Quentin Tarantino is once again lighting a match under modern Hollywood.
Modern Movie Industry
In a blistering new op‑ed for Sight and Sound, the Pulp Fiction director declared that the movie industry has become a “flavourless sausage factory.” He said he can barely find a single recent film that doesn’t fall apart under scrutiny.
Tarantino, 63, wrote that something shifted for him after the COVID-19 pandemic, and not in a good way.
He said, “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*** usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavorless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood.”
He added that the very idea of what counts as a “movie” today leaves him cold.
Tarantino said, “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.”
Movie Standouts
While he admits there have been a handful of titles he’s enjoyed, Tarantino says none have transported him the way cinema once did.
He said, “I’ve seen movies I’ve liked since then – West Side Story (2021); Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 and 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. These days I’d rather read a book.”
But one film did manage to break through his cynicism. Joe Carnahan’s action thriller The Rip, starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Tarantino praised it as a rare standout.
He said, “The film is an exciting cop thriller with a novel premise that manages to deliver the goods in really clever ways. The whole package worked for me… but the real powerhouse component of this splendid collection is the sensational screenplay by Carnahan and Michael McGrale.”
Always a Critic
The legendary filmmaker has always been an outspoken critic.
Last year, he stirred controversy by calling Paul Dano the “weak sister” of There Will Be Blood. Tarantino argued the film would have been stronger with a different actor.
He told The Bret Easton Ellis podcast, “He is weak sauce, man. He’s a weak sister.”
Tarantino even suggested his own Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star, Austin Butler. Butler was 16 when the film came out, and to Tarantino, he would have been better suited.
He said, “Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. [Dano] just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy.”