To keep productions costs down, he will cast Tera Patrick at SAG scale instead of paying someone like Lucy Liu a million plus that she will probably command.
Good observation. Although I think his movies do suffer without a strong cast. Pulp Fiction wouldn't be Pulp Fiction without Uma, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson. Deathproof was just awful, because the only actress that could really pull it off was Sydney Poitier (granddaughter of the original), who played Jungle Julia.
When he started (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction), his movies were practically a genre by themselves. Now he's just making B-movies (Death Proof). Go figure.
I think Pulp Fiction will really be his legacy - the others not so much. I think these grindhouse movies are just his current phase - Kill Bill 1 & 2 were his martial arts/Kurasawa phase.
The only thing Deathproof did was cement his status as one of the most overrated directors of the past 15 years. Unless the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, I probably won't even see this new one until the dvd comes out.
In a way Tarantino's career reminds me of David Lynch. Both started out strong, but while Lynch has descended into total pyschological opacity....while Tarantino has descended into cheesiness.