If you hadn’t already noticed, we’re knee-deep in Oscar season now.  Though many are put off by the awards race in general, one of the highlights of the year is always THR’s roundtable interviews with "the contenders."  This year’s directors roundtable is really something, as the one-hour conversation involves Quentin Tarantino, Ben Affleck, Ang Lee, Tom Hooper, David O. Russell, and Gus Van Sant.  Though the entire interview is well worth watching, we figured our readers would be interested in a particular nugget from Tarantino in which he describes Death Proof as the “worst” film he’s ever made.

Hit the jump for more on that comment and to watch the full roundtable interview.

During the course of the wide-ranging THR conversation, Tarantino began talking a bit about his long-planned “retirement” from making films.  When defending his decision to stop making movies before he gets to old age, Tarantino singled out what he sees as the one blemish on his oeuvre:

"I'm really well versed on a lot of directors' careers, you know, and when you look at those last five films when they were past it, when they were too old, and they're really out of touch with the times, whether it be William Wyler and The Liberation of L.B. Jones or Billy Wilder with Fedora and then Buddy Buddy or whatever the hell. To me, it's all about my filmography, and I want to go out with a terrific filmography. Death Proof has got to be the worst movie I ever make. And for a left-handed movie, that wasn't so bad, all right? -- so if that's the worst I ever get, I'm good. But I do think one of those out-of-touch, old, limp, flaccid-dick movies costs you three good movies as far as your rating is concerned."

Tarantino’s assessment of Death Proof seems apt, and he’s by no means calling the film bad.  It’s not a terrible movie, but when lined up with the rest of the director’s filmography it does land at the bottom of the totem pole.

You can watch a portion of the interview in which Tarantino expresses his disgust with the use of digital projectors in movie theaters below, followed by the full one-hour roundtable conversation.  Both are well worth your time.