"Austere, quiet, and sad. On the surface, a simple story—mundane, even—but Ozu’s understanding of the subtleties of real human behavior imbue the characters with an emotional depth that takes the film into the sublime. When I first watched Tokyo Story a couple of years ago, it immediately made me rethink my entire approach to writing characters."

"This is one of my favorite movies ever, because of the writing. I’m a big Bill Murray fan, and I just think any comedy that can last over two hours and keep your attention, even though it was the same situation over and over, and get funnier every time — this is probably my favorite movie of all time."

"Warren Buffett gave me this fantastic collection of articles that Brooks wrote for The New Yorker. Although Brooks was writing in the 1960s, his insights are timeless and a reminder that the rules for running a great company don’t change. I read it more than two decades ago, and it’s still my pick for the best business book ever."

"Right now, this moment, the answer that would spring most quickly to mind is Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960). I've seen it, oh, at least 25 times, maybe more. It doesn't get old for me. ...I've grown so worked up just writing this paragraph that I want to slide in the DVD and start watching immediately."

"Taught me that we are going to die and we don’t know why. (I had coffee with him the year before he died and asked him to sign a copy “to John Cameron Mitchell”. He started writing in a shaky hand, then paused. “Do you need all three?”)
Read, age 25 in St-Germain-Des-Pres, Paris."

"Saulo Pereira de Mello just passed away this week at ninety-two. He’s the archivist who worked for years on Mario Peixoto’s legacy on film and in writing. Mr. Pereira de Mello also played a major role in the difficult restoration of this ninety-year-old Brazilian dream masterpiece, which can be discovered by so many through Criterion."

"A first-generation college student navigates the challenges and privileges of an elite Northeastern university, while back home in Miami, her family and boyfriend do and don’t move on without her. Crucet has so much to say about class and relationships and politics, and she says it by writing terrific, deeply satisfying scenes featuring complicated and realistic characters."

"By now, most everyone knows how revolutionary this book was, paving the way for a new genre of writing. But again, it’s the details that get to me (specifically of Nancy Clutter’s diary). It’s one of the most gruesomely human books I have ever read. Its contributions to literature are immeasurable; the world is better because it was written."