"Like Lynch, I chose to go with another pair of career milestones. Blood Simple put the Coen brothers (and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld) on the map with their unique visual style and storytelling and remains one of the greatest film debuts ever. And Llewyn Davis shows that even three decades later, Joel and Ethan can still top themselves."

"Marvin Gaye is the first person who taught me to write from a place of experience and talk about what was right in front of me. And his style of background vocal production is something that I listen to all of the time for inspiration. My favorites are 'Flying High in a Friendly Sky' and 'Wholy Holy.'"

"Wes Anderson shines here with his own style, sense of humor, and great use of music. A killer cast. The scene where Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston are arguing on the street has so much underlying love in it. I’ve never seen anything like that between two actors—saying one thing and creating the opposite feeling."

"There were a number of key films that taught me that great and startling cinema could come from outside Europe and away from Hollywood. I found Touki bouki (with its anarchic, vigorous style, brilliant colors and sounds, and charismatic heroine) completely surprising when I first saw it—and, more generally, it stands for the eye-opening cinema of Senegal."

"Like Lynch, I chose to go with another pair of career milestones. Blood Simple put the Coen brothers (and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld) on the map with their unique visual style and storytelling and remains one of the greatest film debuts ever. And Llewyn Davis shows that even three decades later, Joel and Ethan can still top themselves."