Quentin Tarantino is back on his BS. He’s truly one of the industry’s best talkers, in that the man cannot shut up whatsoever. QT appeared on Bret Easton Ellis’s podcast this week, and he ended up naming his “top twenty films of the 21st century.” What surprised me most of all is the lack of recency bias – many of Tarantino’s top films of the past 25 years came in the first seven years of the millennia. Tarantino obviously described why he placed all of these films on his list, and his reasoning for There Will Be Blood has already caused a lot of controversy. First, here’s his list:
1. Black Hawk Down
2. Toy Story 3
3. Lost In Translation
4. Dunkirk
5. There Will Be Blood
6. Zodiac
7. Unstoppable
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. Shaun of the Dead
10. Midnight in Paris
11. Battle Royale
12. Big Bad Wolves
13. Jackass: The Movie
14. School Of Rock
15. The Passion Of The Christ
16. The Devil’s Rejects
17. Chocolate
18. Moneyball
19. Cabin Fever
20. West Side Story
I listened to a podcast where Tarantino described watching Dunkirk in England, with an all-British audience, and how that experience made him love the film. I’m surprised to see certain films on here, considering the directors made better films in the past 25 years. Like, West Side Story?? Yes, it’s Spielberg making the big Hollywood musical of his dreams, but for my money, The Fabelmans is a much better film overall? Same with There Will Be Blood – it’s Paul Thomas Anderson expanding his artistry as a director, but PTA’s collaboration with Daniel Day Lewis on Phantom Thread is the far superior film. I feel like Tarantino put certain films on his list to be trollish – The Passion of the Christ, is he for real? In any case, this is what he said about There Will Be Blood which has caused a lot of outrage:
“Daniel Day-Lewis. The old-style craftsmanship quality to the film. It had an old Hollywood craftsmanship without trying to be like that. It was the only film he’s ever done, and I brought it up to him, that doesn’t have a set piece. The fire is the closest to a set piece. This was about dealing with the narrative, dealing with the story, and he did it fcking amazingly. ‘There Will Be Blood’ would stand a good chance at being #1 or #2 if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano. Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest fcking actor in SAG [laughs].”
I haven’t watched There Will Be Blood in years, but what I remember is that I was surprised by Paul Dano performing like he didn’t give a f–k that he was opposite DDL. It was a very gonzo performance for both men, and of course DDL can act anyone under the table. But Dano held his own and Tarantino is incredibly rude here. Dano is, imo, a very underrated actor. (But I still think Phantom Thread is the far superior PTA-DDL film.)
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Quentin Tarantino poses in the press room of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes, at Hotel Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, USA, on 05 January 2020. | usage worldwide,Image: 562859032, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK and US ONLY – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Hubert Boesl / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- 77th Annual Golden Globes 2019 – Press Room held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Featuring: Quentin Tarantino Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 06 Jan 2020 Credit: Adriana M. Barraza/WENN,Image: 562866666, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA and SPAIN DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Adriana M. Barraza / Wenn / Avalon
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- 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars 2020) – Arrivals held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Featuring: Quentin Tarantino Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 09 Feb 2020 **ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SPAIN & USA**,Image: 563483447, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA and SPAIN DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: WENN / Wenn / Avalon
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- Quentin Tarantino and Honorary Award recipient Samuel L. Jackson at The 2022 Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom on Friday, March 25, 2022 at Ovation Hollywood, CA.,Image: 673254773, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: ©A.M.P.A.S. All rights reserved., Model Release: no, Credit line: sb / Avalon
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- Quentin Tarantino and Daniella Pick photographed during the Red Carpet for the Closing Ceremony for the 76th Cannes International Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France on 27 May 2023.,Image: 779737693, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
I only agree with Shaun of the Dead. I liked Dunkirk. The rest? Meh.
I don’t think I will ever forgive my mom for making me go see Passion of the Christ in the theater. I was only 19, so still very susceptible to doing what mommy said.
Of course there are no films on his list with a predominant cast of POC. I remember him criticizing Ava Duverney’s MLK film and had to admit he didn’t see it.
Phantom Thread and The Age of Innocence are my favorite Danial Day Lewis movies.
It is bonkers to me to go that hard against an actor who, even if you felt couldn’t hold their own against next-level legend DDL, gave a well-reviewed performance. Like … did Paul Dano cut him off in traffic? Does he have a podcast that talks women out of getting pedicures? Lol that just seemed like such personal, over the top grudge.
Paul Dano is one of the FINEST character actors I have EVA seen & Quentin has ALWAYS been a petty messy bitch & that unattractive part of him comes out more & more as his trifling Weinstein enabling ass gets older😡
Dano literally carried the BBC adaptation of War and Peace. I can’t remember anything from this show apart from Dano as Peter.
Paul Dano was fantastic in that film. Idk what he’s talking about and it’s weird to call out one specific actor for both a performance and film that are widely highly regarded.
Bold coming from the guy who makes the same movie over and over again. Also, why does he feel the need to hype Austin Butler up like that when this is one of the most boring actors around at the moment ?
Apparently QT’s been on this one sided beef for a while: he bitched about Dano in the past, too, starting about five or so years ago.
IMO Dano’s a good actor, and underrated generally.
QT cementing his utter irrelevance with this embarrassment of a list and bringing up the old sauce Hunger Games/Battle Royale thing after all these years. Does he make the occasional enjoyable movie? Yes. Do his thoughts on literally anything else matter? lol no.
QT list is as terrible as his take. Dano is a great actor. Butler is terrible.