Quentin Tarantino is one of the most vocal proponents for the preservation of cinema, but that doesn’t mean he digs it all. In fact, there are decades that he has outright slammed as being some of the worst eras in movie history. And judging by his latest comments, we are in one of them.
In a recent episode of his and Roger Avary’s The Video Archives Podcast, in which they discussed the 1983 film Star 80, Quentin Tarantino took time to not only bash the 1980s and 1950s in terms of cinematic output, but also the current era.
“Even though the ‘80s was the time that I probably saw more movies in my life than ever–at least as far as going out to the movies was concerned–I do feel that ‘80s cinema is, along with the ‘50s, the worst era in Hollywood history. Matched only by now, matched only by the current era!” The current era, of course, is host to a wave of superhero movies, which Tarantino has gone on record as saying any “hired hand” could direct.
Still, Tarantino does say that spans with so much garbage do give an edge to “the ones that don’t conform, the ones that stand out from the pack.” Naturally, Quentin Tarantino doesn’t hate every movie that’s out and so a few would fall under the blanket of standing out. For example, he loved both Top Gun: Maverick and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, saying they “provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I’d almost thought that I wasn’t going to see anymore. It was fantastic.” He also enjoyed some recent horror, like Crawl and Doctor Sleep.
As far as Quentin Tarantino’s favorite decades, surely the 1970s is at the top. For his 2012 top 10 (well, top 12) list for Sight & Sound, Tarantino named eight films from the ‘70s.
What do you think about Quentin Tarantino’s assessment of the current era of cinema? Does he have a point or is he coming off as out of touch?
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