If there’s a guy who knows a thing or two about what makes a great movie, then it’s probably Quentin Tarantino. Three of the legendary Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs director’s films feature in our most recent rundown of the best movies ever made, and a couple more than that in our 2020-made list of the best movies of the 21st century. And now, thanks to the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, we know which movies have earned a spot on Tarantino’s own list of this century’s finest — including the likes of Toy Story 3, Shaun Of The Dead, and Dunkirk.
Allowing himself only one movie per director, Tarantino started his rundown of the 20 best movies of the 21st century on Ellis’ podcast last week, naming the likes of School Of Rock, The Devil’s Rejects, and — with comments that set social media ablaze — Battle Royale among some of his go-to greats. And with the drop of the second half of QT and Ellis’ conversation today, we now know the venerated auteur’s definitive top 20, which reads (in reverse order) as follows;
20. West Side Story, dir. Steven Spielberg
19. Cabin Fever, dir. Eli Roth
18. Moneyball, dir. Bennett Miller
17. Chocolate, dir. Prachya Pinkaew
16. The Devil’s Rejects, dir. Rob Zombie
15. The Passion Of The Christ, dir. Mel Gibson
14. The School Of Rock, dir. Richard Linklater
13. Jackass: The Movie, dir. Jeff Tremaine
12. Big Bad Wolves, dir. Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado
11. Battle Royale, dir. Kinji Fukasaku
10. Midnight In Paris, dir. Woody Allen
9. Shaun Of The Dead, dir. Edgar Wright
8. Mad Max: Fury Road, dir. George Miller
7. Unstoppable, dir. Tony Scott
6. Zodiac, dir. David Fincher
5. There Will Be Blood, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Dunkirk, dir. Christopher Nolan
3. Lost In Translation, dir. Sofia Coppola
2. Toy Story 3, dir. Lee Unkrich
1. Black Hawk Down, dir. Ridley Scott
Of his some may say slightly rogue number one pick, Tarantino noted how Sir Ridders’ Josh Hartnett led war movie has grown on him over time. “I liked it when I first saw it, but I actually think it was so intense that it stopped working for me, and I didn’t carry it with me the way that I should’ve,” explained the Kill Bill director. “Since then, I’ve seen it a couple of times, not a bunch of times, but I think it’s a masterwork, and one of the things I love so much about it is how this is the only movie that actually goes completely for an Apocalypse Now sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling, and I think it achieves it.” So there you have it — Black Hawk Down is Quentin Tarantino’s film of the century so far! Who’d’ve thunk?