Quentin Tarantino Explains — and Regrets — Leaving Somewhere Off His Top 20 List

Quentin Tarantino’s list of top twenty films of 2010 was greeted with much ado, not so much for the films that were on it (the list was topped by Toy Story 3 and The Social Network) as for a conspicuous omission: Despite raving about Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere and handing her the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival as president of the jury, that film was nowhere to be seen on Tarantino’s list. So what happened? Since the September festival, did he decide that Knight and Day (No. 12) and Robin Hood (No. 18) were actually better than Somewhere? Vulture contacted him in California, and he stressed that his list gave the wrong impression. “I’m a little embarrassed by it, actually,” Tarantino admitted. “Because it was never meant to be a dig against Somewhere, or Sofia. I simply didn’t consider any of the films I’d seen in Venice for the list.”

He says he avoided the Venice films because, “The world knows how I feel about those films already … I put them in a separate box — I was on official duty at that time, not seeing the films theatrically, independently.” In retrospect, he regrets not including Somewhere on his list. “Now I wish I’d put it on there — I didn’t think anyone would pay attention,” Tarantino admitted. “If I’d known it was going to get out, I’d have put it in my top ten.” Tarantino declined to say which film on his current list would be dropped in favor of the Coppola pic — but surely the makers of Jackass 3-D (No. 20) are happy he went with his instincts.

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Quentin Tarantino Explains — and Regrets — Leaving Somewhere Off His Top 20 List