"I had been thinking of this book of essays since I saw the Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro last year, and dipped back into it recently—I hadn’t read it since high school. Back then, it hit me hard. I realized there was a counter-narrative to all the history I had been taught, and I learned that lesson through Baldwin’s beautiful anger."

"I thought for years that Wings of Desire was my favorite film. It might still be; I’m not sure. It’s filled with so many beautiful images, and the score by Jürgen Knieper is one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever heard. I went to the movie theater alone and was high for days after seeing this. Peter Falk is incredible in this as well."

"I remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid being one of the first movies I saw as a kid. So I’ll also always equate it with discovering what a movie was. Being a young boy, and here’s my introduction to movies — it still feels like the most gigantic movie in terms of how big and beautiful it was, and the cool factor. Two amazing guys to watch."

"The Thin Red Line is my favorite film, and that’s probably the film that had the most impact on me as a human being. I feel like it really rescued me from a depression and gave me a lot of faith in people. I just thought it was beautiful. I saw it when I was nineteen or twenty. I’m a huge fan of Terrence Malick’s work."

"Let’s start with Love Jones, which is just a classic. One of the first times I saw myself reflected on screen in a way – just a beautiful story, a love story that felt textured and layered and interesting and beautifully shot, with Black people in the lead positions. The music, all of it, just touched a deep place in my soul and was fantastic."

"This record is a gift that keeps on giving. I listened to the CD on a loop for months in my car. It’s unsuspecting: On first listen, it just sounded like one long song, but upon closer inspection, there’s a whole universe of small, strange moments, peaks and valleys. It’s a progressive concept album—both extremely heavy and lighthearted—with some beautiful sadness sprinkled in between."

"Then The Graduate. It’s just one of the greatest comedies of all time. The way Dustin Hoffman is… You know, I guess that was his first big break and he just blew me away when I first saw that. Extraordinary performance, and you know, Mike Nichols. Just amazing, the way it’s shot; it’s just absolutely beautiful. And also, an incredible, quirky kind of love story."

"I’ve sent both my older kids Lolita and advised them to read the first chapter. They’re older than when I had it read to me – I was about 12. I didn’t read the whole thing [at the time]. The point was the first chapter is very short, half a page. It’s undeniably beautiful even to a young child, to someone who doesn’t really understand."

"‘The Main Theme’ is one of the greatest pieces of music written for a movie. It’s so haunting, so beautiful, – full of pan flutes and stuff. It’s shattering y’know – like a Morricone theme. Oddly enough, ‘The Main Theme’ works really well, but they never play it over the opening credits. They play it over the middle and during the closing credits, which is very strange"

"One of the greatest Scottish writers, probably the most affecting prose witness to the unique spirit of the Highland wilderness there has ever been. This book, chronicling life lived with otters on the remote west coast of Scotland, was made into a classic children’s film by Disney in the ’60s, but the book has depths and breadth untapped by the movie. Our Walden of the Hebrides. Beautiful."