Quentin Tarantino Bashes Modern Hollywood Films: ‘Flaws, Implausibilities, Audience Pandering’

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino didn’t pull any punches when discussing his distaste for modern Hollywood movies.

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director, 63, contributed an opinion piece for BFI’s Sight and Sound, where he opened by discussing the contempt he has for the movies being released in theaters today. He likened the past 10 years to what he believes was the previous worst decade in filmmaking, the 1980s.

“It seems almost impossible for a new movie to come out that I don’t pick to death,” he began in the article published on Thursday, June 4. “Flaws, implausibilities, audience pandering, miscast performers or just plain stupid [expletive] usually torpedoes every new movie coming out of the flavorless sausage factory that used to call itself Hollywood.”

He explained that, in the ‘80s, he would “forgive” movies that had bad endings or didn’t make sense just so he could go to the theater, an activity that he loves.

“These days, however, the entire concept of what is a movie is more inclined to inspire contempt in me than generosity,” the From Dusk Till Dawn star wrote. “Which is fair enough, because by comparison the movies of the last six years make the 80s seem like the 30s.”

While the director had some pretty harsh thoughts on a majority of movies hitting the theater in recent years, he revealed how much he enjoyed the 2026 Netflix movie The Rip starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

The film follows a team of Miami police detectives who find a massive stash of cash during a raid, prompting a power grab among police and criminals alike.

He also confessed to being a fan of recent releases like Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Kevin Costner‘s two-part Horizon: An American Saga.

However, the Kill Bill filmmaker noted these are rare exceptions in Hollywood’s output, adding that, “these days [he’d] rather read a book.”