Ever since Quentin Tarantino blew the doors off an unsupecting Sundance Film Festival with the release of Reservoir Dogs, he's been a consistent January fixture on the Park City scene since that fabled winter of `92. Heck, after 16 years, he's practically a local by now. So imagine QT's surprise when he strolled out of local Starbucks with his mocha choca latté ya ya and encountered a pesky paparazzo standing there in the parking lot. The good news? QT looks like he's dropped some LBs since we last saw him (at the presser for Golden Globe nominations). The bad news? He got a little slap happy with the lensman.

Here's what we find intriguing about this video. After noticing that someone was videotaping him in the parking lot of the Starbucks, Quentin went on a slapping and (attempted) kicking rampage. However, after tempers cooled, the two engaged in a very un-QT like conversation (meaning, no N-bombs were dropped and no early `70s car chase films were referenced). From the clip, it appears that Mr. Brown initially mistook the largely non-verbal `razzo for a local on the lookout for some celebrity footage, which makes the whole slapping thing seem that much more insidious. After all, it's one thing to take a crack at a professional pap for getting up in your mug (just ask Sean Penn), but it's another thing entirely to jump on someone that you think is either a local or some sort of tourist. Come on, QT; we think it's high time to dial it down a notch.