I’m late to Rewatchables, a podcast on The Ringer podcast. As far as I can tell, it’s a throwback podcast where the hosts and sometimes a guest consider an old, often classic film, rewatch it and discuss that rewatch in a very specific format—how the film holds up, what’s best about it, what’s worst about it, who stands out the most on a new, updated viewing, etc. On one of the most recent episodes of Rewatchable, none other than Quentin Tarantino stopped by to discuss Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk.”
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The episode is notable for three reasons: one, Tarantino’s presence, obviously, but also because Tarantino apparently listens to Rewatchables (must be nice), and asked to specifically be on the show to discuss “Dunkirk” at his behest which is obviously a huge compliment to both the podcast and Nolan’s film. The third reason is notable more if you’re a regular listener of the show; Rewatchables generally tackles films that are 10-20 years old and “Dunkirk,” which only came out in 2017, is only two years old making it the youngest movie ever discussed on the show.
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But perhaps more notable, in discussing the film, Tarantino revealed that it’s now his #2 film of the 2010s decade. He hasn’t revealed it, but Tarantino is clearly working on a Best of The Decade list and maybe he’s going to reveal that soon? (He used to do a yearly top 10, but stopped doing it a few years back, presumably because fellow filmmakers were offended at his condescending “Nice Try” category.)
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Tarantino explained that “Dunkirk” was number seven on his list as the best films of the decade, but a third rewatch opened up the film to him in a way like never before, vaulting it into the #2 slot. “It wasn’t until that third time where I was gauging it for [my best of the decade list], that I could finally see past the spectacle into the people, into the people of the story. I could finally see the forest for the trees,” he explained.
It’s interesting to listen just to hear Tarantino kind of rave about another living filmmaker, which he doesn’t do often, usually often doing the opposite (for example, he takes a lot of swipes at “Ad Astra,” tangentially in the podcast).
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His admiration and respect for Nolan is very real and with “Dunkirk,” the filmmaker puts himself up there with the greatest filmmakers of all time, Tarantino says.
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“It’s a symphony, everything works,” Tarantino says at one point in his glowing review of the movie, also saying he thinks the movie is Nolan’s best and that the score by Hans Zimmer and its minimalist screenplay were snubbed at the Oscars (as well as suggesting Best Picture should have been in the cards).
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Other things gleaned in the podcast? Tarantino isn’t a big fan of “Inception,” and says his top three Nolan films are 1. “Dunkirk,” 2. “Batman Begins” and 3. “The Prestige.” It’s a really interesting podcast, definitely makes the case for Tarantino as knowledgeable, sharp, entertaining film critic—he’s already said he has a book on film criticism/his favorite films in the works which will eventually come out one day—and is an all-around solid, compelling listen. Give it a spin below and hope that Tarantino reveals his Best Of The Decade list soon.
