for playing the unnerving villain Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds). It is about time Tarantino turned his hand to a Victorian period drama though, Samuel L Jackson as Mr Darcy telling Mr Bennet that he loves his daughter "like a motherf**ker". Instant classic.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

How did Quentin Tarantino get his break in the film industry?
Even though Tarantino is still only 49 he seems to have been making films for a long time, Reservoir Dogs is over 20 years old. Clearly he always loved films and originally wanted to be an actor, but a career working in a video store disrupted that intention. Fortunately, that video store was in Manhattan Beach, California which is apparently an area teeming with movie executives, handy for wannabe directors and screenwriters.
Tarantino got to know a young film producer by the name of Lawrence Bender and after a failed attempt at breaking into film with My Best Friend's Birthday (1987) the two worked on Reservoir Dogs. When Harvey Keitel got involved as an actor and co-producer, the project suddenly found its legs and the rest is film history. Tarantino loved films, loved talking about them and loved writing. He did have some dumb luck, but he was catapulted to success by his raw talent, good connections and the fact that he wasn't working at Blockbuster in Hull.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

What are Quentin Tarantino's best and worst films? Which was the most successful?
Pulp Fiction is Quentin Tarantino's best film. It is beautifully-layered, has a whole host of incredible performances from rising stars and resurrected careers (John Travolta and Bruce Willis had both been going through a rough patch before Pulp Fiction). The writing and dialogue is a strong as you can find in motion pictures; snappy comments, eloquent speeches and funny wisecracks litter the script like sodden handkerchiefs on the stadium floor after a One Direction concert.
Jackie Brown is arguably the worst film directed by Tarantino. It seemed a bit slapdash and disjointed when compared to the smooth liquid-like treat that was Pulp Fiction, and it wasn't as visceral as Reservoir Dogs. However, it was hardly a dire mess and is still well regarded. By box office total, Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's most successful film, grossing $321 million. However, that film cost $70 million to make (in 2009), whereas Pulp Fiction cost $8.5 million and made over $200 million (in 1994). It was enough money to keep Tarantino in esoteric 1970s vinyl albums, blaxploitation videos and bad haircuts for the rest of his life.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

How many Oscars has Tarantino won? What other accolades has he received?
A man with a filmography containing classics such as Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds should probably have a truckload of Oscars. Considering Tarantino also wrote True Romance and Natural Born Killers it would be easy to see how his writing skills would also win a multitude of plaudits. But out of 16 Oscar nominations, Tarantino's films have only won 2 awards. Tarantino has no luck with the Golden Globes (2 wins from 20 nominations) or the BAFTAS (3 from 25) either. However, he did get a Best Writing Oscar (Original Screenplay) for Pulp Fiction, shared with Roger Avary.
Tarantino has won a prestigious Palme d'Or, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and two National Society of Film Critics prizes, all for his work with Pulp Fiction. He won a bucketful of directing and writing awards from many critics associations for Inglourious Basterds. But he still hasn't won that elusive Oscar for Best Director, although he is in good company, as multiple-nominated directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini and Robert Altman never won the coveted trophy. The Academy has never been too great at awarding deserving directors though; both Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen have 7 nominations each but only 1 statuette apiece. In all fairness, Quentin Tarantino lost for Pulp Fiction against Robert Zemeckis for Forrest Gump, truly the greatest film about table tennis ever. After Balls of Fury that is.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[Answers provided by 63336. Text any question to 63336 for £2.50 or ask one for free at http://63336.com ]