Quentin Tarantino knows a thing or two about making movies. With a career spanning over three decades, the acclaimed filmmaker has ushered countless classics to the screen, cementing his status as one of modern cinema’s most universally recognized and influential auteurs. However, it seems that he doesn’t enjoy watching movies quite as much as he enjoys making them, at least with the current state of affairs in Hollywood. He recently offloaded a scathing review of the blockbusters coming out of – what he describes as – the “flavorless sausage factory” that is the current filmmaking industry – with one notable exception.
In a recent op-ed for Sight and Sound magazine, Tarantino stated that it is “almost impossible” for him to watch contemporary movies without picking them “to death,” admitting that he now prefers to read a book. He heavily criticized current cinematic trends, claiming that, for the most part, they are driven by audience pandering and poor creative choices. He also argued that Hollywood’s output over the last six years makes the critically maligned films of the 1980s look like a golden era by comparison to modern movies.
“Flaws, implausibilities, audience pandering, miscast performers or just plain stupid sh*t usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavorless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood,” the Oscar-winning director explained in his self-penned essay, per Variety. “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.”
Despite his sweeping condemnation of modern movies, Tarantino did highlight a small handful of exceptions that he managed to enjoy in recent years gone by. As he noted, “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.”
There was one recent movie that Tarantino appeared to endorse above all others, as he singled out Joe Carnahan’s Netflix crime thriller The Rip and gave it immense praise. The high-stakes crime caper, starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, debuted on the streamer in January, and was instantly met with critical acclaim and massive viewership numbers. One of those viewers was Tarantino, who described the movie as “sensational,” asserting that it had “the whole package” – something that he thinks is worth shouting about:
“A suspenseful new movie has come out that did grab me and held me for its entire duration. 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.”
Tarantino’s glowing review of The Rip is high praise indeed, considering he used the majority of his essay to bash contemporary cinema. He is not alone, either. The film cemented itself as one of the defining streaming hits of 2026 after racking up an astonishing 41.6 million views during its first three days on Netflix and achieving a solid 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics responding warmly to the new feature. The plot centers on a Miami narcotics unit whose internal trust shatters after discovering $20 million in drug cartel cash during a routine bust, calling everything into question – including who they can rely on.
If you haven’t already watched The Rip, then perhaps now is the time to add it to your watch list. As for Tarantino’s next movie, that is really anyone’s guess. The director has helmed 10 feature films to date, although he famously counts Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) as one, making the official count 9, which means he is desperately close to his self-imposed limit of helming 10 movies before he retires from the industry. He is currently on a hiatus from directing after scrapping his previously planned tenth and final flick, instead turning his attention to theater as he gears up to debut his first-ever stage play.
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