"I guess because Werner Herzog might be the coolest man in the world. I like how he inserts himself into all of his stories. I’m a big fan of, I guess, “direct” cinema, but I don’t believe that a documentarian has to be a fly on the wall. That would be dull. I would listen to Herzog read anything. He could read the yellow pages. [On the influence of Herzog on Catfish] I guess just the basic instinct on our part just to be in our own films, to be a cameraman and a voice behind the camera and perhaps a character at times. We definitely get that from Herzog."

"I love the fact that a West Coast pioneer took an East Coast approach to doing an album. Again, it's gangster to have a political opinion. He took that political incorrectness and made poetry out of it - to where again, it wasn’t 'Gangsta', it was 'Gangster'. I could appreciate that; I appreciate the business, not just random gunfire. There was a shock value to it. Gangsta rap now is just little kids talking shit; they’re going to get caught for their crime, they’re not being smart about their criminal activity. I like smart crime; white collar crime, but we’ve gone from the bosses making the music to the hit men."

"Edward Yang died way too young. Everything he did was wonderful, including Taipei Story and Mahjong, but these two are especially staggering. In both films he somehow manages to say just about everything you can about life without ever getting high-minded about it. Talk about an incredible craftsman! All of the stories being told in Yi Yi are kind of unremarkable—it’s the telling that is so remarkable. And A Brighter Summer Day is just an amazing gangland epic. I don’t know how you watch it without becoming convinced that you’re watching the greatest movie ever made. It’s like The Godfather in that way."

"Edward Yang died way too young. Everything he did was wonderful, including Taipei Story and Mahjong, but these two are especially staggering. In both films he somehow manages to say just about everything you can about life without ever getting high-minded about it. Talk about an incredible craftsman! All of the stories being told in Yi Yi are kind of unremarkable—it’s the telling that is so remarkable. And A Brighter Summer Day is just an amazing gangland epic. I don’t know how you watch it without becoming convinced that you’re watching the greatest movie ever made. It’s like The Godfather in that way."

"I guess because Werner Herzog might be the coolest man in the world. I like how he inserts himself into all of his stories. I’m a big fan of, I guess, “direct” cinema, but I don’t believe that a documentarian has to be a fly on the wall. That would be dull. I would listen to Herzog read anything. He could read the yellow pages. [On the influence of Herzog on Catfish] I guess just the basic instinct on our part just to be in our own films, to be a cameraman and a voice behind the camera and perhaps a character at times. We definitely get that from Herzog."

"Then I’m gonna go with the Holy Grail. I think these movies always get pushed aside as being silly and yes, they are silly, which is one of the intents of the movies. It was just, as a child, and as I grew up and watched them as an adult, they were one of the reasons why I was like, “Oh, you don’t have to think the way that everybody thinks” — these guys just did whatever they wanted to do, and their imaginations ran wild. They were always a huge inspiration, and so that movie was such a great capsule of that. And so funny. So good."

"Last one. I’m going to go with The French Connection, because it’s one of the most incredible cop movies and pulp movies there is. The camera work, Gene Hackman, the shots from up on the rooftop looking down. That chase scene alone puts it on this list. You hear how they made that movie, and you really feel the bare hands that went into that thing, and it just reset how you make a movie like that. You know, totally changed the game on that level. Just seeing that car barrel through the streets, you feel the danger and you feel the pressure of all of these things. It’s doing pulp in a whole new way and in a visceral way. Then, on top of that, you have these people with real stakes and real things happening to them, and [director William] Friedkin, he’s a king."