Quentin Tarantino Revealed The Best 21-Century Movies - Here's How To Watch Them
With iconic movies like Pulp Fiction (1994) and Reservoir Dogs (1992) to his name, Quentin Tarantino is rightly considered one of the best and most influential directors of all time. His filmography certainly backs up that claim, with even his lesser-received movies, like The Hateful Eight (2015), still cited as a favorite among many. Thus, it should come as no surprise that when it comes to cinema, everyone wants to know what movies Quentin Tarantino deems the best.
The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast got Quentin Tarantino's most recent list of favorites. Here, the director declares the top 20 best movies of the 21st century, creating a limit of one film per director. Personally, I love that rule, which creates a larger margin of diversity rather than five movies from a big name like Steven Spielberg, for example. And diversity we get! Spanning violence-heavy horror to the slapstick humor of Jackass: The Movie (2002), more than one of Quentin Tarantino's best 21st-century movie choices is sure to surprise you.
Here's what Quentin Tarantino says about these 21st-century movies, why you should watch them, and where you can find them on Disney+, Plex, and more.
Honestly, of all the 21st-century titles named by Quentin Tarantino, this one might be the most surprising. Musicals don't exactly scream Tarantino, but neither do romantic dramas. Although Tarantino ranks West Side Story in last place, he calls it "the one where Steven [Spielberg] shows he still has it." Personally, I'm not quite sure anyone decided Spielberg didn't still have "it," but, yeah, West Side Story is good.
Funny enough, the movie actually bombed upon release, despite being considered one of the best musicals of all time… by people other than Tarantino. West Side Story, of course, is a well-loved classic that Spielberg manages to capture and improve upon with a modern aesthetic, diverse casting, and an overall infectious energy. If you like musicals, Spielberg's West Side Story is a no-brainer, but even if you don't, this is the one that might change your mind.
Calling Cabin Fever "charming," Tarantino places Eli Roth's directorial debut in the 19th spot. Personally, I consider Thanksgiving (2023) Roth's best movie to date, but Cabin Fever definitely has its fans. With the twenty-somethings here falling victim to a flesh-eating disease rather than a masked slasher, Roth managed to put a unique spin on the typical cabin in the woods trope.
To back up Tarantino, it's both gory and humorous, with an evident love for low-budget horror movies like The Evil Dead (1981) and The Blair Witch Project (1999), among others. Be warned. Cabin Fever's body horror elements make a strong stomach necessary. Still, if you're well acquainted with the gnarly practical effects of other B-movie horror or the work of David Cronenberg, you'll be just fine.
Tarantino's love for Moneyball might have less to do with the movie itself and more to do with Brad Pitt's performance. Here, Pitt takes the lead as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, who scrambles to assemble a competitive MLB team with a minuscule budget. If you're not a fan of sports dramas, Moneyball is a bit niche. However, its "based on a true story" element adds a layer of intrigue for almost anyone wondering, "Well, how in the heck will this play out?"
And Tarantino is right. Brad Pitt shines as Billy Beane to the point that he steals the focus of the movie. For the right type of viewer, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Really, Moneyball is a film you need to judge for yourself. If you enjoy other underdog sports stories like Creed (2015) or The Mighty Ducks (1992), it might just be for you.
Anyone who has seen Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) knows Quentin Tarantino takes inspiration from kung fu and martial arts movies. Thus, it's not particularly surprising that he listed Prachya Pinkaew's Chocolate as one of the best movies of the 21st century. Star Yanin "Jeeja" Vismitananda delivers one heck of a performance as a teenage girl with autism who sets out on revenge quests to collect the debts of her sick mother.
As far as martial arts movies go, Chocolate is relatively underrated. Yet, as Tarantino says, it has "some of the greatest kung-fu fights" in cinema. Vismitananda delivers an outstanding performance that will genuinely leave your jaw on the ground. If you like action-heavy martial arts movies like The Raid (2011), you'll get a similar breakneck pace but with a female lead, which is pretty rad.
I'm the first person to admit that Rob Zombie is a director people either love or hate. As for Tarantino, he remains a Zombie fan, listing The Devil's Rejects, the second installment in the Firefly trilogy, as one of the best movies of the 21st century. Bold? Perhaps, but ask most horror fans (including me), and they'll tell you Zombie created his own unique niche in the genre, and you can't take that away from him. Honestly, Tarantino might describe Zombie's style best: a mash-up between a Sam Peckinpah western and "sick hillbillies."
The Devil's Rejects is filled with sadistic, gory horror that will turn away more casual audiences but delight genre enthusiasts. As a well-known fan of grindhouse flicks, Tarantino's adoration of Zombie's movie isn't too shocking. After all, he took his own dive into the genre with the aptly titled project Grindhouse (2007), the double feature release he did with Robert Rodriguez.
It feels a bit bizarre to position The Passion of the Christ just above The Devil's Rejects, but hey, this isn't my list. It's Quentin Tarantino's, and he can do what he wants. Interestingly, the director also views Mel Gibson's biblical drama as so comically violent that he "was laughing a lot during the movie." Honestly, I get it. When things get uncomfortably violent, sometimes we cope by laughing, and there aren't too many things more uncomfortably violent than Jesus being crucified.
Tarantino has been a longtime supporter of The Passion of the Christ, praising the cinematography and emotional power of the story. As he told IndieWire back in 2004, "It has the power of a silent movie," and that he "couldn't believe that Mel Gibson directed it." While the movie isn't without controversy, The Passion of the Christ offers one of the most gritty and realistic takes on Jesus Christ's story and sacrifice to date.
Richard Linklater's School of Rock is a bona fide classic of early 2000s comedies. Tarantino loved his theater experience, describing it as "real fun, fun, fun screening." The movie, of course, follows Jack Black's struggling guitarist who finds new life at a prestigious prep school as a substitute teacher.
Anyone familiar with Jack Black's other comedy roles, like Tropic Thunder (2008) or Nacho Libre (2006), knows he shines in the genre. However, School of Rock tops them all. Heartwarming, hysterical, and filled with some killer music, it's the perfect movie for anyone craving something lighthearted and a little nostalgic. While some of us won't ever get the "fun, fun, fun" theater experience Tarantino had, School of Rock is always floating around on streaming.
Okay, forget about West Side Story. Jackass: The Movie is now officially the most surprising Quentin Tarantino pick. Tarantino loved it so much that he even showed it to the crew of Kill Bill, which was in production at the time. And he's right. Jackass: The Movie is "f***ing funny," especially if you love profane humor and teeth-gritting stunts that also might occasionally turn your stomach and make you wince.
Jeff Tremaine brought the Jackass (2000) cast over to the big screen with bigger, bolder, and grosser stunts. Obviously, if you're a fan of the TV series, you'll love this. Even if you're not, though, you just might find it strangely cathartic. Think of the Jackass crew like a modern-day Three Stooges, just with a whole lot more vulgarity rooted in their humor.
Written and directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, Big Bad Wolves evoked a comparison to Prisoners (2013) from Tarantino, who followed it up by saying Big Bad Wolves has more "guts and balls." An apt description? Perhaps. After all, Big Bad Wolves sees an Israeli cop and a desperate father team up to torture and interrogate a teacher they believe murdered and sexually assaulted several children. Like Prisoners, it's a dark vigilante story of sorts.
The main difference, perhaps, involves Big Bad Wolves' violence and vein of black comedy. Sitting somewhere between the horror and thriller genres, it's thoroughly captivating and suspenseful. It's got a certain level of ambiguity that may be frustrating to some viewers, but for others, that's the part of it that makes it so darn compelling in the first place.
Tarantino kicks off his Battle Royale entry by saying, "I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn't sue Susan Collins [author of The Hunger Games] for everything f***ing thing she owns." Harsh? Definitely. However, most of us who've seen Battle Royale and then watched (or read) The Hunger Games (2012) have thought the same thing. That said, I stand in defense of Collins, who clearly tackles the subject in a different way and with a YA audience in mind.
That said, if you dig death game movies like these, Battle Royale is superior for those seeking more violence, grittiness, and suspense. This movie isn't for teenagers, despite its high school characters. It's for adults looking for nail-biting tension created by life-and-death stakes. Tarantino has spoken about Battle Royale before, calling it his favorite movie of the past two decades, which makes sense when you consider Tarantino's penchant for stylized violence like this.
