“This book scared the shit out of me. I picked it up after watching the film adaptation by Tarkovsky, which is one of my favourite movies. Sometimes I feel like the only explanation for human life is that our planet is a terrible god. I like thinking that planets are living, sentient behemoths that we completely misunderstand. I’m horrified to think what it would be like if such an abstract sentience had no regard for us, or enjoying toying with us. The act of repeatedly killing a doppelganger or a loved one seems so horrific; how could anyone think of something so awful? Whenever people pour cream into coffee in a clear glass, it reminds me of this book, because that’s what I imagine the surface of Solaris to look like.”

"If David Thewlis in Naked is my favorite male performance, then Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher must be my favorite female performance. I saw this with my mom at the theater when I was about fourteen or fifteen and we both loved it so much. I remember thinking, I want to make movies like that. I’ve always felt that the first films he made in Austria, especially the trilogy (The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video, and 71 Fragments), were a little too academic. He really avoided performances. But when he moved over to France with Code Unknown and then The Piano Teacher, something happened where he started making very passionate filmmaking. The actors are giving great performances while still being very clinical and brutal in their rejection of sentimentality."

"""See, my problem is, I don’t have favorites. I’ll tell you movies I like, and after I’ve told you and I read the list, I’ll say to myself, “Gee, you should’ve mentioned these five, or these five.” There are so many that I like, but I’ll mention some. This is the last thing you expect me to say. This is gonna knock you out of your shoes. My Fair Lady. That’s probably my favorite movie of all time. I think it is a perfect story, perfectly produced, perfectly acted, perfectly filmed. The dialogue is impeccable, the acting is sensational, the music — you can’t forget it. The settings, the scenes… It was comedic, it told a great story. I mean, I could watch that thing over and over and over again."""

"Number five…like I said, it always changes. There are a lot of good movies out there [that are] from time to time favorites. I would do The Searchers, from John Ford, with John Wayne. I’m a big Western fan, and this was a great Western. John Ford is interesting; if you are younger, you don’t appreciate John Ford so much. I liked more Howard Hawks and William Wyler Westerns when I was younger, and now, later, if you get a little older, you like John Ford more and more. It’s the same with some writers. There are some writers you love when you’re 20, and when you’re 30 or 35 you think it’s completely silly bulls–t what the guys wrote (laughs), but you appreciate other writers."

"Just watched this again the other night. About every five years or so I throw it on and enjoy it. Perhaps as some sort of antidote or palate cleanser for all the bombastic, inane crap that comprises 99% of the movies out there. For every Battleship and What To Expect When You’re Expecting, or by-the-numbers, manufactured twee, Indie quirkfest you end up seeing, you should watch this movie to equalize your sense of what a “good movie” really is. As simple a story as one can conceive (an honest man in post-war Rome who needs his bicycle for work, has it stolen and he sets out to get it back before the end of the day) that’s easily as compelling and truthful as any movie out there."

"Before the segmentation of TV brought on by cable, I first saw this on one of the UK’s four channels. Back then, you could always stumble upon strange and wonderful movies like this . . . and the whole family would watch. Often this made your enjoyment all the sweeter if a parent or sibling didn’t get it. I watched 3 Women with my first girlfriend and her mother. When the movie finished, the Ma said, “I couldn’t make head or tail of that, but I do know it was sick and perverted.” I said to her, “It’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen.” She didn’t much approve of me as a beau for her one and only daughter before we watched the movie, but afterwards she thought I was the anti-Christ."

"Apocalypse Now, to me, is one of those movies where visually, I still watch that now and go, “How did he pull that off?” I’ve heard all the stories — the heart attacks, the house up for sale, you know, them going into bankruptcy — all the craziness, and I still watch that movie and go, “How the f-ck did they do that?” I mean, you’ve got cows being pulled in the air, and the whole military, helicopters flying everywhere… it’s so amazing. It should be a complete disaster. It’s the best example of “Just stick to it, and keep going,” you know. I just love that movie, and some of the memorable performances were just amazing. And it’s still one of the most beautiful films ever shot — no CG; all real."

"I typically don’t like Western-type movies that much, but Red Hill. I really enjoyed that. I’m very picky about the bad guy, and whether or not he looks intimidating to me, you know? Like, I saw the I Spit on Your Grave remake, and all of the bad guys looked like soap opera actors that let their stubble grow. They didn’t have the aura of being a badass. And I’m sorry to those actors. They’re probably going to ****ing hate me, but this didn’t come across as intimidating or scary or anything, or even convincing as criminals, whereas this guy in Red Hill was the best bad guy I’ve seen in a long time. Just when he would look, he would look scary as ****. I love a bad guy that really convinces me."

"Anchored by Gena Rowland’s titanic performance, the Cassavetes opus was a watershed film for me. When her character waits for her kids at the bus stop I started crying and couldn’t stop. One of the movies’ greatest portrayals of the complexities of being female and interesting in a man’s world. Jeanne Dielman is the ultimate punk-rock statement in cinema. It’s feminist, female, utterly subversive—and clocking in at three hours and twenty-one minutes, it plants a flag of absolute confidence. It is a masterpiece of the first order, every shot purposeful, every moment freighted with intent. Akerman was twenty-five when she made the film, and she redefined our limited notions of a cinematic wunderkind. If anyone wants to argue with me about this, I’m happy to rumble."

"Anchored by Gena Rowland’s titanic performance, the Cassavetes opus was a watershed film for me. When her character waits for her kids at the bus stop I started crying and couldn’t stop. One of the movies’ greatest portrayals of the complexities of being female and interesting in a man’s world. Jeanne Dielman is the ultimate punk-rock statement in cinema. It’s feminist, female, utterly subversive—and clocking in at three hours and twenty-one minutes, it plants a flag of absolute confidence. It is a masterpiece of the first order, every shot purposeful, every moment freighted with intent. Akerman was twenty-five when she made the film, and she redefined our limited notions of a cinematic wunderkind. If anyone wants to argue with me about this, I’m happy to rumble."