"This is hard, because it could be many things. I mean, it could be Kubrick, it could be Haneke again. Do I need to mix it up a little bit? I feel like I’ve gone very serious. I think it’s either 2001: A Space Odyssey or Funny Games by Michael Haneke. What I like about Funny Games is a moment, actually, where all of it… OK, I think 2001 is a better movie. However, there’s a moment in Funny Games that’s genius, that I love, which is when he turns to the audience, and suddenly turns the whole movie into this kind of study, where we are accountable as an audience. Because we like the violence that’s happening in the movie, and he’s doing it for us, so suddenly we’re culpable. And I think that’s a really cool moment in film that I haven’t really seen other than that. Yeah, I thought that was really clever. Also, I’m talking the American remake, not the original, because he remade it shot-for-shot for the American audience, which is really interesting, because he made it in German and then it only had so much reach, and then was like, “I want to make this for a society where violence maybe is a little more glamorized.” And I’m not just saying that about Americans; I think we’re the same in the UK, where we really like watching that on-screen. It’s just a really interesting study into that, and so, for that reason, I’m going with that. And one time I hosted a screening where all of our friends came down and watched it, and I have never seen a more depressed group of people in my life, and it was a huge mistake. [laughs] Everyone left immediately. No one hung around after."

"My relationship to film is dictated to a lot by what I’m working on at the time, and right now I’m writing so there’s a few films that I’ve been watching a great deal of. My top three films at the moment are Pusher III, A Prophet and Bullhead. I think that how those films are constructed, tonally, is what I’m looking for, because none of them follow a narrative that I’m interested in — although the worlds have some similarities. I’m looking to do a very personal exploration of a man’s journey that is, for whatever reason, slightly outside of everyday society, but still has all of those hopes and desires of everyone else in America. I just think, of the three Pushers, for me as an audience member, enjoying those films I go backwards. I think Pusher III is a masterpiece; Pusher II I like a great deal; and Pusher is my least favorite of the trilogy, which is the only time I’ve ever had that experience. I mean, I guess I do like Godfather II more than Godfather one; well I don’t know if I like it more, I find myself watching it more frequently. I really like the struggle of that character through Pusher III. Unlike the other films, he’s really, really trying to do the right thing with his life over the course of that film. And you just see that, because of the environment he’s in and the forces that surround him, that he keeps getting pulled down over and over and over until he descends into total darkness at the end."

"Number two is slightly different. There are similarities. It’s gotta be This Is Spinal Tap. It’s gotta be that. Just the detail of that as well. What I love about Spinal Tap is, I think it’s the first example of that; it has been carried on through things like The Office and Arrested Development, because they have quite similar qualities. It’s comedy that’s made for people with a sense of humor. You actually have to have quite an attuned sense of humor to know why things are funny in that. I think some comedy is written and performed at an audience, like,”This is it, this is funny. You are not funny, but you’re gonna watch us be funny.” The thing about a lot of that stuff — and I think Spinal Tap is the kind of crystallization of that — you have to be quite a funny person, and have quite a grasp of the work in the comedy to know why Derek Smalls saying, “David, ‘Smell the Glove’ is here. Hello, Jeanine,” over the microphone is a funny thing for him to do. And you have to know why that’s an inappropriate thing to do. And you have to have an understanding of the rules of comedy, and just the rules of everyday social graces to know why that is funny. I kind of like being part of that exclusive club. You’re kind of in on the joke. It’s a communal experience because we’re trusting you that you’re smart enough to know why this is funny without us having to describe it and spoon feed it to you. I like the elitism of being part of that club."

"I really like how Aki Kaurismäki manages to create in the viewer such a strong sense of warmth and emotional involvement by subtracting the classical elements that one would associate with that expression of feeling. He manages to capture mankind in a brilliant way with just one shot or one gesture that opens an entire backstory of a character. He can be very serious without taking himself seriously. What is important in his films is that he believes in the strength of images and doesn’t see the need to add and add and add."

"Last but not least, man, will be a classic that really holds up and it’s not a comedy. I don’t want to end this on a neutral or serious note, but Rebel Without a Cause, man. I really, really dig that movie. I really dig that movie and I really dig James Dean. I dig what he was about. I’ve watched interviews and movies about him and stuff, and I just dig him as an artist and I really think that that captures… It’s a coming-of-age story, too, but it’s not the ones that we’re used to — that we’re going to laugh at and feel like, “Oh, they won out.” He’s coming from a very dark place as a teenager, which we all go through. I’m sure a lot of us haven’t been in the darkness as long as his character has, but we get how that feels and it’s kind of cool to see him simmering in that emotion. It’s not anticipated at all, so it’s really seamless. It’s really nice to see. You kind of see him growing up in, like, the scrappiest version it can look like."