2020s films are full of ‘flaws, implausibilities, miscast performers’

In the past year, two of the best films I’ve watched were international, subtitled films – Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent. Both films were exciting to me in different ways, but both had a similar vibe of “there are no rules.” You know what I mean? They didn’t feel formulaic or like a studio head was peering over the director’s shoulder, saying “you can’t do that!” Well, Quentin Tarantino finds post-pandemic films rather boring and terrible. I was going to dismiss this as “Tarantino being Tarantino,” but I actually think he has a point? True to form, he makes one good point and then swiftly ruins it though.

Quentin Tarantino is sharing his opinion on the new films coming out as of late, slamming them for the “just plain stupid s–t [that] usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavorless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood.” The Pulp Fiction director penned a new op-ed for Sight and Sound magazine, where he explained that since the pandemic, he can’t seem to find a new movie that he doesn’t “pick to death.”

“Since the pandemic, for me anyway, it seems almost impossible for a new movie to come out that I don’t pick to death. Flaws, implausibilities, audience pandering, miscast performers or just plain stupid s–t usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavorless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood,” he wrote. “These days, the entire concept of what is a movie is more inclined to inspire contempt in me than generosity. Which is fair enough, because by comparison the movies of the last six years make the 80s seem like the 30s.”

Tarantino cited a few films that he’s seen since the pandemic that he’s “liked,” still noting that none have really caught his eye — except for one.

“I’ve seen movies I’ve liked since then — West Side Story (2021); Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1 & 2 (both 2024), a few others, but nothing that really held me in its grip and swept me away to the magical land of enjoyment that I used to visit and was the reason why I loved movies above all artforms,” Tarantino said. “These days I’d rather read a book.”

The “suspenseful new movie” that self-admittedly grabbed the Oscar winner “and held me for its entire duration” was Joe Carnahan’s The Rip for Netflix, which stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

“The film is an exciting cop thriller with a novel premise that manages to deliver the goods in really clever ways,” Tarantino wrote of The Rip. “The whole package worked for me: Carnahan’s direction, the splendid cast, the look of the film (courtesy of cinematographer Juan Miguel Azpiroz) — but the real powerhouse component of this splendid collection is the sensational screenplay by Carnahan and Michael McGrale.”

[From THR]

The Rip was an okay action film but I wouldn’t put it on my list of “best post-pandemic films” or anything. The examples cited by Tarantino make no sense in general – West Side Story??? I couldn’t even get through that because guess what? Ansel Elgort was miscast. It’s also weird to me that Tarantino apparently doesn’t rate Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies, which are absolutely remarkable achievements and perfectly cast. I would also think that Tarantino would appreciate what Yorgos Lanthimos has been doing in the past three years. Basically… Tarantino ruined his own argument with the films he cited as the exceptions to the “flavorless sausage factory.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.