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Quentin Tarantino’s favourite 21st century movies

Mon 4 November 2024 16:15, UK

Picture it: A young Quentin Tarantino, stacking shelves at his local VHS store, looking at movies, taking different titles home, scrutinising every shot, every word, and growing an encyclopaedic knowledge of how films work and what makes them enticing in the process. When he eventually started making his own, if knowledge truly is power, then it can hardly be considered surprising that Tarantino has progressed to create masterpieces.

When you settle down to watch a film by Tarantino, there is a great deal of excitement present in the genuine unpredictability. It seems that all of those movies he’s watched, regardless of genre, tone and intent, have made it so that he can adapt his writing and directing style to deliver a barrage of stories.

His success hasn’t stopped him from engaging with cinema, either. Tarantino is still constantly watching new films getting released and doesn’t subscribe to the outdated theory that older is better. Yes, there are a lot of classic movies that he pays homage to, but he also stands by the fact that many of the new films that have hit cinemas in the past 20 years are also deserving of their flowers.

He confessed he was surprised by titles such as Top Gun: Maverick and the recent reproduction of West Side Story, as they invoked the feel of old cinema in a way that Tarantino didn’t think modern movies would be able to. He praised their ambition, saying, “Both provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I’d almost thought that I wasn’t going to see anymore.”

He also said The Social Network was one of the greatest modern movies ever made. “The Social Network hands down,” he said when asked to choose his favourite movie of the decade, “It is number one because it’s the best, that’s all! It crushes all the competition.”

Not to mention, if you think that Tarantino is a non-stop violence enthusiast, some of the other modern movies he loves are feel-good family films; in fact, he went on record saying that Toy Story 3 was one of the best movies of the 21st century. He loves how that movie put a bow on the franchise so much that he refuses to watch the 4th movie.

“In the case of Toy Story, the third one is just magnificent; it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. And if you’ve seen the other two then it’s just devastating,” he said, “But the thing is, three years later or something, they did a fourth, and I have no desire to see it […] You literally ended the story as perfect as you could. So, no, I don’t care if it’s good. I’m done. I am done. It can still be good, but I’m done.”

Quentin Tarantino holds a number of modern movies in high regard, and they are well worth checking out for any self-confessed cinephile.