7. He Has A Fondness For Australian B-Grade Cinema
Those of you who read my articles regularly will know that I am extremely proud of being an Australian. Thats why it was exceedingly awesome when Tarantino declared at the 2003 Australian premiere of Kill Bill Vol: 1 that he loved Australian 1970s/80s cinema, otherwise known as Ozploitation. In 1971, the Australian government gave tax breaks to anybody wanting to make a film to boost our cultural industries, and that happened to coincide with a time when our censorship laws were some of the most liberal in the world. Naturally, our screens were soon filled with boobs and bazookas galore. Some of Tarantinos top picks are Patrick (1978), which he paid homage to in Kill Bill Vol: 1 in the spitting scene, and Fair Game (1985), which inspired elements of Death Proof. One of his favourite directors is Brian Trenchard-Smith, who made the grindhouse-style action thrillers Turkey Shoot (1982) and The Man from Hong Kong (1978). "Aussie films were so bang-on that the Italians did rip-offs of them. First the unofficial Patrick sequel, and then for most of the 80s, Italy's rip-off machine specialized in Mad Max rip-offs. That was the coin of the realm!" Tarantino boasts. In Django Unchained, he pays ode to my home country in the form of The LeQuint Dickey Mining Co., and wrote a part specifically for the Aussie actor John Jarratt, star of Wolf Creek (2005). Although reports have come in that his Australian accent is woeful, Tarantino still deserves the highest form of Antipodean praise one can give: Good Onya, Mate.