"The other one in the comedy genre is an all-time classic, Coming to America. Like Harlem Nights, Coming to America, the rawness of it, Eddie and Arsenio’s relationship, just all the different characters Eddie was able to play and pull off — not a shabby job, Arsenio played a lot of characters himself — but the brilliance of Eddie Murphy. If they gave Oscars for comedies back then, that would have been the top of the list. You know, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor turned in some incredible ones, too, but I tend to love what Coming to America was all about. Just the fact that it was New York, and how it started and where it went."

"You really can’t beat The Apartment for finding laughs and heartache and triumph in the life of a morally compromised schnook of an insurance salesman. The great Billy Wilder was at one of his many career peaks here, finding unforgettable depth in Shirley MacLaine as elevator operator Fran Kubelik, and pulling a delicious Mitt Romneyesque-bad-guy performance out of an unlikely casting choice, the Disney leading man from Flubber, Fred MacMurray. The high-water mark in romantic comedy, this movie is so assured of its tone that even an attempted suicide is never far from a big laugh. It’s all wrapped up in giddy melancholy and — in a rare move — the Academy gave this comedy a whole bunch of Oscars too. Viva Wilder!"

"I love that the Criterion release of this includes all the times this film was talked about on Siskel & Ebert. That show was where I first heard about this film, and seeing how pissed off they were about it being snubbed by the Oscars made me seek it out. It resonated with me so deeply, and still does, the way it presents these two kids and their families, and their struggle to pursue their dreams while dealing with all the practical hardships of working-class life. It’s become kind of a foundational piece of work for me, because it was one of the first films I saw that demonstrated that if you look closely, great stories and great characters are all around us."