"This is a weird tie. But A Room with a View was my favorite movie when I was nine. And it really screwed with my head. It’s so over-the-top romantic, and I remember it made me dizzy with desire. I really expected nothing less than Julian Sands in a Tuscan poppy field from my adult romantic life. And Criterion is about to release it . . . I’m really excited about this. Honestly, I haven’t seen it since I was like fifteen, so it’s high time to revisit it. But I’m a little scared to revisit it, too, so I’m pairing it with another about-to-released Criterion movie, Agnes Varda’s Documenteur, which I saw recently at Lincoln Center and really, really loved. Documenteur is this gorgeous, weird portrayal of heartbreak and aimless wandering through a strange city trying to find an apartment. Watching it gets you in touch with all the times you’ve felt horribly depressed and also overwhelmed by the beauty and color of everything around you. It’s kind of about what happens after you get together with Julian Sands and have a kid with him and then you separate and suddenly you’re a single mother wandering around Los Angeles crying."

"For anyone who doesn't know, this is a Texas-set drama about growing up and growing pains shot over 12 years with the same actors, some of whom start very young and who age on screen before our eyes. It's as much about the heartbreak of being a parent as that of growing up – and that without the moments of real connection between parents and children, siblings and friends, a lot of us would be lost. We don't know when or where these moments are going to come from and we make wrong turns and choices all along the way. Patricia Arquette as the mom who tries hard but keeps picking the wrong man is really good in this. It's ultimately uplifting but doesn't let on that it's necessarily an easy ride and all the more interesting for that. It's always been fascinating seeing kids grow up in dramas (eg AJ and Meadow in The Sopranos or Arya and Sansa in Game of Thrones) but I've never seen so many years condensed into such a short time-space while still feeling there's lots of breathing space in the film. The fact that it's made by Richard Linklater who's so good with actors, picture and soundtrack of course adds loads."

"This is a weird tie. But A Room with a View was my favorite movie when I was nine. And it really screwed with my head. It’s so over-the-top romantic, and I remember it made me dizzy with desire. I really expected nothing less than Julian Sands in a Tuscan poppy field from my adult romantic life. And Criterion is about to release it . . . I’m really excited about this. Honestly, I haven’t seen it since I was like fifteen, so it’s high time to revisit it. But I’m a little scared to revisit it, too, so I’m pairing it with another about-to-released Criterion movie, Agnes Varda’s Documenteur, which I saw recently at Lincoln Center and really, really loved. Documenteur is this gorgeous, weird portrayal of heartbreak and aimless wandering through a strange city trying to find an apartment. Watching it gets you in touch with all the times you’ve felt horribly depressed and also overwhelmed by the beauty and color of everything around you. It’s kind of about what happens after you get together with Julian Sands and have a kid with him and then you separate and suddenly you’re a single mother wandering around Los Angeles crying."