The movies hated by famous directors

When a director releases a film one would think that they hope the film resonates with its audience, or at least entertains them in some way. But there are times when directors have shared their thoughts on other filmmakers' works, and hated it.

Recently Oliver Stone criticised John Wick 4, directed by Chad Stahelski, by calling the film "disgusting beyond belief" because of the violence it portrays.

In an interview with Variety, he shared: "I saw John Wick 4 on the plane. Talk about volume. I think the film is disgusting beyond belief. Disgusting. I don't know what people are thinking.

"Maybe I was watching G.I. Joe when I was a kid. But [Keanu Reeves] kills, what, three, four hundred people in the f***ing movie. And as a combat veteran, I gotta tell you, not one of them is believable. I realise it's a movie, but it's become a video game more than a movie."

Stone is not the only director to have some choice words about other people's work, and here are some of the films that have been called out.

Marvel Films

Probably the most famous example of films that directors have spoken out about are the Marvel films, which multiple directors have been asked to comment on over the years.

Martin Scorsese caused an uproar amongst the public when he said in an interview with Empire that he didn't think the superhero franchise was "cinema", which also led to others sharing their opinions on it.

Read more: Secret Invasion: Marvel fans 'not prepared' for first episode's major death

The Taxi Driver filmmaker told the publication: "I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks.

"It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."

Francis Ford Coppola, the filmmaker behind the Godfather trilogy, also called the films "despicable" in the past, though he clarified what he meant in a follow-up interview with Deadline.

He explained: "Scorsese says that the Marvel picture is not cinema, he’s right because we expect to learn something from cinema, we expect to gain some enlightenment, some knowledge, some inspiration.

"Arguably, I don’t know that anyone gets anything out of seeing the same movie over and over again, which is the Marvel movies. A thing that has no risk to it.

"I’ve said before, making a film without risk is like making a baby without sex. Part of it is risk, and that’s what make it so interesting, that’s why we learn so much when it’s made.”

The Dark Knight Rises

Speaking of superhero movies, The Dark Knight Rises was also criticised by David Cronenberg in 2012 in an interview with Next Movie.

Per Vulture, he said: "A superhero movie, by definition, you know, it's comic book. It's for kids. It's adolescent in its core.

Read more: Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Everything we know as the director is confirmed

"That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying The Dark Knight Rises is, you know, supreme cinema art, I don't think they know what the f*** they're talking about."

He added: "I think it's still Batman running around in a stupid cape... Christopher Nolan's best movie is Memento, and that is an interesting movie. I don't think his Batman movies are half as interesting, though they're 20 million times the expense."

In 2013, he clarified with IndieWire that he hadn't even seen The Dark Knight Rises and that his answer was in response to being asked about superhero movies, adding: "I wasn’t talking specifically about that movie and I wasn’t criticising it directly."

Magnolia

Kevin Smith famously called out the film Paul Thomas Anderson's 2000 film Magnolia, saying that it would "never watch it again" and claimed it represented a "bloated sense of self-importance" but in June 2023 he retracted the statement on Twitter.

Read more: Director Kevin Smith feels like 'an a**hole' for past Bruce Willis comments

Responding to a fan on social media, he said: "Over 20 years ago, I s*** on Magnolia. And it was largely because critics were giving it more attention than Dogma."

Smith went on: "Now I love Magnolia. I wanna go back in time and explain this to Young Kevin Smith - that petulant a**-hat."

Citizen Kane

Ingmar Berman also famously called Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane a "total bore" despite the film largely being seen as a cinematic masterpiece.

Per Far Out Magazine, Berman said of the director: "For me he’s just a hoax. It’s empty. It’s not interesting. It’s dead.

"Citizen Kane, which I have a copy of — is all the critics’ darling, always at the top of every poll taken, but I think it’s a total bore. Above all, the performances are worthless. The amount of respect that movie’s got is absolutely unbelievable."

Netflix movies

Quentin Tarantino never minces his words when he discusses films, recently saying that Netflix's films were not "part of the zeitgeist", but he has also spoken about the state of Hollywood in general.

Read more: What you need to know about Tarantino's final movie

In an appearance on The Video Archives Podcast in June, Tarantino said of the state of cinema: “Even though the ‘80s was the time that I probably saw more movies in my life than ever – at least as far as going out to the movies was concerned – I do feel that ‘80s cinema is, along with the ‘50s, the worst era in Hollywood history.

"Matched only by now, matched only by the current era.”

Watch: Tarantino looking to cast new leading man