"Everything that [D.W.] Griffith made: Broken Blossoms, Intolerance, Birth of a Nation, you just name it. Everything. He’s the Shakespeare of cinema. Period. Watch his films and you’ll know instantly."

"Uncle Tom’s Cabin may be, today, the most misunderstood, misread American novel. I hope its vitality, generosity, and human warmth will carry it on past this period of prejudice and eclipse."

"For a period of time, I thought I might only make documentaries. Films like Gimme Shelter had a lot to do with this attitude. Why make narrative work when real life was so interesting? I loved the Maysles approach to filming; I loved the Rolling Stones during that period; I loved the controversy surrounding the film. It still kind of seems like the perfect movie. Anytime this is playing in the theater, I try to see it."

"It's strange, I don't really like the Medieval period however three of my favorite movies take place at that time: this one, Andreï Rublev by Andrei Tarkovsky and Marketa Lazarová by Frantisek Vlácil."

"This is another book about a man in Victorian England trying to reform and own the heart of a sex worker. It’s a theme for the Victorian period and it’s a theme for me as a reader and this psychosexual drama held my attention on every page. Very ornate descriptions of the main sexy girl’s chapped and bleeding lips, which I like. It is very rich with period sex details (the way they applied spermicide is haunting), which is primo for me."