The phrase guilty pleasure suggests that enjoying certain movies requires an apology. Tarantino's preferences make that idea worth debating: he can defend a poorly received work, point out its flaws, and still find an experience in it that other viewers do not share.
The Lone Ranger: enthusiasm and objections in a single opinion
The Lone Ranger appeared in a provisional Tarantino selection from 2013. In an interview with Les Inrockuptibles, translated by The Playlist on October 10 of that year, he explained that he appreciated its opening and, especially, the train sequence. At the same time, he criticized the middle section and the treatment of Native American slaughter.
The example is useful because it prevents us from presenting his defense as blind enthusiasm. A movie can offer an extraordinary moment and still contain choices that make the same viewer uneasy. Evaluation does not have to be reduced to a single label. Recognizing a successful scene also does not require excusing all the work's problems.
The railroad sequence makes it possible to think about a very specific pleasure of adventure cinema: bodies and vehicles that must coordinate within a moving space. The audience tracks positions, anticipates collisions, and enjoys solutions that seem impossible until the image makes them understandable. That kind of invention can be compelling even to someone who has reservations about the story.
The objection to the treatment of Native Americans introduces another layer of judgment. The effectiveness of a scene does not eliminate the possibility of questioning what it turns into entertainment and from whose perspective it does so. Tarantino's comment shows that formal admiration and criticism of representation can coexist.
That is why it is inaccurate to summarize his position as a love of objectively bad cinema. The word objectively erases precisely the space for debate. There may be identifiable mistakes or unconvincing choices, but the experience of a movie is not exhausted by a collective rating or by its box office total.
Kick-Ass 2 and attention to a particular choice
In the same 2013 exchange, Tarantino praised Jeff Wadlow's approach as writer and director of Kick-Ass 2. Including the title among his favorites did not amount to recommending every superhero movie without reservations. He was referring to a particular work, with its own tone and its own decisions.
Kick-Ass 2 works with the clash between a fantasy of heroic identity and a reality that introduces physical and emotional consequences. Its shifts in tone can be appealing to one viewer and off-putting to another. Critical discussion begins precisely when one tries to explain that effect, instead of merely noting that part of the audience rejected it.
Defending a genre film does not require pretending that it occupies the same place as any other work. One can appreciate an energy, a performance choice, or a way of blending registers. The argument becomes more useful when it names those elements rather than presenting disagreement as automatic proof of cinephile superiority.
The date also matters. A provisional 2013 selection reflects a moment of viewing and the films available up to that point. It is not necessarily the final word on the year, nor a list that Tarantino kept unchanged. Context prevents a passing enthusiasm from turning into an eternal statement.
Anything Else and the freedom not to agree
Anything Else appeared on Tarantino's list published by L.A. Weekly in August 2009. The choice makes it possible to talk about a preference that often surprises people, but it does not prove that the film is a guilty pleasure for him. Guilt is a label added by whoever thinks that this taste needs an explanation.
Woody Allen's 2003 comedy lets us observe relationships marked by insecurity, dependence, and unreliable advice. Its effect depends largely on how much the viewer enjoys staying with characters who talk about their problems without easily resolving them. That pleasure can exist even when the protagonists' behavior is irritating.
The difference between sympathy and enjoyment is relevant to many of Tarantino's preferences. A character does not need to be someone we would want to spend time with in order to sustain an interesting scene. The precision of a voice, an uncomfortable situation, or a contradiction can make an unpleasant presence fruitful.
The repetition of advice that is never followed, for example, can build comedy out of failure. The scene works because it lets us recognize a behavior, even if it offers no admirable example or solution for the audience to imitate.
These choices also do not make the director an automatic defender of any despised movie. Countercultural taste can be just as mechanical as always following consensus. What makes a recommendation interesting is its specific relationship to the work and the ability to explain what one finds in it.
The Lone Ranger, Kick-Ass 2, and Anything Else offer different experiences, brought together here by the disagreement they can provoke. Looking at them does not require adopting Tarantino's judgment in advance. Their value as recommendations lies in opening up the possibility of attention: pausing over a scene, hearing a tone, or checking whether a flaw really destroys all enjoyment.
See the selection of Tarantino's recommended films.