"Being swept up in British pop culture and its swinging sixties scene is something that I am not close to alone in and yet may be hard-pressed to explain. Well, the British are so beautiful, and you can’t understand a word they’re saying. Screaming girls and Beatle haircuts may provide some distraction, but A Hard Day’s Night captures the mood of a traumatized postwar culture just as effectively as other, starker films of the “new” British cinema. In Billy Liar, Tom Courtenay’s Billy could be a famous Beatle in the making except that comedy writing is his calling, and the more eccentric and imaginative he allows himself to become creatively, the clearer it is how stifled he is by his family, his lack of self, and his generally dismal surroundings. The bleakness and futurelessness are so embedded in this character’s outlook and ultimate outcome that even the sway of Julie Christie’s modern vivaciousness and beautiful smile can’t compete with his inability to rise out of his own sorry lot in life. Just a little bit heartbreaking."

"It's one of the earlier records for me, I started listening to it when I was 19 or 20. I think it made me realise that I wanted to get better at music, it pushed me to want to learn more than three chords. Pet Sounds is so pristine, while Smiley Smile sounds unfinished. I guess it is unfinished, and I know Brian Wilson was never happy with the way it turned out, but whatever grievances there are, I love it. It's a huge influence on me, it was definitely like my music school. Figuring out those harmonies and those chords really pushed my ears and helped me understand music theory in a deeper way. I mean I like it it has that unfinished edge and a more playful sound to it than Pet Sounds. I love Pet Sounds but it's so polished that it doesn't have the charm to it that Smiley Smile has. You can hear that charm lyrically, songs about vegetables and Woody Woodpecker. That song 'She's Going Bald' is amazing! It's funny and also sublime, all at once. 'Windchimes' is one of the most beautiful moments in music, and lyrically he's just writing about some windchimes hanging on his porch; somehow he makes it sound like the most sentimental and beautiful thing. I remember being bowled over."

"It’s a very personal choice because when I came to America from mainland China, I was an actress, but I never knew about Hollywood. I had heard of Hollywood but we didn’t have access to see Hollywood movies. A photographer was taking pictures of me and said, “You remind me of this actress named Audrey Hepburn.” I said, “Who is that?” He said, “Bai Ling, you have to watch her films,” and he found me Roman Holiday. That was the first Hollywood movie I’d ever seen. And it’s still one of my favorites, because it first introduced me to Hollywood — beautiful, romantic, very graceful, and elegant. I would like to remake it — I hope some director can help me, maybe Steven Soderbergh or Wong Kar-Wai. [Laughs] What I remember about those old Hollywood films is that when a leading lady and a leading man meet, they don’t have to say anything; you already know they’re in love. You root for them; you want them to be together. That’s the magic of Hollywood. I think somehow today we’ve lost a little bit of it, and you don’t care as much if two characters get together. But Roman Holiday makes you smile, makes your heart smile, makes your heart sing for these two people. Gregory Peck is gentle and elegant, the kind of tall leading man that I like. I think we should remake the film. Everybody in America, in Asia, and in Europe, would appreciate it. The beautiful, pure, romantic story — I wish I would play a role like that, because I have a romantic soul. I’d like to bring that purity to the audience, to have their fantasy fulfilled."