Flix and the city

SOME kids love Disneyland, but for little Quentin Tarantino, the happiest place on Earth was always a scabby L.A. movie theater. That's where he could sit in the dark with bloodied samurais, dangerous pimps and zombie brides. His search for the next matinee took him to every freeway and to distant neighborhoods, which is why Tarantino now knows the city like the back of an amputated hand.

Sometimes, it's even hard for the filmmaker to say where the movie screen stops and the real Los Angeles begins.

"I was watching this blaxploitation movie called 'Death Force' at the World Theater, which used to be on Hollywood Boulevard just up from Gower. I'm there watching this movie about these two gangs fighting to take over L.A. They're pulling a 'Scarface,' just killing everyone. Well, two gang members are walking down Hollywood Boulevard and a car pulls up and guns them down right in front of the theater that I'm sitting in! I was like 16, and it remains to this day one of the great moments for me."

The films at the New Beverly Cinema are all from prints in Tarantino's personal film library and, more important, from the reels that grind on in his head and heart. Last week, the director took a break from his labors on his own upcoming film project (that would be "Death Proof," but more on that later) to talk about the festival and also give a quick tour of his Los Angeles -- the one he lives in and the one that lives in his films.

Not the silent type

Tarantino drives a hulking Ford Mustang that's painted yellow and black to match the famous fighting togs of Uma Thurman's character in the "Kill Bill" movies, and the director himself is about as subtle as his ride. While scavenging for a parking spot along Sunset Boulevard, he paid roughly equal attention to the radio and the road.