11.12.09 QUENTIN TARANTINO MAKES JAPANESE COMMERCIALS, OF COURSE

Quentin Tarantino loves Japanese stuff almost as much as he loves railing eight balls, so it’s no surprise that he got recruited by Softbank for a series of Japanese cell phone commercials.  As always he’s a ball of sweat and nervous energy and a lot of fun to watch — video’s after the jump.

“Inglourious Basterds” is set to open in Japan on Nov. 20, around the time the commercials are expected to begin airing. The quirky “White Family” commercials, which feature a talking-dog father and an older brother character played by American Dante Carter, have been a hugely successful for Softbank, and about 60 have been made so far. Tarantino, a longtime Japanophile, is to appear as “Uncle Tara-chan,” dressed in a black kimono — a new addition to the unconventional family in a country where the nuclear family remains very much the norm.  [THR]

Haha, get it?  It’s funny because the West is frivolous and shameful.  Anyway, I don’t know why no one’s done the obvious thing and cast Tarantino in a coffee commercial.

QUENTIN TARANTINO: Hi.  I’m Quentin Tarantino here for Illy brand espresso beans.  But you know what? They don’t need me to tell you how good their f-cking coffee is. You’re the ones who buy it, you know how f-cking good it is, okay?  When Bonnie goes shopping, she buys sh-t.

BONNIE HUNT: It’s true! I’m such a klutz!

QUENTIN: But when you buy coffee, you wanna f-cking taste it.  And that’s why you come to us.

I love the ending, where every press conference has to end with a giggling schoolgirl holding a stuffed animal.  And just for fun: