"An old myth retold by Ingmar Bergman: the story of the knight who cheats Death, one of the loss of faith, of redemption, of the triumph of innocence in the person of the holy fool and his young family. Although one might expect doom and gloom, there is comedy and great beauty, but mixed with a feeling of relentless fate. The shot of the dead reeling across the horizon in a macabre dance, though seen only briefly, must be one of the most famous images on film."

"For me, the most devastating childhood remembrance film—if that’s what it is. The story is too remarkable and strange to be fiction. Six-year-old Brigitte Fossey—trying to make sense of her just-witnessed parents’ deaths by urgently assembling a beautiful little animal graveyard—might just nudge out Dean Stockwell as my all-time favorite child star, and she makes me cry a lot more! Comedy mixed in with such sadness, sadness, sadness!!! This is early childhood distilled and put in a very dangerous bottle!"

"The American title — Big Deal on Madonna Street — must be the worst of the international variants for Mario Monicelli’s brilliant incompetent-caper comedy, said to be the absurd version of Rififi. The direct translation — Persons Unknown — used elsewhere, seems funnier once you’ve seen the film; the Spanish distributor had the wit to call it Rufufu and there it’s a treasured classic. The shooting style — the great use of the so-called “curtain effect” — has also been something we always try to put to use."

"Great movie. It was one of the first films, I thought, that really took comedy to an absurd level. Whether it was watching Bill Murray’s hair that was a comb-over, [or when he] keeps falling over when he’s in a competition, or Woody Harrelson had a great scene where he’s playing an Amish guy and he comes in and says he spent the day milking the cows. He has this big pail, and he takes a drink and they go, “They’re bulls [laughing]!”"

"Say Anything is just such a sweet coming-of-age movie. I just love everything about it: the romance, the comedy, the time period, the music, and the chemistry between the two lead characters. This movie was the beginning of a lot of great careers. The image of John Cusack and the Peter Gabriel song “In Your Eyes” is just so iconic. And Cameron Crowe is my favorite director of all time. If there were a sixth favorite film, it would have been Almost Famous."

"Monsieur Hulot is clumsily precise; the silence and precision of the gags are avant-garde. When the vacation ends in this film, you’re left feeling like you’ve met a good friend. Fishing with John can be watched on so many levels at the same time. It avoids becoming too meta and relishes all of the facets of friendship, comedy, and good old-fashioned fishing. The soundtrack alone transports us back to the calming, hilarious alternate universe of John Lurie’s brain: “They woke up with sores and boners.”"

"Monsieur Hulot is clumsily precise; the silence and precision of the gags are avant-garde. When the vacation ends in this film, you’re left feeling like you’ve met a good friend. Fishing with John can be watched on so many levels at the same time. It avoids becoming too meta and relishes all of the facets of friendship, comedy, and good old-fashioned fishing. The soundtrack alone transports us back to the calming, hilarious alternate universe of John Lurie’s brain: “They woke up with sores and boners.”"