"All right. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll pick something completely weird and ridiculous for the very reason that I just said, and that would be Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, specifically for the scene in which Jim Carrey births himself from the anus of a fake rhino, because it is one of the single most genius pieces of comedic writing that will never be given its due because it’s part of a ridiculous, vaguely racist, silly comedy. The setup for that whole sequence is incredible from the point you see him. He’s inside this rhino, which he’s using as a sort of eavesdropping device, and it’s so meticulously done. There’s a fan inside because it’s hot. The fan breaks, so he has to undress. All to get to this point where he literally squeezes his way out of the behind of this rhino in front of a family of tourists who just effectively see a rhino giving birth to a screaming, naked human being. The industry involved in setting that joke up, the way that it just creeps up on you, like you’ll think, “Oh, it’s funny because he’s inside a rhino. It’s funny because it’s hot. It’s funny because he’s taking off his underwear.” And then suddenly, you realize, “Oh, wait a minute, this was a long game they were playing here. This is a buildup.” And it snuck up on you. And suddenly he starts to, as only he can, emerge from the back of this rhino, and then this family pulls up, and it’s just brilliant. I think that sequence should be celebrated in no uncertain terms because it is just a genius piece of comedy executed with the extraordinary aplomb that that man is capable of displaying."

"I just think that it's a perfect record. The cover is exquisite; it's still one of the most iconic record covers of all time, so beautiful, mysterious and alluring. Every song on that record is great; it's a brilliant record. 

 That sort of worn-out sound of her voice felt very different to me than a lot of the female voices that you hear, even to this day. She's got this very distinct gravelly, worn-out, fucked-up voice that sounds like she's done it all and of course, she has.

 I just think she's a really interesting artist and she continues to take risks and never does the obvious which is something I've always loved about her. 'Why'd Ya Do It' is still one of my all-time favourite songs and it thrills me – this sort of vengeful, raging expression of total disappointment in somebody. I just really identify with that song for some reason. Her version of 'Working Class Hero' is gorgeous as is 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan' – both are just amazing songs. 

 She's not been born with the greatest of voices and in this climate where everybody's a stage-schooled kid and everybody can sign multiple octaves – they've not actually got any soul in their heart – she's all soul and all desire to communicate through this fucked up voice that's full of frailty. I just think she's so exciting as a result. 

 She was born so beautiful that she could've easily cultivated a very sort of alluring, very traditionally feminine voice and yet she didn't: I'm so grateful to her for that. There's a lot of androgyny that comes out in her sound, which I really identify with."

"Oh, oh, Night of the Hunter. That’s just a film that… It was actually recommended to me by Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson’s wife. I think it’s her favorite film of all time. I’d never really seen anything like it because it’s kind of a film noir set in the South. The story, it’s about a family who are terrorized by a con-man. Robert Mitchum was an incredible actor — the original Cape Fear is another incredible performance by him — but it’s such a slimy performance in this film. He’s such a great manipulator and tells tall tales. And it’s famous because he’s got these tattoos on his knuckles of “love” and “hate” and it actually is a conduit for a really great story that he repeats throughout the film. The cinematography’s incredible; it’s just like all blacks and whites and hard shadows and lots of silhouettes along the river. It’s just a stunning, a stunning film! It’s really good. Talking about these movies makes me want to see these movies again. [laughing] They’re so good!"

"It’s going to be a draw between Godfather II and Manhattan. Obviously, there’s no point in seeing Godfather II without seeing The Godfather, but Godfather II is the only sequel I like. It’s just a spectacular character study and the scope of it, the humor of it, the sex appeal, the action, and the twist of the story and Fredo Corleone and Robert Deniro in the flashbacks — all of that is everything you ever want when you watch a movie. Manhattan I saw in the 1970s as a teenager. Woody Allen was pretty important in my house. My parents are both New York Jews and Manhattan is just an incredibly beautiful movie with a deep expression of humor and existentialism together. It now seems more morally complex to me than I realized, but I just loved things in it like the camera being locked off and people walking in and out of the frame. I noticed that even as a kid and tried to bend my head around the corners."