"Maybe the best film ever made in Europe about modern Europe, by my favorite of all European directors, Carol Reed. It’s a companion piece to its follow-up, The Man Between, my other favorite Reed film; both films present a totally pessimistic take on the moral collapse of a divided postwar Europe, with no heroes or possible redemption. I’ve probably seen it fifty or sixty times since it first appeared on TV in the 1950s, and still watch it from beginning to end whenever I get the chance. With the exception of the miscast Orson Welles (how could Alida Valli ever have loved such a mean-spirited, charmless, smirking killer?), the players, led by Joseph Cotten, Valli, and Trevor Howard, are at their best, as are the finest collection of German-Austrian actors ever assembled. It contains one of the greatest musical scores and has easily the greatest ending to any film ever made."

"Another one I saw as a kid and have seen many times since. It’s etched itself into my mind, both the visuals and the story. First of all, this melancholy provincial town, this shabby hotel where the Victory Day is being celebrated. I adore these atmospheres in Poland. And this typically Polish situation, where the urge to live clashes with the sense of duty, where hope is mixed with cynical despair. The way that history gets in the way of love—that obviously stayed with me. Then there are the deep-focus compositions and the dramatic lighting. And it has so many memorable scenes, like the vodka glasses that are lit and sent sliding down the bar counter in a kind of All Souls ceremony. And the assassinated politician embracing his petrified killer. And Cybulski. I love films carried by a bravura performer, especially when it’s not posturing and the character is complicated and real."

"When this album came out, I didn't stop listening to it for an entire year. So much music comes out now that to try and hear all of it is hard, there are few constants. But with this, Liquid Swords was just one of those CDs that never, ever, came out of my car. The way it opened was mind-blowing and its style of storytelling was unique: every single line is like a painting, every single line is a fucking picture. It had this constant stream of mad storytelling that was quite unique to the genre. When somebody comes along with something so different and special like that, a moment that hooks you from the start, it blows your mind. It was a time when I thought I'd heard everything and when it came along it was just killer. Moments in music like this are what I look for, what I seek out – these are the moments that make it all so special."