As you might have heard, Quentin Tarantino grabbed a pen, started writing titles, and came up with his 20 best films of the 21st century.
Only one film was allowed per director, and the result is the most eclectic batch imaginable, including everything from “Jackass: The Movie” to “Cabin Fever” to “The Passion of the Christ.” It’s a list that veers from highbrow to lowbrow with the kind of delusions only Tarantino can get away with.Earlier in the week, he unveiled #11–20. The rest of the list is set to drop this week on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.”
I just want to take a moment to dissect something Tarantino mentioned about one of the films he selected — Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” which also happens to be the most recent entry on his list and, in his view, a major late-career statement.
Tarantino praised “West Side Story” (#20) for being the film that re-energized Spielberg as a filmmaker. Tarantino added: “This is the one where Steven shows he still has it. I don’t think Scorsese has made a film this exciting [this century].”
And that last line. There’s so much to unpack there, and I presume few would agree with that assessment. “West Side Story” more exciting than anything Scorsese has released this century? Tarantino goes on to admit he wasn’t a big fan of most of Spielberg’s output over the last 25 years and that “West Side Story” “revitalized” his filmmaking.
“Munich” is mentioned as the only other Spielberg film that might contend, with Ellis calling it a “masterpiece.” Personally, I love “Munich,” as well as “AI: Artificial Intelligence,” “Minority Report,” and “Catch Me If You Can.” “Bridge of Spies” is underrated. And the first two-thirds of “War of the Worlds” is as exciting as anything Spielberg has made this century. But “West Side Story”? I know it has its champions, but I’m not one of them.
First off, yes, the film is beautifully shot and staged, and there is genuine excitement in the filmmaking. However, Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler’s chemistry is non-existent. A film simply cannot work if the two leads can’t quite gel together.
Coincidentally, a few weeks ago I wrote about Scorsese’s best films of the 21st century — “The Wolf of Wall Street” was our readers’ pick, as well as mine. Not too far behind: “The Departed.” Is Tarantino not a fan of these two remarkable films? Hell, most, if not all, of Scorsese’s 21st-century output eclipses “West Side Story.” The suggestion otherwise is rather dumbfounding, but not entirely surprising, given that Tarantino has been raving about Spielberg’s remake for a couple of years now, saying it “should have won the Oscar" that year. To each their own.