"There are certain movies that I always go back to, but before I make a movie, I always find myself watching The Last Detail, the Hal Ashby movie. There’s something about it that’s so alive. It’s one of the first movies to really have frank language. I think it was somewhat shocking at the time. It was the first movie where everyone aggressively cursed, but it was about people in the armed services. It’s also a small story that’s very intimate and you just fall in love with all these characters that are in this terrible situation. I always watch it because Hal Ashby shot it in such a way that it just feels real. It’s almost like a documentary. I like how he paces the scenes, the coverage, and I always go back to it because it reminds me that the most important thing I can do as a filmmaker is convince the audience that what they’re watching is really happening. I don’t want them to be aware of me. So that’s one movie. It’s both heartbreaking and hilarious, which is always my favorite combination."

"And number five, I’m going to say Smokey and the Bandit. I’m back on the comedy. It’s between Smokey and the Bandit and OSS 117, which is a French movie — it’s sort of like their version of the Naked Gun movies, but their agent’s really good; he’s actually very good at many things. He just happens to be a complete moron. But he’s a lover, he knows many languages… Anyway, Smokey and the Bandit, Jackie Gleason’s performance and Sally Field’s; she was amazing. It’s also a good snapshot of America when being a truck driver was cool. [laughs] Being an 18-wheeler truck driver was like, “That’s a good job.” I mean, they were badasses, and you don’t really think of that now; they don’t have that same mystique. But Jackie Gleason as Buford T. Justice… He has his own f***ing entrance music; every time he shows up, they’ve got this tuba playing, he’s there on the scene, and he’s doing his schtick, doing the best stuff. He’s another character, like the Joe Gideon character in All That Jazz, who’s despicable. He’s a racist, he’s a terrible father, he’s a sh**y cop, and you just can’t wait for him to get back on the screen. He has a line in there, talking about Sally Field, who runs off, and she’s a dancer, and he says, “That’s what you get for poontangin’ around with a bunch of hippie show folk.” [laughs] That is the quality of stuff he’s doing in that movie; it’s just so brilliant."

"I remember seeing it at the time and thinking it was fantastically irritating. It was the post punk period and I didn't really like that woozy American liberal culture of the time. Then I re-watched it a few years later and really enjoyed it. It's so amoral and horrible and of course there's the kind of post Vietnam thing of all the people who are against the ROTC and the militaristic guys. The end scene where they totally fuck up the parade is just amazing. It's very entertaining and now it looks really great. That American liberalism looks like an endangered species these days. Something like Animal House or Smokey and the Bandit couldn't be made now – smoking joints and breaking the law – America's gone a lot more right wing since then."

"This is maybe my second favorite doc of all time. It’s a PBS American Masters on David Geffen. He is the single most successful entrepreneur ever in the entertainment business. This guy is just brilliant, has had a really interesting life and done so much, every big cultural event. I’ve seen it a hundred times and really think that if you’re interested in entering or being an artist in the film industry it’s really important to understand the business, and a film like this makes you feel like you have a book that no one else has. He’s the smartest businessman to have entered the art world, in my opinion. He’s almost got the soul of an artist, but his Picasso-like skill is for the business of entertainment. It’s insanely fascinating."

"I feel like everyone has this on their list of songs, because who doesn’t remember hearing this and just being like ‘Wow, I feel so amazing right now!’ I got a tape and it was all different songs - it had Sum 41, Blink-182, Papa Roach, Fred Durst and Nirvana. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ satisfied every single inch of me and it really hit every nerve. It’s the most complete pop song ever, you’re just ‘Oh my god, this is probably the best song ever written.’ “Like the Britney song, it was a perfect song for me. ‘...Baby One More Time’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ are perfect pop songs, they’re from completely different worlds, but worlds that are important for a teenager to have a connection to. As an adult it’s still an important connection for me to have, that’s the thing with these magical songs, I feel exactly the same way when I hear ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ now. It’s always satisfying and I never want to turn it off. I’ve heard these songs so many times and they always feel as good. “It’s been a soundtrack to so many times and I also discovered so many of Nirvana’s albums and grew to love them as an adult in a completely different way than as a child. I’ve danced to it in clubs so many times; on tour, before a show, after a show and I’ve played it in the club before shows, so that the audience will hear it. There’s certain songs that I like to play to get people going and this is one of them."