Anyone who calls Tarantino a thief has no real idea how art works. With the smallest handful of exceptions, all artists are "thieves". But more to the point, art builds on art, art influences art and its a spinning wheel. Besides, the objects of his "theft" are such direct homages, it's kind of stupid to call him a thief. Hacks are guys who are push button filmmakers, who make mass product for audiences in my estimation. Off the top of my head, my hack list:- Edward Zwick-John Singleton-Ed Burns-Paul Haggis-Uwe Boll-M. Night-Brett RatnerWhat I notice about all these guys is, they have one movie, often early in their career, that was ok, to good, and somewhat surprisingly well received and they were able to spin a career out of it. Personality and self-salesmanship matter more than skills as a director you could argue, and I would guess in their own way, all of the above are adept at that. Tarantio is also probably great, but he is supported by multiple projects on the good to great level. He's got his clunkers but he hits more than he misses. Of the above guys I listed, the only good movies I could pick out are:-Glory(Zwick)-Shamalyan(Unbreakable, Sixth Sense)Ratner( Rush Hour)