"I just think the premise of holding up in a mall… being that prescient about the kind of gated communities, and consumerism, and mixing that with zombies in 1978 is just beyond genius. If you look at, like, John Waters doing Female Trouble in 1974, saying things about crime and beauty and the rise of paparazzi, you know, this kind of crazy Kardashian, TMZ, beauty industry — I mean, as psychotic as that film is, it’s so ahead of the curve. It’s so amazingly looking into the future. So I think those kinds of themes I responded to. And Goblin did the original soundtrack."

"This inspired me to want to write parodies and do parodies. I read it on the bed as a kid — I was eight years old when [his brother] Keenen [Wayans] sent me that script, and I [had] never laughed so hard. It inspired me. I knew that was what I wanted to do. It’s really my number one — I mean, I think it’s crazy if I put my brother as number one. You’d think I was being biased, of which I probably am, but I’m not, because I really love that movie and my brother. I think he’s a brilliant genius."

"It’s my favorite documentary, and that’s just because of its characters. It’s about two ‘90s indie bands, the Brian Jonestown Massacre (the lead singer Anton is a truly wild crazy guy, completely out of control) and the more successful Dandy Warhols. They envy each other and end up having this super Shakespearian love affair/friendship/rivalry. It’s an example of how great storytelling can get you unbelievably engaged, whether you have any connection to the world of the film or not. If it’s human, it’s human. For me, this film is as important among docs as Goodfellas (1990) is among narrative features."

"Medium Cool. I’m crazy about that film. To me, there are a lot of great films from that era because I was seeing them in our movie house when I was a kid [Luhrmann’s dad ran a theater for a period], but what I love about Medium Cool is that it preempts the idea of taking a real historical event and weaving a drama around it. So that’s great about it. Robert Forster is great in that picture. Not to mention — and I’ll be a bit flippant here — the clothes are fantastic. It’s just a great pop cultural picture."

"Like for many Americans, incest is a rough area for me. I just have a natural aversion to it. That being said, when I saw this film in my Bergman/Polanski seminar sophomore year, I was so taken with the Bergman way that I forgot to be freaked out by the sex between siblings. I couldn’t stop whispering the last line, “Papa spoke to me,” at everyone I came across, and I think I will start again. Bergman is the king of mood, and his actors give it all to him, free of vanity and therefore crazy beautiful."