On Kanye West’s “So Appalled,” Jay-Z famously rapped, “Dark Knight feeling, die and be a hero/Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” Hov also alluded to the merit of stopping while you’re ahead on 2011’s “Illest Motherfucker Alive,” on which he rapped, “Know when to leave when the heat is coming, I learnt that/This is where DeNiro would be if he ain’t turn back.” Whether people are discussing artists like Jay-Z or athletes like Michael Jordan, there’s always a debate about whether there’s a “right time” to retire.
In a new interview from Real Time with Bill Maher, renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and Bill Maher argue about Tarantino’s rumored retirement after his tenth film, and it turns out that the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood filmmaker thinks that it’s simply better to go out on a high note than mar one’s legacy.
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Maher argues that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is Tarantino’s best work, and it would be ridiculous for him to retire. After laughing at Maher’s passionate argument, Tarantino responds by saying, “Look. I don’t have a reason that I would want to say out loud or that’s going to win in any argument in a court of public opinion or Supreme Court or anything like that. At the same time, working for 30 years doing as many movies as I’ve done…that’s a long career, and I’ve given it everything I have. Every single solitary thing.”
Tarantino then discusses film legends like Donald Siegel, who he believes should have stopped making movies after his incredible run during the 70s, because he thinks that having a grand ending to one’s career is important. Maher continues to press the subject and suggest that his learned skills over the years have made him better, which prompts him to ask Tarantino whether he would make Reservoir Dogs different if he were to make it today.
“That’s kind of a captured time in a moment kind of thing,” Tarantino admits before dropping an absolute bombshell. “But I actually considered doing a remake of Reservoir Dogs is my last movie. I won’t do it internet! But I considered it.”
Check out Quentin Tarantino’s full interview with Bill Maher below. The discussion about retirement begins at the 1:44-mark.