Claim: Quentin Tarantino's screenplay for My Best Friend's Birthday formed the basis for the film True Romance.

Quentin Jerome Tarantino -LRB- -LSB- ˌtærənˈtiːnoʊ -RSB- born March 27 , 1963 -RRB- is an American director , writer , and actor . His films are characterized by nonlinear storylines , satirical subject matter , an aestheticization of violence , extended scenes of dialogue , ensemble casts consisting of established and lesser-known performers , references to popular culture , soundtracks primarily containing songs and score pieces from the 1960s to the 1980s , and features of neo-noir film . He is widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation .   His career began in the late 1980s , when he wrote and directed My Best Friend 's Birthday , the screenplay of which formed the basis for True Romance . In the early 1990s , he began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of Reservoir Dogs in 1992 ; regarded as a classic and cult hit , it was called the `` Greatest Independent Film of All Time '' by Empire . Its popularity was boosted by his second film , Pulp Fiction -LRB- 1994 -RRB- , a black comedy crime film that was a major success both among critics and audiences . Judged the greatest film from 1983 -- 2008 by Entertainment Weekly , many critics and scholars have named it one of the most significant works of modern cinema . For his next effort , Tarantino paid homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s with Jackie Brown -LRB- 1997 -RRB- , an adaptation of the novel Rum Punch .   Kill Bill , a highly stylized `` revenge flick '' in the cinematic traditions of Kung fu films , Japanese martial arts , Spaghetti Westerns and Italian horror , followed six years later , and was released as two films : Volume 1 in 2003 and Volume 2 in 2004 . Tarantino directed Death Proof -LRB- 2007 -RRB- as part of a double feature with friend Robert Rodriguez , under the collective title Grindhouse . His long-postponed Inglourious Basterds , which tells the fictional alternate history story of two plots to assassinate Nazi Germany 's political leadership , was released in 2009 to positive reviews . After that came 2012 's critically acclaimed Django Unchained , a Western film set in the antebellum era of the Deep South . It became the highest-grossing film of his career so far , making over $ 425 million at the box office . His eighth film , the mystery Western The Hateful Eight , was released in its roadshow version December 25 , 2015 , in 70 mm film format , complete with opening `` overture '' and halfway-point intermission , after the fashion of big-budget films of the 1960s and early 1970s .   Tarantino 's films have garnered both critical and commercial success . He has received many industry awards , including two Academy Awards , two Golden Globe Awards , two BAFTA Awards and the Palme d'Or , and has been nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy . He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time in 2005 . Filmmaker and historian Peter Bogdanovich has called him `` the single most influential director of his generation '' . In December 2015 , Tarantino received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry .