"A midget-sized floor in an office building is something that is possible. John Cusack doing puppetry and Cameron Diaz looking frumpy and taking care of monkeys are possible. A portal to a person’s mind is possible. This kind of limitless potential is what makes films magical."

"Taught me that we are going to die and we don’t know why. (I had coffee with him the year before he died and asked him to sign a copy “to John Cameron Mitchell”. He started writing in a shaky hand, then paused. “Do you need all three?”)
Read, age 25 in St-Germain-Des-Pres, Paris."

"Originally issued as Reign of Terror, Anthony Mann’s Classics-Illustrated-meets-film-noir treatment of the French revolution is one of the most striking low budget period pieces to come from Hollywood, abetted by graphic b/w imagery from the great d.p. John Alton and striking production design from the always reliable William Cameron Menzies. Plus it’s witty moves like lightning."

"This movie is such a strange little treasure. It is brilliantly bizarre, from the main conceit to the fact that Cameron Diaz (at her very best; I miss her) plays a terribly coiffed chimpanzee enthusiast. Admit it, right now you’re thinking about that scene where John Malkovich enters the portal into his own brain, and all anyone can say is the word “Malkovich.” A masterpiece of unapologetic, creative weirdness."

"Being John Malkovich mashes different genres and spins everything on its head. Spike Jonze tends to do that — he’s got his own unique take on the world and I love it. He’s probably the number one director that I would love to work with. Charlie Kaufman is one of my favorite writers too. John Cusack is so good in that movie — just so sad but yet so funny — and Cameron Diaz killed it in that role too. That’s my favorite of hers. The fact that Malkovich even agreed to do the movie is such a fun element within itself. It works on many levels."

"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."

"I’m a sucker for films of the “boy/girl and his/her dog (lion/bear/whatever)” variety. I love gritty British kitchen-sink dramas of the sixties. I love a good angry-kid coming-of-age film. Kes has it all, minus the sentimentality and anthropomorphism of so many animal films. My heart aches for the kid and his bird—I just want their companionship, his only form of stability, to last forever. Fantastic, bittersweet score by John Cameron. My favorite Ken Loach film. "

"This is about an East German singer who has a botched sex-change operation and is left with an “angry inch” of flesh between her legs. Moving to the US, she gets involved with another singer, who steals her songs and becomes famous, while Hedwig, played by the director John Cameron Mitchell, ends up playing in a chain of seafood restaurants called Bilgewater’s. It’s a beautiful film that touches on Greek mythology and the origins of love, as well as gender identity. It’s a lot of fun too – a comedy with a serious message. And the songs are great."