"If I had dinner plans and I happen to be scrolling through the television channels and this is on, I’m gonna be late for dinner. I just can’t take my eyes off this movie. I was at the Kubrick exhibit at the LA County Museum of Art, and it was incredible to see the production details on this–the script, and what the bomb looked like, and the props. And that’s another movie that just was so far ahead of its time, and effortlessly combined humor and horror. In such a profound level the subject was terrifying and real, and prescient to the Cold War at that time. That absurdity of war and the military, it’s just still so great and hilarious and terrifying."

"That’s probably my favorite film right now. Drinking Buddies was very inspired by this movie. I just love how it managed to be a real successful mainstream Hollywood comedy but it’s really complicated. The characters in this film are married, they have children, they’re still talking about open sexual relationships, and doing drugs, it just… it feels real to me, is how it feels. I’m very impressed by it, not only for its sense of humor which I think is spot on, but also for its sort of willingness to dip into dramatic elements and to have central characters who are not necessarily likeable all the time, who are, you know, sort of confused and behaving in very human realistic ways."

"Number one that always springs to mind is Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. I’m sure you’re familiar with that film. It’s one of those movies which manages to combine all sorts of flavors. People tend to think of it as a romantic comedy, but actually it has some quite dark elements; the Shirley MacLaine character tries to kill herself at one point. And that’s the sort of movie, I like to think — in terms of the sort of films I would like to try and make — are films which are hard to pigeonhole. It has elements of humor, maybe, but there’s also drama in there. Billy Wilder’s one of my heroes, because I think he’s able to sort of step between different genres and make masterpieces."

"This has to be up there. There are parts of this movie that I think are perfect — like when [Andrew Lincoln] is flipping the cards for Keira Knightley. I just died. I think I was in love with Keira too; when I would see her, I could get that heartbreak he felt. For some reason, there’s so many aspects of love in that movie — it all resonates with you one way or another, and there’s such humor and different stories, young and old. There’s all kinds of relationships — it’s family and taking care of them even if you have to sacrifice your own romantic love. I always watch it and am always overwhelmed with how good it is. It’s amazing."

"I would say Pulp Fiction, for sure. When you are a teenager, I would say, “What the hell is going on? If making movies looks like this, OK, I want to be a director.” Everything was kind of perfect; there was the humor. That’s why I was not just honored and happy to work with [Quentin Tarantino], but crazy happy. [laughs] When he told me he was doing the movie, I was dancing in the streets in Paris for hours. I had a sense of joy, for sure. So I would say Pulp Fiction, for everything we just love in that movie, like the dialogue, the shots, the lights, the actors, the craziness, the freedom of making something so freeing."