If you’re a film nerd, one of the most inspiring stories has always been how Quentin Tarantino went from being a video store clerk to perhaps the most respected writer-director of his day. His early years at Video Archives, an L.A.-based specialty store for cinema snobs, are legendary, as are the tales of his close friendship with fellow clerk Roger Avary. He shared an Oscar with Tarantino for Pulp Fiction’s screenplay. Avary directed a few great films of his own, including Killing Zoe and The Rules of Attraction, before a personal tragedy sidelined him for several years. The rumour always was that Tarantino and Avary were estranged, but the two are back together again and launching an all-new podcast.
The news was broken via Pure Cinema, the official podcast of the New Beverly Cinema, which Tarantino owns. The podcast, which Elric Kane and Brian Saur host, is a consistently great listen for film buffs, and Tarantino often shows up for epic conversations. Tarantino was joined by Avary on a recent episode, where the two announced that, sometime this month, they’d be launching their own “Video Archives” podcast. The hook is that Tarantino now owns the store’s entire catalogue, and in each episode, the two will be choosing a selection of films at random to discuss at length. For an idea of what the show will be like, listen to their Pure Cinema episode. Tarantino and Avary have great chemistry together, and as a film nerd, it makes me happy that the two are together again and that their bond seems to be intact all of these years later.
While Tarantino’s always swore that he’s only going to do one more movie, it seems like he’s been keeping busy between this and his epic deep dive into the filmography of his own Rick Dalton. Will you be listening to the Video Archives Podcast?