"One of my favorite films is Red Sorghum, by Zhang Yimou, who’s an incredible director — just incredibly visual. The way that he shoots a film and takes a time in history and connects it to somebody; he takes a moment in somebody’s life and also connects it historically to what happened between the Japanese and the Chinese during the war. I just think it’s so elegantly done. It sort of shows not just what’s going on in the family itself, but links that personal story — you get involved in that and then connected to the backdrop of the war, how their family, how their business all kind of connects. It’s incredibly heartbreaking and very real. It was very impactful. I saw it when I was in college, and I was destroyed. [Laughs] Destroyed by that movie. There’s a quality in his movies that really stands out, that I haven’t really seen in a lot of other movies."

"I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen Dumb and Dumber. It’s got to be at least 50. I remember in college, I watched this movie with my buddies and we just thought it was the funniest f—ing thing we’ve ever seen. I still watch it and I still quote it all the time. In fact, I [went] on Ellen as Lloyd Christmas for Halloween… You know what it is about it? There are so many moments in this movie that are ridiculous; they’re dumb — that’s why the movie is called Dumb and Dumber — but I’ve thought about this. Why is it that I love this movie so much? I think it’s because Lloyd and Harry really cared about each other. There was real heart to that movie… and if you don’t have that in these movies and it’s just pure broad comedy, it’s missing something that you can connect to."

"Obviously that's a great soundtrack, and also my favourite blaxploitation film. I kind of remember growing up [thinking] blaxploitation films were silly, like I remember, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, but then once I started getting into them, I was like, oh wow, they are really political movies that don't really exist any more, and what I wanted to highlight was the score by J. J. Johnson. He's pretty much up there with Quincy Jones, but I would love to see a biopic about someone like that who has this really long career spanning from bebop and going to Hollywood and starting to score for blaxploitation films towards the end of his career. These guys are just genius arrangers, composers, players, and while their struggle was within the Hollywood system, it's not like it was a face you know from a college dorm poster like Miles Davis or something - it could be played by anybody you know."

"Neu! has to represent Cluster, Conny Plank, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Brian Eno. It's an extraordinary piece of work. I was introduced to it when I first went to art college. There was a guy called Tony Fowler who was the polytechnic DJ and he was a little bit older that everybody else. I wheedled my way in and became the sorcerer's apprentice or whatever, thinking I could get my taste on there instead. He played me this and at the time I was very confused by it. I thought I was quite... I listened to Captain Beefheart and Pink Floyd and good stuff, but this was really challenging, the minimalism I guess. I can honestly say it didn't make me go, 'Aha! This is ze future!', but many years later, after I'd had it in the car stereo, I remember Klara saying, 'Papa, you've been playing 'Hallogallo' for two years, can we hear something else?' I was going: 'But it fits! It fits! It's perfect every time!'"

"This one isn’t a high school movie, but more a college-age movie. It’s called Mazes and Monsters and it stars Tom Hanks. It’s about the dangers of role-playing games, and if you play these role-playing games, you’ll lose touch with reality. Tom Hanks is a kid who gets too into their version of Dungeons and Dragons, which they call Mazes and Monsters. He loses touch with reality and thinks he really is on the quest, and disappears into New York City. His friends have to try and find him. It’s definitely worth checking out if you can find it. It might be one of those movies that just disappeared. I think it was a made-for-TV movie, but it’s always affected me. I saw it when I was a kid on the Saturday afternoon matinee movie, and it just has this ending that is so bleak that I’ll never forget."

"I like a lot of Lou Reed’s records but before I got into him, I heard this record in my college dorm, courtesy of [Pixies guitarist] Joey Santiago. I knew that I liked the record but when I got into listening to it again, some years ago, I realised: I know the record really well. I really like the production and sound of it. It’s very toppy and it’s got some really good sounds. It’s very thin, 70s rock radio production. I’ve never really met Lou. I mean, I’ve been in the room with him on a number of occasions on tour and hanging out in the same breakfast rooms, but they’re situations when you don’t want to bother someone. I don’t remember the Quietus interview where the guy compared me to Lou Reed, but right now if someone wanted to mention me and Lou Reed in the same breath, it’d be a huge compliment. He’s obviously one of my rock & roll heroes."