Let 's start at the beginning: I first saw Reservoir Dogs at a Village Voice advance screening here in NYC in '92. There was some buzz associated with the film at the time, but all I really knew was that the filmmaker had participated in the Director's Workshop at the Sundance Film Festival. Before the screening started, I noticed an odd looking, thin man in a very nice black leather jacket, pacing outside the auditorium, seemingly going over something in his head. Turns out that man was Steve Buscemi and he was there to introduce the movie. Needless to say Reservoir Dogs turned out to be one of a very small number of films that grabbed my movie going soul by the throat and has never let go. The film has so deeply penetrated my cinematic consciousness that hardly a day goes by where I don't think about and consider some aspect of the film. Halfway through the screening I found myself thinking "This is exactly the kind of movie I dream of making." Biting, hard boiled dialogue, masterfully directed, clever and unique narrative structure, cool soundtrack, etc, as far as I was concerned, the second the film was over I declared it a masterpiece. Others in the audience that night felt differently. The most common complaint was "Where's the action? It was all talk..!" As a matter of fact even Siskel and Ebert gave the film two thumbs down. Claiming they know what QT was trying to do, but still didnt care for it. The night after the screening I came home and stated to my cousin who was staying with us at the time that I had a new favorite director and his name was Quentin Tarantino. He still remembers to this day how excited I was after seeing Reservoir Dogs that night… Bored and unstimulated by most if not all of the 100 or so movies a year I was averaging (that's movies seen in theaters, not counting video rentals!) Reservoir Dogs was a slap in the face that reinvigorated my movie going and my interest in film in general. The last film that had made me feel this way was Evil Dead 2, and like my long time fascination with Sam Raimi, thus began my obsession with Tarantino. He was a movie geek video store clerk making it big with a great film. I used to fantasize when I was in high school of working in a movie theater while struggling to make my "big breakthrough independent low budget" movie. Quentin was living my fantasy, which made me admire him even more. I caught my first glimpse of him on ET one night reciting a bit similar to Eddie Murphy's Ensign Johannson/Star Trek joke from his Delirious HBO special. He looked and spoke a bit strangely, but no matter, the boy could direct. QT reached deity status with True Romance. Even though he didn't direct the film, he wrote the screenplay and that was more than enough. Again, at an advance screening, I remember being surrounded by friends, telling them how cool this movie would be because this hot shot, QT, was involved as the writer. No sooner than the opening scene in the bar and the first mention of Sonny Chiba, did I realize that this director knew how to push my fanboy buttons. I have a fondness for Sonny Chiba movies because they remind me of going to the movies as a child and seeing martial art triple features at the Deluxe Theater a few blocks from my home! The castration scene in Chiba's "The Killing Machine" has been burned into my brain ever since I saw it in '78. I was 8 years old at the time! I took a pic once with Sonny Chiba at a video release signing of his Streetfighter films where he signed a super rare Killing Machine poster for me, of which he admitted not owning a copy. Chiba has a major role in QT's next film, "Kill Bill". And again, with Clarence "meeting" Alabama in the theater, another fantasy of mine was touched upon. I had as a young teen (pre teen, actually) a dream where I met the girl of my dreams in a movie theater, preferably, a theater showing kung fu flicks, so that scene resonated in my head like a blow from the butt of a gun. Now I'm sharing this info to prove a point, I'm as big a Tarantino fan as they come, have been from day 1. I've been a defender of QT for a long time and would be the last person to have negative thoughts against him. Until now. Tarantino doesn't owe me anything, lets get that straight. So what I've paid to see all of his movies (in theaters!) multiple times. Who cares that I've bought all of his biographies, saw him act on Broadway, fought to get his autograph backstage, twice(!). Stood for hours to take his pic at the Jackie Brown premiere, here in NYC. Overlooked his public indiscretions, worst of which was taking a cheap shot at Chow Yun Fat on the Howard Stern show over how poorly he speaks English. QT emulated Chow, by dressing like the Mark Gor character (sun glasses + trenchcoat!) after he saw A Better Tomorrow and dedicated his Res Dogs script to him and this is the respect he gives him. Sure, Chow doesn't have Patrick Stewart's command of the English language, but what was QT's excuse for mispronouncing Jackie Chan name at the '9? MTV Movie Awards? Tarantino presented Jackie with a Lifetime Achievement Award and during his dedication speech QT kept referring to Jackie Chan as "Jackie CHON" in an embarrassing attempt to sound authentic and hip. No he doesn’t owe me anything, he's been responsible for some great films and I'm lucky to have seen them. He does however have a responsibility to his fans. After years of cultivating an image of being the ultimate fanboy on the planet with the knowledge and opinions to back it up, it's inexcusable that he hasn’t done any commentaries on his own films. He claims that he cant sit through any of his films anymore after having seen them so many times. Shame on him, it's not like he's cranking out one film a year. He's only directed 3 movies in 10 years, for crying out loud. We know he could do it with his eyes closed. If ever there was someone born to do commentaries its him. As a matter of fact, I would love to hear him do commentary on some films he didn’t direct, like "The Taking of Pelham 123", or "Assault on Precinct 13".His commentary on the "From Dusk Till Dawn" DVD which he did with the director, Robert Rodriguez, is one of the best I've ever heard. They leave no stone unturned in describing what motivated them in terms of dialogue, casting ,special FX, shot composition, origins of the project, what happened on the set that day etc... QT could learn a thing or two about doing commentaries. Not only does Rodriguez give the most thorough commentary you’ll ever hear, but he does so with an enthusiasm and joy in the filmmaking process that after viewing one of his director's commentaries, you want top drop everything and make your own movie. Check out the "El Mariachi/Desperado" dual movie DVD to see how commentary should be done. Perhaps Tarantino should have a look at this disc.  I cant begin to express how disappointed I am and utterly outraged that they are releasing in addition to the forth coming Reservoir Dogs DVD, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown without QT's commentary. Fine, Lucas hasn’t released Episodes 4,5,6 on DVD and Raimi hasn’t released Within the Woods but god damn it I want my QT commentaries. Having no other outlet other than my humble website here to vent my anger, I've chosen to show a couple of clips that highlight QT's penchant for "borrowing" shots, ideas, and dialogue from other films. Sure all directors are inspired by other works, but QT seems to pay "homage" to others a bit more than most. That’s not to take away from QT's very unique style of filmmaking and writing, a style that has influenced many around the world. He used the best aspect of a good movie City on Fire, and turned it into a masterpiece uniquely his own. He just didn’t and doesn’t acknowledge his debt to City on Fire and I have a feeling he would prefer no one ever saw the film. I guess he thought there weren't any other Chiba fans out there either....

Both clips are in DivX format, for more info click here links in article (coming soon) 1. Village Voice advance screening 2. Siskel and Ebert gave the film two thumbs down 3. my long time fascination with Sam Raimi 4. Deluxe Theater 5. castration scene in Chiba's " The Killing Machine" 6. pic once with Sonny Chiba 7. signed a super rare Killing Machine poster 8. saw him act on Broadway 9. autograph backstage 10. pic at the Jackie Brown premiere 11. his public indiscretions 12. cheap shot at Chow Yun Fat  13. QT kept referring to Jackie Chan as "Jackie CHON" 14. "From Dusk Till Dawn" DVD 15. "El Mariachi/Desperado"  DVD 16. Reservoir Dogs DVD, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown without QT's commentary 17. Chiba has a major role in QT's next film, "Kill Bill" home page