"I really like documentaries a lot; maybe more than film. I love this documentary called Hands on a Hard Body. It was made in the 1990s, I think. It’s about this annual event that takes place in Texas — it’s kind of like an endurance test of how long you can keep your hand on a truck. And if you are the last man standing, you get the truck. Literally, you just stand, day and night with your hand on a truck, and there’s like 15 or 20 people all standing there. And it’s such a well-done documentary. They feature each person before the program starts; the director comes in and he asks them questions like, “Why do you want to do this? Why do you want your truck?” and it’s just a real, unique look into people’s lives. It’s really powerful and it’s really moving and it’s kind of funny and odd and bizarre. It goes on for, I think, over 72 hours, and it’s really sad as you see this people dropping out. It says a lot about human endurance."

"We’re going to go with number four, Toy Story. Of course, the first computer animated film. Wildly original in concept, in creation, in everything about it. And it is a kids movie that resonated with adults because you cover things like betrayal or jealousy, all set within this small, childlike world. It had me in stitches toward the end as they’re trying to catch the moving van and faces are blowing, and it all goes bad, and they light the rocket with Buzz’s helmet. They worked together to get back to Andy, get back to the box. And there was just something magical about that as a kids movie that felt entirely fresh at the time. And of course Pixar is… Have they ever done anything that’s not exceptional? Not that I know of, but this was the first. and we like to talk about computer animation, which was incredible and groundbreaking at the time, but if you look at the dialogue and the performances… Again, it’s Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, and all of the other characters. It was magical."

"It's a perfect record. Succinct, sad, melodic, definitely its own thing. The simplicity of it was a big thing for me, that music that simple can also be really moving… I think a lot of the simplicity of it might be to do that he was having a hard time and couldn't get it together to do anything particularly complicated, but it is a wonderful record. Just doing enough and never overblowing anything works so well. Has my music taste changed? I've always listened to quite loud and quite quiet music so I don't think getting older has changed it that much, not that I can think of. I think Belong is the only quite new record on this list, which is a bit fogeyish, but I guess you have to take a long time to know if something really is the best ever. Some of these lists you look down and they say 'best album of all time - number three, The Strokes!' No, wait, something has happened here. There is a disturbance in the force."

"I suppose given the tenor of this list, Melville is pretty predictable, being that he’s a genius of crime noir, but this film is neither noir nor gangster; it’s about a thoughtful, intelligent, wise, and committed country priest, played by the young Jean-Paul Belmondo (!). Melville has a strong moral code, standards of honor and loyalty, as seen not just in his crime movies, but in the devastating Army of Shadows, his film drawn from his experience in the French Resistance, but I never could have foreseen him making a movie that is basically an argument of morality between a compassionate young stud of an impeccably behaved priest and a wild and magnetic, cynical woman, the riveting Emmanuelle Riva. Also, it made me get Catholicism in a way I never had before, namely the appeal of having as a confessor and advisor someone whose concern is for one’s soul. What could be more moving and fulfilling (and flattering)? It’s way more seductive than a psychiatrist, and it’s almost free."