"The Western is obviously one of the staples of American cinema, but ironically, the Italian spaghetti-westerns have become more famous in pop culture than the classic American western. And amongst the spaghetti-western directors, Sergio Leone will always be the titan for me. Although I love his films with Clint Eastwood, this epic is one to spend an evening with; from the classic shoot-out at the train depot, to the haunting final three-way gun fight, this may be my favorite portrayal of Charles Bronson on screen. It’s a story of the expansion of the railroad and the opening of the west; of revenge and infamy; of love triangles and justice. And with a sweeping, heartrending soundtrack from Ennio Morricone, what more can you ask of a film?"

"In terms of performances, I still watch that film and am stunned by Robert De Niro. It’s such a carefully studied performance and he’s extraordinary in that movie. I watch it just for the glee, even though it’s quite a dark film — I watch it and I love him in that film, it’s just like watching someone do an amazing guitar solo. But I also love Scorsese’s sort of sleight of hand in that movie; the way that the story is told, every performance in the film from Peter Boyle and Cybill Shepherd, and everyone in between –Scorcese himself in that awful, cokey, monstrous revenger in the back of that car. It’s like watching a very slow car crash and there is great value in that, I think."

"There is an embarrassing story flying around about me faking appendicitis when I was eleven years old. Sadly, it’s true. The upshot of the experience is that whilst I was in hospital my parents bought a beta VCR player. So on the way home after being released, we stopped at a very small garage (or gas station) which had a few shelves of movies. There were no video stores yet. We hired The Sound of Music for two weeks and I watched it repeatedly, several times a day, while I recovered. Needless to say, I know every word and love it dearly. I guess I love the way the family slowly embraces Maria. She has such a good heart, and it finds the perfect home. How do you solve a problem like Maria?!"