Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino at a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, in Los Angeles. A week later the director made a surprise appearance in Portland at a screening of his latest film. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

(Invision/AP)

When legendary film director Quentin Tarantino mounted the stage at the Hollywood Theatre following the 6 p.m. screening of his latest film, "The Hateful Eight" on Tuesday night, it wasn't a total shock to some members of the audience.

No one in the crowd knew what was in store when the movie started, but during the intermission of three-plus-hour film, a palpable buzz swept through the building. "I was in line for beer and popcorn," recalled Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, "when I heard someone say 'Yes, it's me. Yes, I'm him.' I turned around and was truly star-struck."

According to Dan Halsted, the Hollywood's head programmer, "the original plan was to sneak him in the back. When he arrived, his assistant called to tell me they were out front, and then he just decided to walk right in the front door." It was as if he were just another film buff eager to take in the spectacle of the first feature film shot in the Ultra Panavision 70mm format in nearly 50 years.

And, like a fan, Tarantino grabbed a seat in the rear of the Hollywood's 400-seat main auditorium and watched the second half of "The Hateful Eight" along with everybody else. "He loved the presentation," Halsted said. "We have, I think, the biggest screen in the country [about 55 feet wide and 20 feet tall] showing this film on 70mm, and he was very complimentary toward our projectionists."

After the film, Halsted introduced Tarantino, who hopped on the stage to cheers and conducted a lively, genuine question-and-answer session that went on for a half-hour. He was engaged with the crowd and seemed energized by their fervor. One of the most enthusiastic audience members was recent Portland transplant Patterson Hood, of the Drive-By Truckers, who was seated front-row center for his second viewing of "The Hateful Eight."

"This is my 'Star Wars'," the musician said later. When Tarantino came onstage, "It made for a great moment. I go to a lot of cool stuff, and we all have a tendency to get jaded," said Hood. "But something like this kind of makes you feel like a teenager again."

Halsted, a dynamo of the Portland movie world, had mentioned to me, off the record, a few weeks back, that there were rumors Tarantino might show up at some of the theaters playing "The Hateful Eight" in 70mm. But he only learned about three hours before show time that the director was headed up from Los Angeles to do his first such surprise appearance on Tuesday in Portland. (I had already planned to attend that night's showing, but I should have suspected something was up when Halsted e-mailed to confirm that I would be there.)

Quentin Tarantino made a surprise appearance at Portland's Hollywood Theatre for a screening of his film "The Hateful Eight" on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. (Marc Mohan for The Oregonian/OregonLive

It's not surprising Tarantino chose the Hollywood -- the theater was ahead of the curve on the 70mm revival, having installed the capability to project the large-framed film format earlier this year and having shown the classics "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Vertigo" and "The Wild Bunch" to sold-out houses over the course of 2015. Also, Halsted and Tarantino share a love of classic kung-fu films, and have swapped prints from their respective collections in the past. During the post-film Q&A, Tarantino thanked Halsted for loaning him a copy of 1982's "Five Element Ninjas" that he showed to the cast during the filming of "The Hateful Eight."

After introducing the 10:30 p.m. screening, Tarantino and Halsted headed to a bar across the street to talk movies. There they ran into Funk, Hood and a few other lucky fans. "I was a bit nervous," said Funk. "I just hung out by the jukebox and tried not to play songs from the 'Pulp Fiction' soundtrack. Amazing guy, great movie."

Then the two-time Oscar winner had to head to the airport for a flight to Austin, where he surprised another audience Wednesday night.

The Hollywood will continue to screen the 70mm roadshow version of "The Hateful Eight" at least through Thursday, Jan. 7.

-- Marc Mohan for The Oregonian/OregonLive