Why Quentin Tarantino’s Recent List of Films is Mid at Best.

Tarantino. Legendary. Universally lauded. He’s given us quite a few film classics. 

And yet his latest opinions on cinema, specifically Paul Dano’s acting; and his incredibly odd list of the top films since 2000 warrant my stark criticism. 

Black Hawk Down is an American war film. And historically, those do not inspire me much. 

Things like Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, Zero Dark Thirty, Dunkirk, American Sniper, and more just don’t do much for me in terms of inspiration. I’m not saying they’re not good films, I just don’t feel much from watching them. 

Same is true for 2000s Black Hawk Down, which I enjoyed as a 12 year old, but now would probably understand the film’s geo political position and not enjoy much of the hyper realistic action like I did when I was a raging young man. Ewan McGregor and Josh Hartnett running around shooting Somalians with M4s? I’m good. 

So I’m not really sure where his perspective on the best of cinema is coming from other than his own twisted mind filled with feet and neverending racial slurs. 

The ONLY films on his list I’d recommend to anyone are There Will Be Blood and School of Rock every other film is novel and doesn’t quite strike the human spirit like those I just mentioned. He really thinks movies such as as Toy Story 3, Dunkirk, and Lost in Translation are some of the best films of the 2000s? What standard are we even examining here?

A better list for post 2000s cinema would be things such as Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Departed, The Aviator, RIZE, The Dark Knight, Caddo Lake, Prisoners, A History of Violence, Bridesmaids, Vanilla Sky, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Unbreakable, Dodgeball, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums, Punch Drunk Love, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, and we can just end the list there because yeah mine is hands down way better.

Now let’s break down his apparent disdain for Paul Dano; an actor who’s practically crushed every role in his own unique way since 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine. Is he everyone’s cup of tea? No I don’t think anyone has him in their top list of character actors yet I doubt ANYONE would realistically discount his talent and skill when bringing characters to light. 

These recent opinions from Quentin just baffle me, and so I had to chime in with my own perspective. Can he just make a 10th film and worry less about how good other art is?