Tarantino: Testing His Tastes

On the Pulp Fiction DVD (Collector's Edition), one of the special features is a deleted scene in which Mia conducts a Barbara Walters-style interview of Vincent -- camcorder in tow -- before their date. The line of questioning centers on his preference for certain pop-culture staples: The Partridge Family or The Brady Bunch? Betty or Veronica? Her goal: To get him ''to reveal things you normally wouldn't.'' Just like we do here with Tarantino himself. (Thanks for the insider tip, Mia!)

[X] Star Trek OR [ ] Star Wars

[ ] Larry David OR [X] Jerry Seinfeld

[X] Pizza OR [ ] Doughnuts

[X] Strip Club OR [ ] Massage Parlor

[ ] Bugs OR [X] Daffy

[X] Suspicion OR [ ] Notorious

[ ] Gun OR [X] Sword

[X] The Great Escape OR [ ] The Getaway

[X] Electric Chair OR [ ] Hanging

5.5 Killer Movie Moments

Tarantino's off-the-top-of-his-head best-of list: bullets, baseball bats, a bitchin' score, and the bodaciously batty

1 The last shoot-out in Michael Cimino's Year of the Dragon ''You forget to breathe during it!''

2 Joe Don Baker in the bar with the baseball bat in the original Walking Tall.

3 ''All the early stuff by William Witney [On the Old Spanish Trail; Adventures of Red Ryder], who, for all intents and purposes, created the modernized, choreographed Western fight scene we see today. He came up with the cinematic language by watching Busby Berkeley musicals.''

4 Sonny Corleone getting it in The Godfather.

5 Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper singing ''In Dreams'' in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. ''You're like, Is this even happening? Am I watching this?''

5.5 ''There's a Japanese movie, All About Lily Chou-Chou, by a really terrific director, Shunji Iwai. He has my career in Japan -- he did a movie called Swallowtail Butterfly that was to Japan what Pulp Fiction was to America. The Lily Chou-Chou soundtrack is really cool to make out to.''

''I love the Bride, all right?'' says Tarantino of Thurman's character. ''I killed myself to put her in a good place.''

Originally posted Apr 16, 2004 Published in issue #760 Apr 16, 2004 Order article reprints
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