Quentin Tarantino and Bret Easton Ellis are no strangers to controversy on their own, but they’ve also stirred up their fair share as a duo. Back in October, Ellis interviewed Tarantino for T Magazine, and an innocuous opinion about Ava DuVernay’s Selma became the focal point of a fresh round of hate against the director. Of course, Ellis has contended that there were plenty of other opinions about other filmmakers that were edited out of the piece, and that other media outlets had largely mischaracterized Tarantino’s remarks.
That’s the kick off for the pair’s latest interview, and this one comes at us without an editing complex. Tarantino sat down with Ellis for the latest episode of the author’s podcast, discussing what it means to give an interview in the modern socio-political climate. As expected, Ellis goes off about “social justice warriors,” the “24-hour news cycle,” and the “golden age of television” for the first 20 or so minutes, but after those ever-fascinating opinions, the chat really picks up.
With plenty of space to digress, Tarantino lays down some interesting points about ’70s New Hollywood cinema (Rocky, Jaws, etc), screenwriting, The Partridge Family (he loves it), and The Hateful Eight. There are a few remarks about Tarantino’s latest film that could veer into spoiler territory, so beware of that. Nevertheless, take a listen to the whole thing below.
