Quentin Tarantino has been candid about how he views Hollywood today, while also singling out one recent release he genuinely enjoyed.
The filmmaker has never been one to soften his opinions, and he tends to speak plainly about what he thinks is and isn’t working on screen.
After decades in the business and a run of celebrated titles including Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino’s take on the industry still carries weight with audiences and fellow creatives alike.
But according to comments he made in an article for Sight & Sound magazine, later reported by Variety, he’s largely unimpressed with what the modern studio system is producing, saying it’s ‘it’s almost impossible’ for him to watch newer movies without wanting to tear into them ‘to death.’
Still, he did point to one film that rose above the pack for him.
The Rip, a Netflix crime drama starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, arrived earlier this year. While it holds a 77 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, it also earned an enthusiastic nod from Tarantino.
The story follows two Miami-Dade Police Department officers who uncover corruption within their own department. The cast also includes Steven Yeun and Kyle Chandler.
“A suspenseful new movie has come out that did grab me and held me for its entire duration,” Tarantino said of the project, adding: “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: [Joe] 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.”
While he praised the movie’s execution and the way it sustains tension, his broader assessment of current mainstream releases was far less forgiving.
He wrote of modern films: “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.”
The director scathed: “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.”
“I’ve seen movies I 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 use to visit regularly and was the reason I loved movies above all other artforms. These days I’d rather read a book,” he went on to say.
That’s a brutal verdict on the current landscape, but it’s a clear win for The Rip.