Quentin Tarantino names the greatest comedy movie of the last 25 years: “So fucking funny”
Quentin Tarantino might be best known for his stylised violence and love of cult cinema, but even he’s not immune to a good laugh every now and then.
For all the blood-soaked chaos and sometimes questionable dialogue he’s become famous for, the director is also a massive fan of movies that don’t take themselves too seriously – especially when it comes to outrageous, off-the-wall comedies.
Tarantino has certainly been in the news a lot lately, and not because there’s been any updates on what his tenth, and supposedly final film, will end up being. Even though the director’s cut of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair was finally released after being divided into two chapters in its initial debut, the Internet has been set on fire by the incendiary comments that Tarantino made on Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast.
Tarantino made some shocking criticism about many actors that he didn’t like, and particularly caught flak for his insulting description of Paul Dano. Many of Dano’s collaborators and friends have spoken in the actor’s defence in recent days, but it’s unfortunate that only Tarantino’s negative comments tended to get circulated. Although negativity is always destined to go “viral”, the director spent the majority of the podcast speaking positively about the 20 films that he considered to be the best of the 21st century.
As with any of Tarantino’s lists, there was a mix of well-established classics, films that received mixed reviews, and a few obscure titles that virtually no one else has heard of. At the top of Tarantino’s list was Black Hawk Down, the gritty war film from Ridley Scott that has been cited as one of the most brutal in history. Rounding out his top three was the beloved Pixar sequel Toy Story 3 and Sofia Coppola’s emotional romantic dramedy Lost in Translation.
While it’s not a big surprise that Tarantino praised films from famous directors, such as David Fincher’s Zodiac or Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, one of the most surprising entries on his list was Jackass: The Movie. Tarantino said that he hadn’t found another recent film that was nearly as hilarious.
“This was the movie I laughed at the most in these last 20 years,” Tarantino said. “I don’t remember laughing from beginning to end like this since Richard Pryor. As I was making Kill Bill, I thought this movie was so fucking funny I had to show it to the crew. So we found a print, watched the movie, and just died.”
Jackass: The Movie picked up where the hit MTV show left off, throwing childhood mates Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, and Dave England back into the mix for another round of outrageous, borderline-deranged pranks. Critics didn’t quite know what to do with it at the time, but for the younger crowd raised on the show’s chaos, it was bang on. The film did well enough to spawn three sequels, each one weirdly winning over more of the critical crowd than the last.
Although Tarantino has never been afraid to go against the grain when speaking towards the critical consensus, it’s not entirely surprising that he was a fan of what the Jackass team was doing. The idea of lifelong friends pooling their resources to make a passion project reflects the same independent spirit that made it so revelatory in 1992 when Tarantino made Reservoir Dogs, and subsequently inspired countless young aspiring filmmakers to pick up a camera.
Tarantino’s list also included other comedies like Shaun of the Dead and The School of Rock, but it didn’t sound like anything cracked him up quite like Jackass: The Movie.
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