"The story that Todd Phillips tells in “Joker” and the issues that this cinematic masterpiece raises are so profound, so necessary, that if you look away from the genius of this work of art, you will miss the gift of the mirror it is offering us. Yes, there’s a disturbed clown in that mirror, but he’s not alone — we’re standing right there beside him…"

"The sense of place is what I cherish. I love the Greek chorus assembled out of all these characters in the neighborhood, and how specific each of them is. Spike’s work was a revelation for me, and I had been a fan since his first film. With Do the Right Thing, it felt like he was orchestrating his masterpiece—it’s so musical, so vibrant, and so brave."

"The smartest and meanest in the noir cycle, with Ralph Meeker at his sexiest and nastiest as Mike Hammer and a constellation of complicated females, from Maxine Cooper as the hot-to-the-touch Velda to Cloris Leachman and Gaby Rodgers as two dangerously lost women. Praising it for its “thoroughgoing seediness,” Paul Schrader calls it film noir’s masterpiece, and it’s easy to see why."

"My favorite Fellini film, and the one that opened me up to foreign films and inspired me to look into the window of other cultures and artworks outside of my immediate influences. Anyone interested in the creative process, of any medium, should take in this film for its personal vision of the artist and the artist’s life, and where these intersect and divide. A masterpiece."