Quentin Tarantino Hates Netflix, Still Tapes Movies with VHS

Director Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to shock and awe on the big screen thanks to flicks like "Django Unchained" and "Kill Bill," but it's some remarks he's made about streaming that are truly jaw-dropping.

In an excerpt from author Tom Roston's upcoming book "I Lost it at The Video Store: A Filmmakers' Oral History of a Vanished Era," Tarantino and other directors discuss services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, and what they mean for the future of movies. While many of Tarantino's peers say they've embraced the new technology as an inevitable part of Hollywood's evolution, Tarantino remains unconvinced.

"I am not excited about streaming at all," Tarantino says in the book. "I like something hard and tangible in my hand. And I can't watch a movie on a laptop. I don't use Netflix at all."

Instead, Tarantino said, he relies on his library of approximately 8,000 VHS tapes and DVDs, and he still tapes movies off of TV using his VCR. But while he's not necessarily alone in disliking streaming services -- in the same excerpt, David O. Russell calls Netflix "a bunch of dreck" -- he does seem to be clinging to the past more than any other filmmaker interviewed.

In fact, Darren Aronofsky said he's specifically thinking of streaming now when he's making movies, going so far as to commission separate sound mixes of flicks like "Noah" so that they can play properly on devices like smartphones and tablets.

"... [T]here's a real audience there, and you have to be conscious of it," Aronofsky said.

"That's the most depressing thing I've ever heard in my life," Tarantino replied.

It didn't make it into the excerpt, but Tarantino reportedly then sat on his front porch and shook his fist at the local young whippersnappers while shouting at them to get off of his lawn. Afterward, he set his VCR to record a rerun of "NCIS" and went to bed at 6 p.m. Or so we imagine.

[via: Indiewire]

Photo credit: Getty Images for SiriusXM



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The 9 Best Emergency Room TV Shows, Ranked

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In real life, the emergency room may be a place where you wait and wait and wait for treatment until your arm falls off, but on TV, it's the most exciting place there is. Every week, life-and-death drama plays out there, and every second counts. The stakes couldn't be higher, or the drama more intense.

And yet, for all the dozens of medical shows that have aired, only a few actually center on the emergency room or emergency doctors and paramedics. There'll be a couple more this fall: "Code Black," on CBS, and "Chicago Med," joining "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago PD" on NBC. Here are some all-time great ER shows for you, stat.


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'Who's the Boss?' Star Danny Pintauro Reveals He's HIV-Positive

A former child star has revealed some shocking health news in an effort to raise awareness for others.

Danny Pintauro, who starred on '80s sitcom "Who's the Boss?," appeared on an episode of "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" this weekend and announced that he's HIV-positive. Pintauro, who's now 39, told Oprah that he contracted the virus in February 2003 during a period in his life when he was experimenting heavily with drugs -- specifically crystal meth -- and sex.

Pintauro explained that he first decided to try crystal meth after the end of a two-year relationship, in an effort to lower his inhibitions with new sexual partners. Such drug use is common in the gay community, the actor said, and while it's a widespread practice, it's also dangerous, as Pintauro soon discovered.

" ... [Y]ou can do everything you think you need to do to take care of yourself, but because of what meth does to your brain and to your body, no matter how hard you try, you're still opening yourself up to those possibilities -- whatever STI you can think of, it's so much more prevalent that you're going to pick that up," he told Oprah.

After receiving his diagnosis, Pintauro said he felt worthless, thinking to himself, "No one is ever going to love me now. ... I should just give up on trying to find someone." But eventually, the actor said, he came to terms with his diagnosis; he's now happily married to Wil Tabares, who he wed in 2014. He's also revealed his status to his former "Boss" costars Tony Danza and Judith Light, who he said were "really supportive."

But Pintauro said the main reason he was speaking out now about his diagnosis is because he wants to not only de-stigmatize HIV, but also help others in the gay community prevent contracting the virus in the same way that he did.

"The idea of being gay, coming out as gay and having a meth problem is not that far-fetched of a concept. And that's a problem," Pintauro told Oprah. " ... If you're paying any bit of attention, you realize that HIV isn't a death sentence anymore. That's one of the 'beacon of light' aspects of this whole situation that I want to take on. You can live a healthy life, you can have a happy life. ... For me, HIV is the new closet in the sense that, until we all come out of the HIV closet and start talking about it ... we [won't become] more accepted."

For more from Pintauro, check out a clip from his interview below, and read more of his remarks over at People.

[via: People]

Photo credit: Getty Images



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Kaley Cuoco and Ryan Sweeting Are Divorcing After 21 Months

5 Reasons for the Huge Box Office Success of 'Hotel Transylvania 2'

Has the box office gone batty?

"Hotel Transylvania 2" was widely expected to top this weekend's chart, but pundits predicted an opening near $35 million, lower than the $42.5 million debut of the first film. After all, it was a sequel to a moderately popular cartoon that opened a full three years ago, an eon in kiddie-audience terms. Plus, it stars Adam Sandler, who's been in a slump of late. And it was opening against some other high-profile wide releases and expansions -- all during a typically slow September, when sales are down across the board.

Instead, studio estimates say the vampire comedy took a $47.5 million bite out of the box office. Why was "Transylvania"'s monster success such a shocker? Here are a few possible reasons.

1. Good Timing
There hasn't been a mainstream kiddie cartoon for three months, since "Minions." That's a long time, and even with kids back in school, it's understandable that weekend viewers would still rush to see this one. The per-screen average tells the story. Anything over about $7,000 indicates a high degree of anticipation and strong buzz among moviegoers. "Transylvania" grossed a healthy $12,653 per venue.

Plus, it opened at a time when kids are starting to think about Halloween (it's no coincidence that the original "Hotel Transylvania" was released on the same weekend three years ago), but also early enough so that it won't run into competition from October's "Goosebumps" movie.

2. High Theater Count

When in doubt, saturate the marketplace. The new "Transylvania" opened on 404 more screens than the original, for a total theater count of 3,754. With demand as high as the per-screen average suggests, even that many theaters wasn't enough to dilute it.

3. Adam Sandler's Not Quite Finished

At least not among children. Though his "Pixels" fizzled this summer, his man-child act still plays well among prepubescents. At least it does when they can't see his face.

4. The Doldrums Are Over
As the supply-side economists used to say, a rising tide really does lift all boats. The sluggish sales season of the past six weekends at the box office is apparently over, with this week's total ticket sales up a full 20 percent from last week. Whatever kept people away from the multiplex in recent weeks -- most likely, sub-par movies -- the drought has now lifted.

Not only did "Transylvania" sell well, but "The Intern" opened at the upper end of expectations as well, earning an estimated $18.2 million to debut in second place. After opening last week on just 545 IMAX and large-format 3D screens, "Everest" expanded well on an additional 2,461 screens, for an estimated take of $13.1 million, good for fourth place.

Even "The Green Inferno" did well, despite a near non-existent TV campaign and a release in just 1,540 theaters. The low-budget cannibal horror film from director Eli Roth and low-budget horror king Jason Blum made a point of targeting theaters where horror films have traditionally done well, and the result was a solid ninth-place debut estimated at $3.5 million (about $2.5 million more than Blum paid to acquire the movie).

And "Sicario," Emily Blunt's art-house thriller, also cracked the top 10 after expanding from just six screens to 59. Last week, the film debuted with a per-theater average of $65,000, higher than any other movie this year. This week, it earned a still-massive $30,000 per screen, for an estimated total of $1.8 million. That sum, along with the movie's 10th-place finish, are great results for a movie playing on fewer than 60 screens.

What this all adds up to is that there is actually, finally, something for nearly everybody at the multiplex, at least this weekend. Which brings us to...

5. Expert Predictions Still Off the Mark

This column has been noting for months that professional box office trackers, both at the studios and in the media, have been lowballing estimates for movies that turned out to be hits. Even the trade press has taken notice of how often trackers are missing the boat, particularly on movies like "Pitch Perfect 2," "Straight Outta Compton" and "War Room" that appeal to underserved audiences. Usually, that means ticket buyers who are not teenage boys or young men under 25. It especially refers to black audiences, Hispanic audiences, and women -- groups Hollywood usually doesn't know how to target and seldom even tries to reach.

Didn't think kids also counted as underserved audiences whose pent-up demand trackers were overlooking, but "Transylvania"'s success suggests otherwise.

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Weekend Box Office: 'Hotel Transylvania 2' Breaks September Record

LOS ANGELES (AP) - September has a new box office star.

The PG-rated animated pic "Hotel Transylvania 2" has earned a robust $47.5 million in its debut weekend, making it the top September opener of all time.

The previous record holder was "Hotel Transylvania" which opened to $42.5 million in 2012.

The film features the voices of Adam Sandler, Mel Brooks, and Selena Gomez and is the only animated feature on the market until "Peanuts" opens in November.

"The Intern," a PG-13 rated workplace comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, took a distant second with $18.2 million. Audiences for the Nancy Meyers film were 62 percent women and 88 percent over the age of 25.

"Everest," meanwhile, took fourth place with only $13.1 million after expanding nationwide.


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17 Times You and Tina Belcher From 'Bob's Burgers' Were the Same Person

As much as we love "Bob's Burgers," we can all agree that the show would be nothing without Tina Belcher and all the groans that come out of her. While the rest of the characters give us a chuckle, Tina makes us cry-laugh and always say "Same, Tina. Same."

Here are the 17 times you could totally identify with the awkward -- but charming -- Tina Belcher.

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