Israelis have long been used to spotting Quentin Tarantino around Tel Aviv. The Oscar-winning director has become something of an honorary local, and apparently feels comfortable enough here to laugh as loudly as he likes at the movies.
According to complaints recently reported to Channel 13 and highlighted on Israeli television, Tarantino has been heard laughing loudly during screenings, including at moments when nobody else seemed to find anything particularly funny.
Shahar Tehila Mamo told Hatzinor that she encountered him during a morning screening at Planet Ayalon.
"There was someone sitting in front of me who was laughing during scary moments and completely unrelated moments-a rolling laugh with snorts, like SpongeBob SquarePants," she recalled.
Another woman in the theater, she said, almost told him to shut up.
Then the lights came on.
"And we saw that it was Tarantino."
And apparently, it isn't only other people's movies that make him laugh.
Yonatan Amudi said he encountered Tarantino at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque while watching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a movie Tarantino himself wrote and directed. During the movie's famously violent climax, Tarantino was reportedly "just cracking up."
Planet Cinema responded with a smile, saying it was happy to welcome everyone, from horror-movie screamers to people who hide behind their popcorn, and "legendary directors who simply laugh out loud."
After checking, the chain confirmed that Tarantino did indeed laugh, adding that it had yet to decide whether this was a public disturbance or simply "particularly enthusiastic film criticism."
The Tel Aviv Cinematheque was even more diplomatic: "We neither confirm nor deny, especially, especially do not burn valuable friendships for the sake of a television item."
So, the next time you find yourself sitting near Tarantino at the movies, there's really only one question:
"Do you tell him to be quiet-or ask him what he thought of the movie?"