Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is never shy about expressing his opinions, and he’s been at it again. In an interview with Sight and Sound (via World of Reel and reported on the ever-reliable Dark Horizons), he has opined on the state of modern cinema, and his mood is sour.
Whatever you think of Tarantino, he’s a huge movie fan with a deep and abiding love of cinema, and he seems to be saying that this love is fading when he thinks about movies at the moment, with modern films inspiring “contempt” in him:
“I loved going to the movies. These days, however, the 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 1980s seem like the 1930s.
[There’s] been nothing that really held me in its grip, and swept me away fo to the magical land of enjoyment that I used to visit and was the reason why I loved movies above all art forms. These days I’d rather read a book.”
Tarantino had previously named Spielberg’s West Side Story, Nolan’s Dunkirk, and Mad Max: Fury Road as a short list of movies he’s really enjoyed lately. He also added Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga to the list.
Now, there is a surprising new addition to this exclusive club. A movie he says did “grab me and held me for its entire duration” – Joe Carnahan’s The RIP, a Netflix presentation with 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. 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. It’s been such a while since I saw a truly satisfying cop flick that I practically forgot what it felt like. “The RIP” doesn’t just invoke that type of film fondly; it’s one of the finest examples.”
Well… who saw that coming?
