"I loved every song on that CD and that was right when I first started partying and drinking and girls were huge in my life. That was the CD that you could put on at a party in high school and put it on spin and convince girls to show you their boobs. There’s just a lot of getting high and trying to figure out exactly what Nate Dogg would say. ‘Smoke weed every day."

"I first read this before I had the emotional range or life experience to grasp what it was really about. I still loved it, and every time I came back to it, it had more resonance. It was also the book assigned to me in high school art, to design a cover. I rather simplistically painted my left hand, full of darkness. It was the moment I realized I was not headed to art college."

"When I was at school there was a book that was very popular called Seven Types of Ambiguity. One of the things it criticized was something called ‘The Author’s Intention.’ You’ve got to discard the author’s intention. It doesn’t matter what the author’s intention in the piece is, or what his interpretation of the piece is, or what his evaluation or estimation of the piece is. It exists independently of his opinions about it."

"I love James St. James’ Disco Bloodbath, [the book] Party Monster is based on. I’ve known him for about 300 years. He writes the same way he speaks. I know how his mind works, so it’s fun to peek in and hang with him and his sensibilities. His other one, [Freak Show], Trudie Styler made a movie of that book with Bette Midler! It’s about a teenage drag queen in high school."

"I love James St. James’ Disco Bloodbath, [the book] Party Monster is based on. I’ve known him for about 300 years. He writes the same way he speaks. I know how his mind works, so it’s fun to peek in and hang with him and his sensibilities. His other one, [Freak Show], Trudie Styler made a movie of that book with Bette Midler! It’s about a teenage drag queen in high school."

"I watched Code Unknown when I was in film school, and I left feeling like I had to pick up the trash in the cinema, like I had to take responsibility. What he was pointing out about individual responsibility toward other human beings really struck me hard. I must say I am grateful that Haneke exists in this time. He has such a European way of making films—it’s beautiful, but he shows no mercy."

"Welcome to the Dollhouse is great. Even though it’s about a girl in middle school, to me, that feels like the most honest reflection of what being a kid around that age feels like. It’s just so bad. It’s like that movie captures the very worst moments of being that age so perfectly. Everything is unfair, everyone hates you, and the world is totally against you. It’s such a good coming-of-age movie."

"One of the most beautiful films ever made. It’s a French movie with almost no dialogue, and I remember watching it in school several times. The innocence and the imagination of the young protagonist are threatened by bullies and adults, but the relationship he forms with his balloon gives us marvelous insight into childhood. I love how the film explores universal themes that can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages and backgrounds."

"I remember reading this years ago and crying, moved by how intensely Barry dives into a child's point of view through words and illustrations. There's no one like her in that way. Freddie is having a rough time: with school, with his own fluctuating grasp on things, with family, with his dark thoughts and fears, and Barry jumps into his world and enacts it with her usual compassion and realness and love."