It’s not every year we’re treated to Quentin Tarantino’s list of his favorite films of the previous 12 months. The last time was in October of 2013, when he proffered his top movies of that calendar year, still one of the only lists to feature The Lone Ranger outside of a recent Best Buy tally of which Blu-rays are languishing in the bargain bin. This year, he was apparently a little too busy making The Hateful Eight to see many films (although, like everyone else, he loved the shit out of Mad Max: Fury Road). But there was one great flick he managed to catch: The Nancy Meyers film The Intern, a.k.a. That Movie Your Aunt Told You About Where Anne Hathaway Is Robert De Niro’s Boss.
In a recent interview with Metro, the director was asked about the lack of female directors who are granted prestige spots in Hollywood and the media, specifically in reference to a Hollywood Reporter roundtable discussion Tarantino participated in along with Ridley Scott, Tom Hooper, Danny Boyle, David O. Russell, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu. In standard Tarantino fashion, he answered the question in a rambling way that ended with a wildly contrarian opinion about one of 2015’s least essential films.
It does seem to be to some degree there’s a boom or bust aspect when it comes to Hollywood when it comes to female directors. There becomes an era when there’s a lot working then that settles down and there’s a dry period—but frankly, maybe I’m just talking shit because the thing is there are female directors. Maybe they’re not being the ones that are being asked to be on The Hollywood Reporter roundtable. One of my favorite movies this last year was Nancy Meyers’ The Intern. They’re not considering that for the Oscars even though I think Robert De Niro gave one of the best performances this year in that movie. I thought the script was actually one of her best. Right up there with It’s Complicated. They’re not asking her to be part of the discussion.
In addition to the revelation that Tarantino considers It’s Complicated to have a great script, it also conveys his appreciation for De Niro’s performance, which is certainly within the realm of debatable. No word of his thoughts regarding the script for the Point Break remake yet, although he probably just hasn’t gotten around to it yet, and we can look forward to it claiming the honorary Lone Ranger spot on his next top ten list.