"Oshima is often likened to Godard, but I think the true kindred spirit is Fassbinder—for the restless intellect and furious productivity, and the rage, wit, and lucidity with which they probed their respective national psyches. These are also two of the most devastating films ever made about racism."

"I loved that about Lenny as well — it combines this documentary feel and captures a spirit of who the true people were, separate from who the performer was. I love that sort of dialogue in cinema in general. It’s sort of the difference between the private and the public."

"Oshima is often likened to Godard, but I think the true kindred spirit is Fassbinder—for the restless intellect and furious productivity, and the rage, wit, and lucidity with which they probed their respective national psyches. These are also two of the most devastating films ever made about racism."

"That’s a masterpiece that always moves me, every time I see it. I love epic films, I love epic theatre — bold, big stories, with intricate character work, but truth, you know? At the base of it all, something true. Whether it’s a raging spirit or style to the hilt."

"This classic collection of short stories is about a character dealing with addiction, but Johnson masterfully elucidates the "spirit" component of alcoholic "spirits": His writing is almost otherworldly in its attunement to what's below surfaces, gliding into these spaces with words that capture our most nuanced internal states"