George Clooney claps back at Quentin Tarantino for dragging his film career: 'F‑‑‑ off'

It's a dumb expression (and enough to put me off reading the article). Where do they dream up these things?

Ja Rule in 2003.

""Oceans" movies were ensemble . And Pitt was more of a main draw."

I came here to make this point about the few movies he was in that were hits or at least made a profit - they were ensemble casts, or he was paired with a legit movie star like Mark Wahlberg or Anna Kendrick (e.g. The Perfect Storm, Up in the Air, Three Kings)*. This goes for his whole career, not just since the turn of the millennium. So, I guess if you aren't a movie star, it pays if you are friends with some of them and can get them in your movies.

Mark Wahlberg ( a legit movie star) co-starred in "Perfect Storm."

* Could say he anchored "From Dusk til Dawn," and it did turn a profit, but it only grossed 60 mil and also starred Harvey Keitel and Juliet Lewis. Neither is a legit A-lister, but both were well-recognized actors at the time the movie was made.

I loved Out of Sight and Syriana. O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fantastic.

These aren’t listed in your post.

Tarantino is right. Clooney is not box-office star. Not a real movies star like Pitt. Cruise.
He is media star. Hollywood press hypes him. Gives awards. But then no one cares to see Clooney in movies.

When you will look at his filmography you will see that his movies either flop. can't make it's budget or some artsy-fartsy low budget crap.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Clooney_filmography

"Oceans" movies were ensemble . And Pitt was more of a main draw.

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And likely Julia Roberts too -- though she and Clooney made "a great couple"(divorced at the beginning of the film, arguing throughout, together at the end), she was the bigger star of the two at the time, by far.

Matt Damon at the time of the first one was a star, too -- but rather struggling at the time. By the time Damon came back for Ocean's 12, he had made The Bourne Identity and was a BIG star(Clooney himself noted the change) ...so now Clooney was behind Pitt, Roberts, and Damon in star power and drawing ability. (As I recall his Ocean's character spent a lot of that second movie in a jail cell apart from the rest of the cast, fewer scenes, etc.)

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George Clooney's "star but not a star" story is one of the more interesting ones in Hollywood history -- and both Tarantino and...the bombastic but star savvy Donald Trump have recently called him on it (Trump: "Movies have never really worked for him -- he should go back to TV.")

Actually , Trump's criticisms probably helped RAISE Clooney's stardom in 2024.

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Tarantino revived Travolta's career, but Pitt never needed his help. Other than being foolish enough to let his then wife direct him, the only modest flop he starred in was "Allied," and even legit superstars should be afforded a mulligan every now and then.

Tarantino's comment about Clooney would reflect Pitt's career if Tarantino himself hadn't made Pitt relevant again, so I don't really get his point.
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Well, generally that's true -- like Clooney, Brad Pitt made a lot of pictures -- particuarly early on -- that failed to bring in big audiences.

Like Paul Newman , Pitt seemed willing to "go against his looks" and play such roles as a greasy haired, mentally challenged psychopathic kiiler in "Kalifornia" and the dishevelled nutcase advisor to Bruce Willis in "Twelve Monkeys"(he was Oscar nomeed for that one.)

I recall an article being written about Pitt after he had had a series of underperforming films that "the studios believe that Brad Pitt WILL happen as a star, he just needs a lot of vehicles for it to happen." This is in line with Cary Grant's advice to new young actors seeking stardom: "Make as many movies as you can so the audience gets to know you-- so you are as familiar as a Heinz ketchup bottle as a product."

Pitt played off his gorgeous but somewhat reptilian young good looks in "Thelma and Louise"(his start), Legends of the Fall, and "Meet Joe Black." Like a lot of pretty men he has aged into a more handsome and weathered MAN(see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.)

Pitt's movies for Tarantino -- Inglorious Basterds(2009) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) are a full ten years apart but helped anchor his legitimate stardom over a decade. Moneyball was a hit and Pitt got a Best Actor nomination(versus George Clooney for the very good "The Descendants." ) Pitt and Clooney joked about "a good competition" at the Oscar ceremony -- but that French guy won.

Back in the 90s, I'd say that 1995's
s Se7en" (and its unforgettably horrific climax twist) was a legit hit for Pitt -- and then in 1999 he got himself a low box office cult classic in "Fight Club" that lived on and on.

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I guess Tarantino still isn't exactly Clooney's biggest fan for whatever reason.

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One possibility in 2024: Tarantino is currently married to an Israeli supermodel and lives with her and their children part of each year in Israel.

The term ultimately derives from a 2003 song by Ja Rule, appropriately titled “Clap Back.” The phrase is the meat of the hook (“Clap back, we gon' clap back”), which answers what Ja Rule and his crew will do to rappers who disrespect them. (I copied this from somewhere.)