While you’re making use of the latest in technology to have the newest movies beamed directly into your device in the highest possible resoultion available, Quentin Tarantino is kneeling at his tape machine meticulously adjusting the tracking on the VHS copy he made of Rolling Thunder off a 3 AM broadcast on TCM.
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The “Pulp Fiction” director said in the excerpt, which was published by Indie Wire, that he has his own library of films.
As a man who has built his career on paying homage to neglected movies of the past, it should come as no surprise that director Quentin Tarantino has some decidedly old-fashioned views about how to watch films today. “I like something hard and tangible in my hand”, Tarantino told author Tom Roston.
“I don’t have any sort of delivery system”, he said. To that end, when rental store Video Archives went out of business, Tarantino bought their entire inventory (“close to eight thousand tapes and DVDs”) just so he could preserve the collection.
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As if that wasn’t retro enough, Tarantino added that he “still tape[s] movies off of television on video so [he] can keep [his] collection going”. While there’s obviously no single answer – the physical act of watching movies has drastically changed and will continue to evolve – the takeaway here seems like it’s a couple of old dogs begrudgingly trying to learn new tricks, while the slightly younger generation realizes VOD and streaming is where its bread is buttered. It’s fantastic – and you can watch it on Netflix. The oral history also includes first-hand accounts from Kevin Smith David O. Russell, J.C. Chandor, Alex Ross Perry, Doug Liman, Joe Swanberg and Darren Aronofsky. That’s exciting. The access is getting better.
