"I just re-read Ask the Dust by John Fante. It’s semiautobiographical about a guy who’s trying to be a writer in Los Angeles, and it takes place during the Great Depression. It was one of my favorite books in college. It was crazy to re-read it in my 30s, as well as to live vicariously through some of the places that I haven’t seen in almost two months. I’m also trying to keep things light so I’ve been reading Fifty Great Short Stories by Milton Crane."

"I just re-read Ask the Dust by John Fante. It’s semiautobiographical about a guy who’s trying to be a writer in Los Angeles, and it takes place during the Great Depression. It was one of my favorite books in college. It was crazy to re-read it in my 30s, as well as to live vicariously through some of the places that I haven’t seen in almost two months. I’m also trying to keep things light so I’ve been reading Fifty Great Short Stories by Milton Crane."

"This title never comes through the spell check unscathed. I love director William Greaves’s bravery for making this outrageously fascinating experimental feature that pushes the boundaries of what’s traditionally accepted in film. There are actually two films here. The first one, which he made in the late sixties, was somehow denied a proper release, and the sequel (of sorts) he made over thirty-five years later. Part one was my favorite discovery at Sundance 1992, and I was proud and honored to have worked on the second installment. More to come, Bill?"

"Knowing it is my favorite book, for my 34th birthday, a boyfriend once gave me a signed first edition of Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying. Having always read tattered paperback versions, I had no idea the original was adorned with a spectacularly ornate cover that’s evocative of a Hieronymus Bosch. I’m not a big collector of anything but no matter how often I pare down my belongings, I never get rid of this. (Even though the boyfriend was long-ago lost to history, his accompanying birthday card remains tucked inside the book.)"

"I was having a birthday party last year, and a friend handed me this. I was so riveted that I asked the author, who almost never gives interviews, to talk with me on OWN. Here’s one of my favorite observations in this essential work: ‘To attain true inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in them…. Once you’ve made the commitment to free yourself of that scared person inside, you will notice that there is a clear decision point at which your growth takes place."

"I read it early on and I got it early on. It’s…. still one of my favorite books. It shows how humans tend to forget the reason they wanted to do this life in the first place or why they had a revolution in the first place. [It’s] just as relevant today as it was when I read it as a 12-year-old. I never drank the Kool-Aid. I always looked for answers below the surface or hidden answers to life’s questions, so that book resonated, especially because it was a parable."

"This is one of my favorite films. The way that Louis Malle shoots Jeanne Moreau—those are some of the most beautiful walking scenes I’ve seen. She’s walking in the rain with her head held high, lost in herself, mumbling, and with that amazing score being played by Miles Davis. There is something so modern about the film, and it feels like it opens so many doors. When I was making A Fantastic Woman, I was trying to get a little bit closer to the elegant approach that Malle used to capture Moreau’s presence."

"Hey let’s lighten it up a bit shall we? This isn’t even my favorite Albert Brooks movie (that would be the amazing and prescient Real Life) but this is the funniest. Maybe one of the funniest movies ever. I’m not going to try to give written down examples as they will lose a great deal in that process. Just please go get it and watch it. The scene where he takes the Valium and then has to deal with a couple of — f**k it, trust me, every scene is funny and smart."

"The Apartment, Jack Lemmon movie. That is a great movie. Again, it’s watching humans trying to live their lives, but beautifully done. Billy Wilder generally, I’m a great admirer of his work. Some Like it Hot is perhaps the more obvious choice, but there’s a kind of extra wackiness to Some Like it Hot, which I like less. But The Apartment is a fairly proper, serious movie, but with some wonderful social observations and ironies. And of course, it’s just a fabulous performance from Jack Lemmon, one of my very favorite performers."